Dear Secretary of State
We are writing to you on the eve of the joint
meeting in Samarkand with foreign Ministers from the five Central Asian
countries in the new format of dialogues between USA and Central Asia “C5+1”.
We would like to bring to your attention that
the Uzbekistani authorities have begun to equate the work of human rights
defenders and independent journalists with anti-state activities. In a democratic community freedom of expression is an integral part of the social
process. However, in Uzbekistan activists who defend human rights principles and freedoms are blacklisted by the Uzbek
security services.
We are especially concerned about the fate of
imprisoned human rights defenders Nuraddin Dzhumaniyazov who suffers from
severe diabetes and Isroil Holdarov, who is disabled. Both men are over 60 years old and no
information about their whereabouts or state of health has been available for
over a year now.
Imprisoned journalists Muhammad Bekhjanov, Dilmurad
Saiydov and Salijon Abdurakhmanov are in extremely poor health. All three were
imprisoned on politically motivated charges in retaliation for their work as
independent journalists.
Former member of Parliament Murad Dzhuraev has spent 21 years in prison now, and his prison sentence has been arbitrarily extended four times.
None of the above prisoners who are in prison
on politically motivated grounds have been treated humanely, nor has any act of
amnesty been issued in relation to them. Over 40 civil society activists are in
prison at the present time on falsified charges.
Since 2004 it has been extremely difficult to carry out independent monitoring of implementation of human rights obligations in Uzbekistan. In 2011 the accreditation of the international
organization “Human Rights Watch” was rescinded by the Uzbekistani authorities
and for the last six years its staff has been refused
visas to visit the country.
For the last 14 years the 13 thematic special rapporteurs of the United Nations have been unable to visit Uzbekistan. There are no effective mechanisms for
protection and investigation of allegations of torture or other ill-treatment,
even in courts.
We would therefore like to express our trust and respect to you and the US government and ask you to take any available opportunity to
draw attention to the fate of imprisoned civil society activists in Uzbekistan. We request you also to urge the government of
Uzbekistan to resolve the issue of accreditation for Human Rights Watch and
allow independent international observers into the country. You can be sure
that your actions will provide valuable moral support to human rights activists
and encourage them to continue their socially useful activities.
Yours faithfully,
Nadejda Atayeva,
President of the Association for
Human Rights in Central Asia - AHRCA
