IHF Open Letter on Uzbekistan
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From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, 5 Aug 1999 21:12:35 +0300 (EET DST)
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Subject: IHF Open Letter on Uzbekistan
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: International Helsinki Federation <[email protected]>
IHF Open Letter on Uzbekistan
OPEN LETTER
President of Uzbekistan
Islam Abduganievich Karimov
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
via facsimile (998) (71) 139 5315
Vienna, 29 July 1999
Your Excellency,
We are writing to express our concerns regarding recent human rights
developments in Uzbekistan.
Over the last 1,5 years we have been witnessing a marked increase in
the repression of both new and traditional religious communities in
Uzbekistan following the events in Fergana Valley end 1997. This has
now developed into a general crackdown on political opposition, human
rights activists, and everyone critical of the government or
government policies. These actions are not legally or morally
justified, and are in violation of international standards to which
Uzbekistan has committed itself.
(Among others; Art. 18(1) of the ICCPR on Freedom of Religion, Art. 19
of the ICCPR on Freedom of Expression, Art. 9(1) of the ICCPR on
arbitrary arrests, Art.2 and 4 of the Convention against Torture, Art.
9(3) and 14 of the ICCPR on Rights of Defendants and Due Process,
par.10.1-10.4 of the Copenhagen Document on Human Rights Defenders, as
well as various other OSCE Documents)
We are well aware of the Uzbek authorities' policies, and the priority
you give to keeping stability in this most populous country in Central
Asia, bordering regional trouble spots like Afghanistan and
Tajikistan. However, we believe that through this crackdown on all
kinds of critical voices and opposition, like we are observing in
Uzbekistan today, you risk obtaining the opposite result. We fear that
instead of obtaining stability, you are provoking serious unrest in
your country through this wave of indiscriminate arrests of peaceful
citizens. The rise of religious fanaticism is often a reaction against
longstanding social injustice and repression, and the 16 February
bombings in Tashkent showed that the imposed stability in Uzbekistan
is indeed very fragile.
In this regard we would like to strongly condemn the practice of the
Uzbek police officers of planting false evidence, like religious
leaflets, weapons or drugs on suspects, and using this as basis for
arrests.
Of serious concern are regular emerging reports of police beatings and
brutality, and even torture of detainees in order to obtain
confessions.
We also strongly condemn the sentencing to death of 6 suspects on 28
June by the Uzbek Supreme Court in connection with the 16 February
bombings. Sixteen other dissidents were given jail sentences ranging
from 10 to 20 years in trials we fear were not fair.
Uzbekistan has recently received additional negative publicity because
of the arrest of several members of the unregistered Independent Human
Rights Organisation of Uzbekistan (NOPCHU), 3 of whom are also members
of the Birlik Democratic Party. On July 12, Mahbuba Kasymova was
sentenced to 5 years in prison on charges of fraud and harboring a
criminal. Kasymova's conviction follows the June 19 death in detention
of NOPCHU member Ahmadhon Turahonov, the June 25 arrest and beating of
NOPCHU chairman Mikhail Ardzinov, and the July 12 arrest of NOPCHU
activist Ismail Adylov. Haidbai Yakubov from the Human Rights Society
of Uzbekistan in Khiva was threatened with arrest in mid-July. Farkhod
Usmanov, son of a well-known imam died in detention in the middle of
June, and his body bore strong indications of torture.
Please find attached a short summary of these cases.
Personal tragedies resulting from governmental illegal actions, while
committed and justified in the name of stability, are not very
conducive to stability. The development of civil society and political
opposition is a necessity for a sound and permanent transition to
democracy.
We would like to thank you for your attention to these issues.
Your sincerely,
Aaron Rhodes
Executive Director
CC: Permanent Mission of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the OSCE
OSCE Chairman-in-Office
ODIHR
OSCE Central Asian Liaison Office, Tashkent
Ministry of Interior, Tashkent
UN Human Rights Centre
National Helsinki Committees
Attachment to the Open Letter to President Karimov, 29 July 1999.
Ahmadhon Turahanov
Ahmadhon Turahanov, who died in prison on 19 June, suffered from
chronic diabetes. In May he was in the medical section of the prison
because of his worsening health. However, the regional court left the
decision in effect. He was charged with infringement of the
constitutional order of the Uzbek Republic and hooliganism and
sentenced to 5 and a half years in prison. It is feared that his trial
was politically motivated and that Judge Latifhon Djurabaev was
conducting the trial under instructions from higher authorities. There
were further allegations that witnesses were harrassed and threatened
by the investigator of Namangan City Prosecution Office, Mr Dolimov,
into signing written statements.
Mikhail Ardzinov
On 25 June, police forcibly arrested Mikhail Ardzinov, as he was
standing at a bus stop on his way to observe a trial of alleged
Islamic extremists. He was held by the police and beaten for nearly
fourteen hours. During the interrogation, in which Ardzinov was
refused access to medical care and to legal counsel, in breach of Art.
14(3)d of the ICCPR, police brought Ardzinov before a panel of
psychiatrists, threatening him with psychiatric detention. Human
rights groups believe the ill-treatment may be related to Mikhail
Ardzinov's recent outspoken criticism of the authorities, in
particular their conduct of the trial related to the Tashkent
bombings.
Ismail Adylov
Ismail Adylov was detained 10 July, after police found leaflets of an
Islamic organization in his apartment. According to Uzbek law, a
person held for questioning by police shall be released by 11 pm of
the day of their detention, which did not happen in this case. On 11
July, the duty officer at the Ministry of Internal Affairs claimed to
have no information regarding Adylov and refused to notify a superior
officer who could provide such information. Ismail Adylov is still
held in Tashkent prison, although this has not been officially
confirmed. In June, a judge presiding over a trial of Hizb ut-Takhrir
members publicly threatened to charge Adylov, who was monitoring the
trial, with membership in the group. Thousands of independent Muslims
and self-proclaimed members of Hizb ut-Takhrir are believed to have
been arrested in recent months, one of whom recently died in
detention:
Farkhod Usmanov
On 14 June, Tashkent police detained Farkhod Usmanov, reportedly for
possession of a leaflet. The son of a well-known imam, Nosir-kori
Usmanov, he was held in incommunicado detention for 11 days. On 25
June, his body was returned to his family along with a death
certificate claiming the 42-year old died of heart failure. The body
was reportedly covered with bruises and other indications that Usmanov
died from torture in custody. Uzbekistan is a signatory to the UN
Convention against torture, which states that (Art.2) "No exceptional
circumstances whatsoever,.., may be invoked as a justification of
torture" and Art.4 "Each state party shall ensure that all acts of
torture are offenses under its criminal law." (1)
Mahbuba Kasymova
On 12 July, Mahbuba Kasymova, 48, was sentenced to 5 years in prison
in a trial which conduct was in breach of Art. 14 (2), 14(3)b and
14(3)d of the ICCPR. The day after Khamidov's arrest, Uzbekistan's
state television news program showed Kasymova's picture and described
her as a "criminal", which is in breach of Art. 14(2) of the ICCPR
which states that "...everyone...has the right to be presumed innocent
until proved guilty according to law." During the trial Kasymova was
accused of committing "illegal actions" in connection with her work at
the Independent Human Rights Organization of Uzbekistan (NOPCHU).
__________________________________________________
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
Rummelhardtgasse 2/18
1090 VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Tel. +43-1-402 73 87 or +43-1-408 88 22
Fax +43-1-408 74 44 E-mail: [email protected]
Internet: http://www.ihf-hr.org
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