Ten Years Andijan tragedy

Uzbekistan: 10 years of impunity for the massacre in Andijan

I fled Uzbekistan in 2000, five years before the Andijan massacre, when government forces opened fire on civilian protests against the country’s repressive regime and failed economic policies. The vast majority of protesters were unarmed, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of men, women and children were killed as they tried to flee.

Today, it is ten years since the massacre, one of the most savage acts of government repression in the former Soviet Union.

No one has been held accountable. Many of the dead were buried in mass graves, or thrown into the Karasu River on the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border. Their families continue to be persecuted.

In Uzbekistan, my father was the head of the state agency responsible for grain suppy and manufacture. His bosses at the Cabinet of Ministers misreported to Karimov that Uzbekistan has achieved the grain independence and there is no need to import grain anymore. Against this, my father during 18 months tried to reach out to Karimov and warn him that without grain import the Uzbekistan’s  grain security will be soon under therat. He worried that people would starve as a result and tried to contact President Karimov. But at the end, instigated by the corrupt officials who hided the truth abouy the grain supply the investigators from the Interior Ministry arrived and told him to sign a confession stating that it was him who misreported to President and embezzled the public funds. . We ran, but for a long time no one would believe our story.

Then the Andijan massacre happened and people began to pay attention to Uzbekistan, for a while. I was granted asylum in France where I live now. It was a revelation for me to see the power of citizen activism in France in the wake of the massacre; for so long, politics for me had meant the whim of one person, I had never known anything else. But ten years later, memories of Andijan have faded for many in France and elsewhere, except us Uzbeks, at home and abroad, who still live in fear.

In many ways, life in Uzbekistan is worse than in 2005. Uzbekistan’s poor human rights record and corruption are epic: No civic freedoms; nearly 12,000 political prisoners; a prison system that relies on torture and even boiling prisoners alive  in  the past; forced labor in which millions, previously including children, pick cotton; no political opposition. The president’s glamorous and Twitter-friendly daughter, Gulnara Karimova, once looked like a possible successor to her father. Following some very public disagreement with her father she is now fallen from grace and under house arrest in Tashkent.

The flow of refugees from Uzbekistan continue to grow but escaping the country is not an end to your troubles. Thousands of Uzbek citizens have been illegally placed on Interpol’s watch list by the Uzbek authorities, many of them eyewitnesses to the Andijan massacre. Some Uzbek citizens have been forcibly returned to Uzbekistan from European countries. Norway returned a group of Uzbek citizens in 2014 ; they were subsequently tortured and sentenced to 12 years in jail. Sweden, Latvia, Poland France and Britain have also recently begun to ignore overwhelming evidence of torture and repression in their consideration of asylum claims from Uzbekistan.

As life gets worse for Uzbeks, life just gets better for President Karimov and his close circle. In March, Karimov, who has governed the country since 1989, was “re-elected” for an unconstitutional fourth term. The elections, as ever, were a charade. Instead of censure, Karimov received congratulations from President Obama and other major dignitaries. Karimov and his close circle continue to profit handsomely from the country’s cotton industry, which runs on forced labor. 

Foreign investors such as General Motors and the Scandinavian Telecoms giant TeliaSonera are now shaken down to provide money and labor for the harvest, the proceeds of which then disappear into an extra-budgetary slush fund controlled by Uzbekistan’s top leadership.

I know I am not safe in France. Uzbek diplomats in Europe are involved in the monitoring of Uzbek dissidents abroad. Over half of the Uzbek diplomatic service is linked to the Uzbek National Security Service; Uzbek embassies in France and elsewhere in Europe coordinate the intelligence activities of Uzbekistan in the EU.

Each day I understand that I could be abducted. Every time I leave France, people advise me not to go, to be extra careful. I do not telephone people in Uzbekistan anymore because if I do, they will be questioned. In July 2013, I was sentenced to six years in jail in absentia. There is no evidence that I have ever committed a crime, and I’ve never signed a confession.

In the face of this growing authoritarianism, the EU needs to reconsider its stance towards Uzbekistan. France can help this happen. EU sanctions toward Uzbekistan were lifted in 2009 and yet the situation has only worsened.

France can demand the Uzbek government reinstate the accreditation of Human Rights Watch; that the OSCE mission is allowed to conduct its work; and the establishment of a UN Special Rapporteur on Uzbekistan given the country’s ongoing abuse of human rights.

For me and for many others, the hardest part of being in France, and not at home, is psychological. I wake up each morning in my old bedroom in Tashkent. A colleague, a human rights defender, illegally crossed back into Uzbekistan when he heard his mother was seriously ill. He has since disappeared. I could never risk such a trip. We hoped things would change after Andijan; we were wrong. In Uzbekistan, we have returned to the Soviet period, maybe worse.

