On 21 September 2013, at approximately
19:00 hours, a journalist and human rights activist Sergey Naumov phoned a colleague
and said that he was detained by police. His location is still not known. The
case of Sergey Naumov requires an urgent intervention by the international
community.
Our colleague, a freelance journalist and human rights activist Sergey
Naumov, who lives in the city of Urgench of the Khorezm Region of Uzbekistan is
missing. His phones are not responding, his neighbours and friends have not
seen him for the last two days.
On 21 September 2013, at about 19:00 hours, Naumov phoned a colleague and
said that he was detained by the police department. Where, by whom, and why he
was arrested, is still unknown. Hayitboy Yakubov, the head of the Khorezm Region
human rights organisation “Najot”, requested information from the Urgench City
Police Department and the local police department where Naumov is registered as
a resident, the Persecutor’s Office and the National Security Service of
Uzbekistan. Everywhere, he was told that Sergei Naumov does not appear in the
lists of detainees.
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| Sergey Naumov |
Sergey NAUMOV, date
of birth 7 March 1963, a citizen of Uzbekistan.
He is:
– a freelance journalist,
works in cooperation with international news agency “Fergana.Ru”, Institute for
War and Peace Reporting, journal published by the Academy of Science of
Uzbekistan “Ecological Safety and Civil Initiative” (“Fan” (Science) publishing
house), and “Politzhurnal” (Moscow, Russia).
– the winner of the national contest for “Best
online publication on a political issue”;
– the winner of the national on contest
environmental journalism in the category “Environmental Protection” in 2005;
– the winner of the national contest
“The UN Conventions on Ecology” in 2006;
– author of screenplay of film “07.07.07” about the ecological disaster
in the Aral Sea region created in cooperation with “Wilton Films” (Britain) in 2007;
– a member of the filming crew of a FIDH film about М. Tadjibaeva, a human rights activist, in 2008;
– a member of the filming crew of an “Amnesty International” film about М. Tadjibaeva, a
human rights activist, in 2008;
– co-author
of the Report on the state of freedom of speech, expression and of the press inUzbekistan for the session of the UN Council on Human Rights under the UPR Procedure,
December 2008;
– the winner of the national competition for the best coverage of the
Uzbek-American relations in 2009;
Sergey Naumov is
the author and a participant of the following projects in the field of
development of the mass-media:
а) “Airwaves for
businesswomen”, carried out by the Association of Businesswomen of the Khorezm Region
under the Small Grants Programme of the Netherlands Embassy in Moscow, 1998;
b) “Promotion of Reproductive Health as a Factor in Poverty Reduction” executed
by the Khorezm Region branch of the Uzbek Association of Reproductive Health under
the grant from the World Bank, 2002;
c) three documentaries, “No one’s River”, “Waves of Sadness”, “Zarafshan
– the pain of Bukhara”, filmed in the framework of the program “Support for
public participation in the Central Asian Initiative on Sustainable Development”,
funded by the European Union, 2005.
Naumov is also the
author and a participant of the projects for:
d) Journalists’ Centre “Intercontact” (“Healthy City” – the Small Grants
Programme of the Netherlands Embassy in Moscow; “SOS: Ecology!” funded by the
Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC);
e) the initiative
group – “Dono” and the youth club “Nadejda” (Hope) funded by the Regional
Environmental Centre for Central Asia, 2001-2003.
* * *
The
disappearance of Sergey Naumov is causing a particular concern, because he has been
repeatedly threatened by the law enforcement agencies of Uzbekistan. These
anonymous threats were repeated over the phone and the Internet. Naumov annoyed
the Uzbek authorities most by his continuous interest in the effects of forced labour, the
environmental situation in the Aral Sea and the unlawful forced relocation of
residents of the Urgench City. Sergei Naumov is a law-abiding person and enjoys
the confidence of the large number of population.
The case of Sergey Naumov requires an urgent
intervention of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Union
Special Representative for Human Rights, the Special Rapporteur of the European
Union for Central Asia and other international organisations, diplomats of
democratic countries.
The Association for Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA)
urges all interested parties, organisations and the media to draw attention to
the fate of the journalist Sergey Naumov and make every effort to bring about his
early release.
The Association for Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA) draws the attention of
the international community to the fact that the lack of information on the
whereabouts of Sergey Naumov is contrary to the Constitution of the Republic of
Uzbekistan and the commitments made by this country by ratification of the UN
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Articles 9, 10, 14, 19,
26), the UN Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups
and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognised Human Rights
and Fundamental Freedoms, and the UN Body of Principles for the Protection of
All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment (principles 1 2, 4, 6,
12, 21).
The Association for Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA) emphasises that our
colleague is in danger and in need of support.
