APPEAL
of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Geneva
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva
Commissioner Council of Europe for Human Rights, Strasbourg
Amnesty International, London
Fédération internationale des droits de l’homme, Paris
Human Rights Watch, New York City
International Crisis Group, Brussels
International Federation of Journalists, Brussels
International association on protection of a freedom of speech, Toronto
International League of Human Rights, New York City
World Organisation Against Torture, Geneva
Front Line, Dublin
Civicus, Johannesburg
Action by Christians Against Torture, Paris
Political prisoner Murod Juraev
(born 1952, Town of Muborak), being in prison since 1994, should have been
released from jail on August, 14th, 2009. But he did not leave the prison, a
court has once again sentenced him to a new term - 3 years of imprisonment. His
wife Holbeka Juraeva has told about it to the human rights activists in
Kashkadarya Region.
As it usually happens to political prisoners, Murod Juraev have been accused of ostensibly braking internal
discipline (regulations) of the colony. «My husband, according to the servicemen
of the colony, just read a newspaper at night», - Holbeka Juraeva has told with
deep grief in her voice.
This brutal act of the authorities is not new to anybody as the addition of new
terms to political prisoners and to the people convicted of religious motives
is a widespread phenomenon in Uzbek prisons.
The only purpose of these inhuman acts is not to release from prisons the
people whom the authorities consider illoyal to them, to definitively break
their will or, that is even worse, eventually, to destroy them physically.
Before the authorities some time kept Murod
Juraev in an investigatory cell the УЯ 64/СИ-7
colony in the City of Kattakurgan in the Samarkand Region, having transferred
him there from the colony УЯ 64/48 in the Town of Zarafshon in the
Navoiy Region. Then on the11th of August, he was sent to Tashkent keeping him
in an investigatory cell of the УЯ 64/СИ-1 colony, more
known under the name of "Tashturma" - Taskentjail.
The added
new term to Murod Juraev is the
third consecutive time. Shortly before the termination of the first term in
2003 Murod Juraev was sentenced on a
far-fetched charge under article 221 of the Criminal Code of the Republic
Uzbekistan - «Disobedience of the legal requirements of the administration of
the colonies of execution of punishments» - for three years of imprisonment.
The same has
occurred again in 2006 when the termination date of the last sentence
approached: more three years of punishment was added to the prisoner’s term
under the same article 221 of the Criminal Code.
In the late eighties of the last century Murod
Juraev held the post of Mayor of Muborak in the Kashkadarya Region, in 1990
was elected a deputy of Parliament of Uzbekistan.
In 1989 as
far back as the Soviet regime Murod
Juraev, not only in the history of Uzbekistan, but also the USSR, by his
decree as the Mayor for the first time dismissed the Muborak city organisation
of the ruling Communist Party. The Communist Party leader of Uzbekistan of that
time Islam Karimov did not forgive Murod
Juraev’s political step.
In 1991 with
the active participation of Murod Juraev
the "Erk" (Freedom) Democratic party of Uzbekistan was created and he
became one of its leaders. By the end of 1993 entire Uzbek democratic
opposition was suppressed by the most severe repressions of the Karimov regime.
Tens of the leaders and active workers of the party "Erk" including Murod Juraev, had been arrested and
jailed, ostensibly, for attempting to organise a revolution.
In 1993,
having left Uzbekistan to a foreign contry, Murod Juraev has organised the publication of the party newspaper
"Erk", and also its distribution in Uzbekistan. Special services of
Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan literally followed Murod Juraev’s heels and his party fellows, and at last, having
tracked them down in the City of Almaty, the capital of Kazakhstan of that
time.
According to
political prisoner Murod Juraev’s
wife his health condition is depressing, it has strongly worsened in the years
of his imprisonment. He has lost almost all of his teeth, the nose has lost the
ability of tactile sense, pus constantly follows from nasal bosoms, throughout
long time he is suffering incessant headaches. Severe tortures to which he was
subjected, have made matters took such a turn.
We, only by one example, by the example of Murod
Juraev, have shown the hostile attitude of the authorities of Uzbekistan to
the political opposition, human rights movement, independent mass media and in
general to any heterodoxy.
Now the
country is evolving towards totalitarianism of fascist type, and the power has
achieved its objective, having transformed Uzbekistan into a huge, almost
silent concentration camp.
The fact that Umida Niyazova, the journalist and famous human rights advocate,
had been convicted for the information available on popular web sites and kept
for the research purposes in the files of her laptop, is unprecedented even in
this police state.
Taking into
account that it is occurring against a background of toughening of censorship,
the growth of interdictions for departures from the country, scope of the
repressive measures, continuing tortures in prisons (so, because of intolerable
conditions in prisons earlier jailed dissidents Mamadali Mahmudov, brothers
Rashid and Muhammad Bekjanov, Sanjar Umarov, and also human rights activists
Alisher Karamatov and Norboy Holjigitov, journalist Jamshid Karimov are on the
verge of death), this regime should be qualified as one of the most cruel in
the world.
At the same time ambiguity and double standards are distinctly looked through
in the approaches of some democratic states and democratic institutes as the
United Nations, EU, OSCE to the authorities in Tashkent. When it concerns their
mutual relations with such violent political regimes as in Uzbekistan, we are
convinced that at least discharging of political prisoners in this country
would become the business not only of the Uzbek people, but also the world
democratic community.
The
authorities of Uzbekistan by police methods have limited to a minimum the capability
of the people to make changes in the country in a democratic way, including, to
achieve releasing of numerous prisoners of conscience.