Nadejda Atayeva 

Ten Years after Uzbekistan’s Massacre, the Tragedy Continues to Unfold

 by Alisher Ilkhamov

Photo: On May 15, 2005, a relative mourns at the funeral of one of the estimated 500 people
killed by Uzbek troops in the city of Andijan.
© Shamil Zhumatov/Corbis

May 13 marks the 10th anniversary of one of the bloodiest events in the history of modern Uzbekistan. On that day in 2005, thousands of Uzbek citizens took to Babur Square in the city of Andijan in protest. The demonstration was a reaction to the three-month trial of 23 entrepreneurs from the Andijan suburb of Bogi-Shamol who practiced the moderate teaching of self-taught theologian Akram Yuldashev. As part of their religious practice, the businessmen donated to various nonreligious charitable projects—including nurseries, orphanages, and sports activities—that went against the system of corruption that reigned, and still reigns, in Uzbekistan. During the course of their trial, the community rallied respectfully in support of the entrepreneurs.

During the night of May 12, a small group of men helped free the unjustly incarcerated defendants. The next morning, thousands of residents took to the streets to peacefully show their support and see what was going on. President Islam Karimov arrived in Andijan early that morning to personally direct the official response to the protests.

Instead of seeking a dialogue, President Karimov immediately resorted to violence and ordered the military to suppress the demonstration by all possible means. Armored vehicles and snipers attacked the crowd, shooting indiscriminately. At least 500 people, among them women, children, and the elderly, were killed. The next day, 200 more were killed when they tried to cross the border into Kyrgyzstan.

Miraculously, 580 people managed to flee to Kyrgyzstan, 80 of whom were deported back to Uzbekistan by the Kyrgyz authorities. The remaining 500 were eventually resettled in Western countries thanks to support from the U.S. State Department, as well as the EU and UNHCR. These people were saved from likely deportation and harsh punishment back in Uzbekistan because the U.S. government prioritized human rights concerns over geopolitical considerations, including the risk of losing access to the Karshi-Khanabad (K2) airbase in southern Uzbekistan.

Within a few years, however, Western priorities began to change as the war in Afghanistan picked up and relations with Pakistan soured. As the West sought to move more and more supplies to its troops through Uzbekistan, the EU dropped its ban on arms sales to Uzbekistan and the U.S. government waived sanctions prohibiting the provision of any assistance to the Uzbek government. Today, some in the West believe that the events of Andijan are well in the past, and that it’s time to turn the page and embrace an unconditional dialogue with Uzbekistan’s ruling regime, which is seen as a geostrategic partner in the war against terrorism and in the West’s dispute with Moscow over its neo-imperial policies.

But the Andijan tragedy didn’t end in 2005. It continues today, acquiring new forms.

During those protests, some 245 demonstrators were arrested, denied access to justice, and sentenced to long prison terms. At least 11 have already died as a result of torture.

After the Andijan events the Karimov regime reinforced its repressive policies, especially against independent journalists, civil society activists, and Muslims who wished to practice their religion outside of state-approved structures. According to Human Rights Watch, 12,000 Uzbek citizens have been imprisoned in the country’s gulag for attempting to practice their religion peacefully independent of this state-imposed religious system.

Since Andijan, hundreds have fled the country and sought asylum abroad. The leader of the Association for Human Rights in Central Asia, Nadejda Atayeva, a refugee herself, says that in the last 10 years, over 1,000 refugees from Uzbekistan have applied for her assistance. This is just a small fraction of the total number of Uzbek refugees that have escaped Karimov’s repressive machine.

Since the events of 2005, the Uzbek authorities have worried that this wave of refugees could bring trouble should they ever decide to join the ranks of the political opposition. To pre-empt this possibility, the regime launched a secret program to pursue real, alleged, and potential opponents who reside outside the country. This program led to extraditions, using the mechanisms of Interpol and the CIS Minsk Convention on Legal Assistance of 1993, and even abductions and assassinations when legal channels didn’t yield results.

For instance, Lutfullo Shamsutdinov, a human rights defender who reported on the Andijan massacre and was later granted asylum in the United States, has been hunted since 2005 by the Uzbek authorities, who convinced Interpol to issue a warrant to detain him. Due to this warrant, Lutfullo had to wait five years for the green card that gives him permission to travel abroad. In 2006, another Uzbek human rights activist, Isroil Haldarov, was abducted from Kyrgyzstan, where he was registered with the local office of UNHCR as an asylum seeker.

