Uzbekistan’s 2009 cotton harvest is in, but at what price?

The country’s top leadership has issued the list of the leading cotton producing districts in this year’s harvest.  Among them are the Gurlen district of Khorezm province and the Ellikkalin district of the Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan.  Below for a selection of the evidence of forced labour in these and other districts, as well as information on cases of illness and even death resulting from the state’s poor organisation of harvest labour.

October 2009

Three hundred fifty medical workers split into six groups took part in harvesting cotton in Yangibazar district of Khorezm region. They were ordered to pick a quota of 60 kg each per day, totalling over 15 tons daily.  One hundred fifty of the medical workers from the Yangibazar district central hospital were assigned to one Yangibazar farm alone; they were under obligation to gather 120 tons of cotton.  During the course of their work there were cases of fevers and intensified chronic illnesses among the rural residents picking cotton in the same fields.  That segment of the population generally does not have money to purchase medications or to see doctors, which aids in spreading colds and other viruses throughout the villages.  At the same time, since medical personnel are distracted from their primary occupation in the autumn [when they are out picking cotton], the level of care provided to patients with infectious diseases is lowered.

*     *     *

On 13 October an employee of the Khorezm Oncological Centre, G.U. (name withheld to protect the victim’s privacy), born in 1982, was beaten, robbed and raped on her way home from picking cotton in the Urgench district.  At 7 pm she was walking home in an unpopulated area along the highway when she was attacked by an unknown man, 25 kilometers from the centre of Urgench.  She was hospitalized in critical condition.

Usually G.U.’s husband walked her home from work, but, he could not on that day.  After this incident her husband’s family cut off any contact with G.U.  In Uzbekistan, especially in rural areas, because of certain cultural and religious traditions and the mentality, the victim is usually blamed in these circumstances, which only intensifies her trauma. Her husband had previously requested that her employer, the Oncological Centre, exempt her from picking cotton, but the Chief Doctor (Svetlana Ibragimova Palvanova) refused, citing the need to fulfil the district governor’s instructions to mobilize all workers to harvest the cotton.

The local police detained the suspected attacker shortly thereafter, and are currently investigating the crime.

The victim continues to experience traumatic effects, the future impact of which is difficult to predict.  Nevertheless, G.U. is not planning to sue her employer who failed to provide safe conditions during the work day.  Labour law requires that employers must supply workers with transportation if those workers are required to carry out tasks that require supplemental transport to different worksites. However in Uzbekistan very few workers are aware of their rights set out in collective bargaining agreements or even in national legislation.  There is a high level of unemployment in the country and so many citizens withstand unbelievable humiliation just to preserve their jobs.  Enterprise directors prefer to follow the unwritten directives of their superiors, as the experience shows, for the very same reason-to preserve their own jobs, which confer status in society and material benefits.

The management of the Khorezm Oncological Centre is doing its utmost to prevent the discovery of any written orders given to the victim regarding the cotton harvest.  It seems, therefore, that no one is planning to compensate the victim for her physical and moral suffering…?

*     *     *

A cotton-harvest related automobile crash in the Urgench district of Khorezm province on October 26 took the life of a 28 year old doctor.  A bus carrying employees of the Urgench Central District Hospital was returning from the cotton fields when it was struck in the side by a wagon carrying cotton which had uncoupled from its tractor on a poor stretch of the road.  In addition to the doctor, two hospital employees were hospitalised in critical condition and two other bus passengers were injured.

*     *     *

The Association “Human Rights in Central Asia” has concluded that the organisers of this year’s cotton harvest were not able to provide workers with free choice of employment or with fair conditions of employment, as laid out in article 37 of the Constitution of Uzbekistan.

The Republic of Uzbekistan Labour Code, which came into force on 1 April 1996, contains more than thirty articles directly related to workers’ protection.  For example, article 241 forbids persons younger than 18 years of age from engaging in work that is harmful to health.  This national norm applies not only to those up to the age of 15 (as specified in the Law on Guarantees of the Rights of Children), but covers fully all persons up to the age 18.