We understand that many organisations to which our Appeal goes, are working to
protect human rights in many countries of the world and consequently we can not
urge them to concentrate their attention only to human rights issues in
Uzbekistan. Nevertheless, we would like that the listed organisations in the
beginning of the Appeal and respected by us to give their maximum attention to
the problem of releasing political prisoners in Uzbekistan.
We are
confident that on this sad moment for Uzbekistan everybody understands the
importance of this issue. In our opinion, in this question your continuous and
persistent efforts to draw attention of the leaders of the democratic
countries, EU, the United Nations, OSCE, leading politicians and world
mass-media to put maximum pressure upon the government of Uzbekistan are
extremely important.
The Uzbek government who in its reports to the Committees and the Human Rights
Council of the United Nations and in the speeches of its representatives at all
international conferences and meetings declares again and again that Uzbekistan
has the most democratic legislation, that it is building a democratic society
based on the supremacy of law, that it has accepted and ratified a number of
international documents, is actually striving to mislead and deceive the
international democratic community without supporting the statements with real and
concrete actions.
We call upon the governments of the democratic states, democratic institutes of
the world to face the truth and not to fall under the sweet songs of the Uzbek
government officials.
Let's cite
only one example from the twenty years' policy of deceit of the government of
Uzbekistan. Answering questions of the participants about children's and forced
labour in Uzbekistan at the Third Universal Periodic Review of the Human Rights
Council, held on December, 11th, 2008, the head of the state delegation of
Uzbekistan, director of the National Centre for Human Rights of Uzbekistan
Akmal Saidov said:
“Cotton in Uzbekistan is not produced by the state. All of it is produced in a
private sector. Attraction of children to cotton picking is not a state
policy”[http://www.un. org/webcast/ unhrc/archive. asp?go=081211#
amadopt)].
It is
absolutely impossible to agree with the words of Saidov, Doctor of Law, in any
way. His statement that the state is not responsible for the actions performed
in a private sector during a cotton-picking compaign even there used children's
forced labour is a full absurdity since under the laws of the country the state
bears responsibility for all the infringements of the labour legislation in
whatever sector of the economy they are made, especially for the infringements
connected with the use of child labour.
In
Uzbekistan special bodies are created to control over the infringements of
labour legislation by the state: labour inspections at local administrations
called hokimiyats, inspections on under-age affairs in militia. It is known
that the general supervision on the execution of legislation is made by the
Office of Public Prosecutor. Unfortunately, in the conditions of a violent
political regime these state structures do not and cannot protect the
children’s rights. Quite the contrary. All the state structures are mobilized
by the oral and unlawful directives of the authorities to cotton picking or any
harvesting compaigns.
You cannot
find the like in any country of the world.
Again this
year (2009), during cotton-picking campaign throughout the country practically
all the schools were closed by the order of the administration, all
schoolchildren of 5-10 grades (aged 12-17) and their teachers are forced to go
to cotton fields – the authorities acted impudently and openly.
And it occurs after when the authorities of Uzbekistan in 2008 unwillingly and
forcedly ratified two international documents on child labour: ILO Convention
№138 concerning the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment and the
United Nations Convention №182 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate
Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour.
We also wish
you to pay attention to the fact that having taken advantage of the connivance
of such authoritative international structure as the European Union, at the
recent meeting in Bruxelles the government of Uzbekistan by the lips of
Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Norov had the cheek to declare that the
Uzbek delegation had arrived here not to report and nobody granted the European
Union the right to supervise others.
We consider that whatever interests heads of the USA, European countries, EU, the
United Nations and OSCE were guided in mutual relations with Uzbekistan,
tactics of total lenience, especially, captation before its government is not
admissible.
Abdujalil
Boymatov, President of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan;
Phone:Mobile; 00 353 870 61 4883,E-mail b_abdujalil@ yahoo.com, Web www.hrsu.org
Bahadir Namazov, Head of the Committee for the Liberation of the Prisoners of
Conscience of Uzbekistan, a journalist;
Phone: Home- (99871) 2651313, Mobile- (+99893) 376-13-67, e-mail:- uznsovuz@gmail. com
Web:- www.uzn-sovesti.narod.ru
Elena Urlaeva, Head of the Human Rights Alliance of Uzbekistan;
Phone:Home; 00 998 71 260 1386, Mobile; 00 998 93 392 1784, e-mail; elena.urlaeva@ gmail.com;
Web; www.pau-novosti.ucoz.ru
Gulshan Karaeva, Chairman of the Kashkadarya Region branch of the Human Rights
Society of Uzbekistan;
Phone: Home; 00 998 75 225 0622, Mobile; 00 998 75 317 6277, e-mail; gulshankaraeva@ gmail.com
Web; www.hrsu.org
Mamir Azimov, Chairman of the Human Rights Association of the Jizzakh Region.
Phone: Home; 00 998 37 223 0515, Mobile; 00 998 72 227 3288, e-mail; salimaodina@ gmail.com
Web; www.hrsu.org
Appendix to the Appeal: A list of the prisoners of conscience in Uzbekistan by
December, 2009
Get your preferred Email name!
Now you can @ymail.com and @rocketmail. com.
http://mail.
promotions. yahoo.com/ newdomains/ aa/
___
Attachment(s) from Abdujalil Boymatov
1 of 1 File(s)
UZBEK
PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE: > 
Prisoners of conscience.doc