In cases where neither extradition nor abduction worked, the Uzbek security services have sometimes resorted to murder. In October 2007, Alisher Saipov, a Kyrgyzstani journalist of Uzbek ethnic origin, was assassinated; Uzbek security agents are widely believed to be responsible for his murder. And in February 2012, in Sweden, there was an attempt on the life of the popular Uzbek Muslim theologian Obidkhon Nazarov, who had been long hunted by the Uzbek security services.

The Uzbek authorities have also systematically harassed the relatives of Andijan refugees who remain in Uzbekistan in order to discourage the refugees from engaging in political or public activity. For years, the relatives of Andijan refugees have been banned from leaving the country to reunite with their parents and spouses abroad.

Western countries should realize that the conflict between state and civil society in Uzbekistan has long moved beyond the country’s boundaries. In its pursuit of dissidents the Uzbek regime uses all available mechanisms—regional and international, legal and quasi-legal—and goes completely outside the system when they feel the need. Very few in the West have spoken out against this practice of cross-border repression. Ignoring it only encourages the Uzbek regime and its security services to commit further crimes.

Learn More: Anticorruption, Asia, Eurasia Program, Governance & Accountability, Rights & Justice, Rule of Law

http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/ 

Uzbekistan: a human rights activist Nuraddin Djumaniyazov disappeared

The lawyer representing a human rights activist Nuraddin Djumaniyazov is not given the location where he is kept. The defence lawyer is unable to meet him, despite having an official permission to do so since 20 April 2015.

The last time Mr Djumaniyazov was seen during the court hearing. He asked his lawyer to help him to get hold of medication and said that he was seriously ill. His family does not support him in any way and Djumaniyazov was enduring alone.

In October 2014, Nuraddin Djumaniyazov was referred to the Sangorod (Medical Department) of the prison УЯ 64/18 in Tashkent because of serious health condition caused by the diabetes. It has not been possible to find out any more information about his health since then.

Nuraddin Raimbergenovich DJUMANIYAZOV was born on 8 October 1948, in the town of Turtkul of the Karakalpakistan ASSR, Uzbekistan. He is a citizen of Uzbekistan, divorced. He has two children.

Since 2003, he is a member of the “Mazlum” Human Rights Centre; he is one of the founders of the Centre. In 2012 he participated in creation of Union of the Independent Trade Unions in support of the labour migrants and was the head of the Tashkent department of the organisation.

In January 2014, he was charged with the offence of “Human Trafficking” under Article 135(3)(d) of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan as well as his colleague, a human rights activist Fakhriddin Tillayev.

The Tashkent City Shaykhontahur District Criminal Court sentenced Nuraddin Djumaniyazov to 8 years and 9 months, Fakhriddin Tillayev to 10 years and 8 months of imprisonment on 6 March 2014.

At the appeal hearings against this Sentence, it was upheld, although the defence lawyer presented the evidence that during the investigation and the previous court hearings, the rights of Nuraddin Djumaniyazov and Fakhriddin Tillayev were breached.

Not long ago, a charitable foundation provided a humanitarian aid to purchase medication and provisions of food for him. That is why the lawyer wanted to visit her client. She also wanted to get his instructions in order to file an application seeking his release on compassionate grounds and ill health.

Association for Human Rights in Central Asia expresses a serious concern that the lawyer is unable to meet with Mr Djumaniyazov or access a reliable information about him. The human rights activist Nuraddin Djumaniyazov has been ill for a long time and is detained in conditions, which obviously caused damage to his health, and we fear, the worst consequences.

In this regard, the Association for Human Rights in Central Asia sent a report about the situation of the human rights activist to the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders.

We previously reported on this case in the following press releases:

- «Uzbekistan: a human rights activist Nuraddin Djumaniyazov is admitted to a hospital» dated 14 October 2014;

            - «Uzbekistan: the Supreme Court upheld the Sentence against human rights activists Tillaev and Djumaniyazov» dated 14 October 2014;

- «Uzbekistan: a sentence against human rights activists Fakhriddin Tillaev and Nuriddin Djumaniyazov is upheld» dated 21 April 2014;

- «Uzbekistan: Two Human Rights Defenders Imprisoned for 8 Years, 3 Months» dated 8 March 2014;

- «Uzbekistan: Fakhriddin Tillaev, a human rights activist is under threat of long term imprisonment» dated 18 February 2014.

Speech at the hearings of the subcommittee on Human Rights of the European Parliament within the framework of the discussion on “The EU - Central Asia. Strategy for a New Partnership”

6 May 2015 (15:00-16:15)

Brussels, Belgium

Dear Sirs,

I address all those present in this hall. I would like to draw your attention to the situation of human rights in Uzbekistan on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Andijan tragedy.

