[CivilSoc] Uzbekistan--Wave of Attacks on Human Rights Defenders

[Moderator]

The following item comes from RFE/RL (Un)Civil Societies, Vol. 4, No. 22, 3
September 2003.
WAVE OF ATTACKS ON HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS IN UZBEKISTAN
A leading Uzbek human rights activist was severely beaten by unidentified
attacks in Tashkent on 28 August, "The Moscow Times"  and human rights
groups reported on 29 August, in the latest of a wave of attacks on human
rights defenders. Surat Ikramov, a leading member of the Independent Group
for Human Rights Defenders, was hospitalized with a concussion, two broken
ribs, and bruises, "The Moscow Times" reported, citing AP.
According to a letter of support released publicly by the New York-based
International League for Human Rights (ILHR), on the morning of 28 August,
Ikramov, was driving home in his car, following a meeting he had with a
judge to set up a court date to appeal the conviction of Ruslan Sharipov, a
human rights activist and journalist currently in prison. Ikramov saw a man
hail him from the side of the road and pulled over, whereupon four masked
men in camouflage dragged him from the car, placed a plastic bag over his
head, and bound his arms and legs. The assailants put Ikramov in the car,
and drove away, continuing to beat him and suffocate him on the way.
According to a press release from the Independent Group for Human Rights
Defenders, the kidnappers talked about demanding up to $10,000 to release
Ikramov, but in the end took only his clothing, money, and car, abandoning
him by the Chirchik River when he lost consciousness. When he awoke, he
managed to crawl for four hours to the nearest traffic-police station to
obtain assistance and call his family, "The Moscow Times" reported. Ikramov
told the paper that he had been expecting an attack because he had had a
number of threatening phone calls.
The ILHR feels that this incident is directly connected to Ikramov's
involvement as a public defender in the case of Sharipov, who recently
received a five-year prison sentence on charges of homosexuality (which
remains a punishable offense in Uzbekistan) and sexual misconduct with a
minor, believed to be motivated by his critical reporting. With a wave of
attacks on human rights activists and journalists in Uzbekistan in recent
years, the attack on Ikramov is believed to be politically motivated, and
the ILHR has called for a full investigation of the kidnapping and beating.
Ikramov has been active in supporting the rights of dissident Muslims.
Human Rights Watch has reported a number of other incidents involving
attacks against human rights defenders in recent weeks apparently related to
Uzbekistan's Independence Day celebrations on 1 September. A group of women
beat Mutbar Tajibaeva, the organizer of a protest in the city of Ferghana,
and other picketers on 20 August. Tajibaeva was hospitalized for a week for
treatment of her injuries and is demanding the resignation of the local
prosecutor, since she believes the attack was ordered by the government. On
26 August, police detained Oleg Sarapulov, assistant of the jailed
journalist Ruslan Sharipov, along with a friend, after they went to the
police station in an effort to recover stolen mobile telephones. Police
questioned them in an intimidating manner about alleged sexual activity for
money and threatened to press charges against them.
Prior to this, they had received anonymous threats over the telephone that
they would suffer the same fate as Sharipov. On 28 August the Andijan
Province Court pressed criminal defamation charges against a human rights
defender, Saidjahon  Zainabitdinov, in relation to an article that he wrote
on police corruption. Activists who were planning to attend a protest that
Ikramov had been helping to organize outside the parliament the day of his
attack were effectively put under house arrest to prevent them from leaving
their homes that day, Human Rights Watch said. Others who managed to arrive
at the proposed picket site near the parliament building were detained and
driven away in buses, and later released. One activist, Elena Urlaeva, was
on her way to the protest when people who later said they were from the
National Security Service stopped her car and forcefully dragged her from
it, kicking her. They detained her for several hours and later released her.
Meanwhile, in a move that distracted from the government's crackdown on
independent human rights defenders, the Uzbek cabinet issued a decree on 27
August setting up a six-member board within the Justice Ministry to protect
human rights, uza.uz reported on 28 August (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 29 August
2003). The board is to have branches in all oblast justice departments and
in Karakalpakstan. The decree orders the Justice Ministry to take additional
measures to protect citizens' rights, to help develop civil society, to
improve law enforcement, and to enhance the independence of the judiciary.
It reminds the Justice Ministry specifically that it controls the judiciary,
and not local authorities.  Meanwhile, human rights activists continue to
press the courts to bring the perpetrators of the violence against them to
justice.
*****
"RFE/RL (Un)Civil Societies" is prepared by Catherine Fitzpatrick on the
basis of reports by RFE/RL broadcast services and other sources. It is
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