* * *
29
November, 2016 Le Mans, Berlin,
Memphis
Assets acquired by
the ruling elite of Uzbekistan as a result of the corruption scheme in its telecommunications
sector should be confiscated and returned to the victims of corruption
OPEN LETTER OF UZBEK ACTIVISTS TO THE GOVERNMENTS OF BELGIUM, IRELAND,
LUXEMBOURG, THE NETHERLANDS, SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND AND THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA
We,
the undersigned citizens of Uzbekistan, are writing to express our hope that
the cases filed by the U.S. Department
of Justice (No 1:15-cv-05063 of June 29, 2015 and No 1:16-cv-01257-UA of
February 19, 2016), to forfeit the
assets in the total amount of $850 million resulting from corrupt dealings in the telecommunications
sector in Uzbekistan will succeed and the European states in whose banks
these assets are frozen -- Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Sweden and Switzerland
-- will support these cases and take decision in the interests of the victims
of corruption. While we have been
forced to flee our homeland because of the risk of repression by the Karimov
regime, we continue to participate in the public life of our country from
exile.
We
call on you not to return these assets to
the government of Uzbekistan at this time because the government of
Uzbekistan fails to address the issues of systemic corruption that is endemic
to this government and fatally undermines the independence and integrity of the
executive, legislature and judiciary. After
the death of Karimov, government authorities promised to reform the judicial
system and adopt anti-corruption legislation, yet there is no reason to believe
that the government will end the corruption that keeps it in power. Even during
the reign of Karimov, the government adopted many good laws and signed and
ratified a number of international conventions on human rights and against
corruption. But in practice, the government has not implemented any of its laws
or fulfilled its international obligations.
We
believe that the proceeds from corruption should be used as redress for the people of Uzbekistan,
truly the victims of state organized
corruption. Given the unlikeliness that
the Uzbek government would agree to allow really independent disbursement of
these funds in the near future, we call for the freezing of these assets into a
transparent trust fund under international
auspices accountable to key stakeholders, including civil society.
1. We are
against the return of the assets to the government of Uzbekistan, which is among
the most corrupt and repressive in the world.
In the annex you’ll find the summary describing the governance system and
the human rights situation in Uzbekistan in support of this point.
2. We
also call on you to create a mechanism whereby the aforementioned assets can be used for the
benefit of the people from whom they were stolen— the
citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The loss they have suffered
as a result of corruption should be compensated.
The
amount subject to confiscation is significant, and would comprise a minimum 7%
of the annual budget of the country. We propose to use the assets in question
for the following purposes:
1) Fund for Compensation for Victims of Torture. We can and must consider those who have
suffered torture as victims of political and state corruption, since torture
serves the authoritarian rulers as a means to shield their shady dealings from
public scrutiny and control. Torture is often used against those who criticize
government corruption. Torture is also the most odious manifestation of the
lawlessness and corruption in the judicial system of the country. We ask that a
fund be created to assist torture victims, both those who remain in Uzbekistan
as well as those forced to flee the country. Criteria for identifying torture
victims can be taken from the published materials of human rights
organizations, the UN Human Rights Committee and Committee Against Torture, the
UN special procedures, as well as the materials used by the UN High Commission
for Refugees and immigration authorities for evaluating asylum claims.
2) Educational and Health Care Programs for the most vulnerable social groups.
3) Economic Assistance Programs for impoverished groups such as micro-lending,
infrastructure development, and small business services.
4) The
creation of Corruption Prevention Mechanisms in Uzbekistan,
that would promote transparency in government finance; reform the judicial
system and law enforcement authorities; strengthen the independent legal
profession; and establish effective anti-corruption bodies.
The
main condition for implementing the charitable programs described above should
be the non-interference by the Uzbek government
in their administration.
A
precedent for this already exists—the Bota
Fund, established by a three-party agreement between the governments of the
United States, Switzerland, and Kazakhstan, signed in 2007, and funded by
assets from “Kazakhgate”
($84 million paid to the president of Kazakhstan by a foreign company and
seized from Swiss bank accounts). As you know, the fund supported programs to
benefit impoverished children and its activities were accountable to its
founders, as well as representatives of civil society and the World Bank.