The mass murder committed by the government of the dictator Islam Karimov on 13 May 2005 is a crime to which the statute of limitations does not apply. And it still needs an international independent investigation.

Misuse of firearms led to many victims. The Andijan tragedy was a natural consequence of the repressive policies of the Karimov regime. These policies exclude the observance of the Constitution and international agreements on human rights ratified by Uzbekistan.

In the first year of their imposition, the EU sanctions against Uzbekistan, which followed the refusal to allow independent experts, led to the release of the largest number of political prisoners compared to all the years of a dialogue. However, in 2007, Germany initiated a dialogue with the Karimov government in the field of human rights and was the most active supporter of lifting the sanctions. As a result, there is a lack of significant changes in the field of human rights. Instead, a political bargaining has start. And now the list of political prisoners gets only updated.

Up to 40 civil society activists are constantly in prison. A former Member of the Parliament of Uzbekistan, Murad Juraev, is serving the fifth consecutive sentence which totals to 21 years. The human rights defenders Isroil Kholdarov, Azam Farmonov, Ganikhon Mamatkhanov and a journalist Muhammad Bekzhanov are each serving a second consecutive sentence.

All attempts to appeal against their sentences were fruitless, because neither the judiciary nor the legislature is independent of the executive power. At the end of the last parliamentary elections, eight judges assumed office at the Parliament of Uzbekistan, one of whom is a member of a political party. Although, they were removed from holding an office in the judiciary recently, the fact that the Chairman of the Constitutional Court, as the head of the election commission, allowed them to run at the elections shows a complete disregard for the Constitution. Similarly, the dictator Islam Karimov is occupying his post for the fourth term in a row.

Over the past 10 years, 487 civil society activists were persecuted and their relatives subjected to discrimination. The number of refugees originating from the country is growing every year. Thousands of citizens of Uzbekistan are declared wanted by Interpol on trumped up charges, including eyewitnesses of the Andijan tragedy, and even well-known human rights defenders from Andijan Lutfullo Shamsutdinov, Muzaffarmirzo Iskhakov and others.

Continuing a purely formalistic dialogue on human rights between the EU and Uzbekistan is unacceptable. This leads to an increase in the number of victims of human rights violations in Uzbekistan and the refugees originating from the country, including illegal ones.

The EU member states are paying less and less attention to the human rights situation in Uzbekistan. And, they are creating more and more barriers against receiving refugees. Appeals of human rights organisations to the immigration services of these countries are often overlooked. This is the case even when all the conclusions of the human rights activist regarding the violations of the rights of refugees are documented. Not only that Uzbek courts and authorities ignore complaints of use of torture, by now, European countries no longer react to them. Thus, a group of Uzbek citizens were forcibly returned to Uzbekistan from Norway. Once back home, in violation of the principle of the presumption of innocence, before the trial, they were labelled as terrorists and traitors on the national television. Then, they were sentenced to imprisonment of up to 12 years. All of them were victims of torture. This is a result of policy of Norway. Recently, this country temporarily suspended the deportation of asylum-seekers to Uzbekistan. At the same time, Norway continues refusing to grant refugee status even to Uzbek human rights defenders. A similar practice exists in Sweden, Latvia and Poland. France and Britain also began to consider the cases of Uzbek refugees formalistically, ignoring overwhelming evidence of practice of torture in Uzbekistan. This is especially true of victims of corruption and raider seizure of property carried out by inner circle of Islam Karimov’s daughters and high ranking officials of the National Security Service (SNB).

Asylum applications of Uzbek entrepreneurs are rejected, immigration officers ignore the fact that in Uzbekistan the rights of ownership are not protected at all, and the tax sector is extremely corrupt. The head of the tax administration is one of the richest and most influential people in Uzbekistan Batyr Parpiev - a close relative of Rustam Inoyatov, the head of the National Security Service.

Over the 26 years of Islam Karimov’s rule, not a single leader, including Mr Karimov himself, declared his income. At the same time, their property clearly does not correspond to their official income. In such a country it is difficult to be protected oneself from torture, to count on a fair trial, and even save lives. That is why even the businessmen are now turning into refugees. Migrant workers who have lived abroad for several months also seek asylum, because, upon returning to Uzbekistan, they are subjected to extortion of bribes, forced to testify against themselves and those with whom they communicated abroad.

Immigration officials of the European Union often do not take into account that refugees from the countries of Central Asia are not always able to document the politically motivated persecution. In Uzbekistan, the authorities almost always take an individual in for interrogation without any official papers and refuse to investigate the use of torture. For example, in 2014, a human rights defender Fahriddin Tillaev was tortured during the investigation. His lawyer immediately filed a motion for a forensic medical examination, but the prosecutor's office and the court ignored it.                     

