Aug 132009
 

HUMAN RIGHTS < back
Norboy Holjigitov
13.08.09 17:25
Uzbekistan deprives civil rights convict of diabetes treatment
Uznews.net – Samarkand-based human rights activist Norboy Holjigitov, 61, has been driven by Uzbek jailers to serious condition because as a diabetes patient he is not receiving treatment and cannot even walk now, the Dublin-based Front Line human rights organisation has said.

Front Line said that Holjigitov, who was sentenced to 10 years in 2005, was now in serious condition at Karshi’s UYa 64/49 prison. Relatives of the activist visited him prison recently and let the organisation know about his state.

Since he did not receive treatment in prison sugar levels in his blood had damaged his mobility. He needs assistance now.

Relatives told Front Line that the activist looked much worse now than he looked previously. He has lost all his teeth but one and is now suffering from depression, relatives said. Continue reading »

Aug 122009
 

Uzbekistan: Serious concerns at the deteriorating health of human rights defender Norboy Kholjigitov

Posted on 2009/08/12

Front Line is seriously concerned by new reports of the deteriorating health conditions of human rights defender Norboy Kholjigitov, former President of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU), Ishtikhan district. Continue reading »

Aug 112009
 

Russian Federation: Front Line calls for independent investigation into the killing of human rights defender Zarema Sadulayeva and her husband Alik Djibralov

Front Line calls on President Medvedev to urgently establish an independent investigation, in association with international experts, into the killing of human rights defender Zarema Sadulayeva and her husband Alik Djibralov . Continue reading »

Aug 102009
 

URGENT APPEAL – THE OBSERVATORY

UZB 006 / 0809 / OBS 116

Arbitrary detention / Harassment

Uzbekistan

August 10, 2009

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Uzbekistan.

Description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the arbitrary detention of Mr. Farhodon Mukhtarov, an active and long-standing member of the Human Rights Alliance of Uzbekistan.

According to the information received, on July 18, 2009, Mr. Farhodon Mukhtarov was arrested at the District Prosecutor’s office as he was in the premises to submit a statement and a complaint against illegal actions carried out by police officers and investigator Boymatov. The Prosecutor decided indeed to report his visit to the police station, which came to arrest him directly at the Prosecutor’s office. Mr. Mukhtarov was then brought to the Yunus-Abad police station.

As of issuing this urgent appeal, Mr. Mukhtarov remained detained but no information could be obtained as to his place of detention nor as to the charges that would be held against him[1].

At the end of May 2009, Mr. Mukhtarov had already been briefly detained after a complaint had been reportedly filed against him by another Uzbek citizen, apparently for fraud, under Article 168, Part 2, paragraph A of the Uzbek Criminal Code. However, the authorities had refused to let him view the complaint.

The Observatory expresses its utmost concern about Mr. Farhodon Mukhtarov’s arbitrary detention, and believes that these acts of harassment actually aim at sanctioning Mr. Mukhtarov’s human rights activities. The latter had already been arrested in 2006 and later released following the mobilisation of the Human Rights Alliance and diplomats, and that his flat had been tentatively arsoned at the end of 2008 Continue reading »

Aug 072009
 

One Of The ‘World’s Worst Daughters’

August 07, 2009
After running last week a list of the worst-behaved sons of world leaders, “Foreign Policy” magazine this week looks at the daughters.

Leading the way is Uzbek president’s daughter Gulnara Karimova, who was also appointed as the country’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva:

[B]ack home, Karimova is likely being groomed as successor to her brutal dictator father and has used his influence to amass her own formidable financial holdings.

The consequences of crossing Karimova became clear in 2001 when she divorced her husband, an Afghan-American businessman with extensive holdings in Uzbekistan, and took their children out of the United States in violation of a court order. The unfortunate ex-husband’s Coca-Cola bottling factory in Uzbekistan was promptly shut down, three of his relatives were imprisoned, and 24 were deported at gunpoint to Afghanistan. In 2006, Karimova, whose business interests include most of Uzbekistan’s tea industry, reportedly sent hooded men with machine guns to shut down a rival company and liquidate their holdings.

She also has a burgeoning music career.

— Luke Allnutt

Posted At: 07 August 12:39

Aug 052009
 

Once justice and legitimacy fade away a state becomes a gang of bandits.
Augustine Aurelius.

The statement of Human rights Society of Uzbekistan
About compulsory and child labour in Uzbekistan


The August, 5th, 2009

Since 2004, Uzbek and international human rights organizations have constantly brought up the question on the use of child and forced labour in the cultivation of a cotton and by the authorities of Uzbekistan. The authorities have not recognized or have denied compulsory attraction of schoolboys, 12-16 aged, to agricultural works. With the boycott beginning on the purchase of the Uzbek cotton by a number of known foreign firms, such as Tesco, Walmart, Target, Levi Strauss, Gap, Limited Brands and Marks and Spencer and H&M the authorities of Uzbekistan in first half of 2008 were forced to ratify two documents of the United Nations on child labour, namely the Convention of the International Labour Organization No.138 “About the minimum age for employment” and the United Nations No.182 “About prohibition and immediate measures on eradication of the worst forms of child labour”. Continue reading »

Aug 052009
 

URGENT APPEAL – THE OBSERVATORY

UZB 005 / 0809 / OBS 114

Arbitrary detention / Harassment

Uzbekistan

August 5, 2009

oyazimhon-hidirova0208091

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Uzbekistan.