The
Bota Fund, in our view, serves as a successful example of the return of
ill-gotten gains to benefit the victims of corruption without returning them to
the government implicated in bribe taking. The fact that the fund was
established with the participation of the government of Kazakhstan but without that
government interfering or pressurising the Fund’s operations played a key role
in its ultimate success. We hope
very much that the government of Uzbekistan will agree to similar conditions
for asset repatriation.
The charitable programs we
proposed above should be accountable to the governments to which this letter is
addressed, namely the governments of Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the
United States of America, as well as to the representatives of civil society.
At
the same time, we understand that even by comparison with Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan presents an extremely unfavorable and difficult partner for
implementing charitable projects like those carried out by the Bota Fund.
There
are four main reasons for this:
1) If the
Bota Fund implemented programs through allocating grants to local
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that could provide assistance to the
population, in Uzbekistan a functioning civil society as such does not exist.
The majority of independent NGOs were destroyed between 2004-2007. For the most
part, the organizations that are left are completely under the control of the
government and their participation in a compensation and assistance project
would violate the key principle of noninterference by the government.
2) The
lack of freedom of expression, press, and association render effective
independent monitoring of the activities of charitable projects impossible. The
intolerance of, and harsh measures against independent observers would undermine
the principles of transparency and accountability of a charitable fund, should
one be established in Uzbekistan.
3) As
noted above, during the period from 2004 to 2007, the government of Uzbekistan
forced a range of international organizations out of the country, including
Freedom House, The Eurasia Foundation, The Open Society Institute, and others.
Human Rights Watch was also forced to close its office in 2011. The presence of
these organizations in the country is vital for independent monitoring as well
as for their support of domestic civil society. In other words, the successful
implementation of the programs outlined above requires a favorable
institutional and social operating environment.
4) Uzbekistan
prohibits free currency exchange. Four different exchange rates exist. There is
a significant difference between the official rate and the black market rate,
which allows the government to manipulate this difference. Even if the
government allows a charitable foundation to operate, it would first have to
convert its funds into local currency at the low official rate, meaning the
foundation would lose up to 50% of the value in the exchange.
While
we acknowledge that a compromise with the Uzbek government regarding the
creation of a charitable fund in Uzbekistan is necessary, we support such a
compromise only in so far as it would include terms that would:
- Remove
or significantly reduce the barriers for freedom of speech, press, assembly,
and association
- Liberalize
currency conversion policy in order to preserve the whole value of the assets
for charitable programs.
- Allow
international nongovernmental organizations, especially those specializing in
human rights and the fight against corruption to operate and receive
accreditation in Uzbekistan.
3. Considering that
the government of Uzbekistan is unlikely to agree to these conditions in the
near future, the full amount of the assets or the majority should be held in a trust that is
transparent and accountable to key stakeholders, including the governments of Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA, as well as the Uzbek civil
societyю. Such a trust
could be established under the auspices of an international organization with
the appropriate mandate, experience, expertise, and impeccable reputation. The
trust’s assets could be fully unfrozen when Uzbekistan develops the appropriate
conditions for using these funds to benefit all citizens and it’ll demonstrate political will to accept the
Bota Fund like solution.
The
governments of Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg,
the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States of America should
act in interests of Uzbek victims of corruption. Doing so will also protect
western businesses from falling into a trap of shadowy deals with corrupt Uzbek
officials – and subsequently facing multi-million penalties for bribery and
misleading their shareholders.
Sincerely,
Nadejda Atayeva, Association for Human Rights in
Central Asia, resident of France, n.atayeva@gmail.com (contact person)
Umida Niyazova, Uzbek-German Forum for Human Rights,
resident of Germany, umida.niyazova@gmail.com (contact person)
Sanjar Umarov, former political prisoner, US resident
Jodgor Obid, former political prisoner, poet, member
of the International Pen-Club (Austria), resident of Austria
Alisher Taksanov, journalist, resident of Switzerland
Ismail Dadajanov, Democratic Forum of Uzbekistan,
resident of Sweden
Dovudhon Nazarov, resident of Sweden
Alisher Abidov, Association for Human Rights in Central
Asia, resident of Norway
Mirrahmat Muminov, Association for Human Rights in
Central Asia, US resident
Dmitry Tikhonov, resident of France
Ulughbek Haydarov, former political prisoner, resident
of Canada
ANNEX: SUMMARY
OF THE GOVERNANCE SYSTEM OF UZBEKISTAN AND THE STATUS OF ITS HUMAN RIGHTS
Corruption is systemic
and systematic in Uzbekistan. In recent years,
Uzbekistan’s ranking in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception
Index has not risen above 153 of 168 countries. Corruption starts at the very
top, as evidenced by the scheme to extract at least $850 million from
telecommunications companies organized by Gulnara Karimova, the elder daughter
of the former president.