Uzbek security services have unlimited power. Moreover, they have the authority to act in the member states of the SCO and the CSTO. The exchange of refugees between Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan has become a common practice.

Over the past 4 months, our organisation documented 14 cases of abductions and disappearances of Uzbek citizens. More than 100 "Osh refugees", living in Uzbekistan illegally and under a total control of the National Security Council, are facing deportation to their country of origin Kyrgyzstan. Since 2007, political murders of three critics of the regime of Islam Karimov were committed. Muhammad Salih and Obid Qori Nazarov a prominent religious figure suffered several politically motivated attacks in Norway and Turkey, Sweden. We see numerous threats and intimidation against political refugees in Sweden, Norway, Holland, France, Canada and the United States. We are submitting our appeal to the prosecutors of the EU countries in this regard.

According to information available to our organisation, Uzbek diplomats are involved in this activity too. Before 2007, 20% of the diplomatic corps of Uzbekistan were linked to the National Security Service and its agents, however, now this figure is more than 50%. The Uzbek embassies coordinated intelligence activities of Uzbekistan in the EU. This information is obtained from a reliable source. All candidates for diplomatic posts are approved by the SNB. We note signs of involvement of Uzbek oligarchs controlled by the SNB in threats against political refugees and assault on them. The first deputy chairman of the National Security Council Hayot Sharifhodzhaev and his jailed younger brother Javdat Sharifhodzhaev are publicly known. During the past few years, they were engaged in extortion from successful entrepreneurs using official position; some of the businessmen were forced to pay for special operations/measures aimed at eliminating opponents of the regime abroad. All the information that our organisation has collected about these measures was sent to the relevant institutions to combat such practices.

For the last 10 years, the Association for Human Rights in Central Asia documented 114 cases of murders, abductions, disappearances, which involved the Uzbek security services, diplomats and oligarchs.

Ethnic Karakalpaks are discriminated against in Uzbekistan. They are persecuted not only for their beliefs. Residents of Karakalpakstan suffer from pollution, but not one of them was recognised as an "environmental refugee". It is essential to include a program to support the population Karaklpakstan in the dialogue in the field of human rights.

The EU needs to revert to the original demands that were put forward to the Government of Uzbekistan when lifting the sanctions in 2009, which have not yet been complied with, and to begin implementation of the resolution of theEuropean Parliament, adopted in October 2014. The European Parliament must reiterate that it is important to maintain a consistent policy of the EU regarding Uzbekistan, as

1) The Government of Uzbekistan did not renew the accreditation of HRW representatives in the country; 

2) there are still no conditions allowing the mission of the International Red Cross to visit places of detention;

3)  the practice of forced labour continues;

The Association for Human Rights in Central Asia, IPHR, HRW, Amnesty International and FIDH call upon the EU to: 

4) insist on granting access of 11 thematic special rapporteurs of the United Nations to Uzbekistan; 

5)  support the establishment of the office of the Special Rapporteur on Uzbekistan by the Council of the UN on Human Rights because the Uzbek government refuses to cooperate with UN human rights institutions, grossly and systematically violate human rights.

The current practice of dialogue on "the EU - Central Asia" encourages repression and is in need of radical reform.

 Dear Sirs,

I hope that the outcome of this discussion will be a new strategy for relations between the EU and Uzbekistan with the participation of the UN Special Rapporteur on Uzbekistan. I, as a citizen of Uzbekistan, wish my country to respect freedom of speech, there was an independent judiciary, stable conditions to be created for the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms. The EU can make a historic contribution to the development of democracy in Uzbekistan.

Nadejda ATAYEVA

Kyrgyzstan: the mother of 5-month-old sick child is remanded in prison

Since 29 April 2015 a breastfeeding mother of a 5-month old baby is detained in a pre-trial detention facility.

Nazgul Ahmatalieva born on 9 November 1988 is detained together with her 5 month old baby in the Osh city pre-trial detention centre No.5 (СИЗО-5). She is married and has two children.

We learnt that Nazgul Ahmatalieva is accused of committing a fraud (Article 166 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic). She has no previous convictions. After graduating from a high school, Ahmatalieva was employed by the Swedish-Kyrgyz company «Oriflame-Kyrgyzstan». At the insistence of the company management, she signed a statement that she allegedly received 7,000 US dollars. By much persuasion, she was misled to believe that the note she signed was only a formality, it did not impose any liability on her. At that time, Ahmatalieva was pregnant and was about to leave on a maternity leave. In reality, she never received the money or the goods in that amount and never had any financially responsibility for the money in question. As it turned out, two previously convicted women put down the note in question for her. They fraudulently persuaded her to sign a document, but she did not fully understand what she had signed.