Description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the arbitrary detention of Ms. Oyazimkhon Khidirova, member of the Djizak branch of the Uzbekistan International Society for Human Rights, one the few NGOs registered with the Ministry of Justice. Ms. Khidirova is an active defender of the rights of farmers and she has been denouncing corruption at the local level.

According to the information received, in the morning of July 28, 2009, agents of the ROVD (local delegation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs) in Dustlik arrested Ms. Oyazimkhon Khidirova. The latter was then placed in detention and charged under Articles 277-3-g (hooliganism) , 184 (tax evasion or other payments), 205 (abuse of power or office) and 168 (fraud) of the Criminal Code, reportedly on the basis of criminal proceedings that were initiated against her on July 16, 2009.

On August 3, 2009, the Arnaysaysky District Criminal Court confirmed Ms. Oyazimkhon Khidirova’s detention throughout the stage of the investigation. The latter immediately lodged an appeal.

On August 5, 2009, the Djizak Court of Appeal was to issue a decision regarding this appeal, but no information could be obtained on that question as of issuing this urgent appeal.

Ms. Oyazimkhon Khidirova would remain held at the medical division of the Dustlik detention centre, since her health status would have deteriorated while in detention.

Further, her house would have been searched on July 29, 2009 by representatives of the police forces, reportedly with the aim of discovering weapons, drugs and religious literature, but nothing of this kind was found.

The Observatory expresses its deep concern at Ms. Oyazimkhon Khidirova’s arbitrary detention, which seems to merely aim at sanctioning her human rights activities, in particular the disclosure of information concerning the situation of farmers in the Dustlik district implicating local public officials. More recently, she directly targeted the District Prosecutor and Vice-Governor of the district (vice-hakim) for acts of corruption in an open letter addressed to President Karimov. Continue reading »

Aug 042009
 

Uzbekistan: Human right defender Dilmurod Sayid sentenced to 12.5 years of imprisonment

Posted on 2009/08/04

Uzbek human rights defender, Mr Dilmurod Sayid, was sentenced to 12.5 years of imprisonment on 30 July 2009, following a procedurally flawed trial which had allegedly been instigated by politically-motivated charges.

Further Information

Dilmurod Sayid is an activist of the Tashkent regional branch of the human rights society “Ezgulik”. Prior to his trial, he wrote as independent journalist for the internet site, “Voice of Freedom,” and also defended the rights of farmers in the Samarkand region, whose lands have been illegally seized by the local administration. Front Line previously issued an urgent appeal concerning the trial of Dilmurod Sayid on 24 February 2009.

On 30 July 2009, the Tailak Distict court of Uzbekistan sentenced Dimurod Sayid to 12.5 years of imprisonment under Articles 165 (extortion) and 228 (forgery) of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan. The verdict was passed behind closed doors and neither his lawyer, Ruhiddin Komilov, his public defender, Abdurakhman Tashanov, nor his family members had been informed of the trial date in advance.

On 22 February 2009, Dilmurod Sayid was arrested at his home on charges of extortion by the Tashkent branch of the State Tax Committee, under orders from the General Prosecutor’s Office of Uzbekistan.

Following numerous inconsistencies in the investigation and violations of fair trial standards in which court hearings were repeatedly conducted without notice to defence lawyer, the trial began in June 2009.

During the trial several key witnesses withdrew their testimonies and stated that they had been pressurised into giving false evidence against Dilmurod Sayid, however the state prosecutor nonetheless asked the judge for a punishment of 14.5 years of imprisonment.

Dilmurod Sayid suffers from acute tuberculosis and there is serious risk for his health in detention without adequate treatment. Continue reading »

Aug 042009
 

Uzbekistan: Human rights defender, Ms Oyazimhon Hidirova facing charges of “hooliganism”

Posted on 2009/08/04

Human rights defender, Ms Oyazimhon Hidirova, is facing charges of “hooliganism” following her arrest on 28 July 2009. Oyazimhon Hidirova is a member of the International Society of Human Rights of Uzbekistan (ISHRU) and works in the defence of farmers’ land rights in the Djizak region. Front Line is concerned that these charges are directly related to her human rights work.

Further Information

On 28 July 2009, Oyazimhon Hidirova was arrested and detained by representatives of the Department of the Interior of the Dustlik district on charges of “hooliganism.”

The day after, on 29 July 2009, Oyazimhon Hidirova’s home was searched by the police in her absence and in the absence of her lawyer or a representative of her family. On 31 July 2009, Dustlik district criminal court opened a criminal case against Oyazimhon Hidirova under Article 168.2 (fraud), Article 184 (tax evasion) and Article 277.3 (hooliganism) of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan. Continue reading »

Aug 042009
 

HUMAN RIGHTS
Oyazimhon Hidirova
04.08.09 23:25
Jizak rights activist appeals against her detention
Uznews.net – Lawyers of Jizak-based farmer and human rights activist Oyazimhon Hidirova have appealed against the Arnasay District court’s ruling in line with which Hidirova is being held in custody while an investigation into her case is under way.

The appeal, submitted today, will be heard tomorrow but it is not clear whether she would be able to attend it because while in custody her condition has deteriorated.

At the trial on 31 July she fainted and was taken to the detention centre’s medical unit and she is still there in serious condition.

Local activists said that Hidirova was detained on 28 July on charges of fraud, tax evasion and hooliganism.

The Arnasay District court ordered that she would be kept in custody while an investigation into her case was under way.

They said that she had been detained after she exposed cases of corruption in Jizak Region as a result of which she lost her plot of land.

This prompted her to join a human rights organisation and fight for justice. Now the mother of two is facing an unjust trial and a long sentence, local sympathisers said.