ACTIVIST REPORTS MISTREATMENT AT NAVOI PSYCHIATRIC

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 000797 SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA, DRL, SCA/PPD, AND IIP SCA FOR BRIAN RORAFF; DRL FOR RACHEL WALDSTEIN; SCA/PPD FOR JOSHUA KAMP E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/10/2018 TAGS: PHUM ELAB OEXC PGOV PREL SOCI UZ SUBJECT: ACTIVIST REPORTS MISTREATMENT AT NAVOI PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL Classified By: POLOFF R. FITZMAURICE FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D) ¶1. (U) This is an action request - see paragraph 12. ¶2. (C) Summary: On July 2, Bukhara-based human rights activist Shukhrat Ganiev reported visiting a psychiatric hospital in Navoi province and discovering that 12 teenagers, approximately between the ages of 13 and 16 years, were at the hospital despite showing no signs of mental illness. Ganiev noted that the teenagers displayed some mental and physical disabilities - including Down syndrome, cleft pallets, and stuttering - but argued that it was completely inappropriate for them to be at a psychiatric hospital for individuals with abnormal psychologies. He blamed both inadequate legal protections and poor medical personnel training for the children's detention. However, Ganiev saw a potential silver-lining in his discovery, noting that local officials have recognized the problem and have shown interest in holding an international conference comparing Uzbekistan's laws and practices on psychiatric institutionalization with international standards. Ganiev plans to organize such a conference, and requested that the Embassy fund the participation of an American expert. We support holding the conference and sending an American expert to participate. We are confident that Ganiev can organize the conference, as he enjoys good relations with local authorities in Bukhara, demonstrated most recently by his collaboration with a German foundation on a democracy-themed roundtable at Bukhara State University. Separately, the Human Rights Alliance reported on July 5 that one of their activists was released from a psychiatric hospital in Tashkent. End summary. HEALTHY TEENAGERS HELD AT PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL -------------- - ¶3. (C) On July 2, poloff met with Bukhara-based human rights activist Shukhrat Ganiev, head of the Humanitarian-Legal Center and Rapid Reaction Group member. As part of an Embassy-funded Democracy Commission project, the Humanitarian-Legal Center - whose members include local doctors and lawyers - conducted site visits to psychiatric hospitals in Bukhara and Navoi provinces in late June. Ganiev reported that the monitoring team - which included himself, a psychologist, two medical doctors, and a pharmacist - was shocked to discover that the Navoi province psychiatric hospital held 12 teenagers, approximately between the ages of 13 and 16, who showed no signs of mental illness. Ganiev noted that the teenagers displayed other disabilities - including Down syndrome, cleft pallets, and stuttering - but explained that it was completely inappropriate for them to be at a psychiatric hospital for individuals with abnormal psychologies. ¶4. (C) Ganiev reported abuses at the Navoi psychiatric hospital. He was allegedly told by doctors that some of the patients, including the teenagers, were forced by local authorities to work outside the hospital, including by picking cotton and tobacco. Ganiev's monitoring team did not uncover any similar mistreatment at the Bukhara psychiatric hospital, but they were also not granted as much access as they enjoyed in Navoi. Ganiev did not know the extent of such abuses across Uzbekistan, but speculated that other physically and mentally disabled individuals could be detained in psychiatric hospitals in other regions of the country. ¶5. (C) Ganiev specifically requested that the information about the psychiatric hospital in Navoi be kept confidential and not be reported publicly. He was afraid that doing so might endanger his contacts at the psychiatric clinic and prevent the Humanitarian-Legal Center from conducting future site visits. INADEQUATE LEGAL PROTECTIONS, TRAINING TO BLAME FOR ABUSES -------------- -------------- ¶6. (C) Ganiev blamed both inadequate laws and medical personnel training for the abuses at the Navoi clinic. He noted that Uzbekistan's laws on psychiatric detention have not been reformed since the Soviet era. Under current practice, a doctor can have any individual forcibly detained at a psychiatric hospital based on a single diagnosis, and there are no medical commissions in place to oversee such diagnoses. In addition, Ganiev complained that the psychiatric field in Uzbekistan attracted poorly qualified candidates who often bought their diplomas from substandard medical institutes. He speculated that some of these individuals may not have been adequately trained to distinguish between physical and mental disabilities and mental illnesses. In comparison, he noted that other medical fields attracted stronger and better educated candidates. In particular, he noted that surgeons were well-compensated, and explained that health administrators often bought their positions because of the abundant opportunities for corruption. POSSIBLE