On 14 April 2015, the law enforcement officials summoned her for questioning the first time. On 15 April, the second interrogation took place, the following night she felt extremely unwell and her family had to call an ambulance. Doctors recorded that her health condition was critical. It was a reaction to the way they treated her during the investigation. She underwent a medical forensic examination. According to its results, the defendant N. Ahmatalieva is in a state of psychosis resulting from a nervous breakdown. Her speech is impaired, after her arrest, she lost her ability to speak almost entirely. The charges came to her as a great shock.

On 29 April 2015, Nazgul Ahmataliev was taken into custody. The Osh City Court handed down a decision to remand her in custody for an initial period of 18 days, as a preventive measure. Despite her health condition, Akmatalieva is in detention with her baby and continues to breastfeed a child who is ill with measles. The doctors recommend not to stop breastfeeding at this very time, because the child is very weak. To make matters even worse, now the baby is kept in an environment where it is easy to contract TB.

All this time, duty lawyers have been representing her. According to preliminary information available to our organisation, investigations of the criminal matter against Nazgul Ahmatalieva are conducted in violation of the procedural rules and in conditions causing serious damage to her health and the health of her baby.

Association for Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA) calls on the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic to fulfill its obligations under international agreements in the field of human rights. We ask to ensure compliance with national legislation and the principles of legality and objectivity in the investigation of the criminal case against a citizen of Kyrgyzstan, Nazgul Ahmatalieva.

Our report was also sent to:
— UN Special Rapporteur on Torture;
— Special Rapporteur on Human Rights of the EU;
— Special Rapporteur of the EU to Central Asia;
— Chairman of the Subcommittee on Human Rights of the European Parliament;
— Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan;
— Prosecutor General of Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan: home of 76 years old woman burnt down

On 27 April 2015 in the village of Cheremushki of the Osh region three houses burnt down

The cause of fire was a fault in wiring in one of the houses. Lyudmila Kasimbaeva lost her home and property the second time. She is 76 years old. She lives alone.

When the tragic events of June 2010 started, Ms Kasimbaeva lived in the city of Osh, on Chekhov Street. Her home was then hit by the riots that took place on the grounds of ethnic conflict.

This time L. Kasimbaeva is completely helpless and unprotected. She has no insurance policy and means to live on. Local authorities have not responded to her appeal in any way.

Lyudmila Kasimbaeva is asking for help of anyone who can help her rebuild her house. First of all, it is necessary to restore the roof, replace the doors and windows, connect water supply and electricity. Neighbours and human rights activists are ready to clear the rubble.

Association for Human Rights in Central Asia appeals to the Mayor of the city of Osh Aytmamat Tentibaevich Kadyrbaev to help Ludmila Kasimbaeva, a single old woman and her neighbours who suffered.

House Ludmila Kasimbaeva, May 1, 2015.

House Ludmila Kasimbaeva, May 1, 2015.

Kyrgyzstan: the defendants declared wanted

Based on the materials of the criminal case № 141-10-240.

The trial of those accused of "organising mass disorder" in June 2010 is still going on after five years.

On 28 April 2015, the Osh City Criminal Court adjourned the hearing. This happened because the

four defendants again did not show up in the Court and were declared wanted. Daniyar Kadirov was placed under a house arrest.

• The defendants accused of «organising riots» in June 2010:

Dilmurat Abdurasulovich Khaydarov, an ethnic Uzbek, born on 8 June 1973 in the village of Nariman of the Karasu district of the Osh region of the Kirghiz SSR. He is married and has four children. He has no previous convictions. He is a lawyer. From 27 June 2010 to 4 April 2014 he was imprisoned on charges of "organising mass disorder". He was released under an amnesty. He is under an international protection in accordance with the UN Convention on Refugees.

Daniyor Nematovich Kadirov, an ethnic Uzbek, born on 17 November 1970 in the village of Kashgar of the Karasu district of the Osh region of the Kirghiz SSR. He is married and has three children. He has no previous convictions, is unemployed.

Shukurillo Saidazizovich Kochkorov, an ethnic Uzbek, born on 28 January 1979 in the village of Madi of the Karasu district of Osh region of the Kirghiz SSR. He is married and has one child. He has no previous convictions. He is a carpenter. While in detention, he fell ill with tubercular meningitis. Of the defendants, only Daniyar Kadirov was present at the hearing, five others were missing.

Bahadir Zhorabaevich Sabirov, an ethnic Uzbek, born on 20 December 1976 in the village of Nariman of the Karasu district of the Osh region of the Kirghiz SSR. He is married and has three children. He has no previous convictions, is a welder.