The last list of territories where work conditions are prononced harmful to health was promulgated by the government in 1996; the lack of a current list prevents persons living and working in those zones from receiving state benefit payments.

 

Labour unions in the country are completely inactive, playing very little role in relations between employees and workers.  It is noteworthy that the chairman of the Federation of Labour Unions of Uzbekistan serves at the same time as a member of the government.  This crudely violates the fundamental principles of organizing a labour union – the independence of unions from the executive branch of the government, from local government, and other social and political groups.  It is for this reason that the Federation of Trade Unions of Uzbekistan is still not accepted as a member of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

 

*     *    *

Members of the Association have documented photographically the use of forced child labour in those regions praised as “first rate” cotton producers by the government, including the Gurlen district of Khorezm province.  In the Ellikalin district of the Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan, young people worked in fields sprayed with toxic chemicals, and as a result, many of them contracted intestinal illnesses.  Medical offices have refused either to register those illnesses or to document their likely cause.

© Association for Human Rights in Central Asia

 

© Association for Human Rights in Central Asia


 

 

Uzbekistan: Development of human rights movement under deficit of objectivity, equity and justice

Report and recommendations for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

General background

Human rights movement in Uzbekistan is on the verge of survival, it is oppressed everywhere by the authorities of any rank. Human rights activists enjoying confidence of the population and international observers, experience total control of the law-enforcement agencies. Their open criticism of the weaknesses of national mechanisms of human rights protection and violations of the standards of international law is perceived by the authorities as a crime.

According to the data available to our organization, at present time 17 human rights activists serve sentences in prisons on trumped up criminal charges; over the years, more than 50 members of human rights organizations were prosecuted under administrative or criminal legislation; 75 civil society activists were forced to leave the country. Emigration process  of human rights activists became most active in 2005 and is growing in intensity.

When any form of public expression of disagreement with the official doctrine occurs the Repressive State apparatus responds with torture. According to IGIHRDU[1], and “The Club of Ardent Hearts”, non-governmental organization, about 1000 employees of the law enforcement agencies and medical institutions were involved in practices of torture. Methods of applying physical and moral pressure of these butchers are very refined. Any attempts to prosecute the officials responsible turn against the victims and human rights activists.

Biased estimate by international monitors of current situation actually encourages targeted reprisals against country’s human rights movement representatives by the Uzbek government. This results in sheer moral and physical exhaustion of the human rights workers and defeat of hopes for justice of all victims of human rights violations.

Estimate of the OSCE observers’ reports

The director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Janez Lenarcic illogically came to conclusion that Uzbekistan stepped up  in development of human rights in the country. In his analysis, he notes that:

-  improvement of conditions of detention. This conclusion can hardly be considered objective as there is still no public control of respect for human rights at places of imprisonment, the authorities refuse to cooperate with non-governmental organizations and the penal system remains subordinated to the Ministry of the Interior[2]. The fact that 200 deaths of prisoners occurred for the last 2 years, as stated by the IGIHRDU, destroys any illusion of improvement;

- abolition of the death penalty. Officially the death penalty is not applied in the country. But in fact those sentenced to life imprisonment are doomed for suspended death. The prison for prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment was constructed on the grounds of Soviet test chemical weapons test facility. Inhuman condition of detention is worsened further by severe climatic conditions in the zone of Aral ecological crisis. Keeping the prisoners there itself would amount to torture as staying in such constitutes carries unrecoverable health risk;

- release of some human rights activists. Individual cases of release of political prisoners, considering respective context, at best, can be classified as manipulating the observers: when some political prisoners go free under pressure of international community the available place in prison remains free a short while – it is occupied soon by other victim of arbitrary treatment. For several years the regime uses all possible means of reprisals against human rights activists, prosecuting them, depriving of liberty for long terms. Cases of forced testimonies against oneself and one's colleagues became more frequent. All this thumbs the society down and restricts flow of reliable information;

- active cooperation of the OSCE and Uzbekistan on human rights. In Uzbekistan the absolute majority of human rights activists perform their activities informally. For instance, organizations The Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (created in 1992) and Mothers Against Death Penalty and Torture (created in 2000) made unsuccessful attempts to get registration in the Ministry of Justice.

