UZBEK HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST PRESENTED AWARD IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DUBLIN 000731 SIPDIS SIPDIS EUR/CACEN NNICOLAIDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/12/2016 TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV UZ ZK PINS EI SUBJECT: UZBEK HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST PRESENTED AWARD IN DUBLIN REF: 6-20-06 EMAIL OLSON-ROSENBERGER Classified By: Pol/Econ Chief Mary E. Daly, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) Madumarov receives human rights defender award in Dublin -------------- -------------- ¶1. (U) On June 16, Uzbek national Ahmadjan (aka Akhmadian) Madumarov was named as the recipient of the second annual Front Line Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk for his work as an activist in Uzbekistan. According to the Irish NGO Front Line, Mr. Madumarov, of the Independent Human Rights Organization of Uzbekistan (NOPCHU),has been working as a human rights defender for over 30 years despite continued threats from the GOU and the incarceration of five members of his family. In the award ceremony, Front Line alleged that since bomb attacks in Tashkent in 1999 and ensuing government crackdowns on Islamic extremists, there has been no freedom of religion in Uzbekistan. Front Line praised Madumarov's courage in overcoming the pervasive climate of fear and his advocacy for those arrested and tortured (allegedly for religious practice rather than for evidence of illegal activity). In retaliation for his human rights work, Front Line believes that the Uzbekistan government has threatened him, limited his movements, kept him under continued surveillance and targeted his family. According to ceremony officials, the GOU imprisoned three of his sons and two of his nephews for terms between six and 19 years, accusing him and his family of membership in the banned Islamic political organization, Hizb-u-Tahrir. In 2000, according to a Front Line statement, the Deputy Head of the Margilan (Eastern Uzbekistan) Militia told Madumarov to "stop your human rights activity, and we will let your sons alone. We will stop torturing them. Maybe we will help them to be freed." Threats to Madumarov -------------- ¶2. (C) Madumarov did not inform the GOU of his travel to Ireland. According to Front Line, he is afraid of the consequences that he and his family may face upon his pending return to Uzbekistan. It is Front Line's hope that raising his international profile will apply pressure on the GOU to properly address the concerns of Madumarov and his family. (Note: Madumarov left Ireland on June 17. According to U.S. Embassy Tashkent, Madumarov's associates in Tashkent do not expect him to return to Uzbekistan in the near term. His current whereabouts are unknown to Embassy Dublin). Front Line Annual Awards -------------- ¶3. (U) Front Line, an Irish NGO, claims that it was founded because no other organization existed which worked exclusively "for the protection and security needs of human rights defenders." It aims to: --raise the international profile of individual defenders; --focus global attention on government repression of liberties; --provide equipment such as computers, cameras, bulletproof vests, and emergency aid to defenders; --bring defenders to Ireland for training seminars or simply to rest and recover from their work; --network defenders and activists with each other and responsible government officials. ¶4. (U) Last year's inaugural award went to Dr. Ibrahim Mudawi, an activist in Sudan who wrote in a letter to this year's winner that receiving the award provided him with more protection from the GOS because it focused global attention on actions of the Sudanese government. Runners-up to this year's award included: --Soraya Gutierrez Arguello. Arguello, of Colombia, is president of the Jose Alvear Restrepo Lawyers Collective, an NGO which promotes human rights and fights impunity through legal work. --Mohammed Abbou. Abbou, of Tunisia, is a prominent human rights lawyer currently in prison for publishing statements on the Internet that called attention to abuses in the Tunisian prison system. --Aini Abukar Ga'al. Ga'al of Somalia, is a peace officer of the Coalition of Grassroots Women's Organizations working for social, political, and economic empowerment of Somali women. DUBLIN 00000731 002 OF 002 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit Dublin's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/dublin/index. cfm KENNY