This corrupt scheme
has revealed the depressing reality in the Uzbekistan’s communications sector,
including the complete lack of an open and transparent tendering process, which
leads to the practice of issuing licenses in backroom deals. The state agency
responsible for regulating the sector thus issued licenses to offshore
companies with no experience running a business, with no reputation or even a
staff, and allowed them to resell the licenses to international mobile operators
in violation of Uzbek law. Since the corruption scandal of 2012-2014, the
situation has not changed. Only
Gulnara Karimova’s associates, who played rather a technical role in her
corrupt schemes and under whose names the offshore companies were held, have
faced prosecution, thus being held as scapegoats, while state officials who
made decisions that lead to corrupt practices have walked away with impunity.
The situation has not changed under the new
authorities. Untill now, licenses and frequencies allocation are still being
allocated behind the scenes, beyond the law.
Furthermore, after the death of Karimov, the
former chairperson of the National Agency for Telecommunications (now the
Ministry of Development of Information Technologies and Communications) Abdulla
Aripov, who personally authorized the allocation of licenses under the corrupt
scheme and was discharged afterwards from his office, has evaded justice, and
has now been restored to government posts.
Grand corruption in Uzbekistan is not limited to the telecommunications sector.
It permeates other sectors of the economy too, especially the cotton sector,
construction, trade and the sphere of currency exchange. Among the most corrupt
government institutions are tax authorities, customs, judiciary, prosecutors’
offices, police and National Security Service.
The sphere of
public finance as whole is completely non-transparent. Even parliament does not
know the amount of revenue from major state-controlled exports including
cotton, non-ferrous and precious metals, gas, and chemical products. Even more
importantly, citizens do not know how these revenues are allocated. Insiders
report that these revenues go not to the state budget but to extra budgetary
accounts in the Central Bank that are controlled by President and a small
circle surrounding him.
The systematic
nature of corruption is also apparent in the country’s nascent private sector.
Without an impartial judiciary and a transparent legal system, the business
people can only operate either through clannish connections to government
officials or by providing bribes to these officials.
The human rights
situation is appalling, which is an integral part of the political and economic
corruption in the country. According to all evidence, including the State
Department’s human rights reports and information reviewed by the European
Unions’ External Action Service, police routinely arrest people on false
charges such as drug possession, tax evasion, and other serious offenses. In
some instances these fabricated cases are politically motivated; in others,
corruption motivated, when criminal prosecution is used as a means of
extortion. Law enforcement authorities use intimidation, torture, humiliating
and degrading treatment, to extract from detainees false confessions and
statements incriminating others.
Based on personal
experience and information from our colleagues, we can testify that torture has
long been a routine practice by authorities in law enforcement structures and
the prison system in Uzbekistan. The only representative of the UN Human Rights
Council ever to have been able to visit Uzbekistan is UN Special Rapporteur on
torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment Theo van Boven who, after his visit to the
country in 2002, concluded that torture and other forms of cruel treatment in
Uzbekistan are systematic. Since van Boven’s visit, no other UN special
procedures on human rights have received an invitation to visit the country. In
2008, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment, Manfred Nowak, “stressed that he continued
to receive serious allegations of torture by Uzbek law enforcement officials”.
The government
systematically violates civil rights and freedoms, including the rights to
freedom of speech, press, assembly, and association. As under Islam Karimov, the real separation of powers
is still non-existent, with all the power concentrated in the hands of an
authoritarian ruler and his inner circle. The parliament acts as window
dressing, rubber stamping legislation and decisions that are prepared by the
presidential administration or the Cabinet of Ministers. Although judges are de jure independent, de facto they are
subordinate to the executive branch, especially the heads of local
administrations, the police, security services, and prosecutorial authorities, unconditionally
carrying out whatever is dictated by the heads of these structures.
