UZBEKISTAN: Human Rights Update

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/08/10
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL ELAB UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN: Human Rights Update

REF: REF A: 09 TASHKENT 915; REF B: 09 TASHKENT 1025
REF C: 08 TASHKENT 819; REF D: 09 TASHKENT 242

CLASSIFIED BY: Holly Lindquist Thomas, P/E Officer, Department of
State, Pol-Econ Office; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)


1. (C) Summary: Although Post was happy to report the
continuation of a prison monitoring program by the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),the human rights climate in
Uzbekistan remains difficult, at best. The recent sentencing of
journalist Dilmurod Sayyidov to twelve years in prison is
illustrative of the consequences that journalists and human rights
activists face for speaking out about injustices. Post is hopeful
that the government will announce a broad amnesty program around
September 1. In the mean time, post will continue to follow the
cases below, and address them with Uzbek officials whenever
appropriate to do so. End summary.



Amnesty Coming?

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1. (SBU) Rumors are that the GOU intends to announce a large
amnesty corresponding to this year's Independence Day on September

1. Such amnesties are typically announced around the holiday, but
because Uzbekistan is celebrating Tashkent's 2200th anniversary
this year, human rights activists are hoping to see more names on
the list this year than in the past.



Sayyidov Case

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2. (C) Dilmurod Sayyidov (aka Sayyid or Saidov) (See Ref A) :
Journalist Dimurod Saidov was sentenced to 12 years in prison last
week on what are widely believed to be trumped up extortion
charges. Sayyidov's attorney, Ruhiddin Komilov, told poloff that
the witness whose complaint was the basis for the investigation
later recanted her testimony, but the Court did not take that into
account at the trial. Sayyidov's case is complicated by the fact
that that he already has tuberculosis and is not in good health.
He has received no treatment since being taken into custody, and it
would be unusual for him to receive treatment in a prison facility.
Many believe he will not survive the lengthy sentence.




3. (SBU) Human Rights Watch and the OSCE have issued
statements decrying the sentence and pointing out irregularities in
the trial. Post has not released a public statement on the case,
but we intend to raise the case through private channels.
Sayyidov's attorney believes it is unlikely that he will be
amnestied this fall.




4. (SBU) It's worth noting that while the OSCE statement
claims that Saidov's attorney was not allowed to be present at the
trial, that is not actually the case. Komilov stated that he was
present for the full trial, but neither he nor Saidov's family was
present when Saidov's sentence was issued. Komilov said this is
common practice - a holdover from Soviet days.



Other Case Updates

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5. (C) Sanjar Umarov (See Ref B): Under cover of diplomatic
note, Post delivered a letter from Ambassador Norland to President
Karimov last week, enclosing a letter from Sanjar Umarov's family
asking for his release on humanitarian grounds. To everyone's
surprise, President Karimov raised the case during the Under
Secretary Burns visit, hinting that amnesty might be an option.




6. (C) Salidjon Abdurahmanov (See Ref C): A law firm in
Washington has been doing some pro bono work on the case of
Abdurahmanov, a journalist imprisoned in Karakalpakstan last year.
They are considering taking his case to the UN Working Group on
Arbitrary Detentions. We have been in touch with Abdurakhmanov's
brother (who also served as his lawyer),and he hopes the case will
go forward. He stated that while Abdurahmanov has no specific
health concerns, he is forced to do manual labor in prison under
difficult conditions.




7. (C) Yusuf Juma (aka Jumaev) (See Ref D): After reports
from poet Yusuf Juma's wife that his condition in prison was
deteriorating, poloff on July 24 met with his daughter, Feruza
Yusufjon. She is the only member of his immediate family still
residing in Uzbekistan, and she is typically the person that visits
him in prison. She is very concerned over his condition, and
reported that he is kept in a very hot cell located directly above
the bread ovens. She also stated that prison guards take hot irons
from boiling water and place them on Juma's shoulders. She stated
that her father complained about his heart and high blood pressure,
as well. During her last visit, Yusufjon was only allowed to speak
with her father through glass and over the phone, so she did not
have a good sense of his physical condition, but she has a
three-day visit scheduled in August, and she will get in touch with
us following that visit.