SILVER-LINING -------------- ¶7. (C) While Ganiev was disturbed by what he saw at the Navoi psychiatric hospital, he also believed that the discovery provided a rare opportunity to engage local officials on a human rights-related topic. Ganiev has already approached colleagues at the Departments of Health for Navoi and Bukhara provinces, who reportedly recognized the problem and supported his idea of organizing an international conference comparing Uzbekistan's laws and practices on psychiatric institutionalization with international standards. The local officials reportedly expressed interest in inviting international experts to such a roundtable, and Ganiev requested Embassy assistance in supporting the participation of an American speaker or expert. Ganiev was confident that he would be able to organize such a conference in Bukhara, noting that health and medical topics were generally less controversial for Uzbek authorities. In addition, Uzbek officials have participated in other conferences comparing Uzbek laws against international standards, most recently in regards to the new habeas corpus law. HUMANITARIAN-LEGAL CENTER REAPPLIES FOR REGISTRATION -------------- -------------- ¶8. (C) Ganiev reported that the Humanitarian-Legal Center - which lost its registration in 2006, but continues to operate largely unimpeded - reapplied for registration in mid-June. Ganiev has not yet received an official response, but he has been informally told by local authorities that his papers "appear to be in order." Ganiev was optimistic that local authorities would reregister his Center, noting that they had reregistered the medical organization of his Rapid Reaction colleague Vohid Karimov in the fall of 2007. GERMAN FOUNDATION HOLDS CONFERENCE AT BUKHARA UNIVERSITY -------------- -------------- ¶9. (C) In May, Ganiev helped organize a roundtable at Bukhara State University on democratization for Germany's Friedrich Naumann Foundation, whose Tashkent office was registered in 2008. The roundtable, entitled "Liberalization in Central Asia," involved forty students and faculty members from the German and English departments of the university. The Naumann Foundation's local representative, a German citizen, also participated. According to Ganiev, the conversation focused on democratization in Germany following World War II and Uzbekistan's current transition to democracy. Ganiev reported that the conversation was "open and frank," possibly due to the fact that it was held mostly in German. Ganiev offered to help organize similar talks for Embassy personnel at Bukhara State University once the new school year begins in the fall. ACTIVIST RELEASED FROM TASHKENT PSYCHIATRIC HOSPTIAL -------------- -------------- ¶10. (U) On July 5, the Human Rights Alliance reported in an internet press release that one of its members, Vadim Olsevich, was released from a psychiatric clinic in Tashkent on July 4. On July 4, the international human rights group Frontline reported in a press release that Olsevich was forcibly detained at a psychiatric clinic on June 12, where he was forcibly given psychotropic medications, including aminazine and traiftazine. Frontline reported that Olsevich was transferred to the psychiatric hospital from a tuberculosis hospital in Tashkent, where he reportedly was both receiving treatment and reporting on conditions for the Human Rights Alliance (Note: Uzbek authorities continue the Soviet-era practice of forcibly detaining human rights activists at psychiatric clinics, including President Karimov's nephew, Jamshid Karimov, who remains detained at a psychiatric clinic in Samarkand province. End note.) COMMENT AND ACTION REQUEST -------------- ¶11. (C) Comment: We are disturbed by reports that individuals who show no signs of mental illness are being detained at a psychiatric hospital, but we also agree with Ganiev that his discovery provides a rare opportunity to engage local authorities on a human rights-related issue. Ganiev has proven himself to be one of the most level-headed and professional human rights activists in Uzbekistan and has not shied away from constructively engaging with local authorities when possible. Ganiev enjoys relatively good relations with local authorities in Bukhara, demonstrated most recently by his organizing of a human rights-related roundtable for the Naumann Foundation at Bukhara State University. We support Ganiev's idea of holding a conference with local authorities comparing Uzbekistan's psychiatric institutionalization laws and practices with international standards. We will also try to identify funding for an appropriate American participant. We also intend to take Ganiev up on his offer to participate in human rights-related discussions at Bukhara State University in the fall. End comment. ¶12. (C) Action Request: As the Embassy has already obligated the remainder of its International Information Program (IIP) Visiting Speaker funds for FY2008, we request that the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) consider sponsoring the travel of a qualified American psychiatrist or expert on psychiatric detention to participate in an international roundtable in Bukhara on Uzbekistan's psychiatric detention laws and practices. We will work with IIP to identify an appropriate candidate. NORLAND