It is worthy of noting that in the period of active cooperation of the OSCE with Uzbekistan in field of human rights, the human rights activists lost their right to appear as social defenders therefore right to participate in criminal proceedings. Prior to this change, a human rights activist had a right to present evidence, take part in studying the evidence and perform other duties of an attorney.

Our organization observes that it is getting harder and harder to access the alternative sources of information on dismaying situation of human rights in Uzbekistan. It is hard to understand why the broadcast time of “Deutsche Welle”, International French Radio (RFI), “Voice of America and other western mass media is degreased. Internet is accessible hardly to one tenth of population in Uzbekistan. Moreover access to the internet resources with content unwanted by the authorities is being blocked by the security service. So population in Uzbekistan is deprived of the last breath of fresh air in close informational atmosphere of the Central Asian regimes. The authorities still deny broadcast permission in the country to the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and BBC World Service. 

Uzbek human rights activists face severe problems not only because they have to work in tough conditions but also are struggling to survive. Much to our regret the OSCE and European Union follow cynical pragmatics of geopolitics instead of morals of the Bill of Rights.

 

Reprisals against human rights activists

The imprisoned human rights activists are in the most difficult condition. Agzam Turgunov, director of “Mazlum” human rights center, who is sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment,  in his recent letter wrote: “Here it is the most difficult to survive and remain a human able to face reality no matter what…”. Activists in custody suffer particular oppression for openly defending the ideals of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. By all possible prohibited measures they are forced to admit offenses alleged to them. Many of them are physically exhausted, suffering from tuberculosis and other serious diseases. (The list of imprisoned human rights activists is attached).

On August 28, 2009, the Senate of the Parliament of Uzbekistan adopted a decree on amnesty.  Many of prisoners from the list have ground for claiming for premature release according to Paragraph 3 of the document (on release of persons who suffer severe diseases, which makes it impossible to serve a sentence). Though, we know it for sure that before the act of amnesty was issued many of them had been charged with violation of the discipline by prison administrative decisions. Some of them had been prosecuted under Article 221 of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan (On disobedience to lawful requests of prison administration).

The crusade against human rights activists in continued since the year 2004. Analysis of evolution of treatment of human rights activists by the authorities gives us a picture that the policy is purposefully pursued:

In 2004 main mechanism of oppression against the protesting, consisted of intimidation and organized attacks on human rights activists who were later accused of alleged acts of hooliganism, notwithstanding being victims of such acts planned by the authorities.

In 2005 all leading human rights activists advocated the request of the European Union concerning carrying out international investigation of the Andijan events by a team of experts including independent ones. The response of the authorities were accusations of blackmail, economic crime and defamation. All of this was done aiming at discrediting the human rights movement.

In 2006 with the purpose of suppressing all efforts of dissemination of materials with objective estimation of the events in Andijan human rights activists and other civil society representatives were accused of dissemination of prohibited literature and crossing the border illegally.

In the years 2007-2008, during the period of actively intensified EU-Uzbekistan dialog on human rights, arrests of human rights activists accused of defamation continued, torture and made up accusations against political prisoners proceeded. Simultaneously pressure on their relatives aimed at forcing the prisoners to write to the president of the country petitions asking forgiveness increased.

In 2009 we received reports concerning falls accusations against human rights activists related to derogation of the foundations of the constitutional system and other grave offenses. During pre-trial investigation they are denied a lawyer.

It is impossible to underestimate the geopolitical position of Uzbekistan. And the authorities of the country are well aware of it. Short-term gain from arranged cooperation of the West with Karimov’s regime betrays slim hope of population of Uzbekistan for justice.

Recommendations for the OSCE and European Union

Human rights activists try to inform parties of the dialog on human rights between the OSCE, European Union and the government of Uzbekistan to attain conditions for stable legal system to be created.

