The documentary entitled “Betrayal” which was broadcast on 11 December
on the state TV channel “Uzbekistan”, found its way into the internet and
attracted a wide audience. The heroes of the film were 8 citizens of
Uzbekistan, who previously have lived in Norway on the basis of their asylum
applications. In 2014 Norway forcibly returned them into Uzbekistan. Once in
the country of origin, they were imprisoned and forced to “repent” on their
“betrayal of the Motherland” and becoming a member of a “religious extremist
group”. Their testimonies were recorded and broadcast on TV.
According the information available to our
organisation, 18 people who were returned from Norway were subjected to
repressions. Based on their statements, Uzbek authorities extracted information
about those who are still in Norway. Now, the relatives of the refugees who
live in Uzbekistan are in danger too. Many of them face travel restrictions and
are dismissed from civil service jobs.
The Association for
Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA) expresses its gratitude to the Norwegian lawyers, Norway Helsinki
Committee and the Norwegian media for taking stand in support of protection of the Uzbek refugees, also to
the Norwegian government for making timely decision which protected the
refugees from torture and other violations of human rights in their country of
origin.
Previous press release about this case:
Press Release
«Uzbekistan: «traitors of the Motherland» are named» dated 13 December 2014