New Cases

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8. (SBU) The crackdown against members of the Nur religious
group seems to be ongoing. In Samarkand, a local court on July 6
sentenced eleven young men (between age 19 and 31) belonging to Nur
to between seven and eleven years in prison on charges of
preparation and dissemination of materials threatening public
security and order, in addition to extremism, separatism, and
organizing a fundamental religious organization. All of the men
graduated from Turkish high schools with excellent grades. (As
post has reported, most of these once well-respected Turkish high
schools have been shut down.) Two Embassy contacts told Radio
Liberty that they are concerned these arrests are part of a trend
of authorities arresting young people with intellectual potential
in order to keep them at bay. One contact compared this trend to
the repression of intellectuals during the Stalin regime. RFE/RL
reported that since last August, nearly 100 people have been
arrested on charges related to their participation in the Nur
religious group.




9. (SBU) The Kashkadarya regional criminal court on August 3
began proceedings against eleven young men (between the ages of 22
and 35) on charges related to their affiliation with the Islamic
Movement of Uzbekistan, Islamic Jihad, and Al-Qaeda. Human rights
activist Surat Ikromov informed poloff that human rights defenders
and monitors have been banned from the courtroom, and only three
attorneys have been allowed to participate, leaving eight
defendants unrepresented by council. The defendants claim to have
suffered torture while in pretrial detention facilities.




10. (SBU) On July 28, Oyazimkhon Hidirova (aka Khidirova),a
human rights activist, was arrested and detained in Jizzakh.
Hidirova was a farmer whose land was seized and transferred to a
larger landowner under a new plan announced last year. She
continued to work her land for the new landlord, but she also spoke
out about issue, becoming the regional chairperson for the Human
Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU). Hidirova's HRSU colleague,
Ziyodullo Razzakov, told an Embassy Public Affairs contact that
Hidirova and her landlord got in an argument about her failing to
give the required amount of harvest to the landlord, and Hidirova
unwittingly grabbed the clothes of the landlord and scratched him.
The incident occurred about a month before the arrest, but on July
29, authorities arrested Hidirova and searched her home.
Hidirova's colleague and the press speculate that authorities are
using the argument with the landlord as pretense to silence her
over land reform issues.




11. (C) Tashkent human rights activist Farhodhon Mukhtarov was
arrested in the middle of July on charges related to a civil case
brought against him three years ago, as well as financial
misdealing related to his recent attempt to sell his apartment.
Mukhtarov's colleague in the Human Rights Alliance, Oleg Sarapulov,
and his wife, Surayo Mukhtoreva, told poloff the charges are
baseless, and another instance of intimidation against an activist.
One immediate problem they face is that they have been unable to
find a reliable defense attorney. Sarapulov reported that they had
just hired a third attorney, as the first two had quit the case
after being intimidated by officials. Following new testing and
registration requirements for defense attorneys instituted in June,
many of the attorneys that used to take human rights cases have
lost their licenses. Sarapulov said there is a fee every time they
have to register a new attorney, so they are hoping this third
attorney is able to handle the pressure.



Civil Society

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12. (SBU) The GOU denied accreditation to the proposed Director
for the Institute for New Democracies (IND),David Blood. IND is
one of only two U.S.-funded international NGOs working in
Uzbekistan, and this is the second proposed director to have been
denied accreditation since the departure of its previous Director
Mjusa Sever. USAID Country Director Jim Bonner and Charge, in
separate meetings with the MFA last week, both requested
clarification on whether the denials were based on the individuals
proposed or on difficulties with IND, and guidance on how to move
forward from here.




13. (SBU) UNDP Deputy Resident Representative Kyoko Postill
expressed her frustrations to poloff about difficulties concerning
recent UNDP publications. UNDP recently published something on
women in Uzbekistan, working closely with the Women's Committee of
the GOU. Postill described the publication as politically neutral,
addressing challenges women face and giving short anecdotes about
women in various roles. Something must have touched a nerve,
because prosecutors have called in the local writers and
journalists who wrote the materials (contracted out by UNDP),and
have questioned them about who in the GOU gave approval for the
publication and whether they were paid to write something specific.
Postill is concerned that this intimidation will hinder UNDP's
efforts to create further publications.



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