1. Keep the issue of release of human rights activists who suffered for their activism in the agenda of the Dialog until all of them are released;

2. In the context of implementation of the decision of the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE of 2007 concerning human rights activists and national human rights institutions:

·      To draw attention to the fact that the Decree of the Senate of Oliy Madjlis of the Uzbekistan of 28 August 2009, “On amnesty in celebration of the eighteenth anniversary of the declaration of independence of the Republic of Uzbekistan” caused: a) a tide of reprisals against imprisoned civil society activists, especially of those who eligible  for release according to the provision of the Article 3 (on the release of persons who suffer severe diseases, which makes it impossible to serve a sentence); b) intentional refusal of proper medical aid and ignoring obvious facts of deterioration of health of imprisoned civil society activists;

·      To support human rights defenders who sustain their activities in circumstances of their threatened security;

3. Ensure visit of the Committee of the “Red Cross” to imprisoned human rights activists whose state of health calls for special concern. The list is attached;

4. Promote adoption of legislation regulating law enforcement bodies of the country in performing their duties in Uzbekistan, such as: a) the Law on Militia of the Republic of Uzbekistan; b) the Law on the National Security Service of Uzbekistan; c) the Law on Criminal Investigation Activities of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

5. Insist on adoption of the Law on civil control of respect for human rights in detention to meet the obligations under the Helsinki agreement, adopted by the government of Uzbekistan;

6 Register human rights organizations of Uzbekistan.

---

[1] IGIHRDU — Initiative group of independent human rights defenders of Uzbekistan

[2]The Central Administration of Executing Punishments is subordinated to the Ministry of Interior providing fertile ground for the practice of torture against the convicted. It is appropriate to hand over this department to the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan which does not comprise the activities to detect and investigate crime.

Uzbek refugee children may freeze to death in the Iranian mountains

On 21 January 2009 humanitarian organisations sent a letter to Antonio Guterres, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. They appealed for the rescue of 27 Uzbek refugees who are currently hiding in the Iranian mountains. They urgently need to be transferred to a country willing to take them in.

 

At present 27 mandate refugees – Uzbek citizens – are residing on the territory of Iran, in a situation bordering on a humanitarian crisis. Among them are 15 minors, including 3 babies and 6 women, one of whom is pregnant. They were illegally brought to Iran from Turkey on 11 October 2008.

It has been more than three months that they have been living in the north-west of Iran – in the mountains, in unbearable conditions. Air temperature in this area goes below -10°C, it is always windy, the first snow fell in September. The families with children, including young babies, are living in summer lodgings built in the caves and unsuitable for living in the winter period. The children have grown weak because of the cold and hunger. Sometimes the local population helps them with food, but since the winter set in, travelling in the mountains has become dangerous and their help is now rare.

 

These people arrived in Turkey in September 2007 from Iran, where they had earlier been qualified for international protection by UNHCR mission. They were forced to move, as in Iran they did not have the right to work and hence had no livelihood, their children were not admitted to schools, and there were no prospects of resettlement to a third country.

 

All of them are from the Fergana valley in Uzbekistan. They left their home country in the 1990s, fleeing the Uzbek authorities’ repression of those who attend the mosque of one of the most famous imams in Uzbekistan – Abduvali-qori Mirzaev. These people knew nothing about the system of international protection. Having seen a programme on Uzbek TV about a camp for “religious refugees” on the territory of Tajikistan, they set off for this camp without suspecting they would find themselves in an Islamists’ camp. So this life of displacement, started in Tajikistan, brought them to Turkey through Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.

 

On the territory of Turkey they complied with the Turkish migration law: Immediately upon arrival they registered with the UNHCR mission in the town of Van and at the local police station. Nevertheless, within one month they were twice expelled to Iran: for the first time on 12 September 2008, while Turkish policemen tore apart all their papers. In Iran they fell victim to bandits who demanded a ransom and threatened them with death if they did not get one. A week later the refugees managed to return to Van, however on the night of 11 October 2008 the police hauled them out of bed and brought them to a mountainous area on the territory of Iran again.

