UZBEK HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN FOCUSES ON STRUCTURAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 001949

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/05/2017
TAGS: PHUM PREL UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEK HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN FOCUSES ON STRUCTURAL

REFORM, SOCIO-ECONOMIC GRIEVANCES

REF: TASHKENT 1822

Classified By: P/E Section Chief Ted Burkhalter; reasons 1.4 (b, d).


1. (C) Summary: Ambassador met November 1 with Sayora
Rashidova, Parliamentary Ombudsman for Human Rights and
daughter of former Uzbek Communist Party boss Sharof
Rashidov. Although Rashidova operates under certain
political limits, she is clearly aware of broader human
rights issues in Uzbekistan and is engaged in tinkering at
the margins with some of Uzbekistan's more serious reform
challenges. Rashidova's small Tashkent office is
supplemented by thirteen regional offices throughout the
country. End summary.


2. (C) Ambassador met November 1 with Sayora Rashidova,
Parliamentary Ombudsman for Human Rights. Rashidova was
formerly a Member of the Oliy Majlis - the lower house of
Parliament - but gave up her seat to focus full time on her
role as Ombudsman and (as she puts it) to allow herself the
objectivity and political detachment necessary as Ombudsman.
Rashidova said that in Soviet times the government paid scant
attention to human rights, but since independence the GOU had
taken a number of significant steps. She recounted the
creation in 1997 of her own office and in the same year of
the GOU-run National Center for Human Rights.


3. (C) Rashidova was aware of the gross alleged and
documented violations of human rights in Uzbekistan. She
noted that the Ombudsman had worked with the OSCE, American
Bar Association, various U.S. and European human rights
ombudsmen, and other foreign organizations, as well as with
various GOU ministries, to train police in investigative
techniques and to sensitize prison officials to prisoner
rights. Ambassador raised the case of imprisoned human
rights activist Mutabar Tojibayeva (reftel),whose family
claims has recently been subjected to inappropriate behavior
(having a noose left in her cell and being denied medical
treatment). Rashidova was aware of the allegations but said
they appeared inaccurate. Tojibayeva's medical difficulties
were, she said, the result of Tojibayeva's having failed to
take her medications. (Note: Human rights activists in
Uzbekistan have long complained that political prisoners are
often denied access to medications. End note.) Rashidova
explained also that in many cases the people calling
themselves human rights activists were uneducated and
emotional people and implied that this was the case with
those who had taken on Tojibayeva's case.


4. (C) Rashidova detailed for Ambassador the scope of her
work. Her office is comprised of less than a dozen
individuals in Tashkent, and she is supported in the
provinces by thirteen branch offices. The Ombudsman is
concerned with all aspects of the rights of Uzbek citizens.
She explained that her office hears complaints, monitors
cases, and provides free advice. In the past, she said,
complaints about judicial procedure (i.e., unjust
convictions) were more common, but in the past year economic
and social complaints were more common. (Comment: This
tracks with our own observations - people on the street are
increasingly preoccupied with getting by in the tightening
economic circumstances. End comment.)


5. (C) The Ombudsman, according to Rashidova, delivers an
annual February address to Parliament. She also meets with
Parliamentarians, both in plenary session and in committee,
as necessary. She admitted that her small staff can monitor
only a limited number of cases each year, and she therefore
selects cases strategically. Right now, for example, she is
focused on cases dealing with delivery of health care and is
working with the Ministry of Health to improve response time.
The Ombudsman also has been involved in development and
implementation of new laws on topics such as political
liberalization, the abolition of the death penalty, and
procedures for judicial review of arrest and detention.
Rashidova expressed interest in continued and expanded
contact with counterparts in the West. She expressed
particular concern about the plight of Uzbek migrant laborers
who suffer abuse abroad. (Comment: Reflecting a typical
Soviet - er, Uzbek - mindset, she spoke of "illegal
immigration" and the need to improve regulation. In our
experience, the GOU has a genuine concern for the welfare of

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migrant workers and believes that better controls over them
are a guarantee of better treatment. End comment.)

Comment
--------------


6. (C) Rashidova is the daughter of former First Secretary of
the Central Committee of the Uzbek SSR, Sharof Rashidov.
Current Uzbek President Islom Karimov owes his rise to
Rashidov and continues to treat the extended (and extensive)
Rashidov family with deference, something that perhaps allows
Mrs. Rashidova a bit more leeway to carry out her Ombudsman
duties with some credibility. Rashidova's two sisters are
married to Aziz Kamilov, the Uzbek Ambassador to Washington,
and Alisher Vakhidov, the Uzbek Permanent Representative to
the United Nations. While on one level Rashidova clearly
kept to the current GOU script, her very pointed comment that
complaints in the past year have focused on socio-economic
issues did resonate. Economic woes are an issue the elite
here have noticed and that they know must be addressed.
NORLAND