(New
York) - The Uzbek government should immediately stop the persecution of
the Uzbek human rights group the Human Rights Alliance of Uzbekistan,
Human Rights Watch said today. In the past two days, at least five
human rights defenders from the alliance have been detained, harassed,
and threatened because of their human rights activities.
"These incidents are just the latest in a government-led campaign of
harassment and intimidation of alliance members, and attest to the
Uzbek authorities' determination to continue their relentless
persecution of human rights defenders in Uzbekistan," said Holly
Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
The government continues to hold at least 12 human rights defenders
in prison for no reason other than their legitimate human rights work.
Many other activists, independent journalists, and political dissidents
are also behind bars on politically motivated charges. Human Rights
Watch said that the EU in particular should make the ongoing detention
and persecution of human rights defenders and other civil society
actors a priority focus of its upcoming annual human rights dialogue
with Uzbekistan, scheduled to take place on June 10, 2009, in Tashkent.
In the most recent episode involving the alliance, three members -
Elena Urlaeva, Salomat Boimatova, and Ilnur Abdulov - were stopped
between 8 and 9 a.m. on May 27, by about four men believed to be police
or security officers in plain clothes. The alliance members were on
their way to the UN office in Tashkent to deliver copies of their
recent reports on the situation of human rights defenders in
Uzbekistan, as well as a statement about the crackdown on several
alliance members during a May 13 protest.
The officers demanded that the three accompany them to the police
station for questioning. When the alliance members raised objections,
three of the officers attacked Abdulov, delivering severe blows to his
head, chest, and back, and then forcing him and the others into a
waiting police car.
They were taken to the Mirobadskii Police Station, where they were
subjected to questioning not related to any alleged crime. The
investigator questioning Urlaeva refused to identify himself to her and
did not provide a written confirmation that her reports and documents
had been seized, despite her requests. Urlaeva was forced to sign a
statement that she would not participate in any human rights
activities, meet any human rights defenders, or picket until June 10.
In the early afternoon, all three were transferred to the police
stations in their respective neighborhoods in Tashkent. Urlaeva and
Abdulov were released about three hours later. Abdulov then went to the
hospital, where he was treated for several bruises to his ears and
chest. The medical record indicates that he was diagnosed with a
hematoma on his ribcage. Boimatova was told she would be questioned
again, but after roughly an hour and a half, she too was released and
the human rights documents returned.
Police also detained another alliance member, Yuri Konoplev, who was
scheduled to meet Urlaeva, Boimatova, and Abdulov at the UN building,
and drove him around in a police car for several hours before releasing
him.
On the morning of May 29, around 9:30 a.m., two policemen in plain
clothes detained yet another alliance member, Farkhat Mukhtarov,
claiming that someone had filed a complaint against him. The police
officers reportedly refused to show Mukhtarov any documentation or
explain the basis for the complaint. Mukhtarov was threatened with
criminal arrest if he refused to go with the police, although they did
not have a warrant.
He was taken to the Yunusabadskii Police Station and held for
several hours. A police officer who refused to give Mukhtarov her name
called him and other alliance members insulting names. Before he was
released, he was served a summons to report back to the police station
on May 30, presumably for further questioning.
It is unclear whether these most recent incidents of harassment of
alliance members are related to the violence in the Ferghana Valley
earlier in the week. The details of that violence remain unclear, but
there were a number of reports that, during the night of May 25, armed
men detonated an explosive device at a police checkpoint in Khanabad on
the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border. There was also reported gunfire. The attackers
escaped without being identified. The following day, on May 26, two
suicide bombers reportedly killed themselves and a police officer and
wounded at least 15 bystanders on Fitrat Street in the eastern city of
Andijan. One bystander remains in critical condition.
Andijan is the location of the 2005 massacre
of hundreds of mainly unarmed protesters by Uzbek government forces.
Urlaeva reported that the police officers who detained her made a
specific link between the attacks in Khahabad and Andijan and her
detention, saying, "We have to keep the human rights defenders under
control," and, "It's because of you these things are happening in
Andijan."
The Human Rights Alliance, which has no political affiliations, is
one of the most vocal grassroots groups in Uzbekistan. It works on a
variety of human rights issues including torture, access to justice,
right to a fair trial, economic and social rights, and the rights of
vulnerable groups.
The Human Rights Alliance and other civil society groups in
Uzbekistan have come under repeated government pressure in the past
several years. In December 2008, Urlaeva and other Human Rights
Alliance activists were fined on misdemeanor charges for picketing
outside a government building. In April, Urlaeva told Human Rights
Watch that she had noticed increased surveillance beginning in
mid-March 2009. On April 15, Urlaeva was violently assaulted
and threatened by two unknown assailants when she was leaving her
apartment with her 5-year-old son Mukhammad. Only a few days later, on
April 22, Mukhammad was attacked by an unknown assailant, who beat him
repeatedly in the head with a stick. As a result of the attack, he was
diagnosed with a concussion and hospitalized. Although the police
promised to investigate both of the April incidents, the status of the
investigations is unclear, and to date the perpetrators have not been
brought to justice.
Uzbek authorities have a longstanding record of repressing
independent civil society, detaining and threatening human rights
defenders, journalists, and others with prosecution for their peaceful
activism.
Human Rights Watch said that at the June 10 dialogue with
Uzbekistan, the EU should call for the immediate release of all
imprisoned human rights defenders and for a prompt and thorough
investigation into all attacks on and ill-treatment of human rights
defenders and for those responsible to be brought to justice.
"Securing the release of imprisoned activists and an end to their
persecution must remain a core objective of the EU's policy vis-a-vis
Uzbekistan," said Cartner. "These courageous individuals who put
themselves at such risk simply to defend the values the EU claims to
stand for deserve nothing less."
of information: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/05/29/uzbekistan-stop-detention-harassment-activists