 

When the frosts set in, the refugees made several attempts to reach a camp in the town of Arok where they had lived before moving to Turkey, but they were not allowed to go through Iranian customs.
The people are desperate and are begging us to save at least the children.

 

There is no doubt that the conditions in which these refugees are living present an imminent threat for their life and health. They have no access to medical or indeed to any regular humanitarian aid. The situation they find themselves in could lead to irreparable consequences.

 

The numerous attempts by representatives of the international community to secure support from the Turkish government, or Turkish parliamentary deputies, in order to provide relief have failed.

 

We consider that these refugees are in urgent need of a resettlement to a third country.

 

The following people appeal to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres:

 

Nadejda Atayeva, President of the Association “Human Rights in Central Asia”, Le Mans, France

Svetlana Gannushkina, Chairperson of the Civic Assistance Committee, Board member and head of Migration Rights Network. Moscow, Russia

Oleg Orlov, Chairperson of the Memorial Human Rights Center Board, Board member of Memorial International

Sergey Kovalev, President of the Memorial Human Rights Center, president of the Institute of Human Rights, Moscow, Russia

Valentin Gefter, Director of the Institute for Human Rights, Moscow, Russia

Bjorn Engesland, Secretary General, Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Oslo, Norway

Danuta Przywara President of the Board of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Warsaw, Poland

 

Uzbekistan: A campaign for the release of writer Mamadali Makhmudov

The Eternal Mountains

A novel by Uzbek writer Mamadali Makhmudov, who has been convicted by the Karimov regime and has been sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment, is now available in bookstores throughout France.

Writer Mamadali MAKHMUDOV, a citizen of Uzbekistan using the pseudonym Evril Turon, was born in 1940. He headed the Foundation for Culture of Uzbekistan and then led the Turkistan movement, which was established by a group of Uzbek intelligentsia and existed between 1989 and 1993. Mr Makhmudov is a laureate of the Hellman-Hammet prize awarded to victimized writers persecuted for their political views. He was also awarded the Cholpan prize which was introduced to honor the memory of victims of Joseph Stalin’s “purges” with which he was awarded for his novel The Eternal Mountains.

The L’AUBE, a French publishing house, has released a historical novel by Mamadali Makhmudov, an Uzbek writer, entitled The Eternal Mountains and translated by Philippe Frison. The writing describes events that occurred during the  late 19th  century when  Tsarist Russia occupied Central Asia.The novel is available in bookstores throughout most Francophone countries in the French language. This is the first time that such a wide range of readers have been able to familiarize themselves with Mamadali Makhmudov’s work and the Uzbek traditions that he  describes with great mastery in the novel, as well as the Uzbek societal problems that it faced during the described period in history.

At the moment, 67-year-old Mamadali Makhmudov is confined in an Uzbek prison. The writer was arrested on the 26th  of February of 1999 on charges of Article 25-159 Part 4 (infringement of the constitutional order), Article 216 (establishing prohibited public associations and religious organizations), and Article 242 Part 1 (establishing a criminal group). On the 18th of August of 1999, the Tashkent Region Court sentenced the writer to 14 years of imprisonment. He is now serving his term in the UYA 64/6 maximum security prison in the town of Chirchik of Tashkent Region, Uzbekistan.

 

Mamadali Makhmudov was brought to account for the first time in 1994. Uzbek law enforcement bodies planted a weapon that did not belong to him in order to prove his involvement with a terrorist organization. The public was not convinced the charge was genuine so he was released. Later Mamadali Makhmudov was charged with embezzlement and convicted and sentenced to four years of imprisonment. Thanks to an active international campaign for his release and due to lack of Corpus Delicti, he was later amnestied.

 

While still imprisoned in 2003, Mr Makhmudov wrote an open letter to President Islam Karimov. Here is an extract from the letter: “… Why was I not imprisoned during the USSR but after we achieved Independence? Have I not dreamt of Independence, fought for it, wrote about it and chose it as the main goal of my life?! I have written all of my books for the sake of our nation’s freedom and sovereignty. Even the Soviets never reprimanded or imprisoned me  for my work.