The defense bar is under the complete control
of the government as represented by the Ministry of Justice and is not able to
act on an equal footing with the prosecutor's office in the judicial process in
order to protect the rights of defendants.
Intimidation of lawyers is frequent,
particularly if they take up sensitive cases or cases that implicate the
executive branch. As a result, lawyers refuse such cases or face the threat of
losing their licenses. A number of lawyers are denied the right to leave the
country, they are forbidden to speak at conferences without the Justice
Ministry’s permission.
The judicial process is completely
non-transparent. Neither law nor practice allows the open publication of
indictments, verdicts, or other court material. Therefore society, as a rule,
does not know why someone is sentenced, what are the arguments of prosecutor
and defense. Judges ignore allegations of torture made by defendants and don’t
proceed with respective medical examination. The court hearings on criminal
cases are often held behind closed doors, with no access provided for the
public and the press, especially if these are politically motivated cases.
Violations of human rights are closely linked
with corrupt practices by government bodies. The police often arrest people and
judges sentence them to prison to extort bribes. Just one recent example is the
case of the arrest and fabricated case against the Ibodov brothers,
entrepreneurs from the Bukhara region. The real reason for their arrest was the
refusal by the brothers to pay bribes to law enforcement officials. One of the
brothers, Rahim Ibodov, received a sentence of eight years in prison. The
other, Ilhom Ibodov, died as a result of torture. The court ignored Rahim
Ibodov’s allegations that he and his brother were severely tortured. The
authorities refused to investigate the allegations and, in doing so, became
accomplices in this crime.
The authorities also imprison and torture
those who attempt to expose the government’s abuse of power. The journalist and
human rights defender Dimurod Said, who exposed corruption in the Jambai
district of the Samarkand region, was sentenced in 2009 to 12.5 years in
prison, where he has contracted tuberculosis as a result of terrible conditions
of detention.
More than 30 civil society activists and
journalists and thousands of practicing Muslims are behind bars on
politically-motivated charges. Some of them will not be released alive or will
be released with their health destroyed from torture and ill-treatment in
prison.
Given this state of affairs, returning the
proceeds of corrupt dealings by senior Uzbek officials to the government of
Uzbekistan would be tantamount to returning it to the same people who stole it
or are implicated in its theft.
It is guaranteed that any amount returned to
the government of Uzbekistan would disappear into extra-budgetary and
non-transparent accounts at the disposal of the ruling elite with no
accountability to the public. It is also extremely likely that some of the funds
would be used to strengthen the repressive apparatus, for covert operations
against dissidents and critics of the abuse of power, including by paying
criminals to carry out political assassinations of dissidents located outside
the country.
One example of this practice of hiring
criminals by the Uzbek security services was the attempted assassination in
Sweden of the Uzbek refugee, and well-known imam Obidkhon Nazarov in 2012; another such case is the murder of the journalist
Alisher Saipov in 2007.
Though President Karimov recently died, there
is no reason to believe that his corruptly cultivated network of government
officials responsible for keeping him in power for so long plan to operate any
differently.
Despite the rhetoric heard from the new authorities
that target the abuse of public office, we see all the same practice of
violating the rights of citizens, that include the continuing practice of
forced labor, arrests and beatings in custody of human rights defenders and
journalists.
The return of the assets to the government of Uzbekistan would act against the
interests of victims of corruption and encourage new criminal practice. Such a turn of events would be greatly
demoralizing to Uzbek society and also negatively affect the reputation of the
governments in the US and Europe, who are declaring support to human rights and
the fight against corruption. The entire world, including the people of
Uzbekistan, closely watches the actions of these governments in these matters.
There
are no adequate conditions for independent monitoring. There are a number of cases when Uzbek activists
tried to carry out monitoring on various issues, for example of forced labor.
These activists suffered serious reprisals from the government in retaliation
for their activities, for example, human rights activist Uktam Pardaev was
convicted on spurious criminal charges,while Dmitrii Tikhonov, another activist, was beaten
by police and had his home destroyed by arson,which was evidently a response from the Uzbek authorities
to their activity on monitoring the practice of forced labor.