Ghani Ergashovich Sadikzhanov, an ethnic Uzbek, born on 22 June 1974, in the village of Nariman of the Karasu district of the Osh region of the Kirghiz SSR. He is married and has five children. He has no previous convictions, is a tractor driver.

Khairullo Akhmatovich Saipov, an ethnic Uzbek, born on 26 June 1976 in the village of Nariman of the Karasu district of the Osh region of the Kirghiz SSR. He is married and has two children. He has no previous convictions, is a welder. He suffers from liver cirrhosis.

*   *   *

On 29 January 2015, at 7 o'clock PM, in the village of Nariman, where a former Kyrgyz political prisoner Dilmurat Khaydarov is registered, the search began, it lasted for five hours.

About 90 masked and armed Special Forces operatives ensured security of working operatives. During the whole operation, all the surrounding streets were blocked. The traffic was paralysed for a few hours. Residents of the Mumin Polvan Street could not access their homes, no explanation was given. Even the members of the local-governing body ensuring order did not get any clarification about the situation.

In the summer of 2014, Dilmurat Khaydarov and his family left Kyrgyzstan, and his sister looks after his house. She was taken from her place of work by an agent of the State Service for National Security (ГСНБ) who presented a warrant to search the house owned by Khaydarov. They said that they have "information about his participation in jihad in Syria" and have to search for weapons in his house.

Closer to 23:00 hours, Special Forces operatives began to disperse, they apologised to Dilmurat Khaydarov’s sister for the inconvenience. The whole house was ransacked, they even used mine detectors. There were no weapons found.

According to materials of the criminal case № 141-10-240 against the citizens of Kyrgyzstan Dilmurat Khaydarov, born in 1973; Khayrullo Saipov born in 1976.; Daniyar Kadyrov, born in 1970; Gani Sadikzhanov, born in 1974; Shukrullo Kochkarov, born in 1979; Bakhodir Sobirov, born in 1976. 

Dilmurat Khaydarov was arrested on 27 June 2010 during the "a clean up operation" conducted by the military in the village of Nariman. The authorities instigated two criminal cases against him on charges of the murder of Azhimamat Seyitov, a tax inspector at the village of Nariman and killing of two soldiers. He was charged under Articles 233, Parts 1, 2, 3, (organisation of, participation in the riots, calling for / inciting to disobey the authorities); 30-97, Part 2, paragraphs 4, 5, 9, 15, (complicity in the murder); 30-174, Part 2, paragraph 2 (complicity in the destruction of property); 28-340 (attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and a soldier) of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic.

During the investigation of the criminal case the fact of murder of Seyitov was not established, as his body was never found. But Khaydarov was charged under Article 30-97 of the Criminal Code (complicity in murder). This charge carries a prison sentence of up to life imprisonment.

The trial lasted for four years.

On 4 April 2014 Dilmurat Khaydarov was released under an amnesty, as evidenced by the certificate of release. On the basis of the appeal by the victims and the prosecutor, the case was reopened, and Dilmurat Khaydarov was declared wanted.

• Chronology of events

     – 7 October 2010: the Karasuy District Court (the Judge P.A. Baysunov) handed down its Decision on the criminal case of Saipov’s murder redirecting the case for additional investigation;

     – 2 November 2010: the Osh Regional Court upheld the Decision of the Karasuy District Court;

     – having considered the complaint by the victims to the Supervisory Court regarding annulment of the decisions by the Karasuy and Osh Courts, the Supreme Court upheld the decisions of the Court of First and the Second Instances;

     – 11 February 2011: the Karasuy District Court (the Judge M. Dzhalalova) handed down its Decision redirecting the case for additional investigation;

     – 28 September 2011: at the Karasuy District Court, the Judge M. Dzhalalova refused to consider the criminal case, because, during the hearing, the victims attacked the defendant D. Khaydarov;

     – 4 November 2011: during the hearing at the Karasuy District Court, the defendants challenged the Judge Z. Apyshev;

     – 20 January 2011: the Karasuy Distric Court (the Judge N. Matraimov) handed down its Decision on the criminal case regarding murder of two soldiers and sentenced D. Khaydarov to 8 years of imprisonment;

     – 2 March 2011: the Osh Regional Court overruled the Decision of the Karasuy District Court dated 20 January 2011;

     – 26 May 2011: the Supreme Court upheld the Decision of the Osh Regional Court and returned the case for reconsideration;

     – 22 July 2011: the Karasuy District Court (the Judge M. Dzhalalova) decided to send the case for additional investigation;

In November 2011 the two criminal cases against D. Khaydarov were joined;

     – 22 February 2012 the Karasuy District Court (the Judge S. Zakirov) issued its Decision to resend the case for additional investigation. Following this Decision, the victims sent their apposing application asking the Osh Regional Criminal Court to continue the trial.