“Is imprisoning a national hero not an insult to the nation?!… When in our history have our prisons been filled to this extent?! Is there a single person in the country who has not been imprisoned, nor been insulted?! Has our history ever witnessed thousands of people self-immolating, hanging and poisoning themselves?!…“

“I was subjected to horrible and unheard-of tortures. [Wardens] drove needles under my fingernails and pulled them out with pliers, drove a gun into my mouth and knocked out my teeth. They beat me up with fists and batons, kicked me, covered my body with bruises and scabs, they injected unknown chemicals into my body and forced me to drink unknown fluids…

“Falsification of testimonies is practiced throughout the country. Countless people imprisoned for many  years suffer from this. Even the capital punishment is issued based on falsified  testimonies…”

 

At the moment, writer Mamadali Makhmudov is in dire need of medical attention as he is suffering from tuberculosis.

The L’AUBE publishing house and Philippe Frison, the translator of the novel, have launched a campaign in support of Mamadali Makhmudov and urging for his release.

 

The writer has left three children and seven grandchildren behind. Law-enforcement agencies in Uzbekistan maintain constant surveillance of his family. His son, Bobur, was arrested in Tashkent following the Andijan events in May 2005 but he was released due to lack of evidence of his involvement in the events. The imprisoned writer’s sons have been unable to secure employment due to their family relationship with him for the last five years.

We are ardently asking you to support the campaign and send your messages to Philippe Frison at:

asiecentrale@neuf.fr

* * *

A sample letter for the release of writer Mamadali Makhmudov

 

Subject: An appeal for the amnestying of Mamadali Makhmudov

 

Mister President,

 

I have read the French translation of The Eternal Mountains by Mamadali Makhmudov with great interest. In the book, the author advocates his country, its language and its millennial culture. This text is a genuine speech for the defense of peace and tolerance.

 

It is a paradox, to say the least, that a 67-year-old writer, who was awarded the Cholpan prize in 1992 for this novel, is now serving a 14-year prison sentence  based on a verdict adopted by a trial which violated all international norms of justice in 1999.

 

I would be very grateful to you if you bestow humaneness on Mamadali Makhmudov and sign his amnesty.

 

Full name, signature

 

Do not forget to sign the letter, write your address, put the date and send it to:

 

President Islam A Karimov
The presidential residence
700163 Uzbekistan
Tashkent, Uzbekistanskaya Street 43
Fax: +998 71 289 00 46presidents_office@presse-service.uz

 

                   Copy:

The embassy of Uzbekistan in Paris
22, rue d'Aguesseau
F-75008 Paris
Fax: +33 (0)1 53 30 03 54contact@ouzbekistan.fr

 

Arrested human rights activist Agzam Turgunov is tortured with hot water

an absurdly framed criminal case against a human rights activist

Agzam TURGUNOV
2006

An interrogator poured hot water onto arrested human rights activist Agzam Turgunov during an interrogation, thus forcing the activist to confess in crimes he is charged with. Mr Turgunov fell unconscious and only thanks to paramedics help he was brought back to his senses. The human rights activist’s case requires an immediate involvement of the international community. 

Mr Agzam TURGUNOV was born in 1952. He is the executive director and founder of the Mazlum human rights center based in Tashkent. Mr Turgunov is involved in public service since 1994. He monitors the cases of many political prisoners including Mr Murod Jurayev, Mr Mamadali Makhmudov, Rashid and Muhammad Bekjanovs. He has also participated in defending the head of the Karakalpak branch of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, Mr Tursunbay Utamuradov, who was forced to leave the country. 

Agzam TURGUNOV’S case: Agzam Turgunov was arrested in Nukus, the Karakalpakistan Autonomous Republic’s capital in north-western Uzbekistan on 11 July 2008. He has travelled there to meet a defendant in a divorce case. In this case, he was acting as a public legal-representative for the claiment. The defendant has attempted to resolve the case against the court verdict to share the marital property, and proposed 450 US dollars as compensation. The parties did not come to an agreement. The defendant accused Agzam Turgunov of breaking down the negotiations and filed a complaint with the police against Agzam Turgunov’s allegedly illegal actions.