     – 12 April 2012: at the hearing of the Osh Regional Court (chaird by the Junge М.М. Toktamishev, and panel of the Judges И.М. Ashirbaeva, К.М.Turgumbayev) the Decision handed down by the Judge S. Zakirov was quashed, the case was returned to the Karasuy District Court. The case was heard by a different judge.

     – In the following 10 days, the lawyer representing the defendants appealed this decision to the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan insisting that the Decision by the Judge S. Zakirov of the Karasuy District Court has to be upheld.

     – 2 August 2012: the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan upheld the Sentence of the Osh Regional Criminal Court dated 12 April 2012.

      – 25 January 2013: the Osh City Court headed by the Judge B.A. Osmanov started hearing of the criminal case № 141-10-240 After few court hearings, the victims challenged the Judge and the case was transferred to the Judge R.B. Kozhomkulov who considered the case for about a year.

      – 22 January 2014: the Judge Ramazan Burkanovich Kozhankulov of the Osh City Criminal Court sentenced D. Khaydarov to 7 years of imprisonment on the basis of Article 233, Part 2 (participation in mass riots).

    – 26 March 2014: the Decision of the Osh Regional Criminal Court (chaired by the Judge A.E. Kurbanov and panel of Judges A.Dz. Abdillaev and M.M. Toktamushev) was handed down. It sentenced Dilmurat Khaydarov, in accordance with Article 233, Part 1 (organising the mass riots), to 10 years of imprisonment. Previously, he was accused of part 2 of the same Article (participation in the mass riots) (punishable with imprisonment of up to 8 years). Other defendants  in the case were sentenced as follows: Part 2 of Article 233: Sh. S. Kuchkarov, B.Zh. Sobirov, D.N. Kadyrov– to 6 year of imprisonment, Kh. A. Saipov and G.E. Sobirzhanov – to 8 years of imprisonment. The charges of under Articles 97 (murder), 340 (encroachment on the life of an officer of a law-enforcement agency), 172 и 174 against the defendants were dropped. The Court was not offered any evidence of the accusations. The only «evidence» of the guilt of the defendants was their leadership skills. According to acts of amnesty issued in 2011 and 2014 the defendants were released.

     – 4 April 2014: at the Pre-Trial Detention Centre (СИЗО) they were issued certificates of their release confirming that they served the term under the Sentence dated 26 March 2014.

     – Not long after that, the victims appealed to the Cassation Court against the Sentence of the Osh Regional Criminal Court.

     – 24 June 2014: the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan heared the case and returned the case to the Karasuy District Criminal Court. However, the case was heard by the Osh City Court because the victims challenged the Judges of the Karasuy District Court.

    – 25 July 2014: the Osh City Criminal Court reconsidered the Sentence handed down on 26 March 2014 and decided to reopen the trial of the criminal case.

    – 26 March 2015: the Osh City Criminal Court held had a hearing, which the prosecutor and the victims failed to attend. Of the defendants, only Daniyar Kadirov was present, five others were not.

    – 7 April 2015: the Osh City Criminal Court held the next hearing, which the prosecutor and the victims failed to attend. Of the defendants, only Daniyar Kadirov was present, five others were not.

    – 19 and 23 April 2015: the hearing at the Osh City Criminal Court were adjourned, as the prosecutor, victims of Daniyar Kadirov and other defendants did not attend.

    – 28 April 2015: the Osh City Criminal Court suspended the trial because of the absence of five out of the six defendants. Dilmurat Khaydarov, Bahadir Sabirov, Gani Sadikzhanov, Khairullo Saipov and Shukurillo Kuchkarov did not show up. The sixth defendant Daniyar Kadirov came to the hearing. During the hearing, the Court decided to place him under a house arrest. The victims did not attend the hearing either.

Our previous publications on this case:

– Press Release  «Kyrgyz citizen DilmuratKhaydarov did not go to Syria» dated 8 February 2015;

– Press Release «Kyrgyzstan: the prisoner Khayrulla Saipov needs urgent hospitalisation» dated 11 February 2013;

– Press Release «Kyrgyzstan: the case of Dilmurat Khaydarov will be reconsidered» dated 28 January 2013;

– Press Release «Dilmurat Khaydarov: «In those days of the conflict, I even thought that they will express gratitude, but it turned out to be the opposite», dated 14 June 2012;

– Press Release «Dilmurat Khaydarov: «I love Kyrgyzstan, believe in its civilised future, but no one listens to me!», dated 28 February 2012.