A criminal case was initiated against him based on Article 165 (extortion). The absurdity of the charge rests on the fact that Turgunov, based on the claiment’s request, was participating in the negotiations on compensating the amount based on the already adopted court verdict.

On 21 July 2008, the public legal-representative for Azgam Turgunov, Ms Robiya Utamurodova, was able to meet with the arrested activist in the pre-trial detention facility. According to her words, the human rights activist was suffering from blisters on his spine, which are described as the third level skin burns. As it became clear later on, the interrogator has poured hot water onto Turgunov. The human rights activist fell unconscious and only ambulance doctors were able to bring him back to his senses. There is no information on Mr Turgunov’s health condition at the moment. A reliable source informs that this interrogator has had a negative attitude towards Turgunov for a long time, because the latter’s human rights activities resulted in closure of several criminal cases under the former’s supervision. 

It is necessary to immediately provide:

   — a humane treatment of Agzam Turgunov, stopping the physical and psychological pressure; 

   — allow the representatives of the International Red Cross to visit him; 

   — carrying out a forensic expertise into the gravity level of physical injuries on his body; 

   — full access for Turgunov’s advocate, Mr Rustam Karabayev.

The Association for Human Righs in Central Asia is urges all interested parties, organizations and mass media to get involved in Mr Agzam Turgunov’s fate and make appeals to the leadership of the Republic of Uzbekistan at the addresses below. 

• The system

The Uzbek government has adopted a national programme on uprooting torture; however, the practice of violent treatment remains acute in temporary detention facilities, investigation cells, and penitentiary camps. Numerous facts of violence against civilians served as grounds for working out recommendations for UN Committee Against Torture in November 2007. 

The Association for Human Righs in Central Asia draws attention to the fact that a state official has used force and harmed the health of suspect Agzam Turgunov during investigation procedures. There are several indications in the interrogator’s actions stipulated in the Uzbek Criminal Code as an intended commitment of grave crimes in Article 206 – abusing power, and Article 235 – applying torture and other humiliating kinds of treatment and/or punishment. These articles stipulate a punishment of long-term imprisonment for those who breach them. Up to date, the prosecutor’s office has not issued any statements regarding the interrogator’s criminal actions.

The government of Uzbekistan should respect obligations stipuluated in UN International Pact on Civic and Political Rights, the Convention against torture and other forms of inhumane treatment or punishment, the UN declaration on rights and duties of separate persons, groups and communities, the set of principles of protecting all those subjected to detention or arrest in any forms; and encourage and protect human rights and liberties.

• Addresses:

• President of Uzbekistan, Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov ul. Uzbekistanskaya 43, Rezidentsia prezidenta, 700163 Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan Fax: +998 71 133 1395325, e-mail: presidents_office@press-service.uz 

• Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vladimir Norov Ministerstvo inostrannykh del RU, pl. Mustakillik 5; 700029 Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan Fax: + 998 71 139 15 17, E-mail: rnews@mfa.uz

• Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, Sayora Rashidova ul. Xalqlar Dostligi 1, 700035 Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan Fax: +998 71 139 85 55, E-mail: office@ombudsman.gov.uz

• General Prosecutor of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Rashidjon Hamidovich Kodirov ul. Gulamova 66, 700047 Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan Fax: +998 71 133 39 17, E-mail: prokuratura@lawyer.com

• National Centre for Human Rights, Senator Akmal Saidov Natsionalny Tsentr po pravam cheloveka, Mustakillik Maidoni 5/3, 700029 Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan Fax: + 998 71 139 13 56 / 45 16, E-mail: office@nchr.uz

• Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the United Nations in Geneva PO Box 1853, 1215 Geneva 15, Switzerland Fax: +4122 799 43 02, E-mail: uzbekistan@bluewin.ch