UZBEKISTAN: IV ALUMNUS AND DISABLED RIGHTS ACTIVIST ARRESTED

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019-02-26
TAGS: PHUM KPAO PGOV PREL SOCI UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN: IV ALUMNUS AND DISABLED RIGHTS ACTIVIST ARRESTED

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CLASSIFIED BY: Richard Fitzmaurice, Poloff; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)


1. (C) Summary: On January 21 an independent news website
reported that Chairman of the Uzbek Society of the Disabled (and
International Visitor Leadership Program [IVLP] alumnus) Oybek
Isoqov had been arrested on charges of bribery. When CAO met with
him on February 13, Isoqov denied all wrongdoing and explained that
he was coerced by authorities into admitting the legal charges
against him. He remains free pending a verdict and believes that
the charges stem from his vocal activism on behalf of disabled
persons. End Summary.




2. (C) Oybek Isoqov participated in the International Visitor
Leadership Program (IVLP) "Advocates for the Disabled" in June

2007. He is also a former Democracy Commission grantee. Not long
after his return from the IV program, he enthusiastically told CAO
about the progress that he and other advocates were making on
convincing the GOU to join the UN Convention on the Rights of the
Disabled.




3. (U) On January 21, the independent Uznews.net website reported
that Isoqov had been arrested on charges of taking a bribe.
According to the article, he was subsequently charged with
embezzlement, abuse of office, negligence, forgery and bribery.
The article further states that the man that gave Isoqov the bribe,
Farid Abdurashidov, was also later arrested and charged with
intermediation in bribery and receiving a bribe through
blackmailing.




4. (U) Comment: While the article speculated that Abdurashidov's
arrest was connected to his serving as a defense attorney for
several members of the Human Rights Alliance who were charged with
holding an illegal demonstration, we believe this is highly
unlikely. The activists were eventually fined by the court, a
routine occurrence that would have happened regardless of who
defended them in court. End comment.



ISOQOV'S MISTAKES

--------------




5. (C) In his meeting with CAO Isoqov, who is disabled himself,
said that the story reported by Uznews is false. He explained that
he lent Abdurashidov money earlier last year, for which
Abdurashidov signed an IOU. On September 25, Abdurashidov visited
Isoqov to repay the loan. Moments after Abdurashidov returned the
money and left, militsia entered Isoqov's office and arrested him.




6. (C) Isoqov believes that he was targeted for his general
criticism of the GOU in regards to disabled rights. He explained
that he had served in an advisory capacity for the Oliy Majlis (the
lower house of Parliament),where he was not shy in calling
attention to instances in which the members knowingly violated the
Uzbek constitution. Furthermore, he mentioned an August 2008
meeting of NGOs that work on disabled issues in Dushanbe,
Tajikistan. Representatives of NGOs from CIS countries and Iran
gathered to make an appeal to the heads of the EuraSec countries,
who were meeting in Dushanbe at the same time, to join the
Convention on the Rights of the Disabled. Isoqov believes that the

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GOU was not pleased by the negative attention this generated.




7. (C) Isoqov does not believe that these legal problems are a
direct result of his involvement with the U.S. Embassy. He thinks
it more likely that they began both as a result of his
outspokenness and the personal ambitions of an individual named
Khasan Burkhanov, who is the former Chairman of the Tashkent City
Branch of the Society of the Disabled. According to Isoqov,
Burkhanov, hoping to become the Chairman of the national Society,
approached the NSS to frame Isoqov and take his job. As Isoqov was
already making the GOU uncomfortable, this information was enough
for the NSS to act. Isoqov speculates that NSS officers gave
marked bills to Burkhanov, who in turn convinced Abdurashidov to
repay his debt to Isoqov with them.



... AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES

--------------




8. (C) After his arrest, Isoqov was held overnight at the
prosecutor's office where he was not allowed to use the restroom
for twelve hours and subjected to "psychological pressure." The
authorities threatened that if he did not sign a confession, they
would keep him in jail for the entire duration of his legal
proceedings, or five to six months. Eventually, Isoqov felt he had
no choice but to sign, and after posting bail, he was released.




9. (C) Isoqov has since lodged a complaint with the General
Prosecutor describing the pressure the militsia placed on him and
also how his rights were violated when the authorities interrogated
him past 11 pm. He was subsequently removed from his post as
Chairman of the Society of the Disabled. He explained that he also
thinks the NSS is putting pressure on the Ministry of Justice to
force the Society to elect a new Chairman quickly while Isoqov is
still embroiled in legal problems.




10. (C) Isoqov is a lawyer himself and prior to becoming Chairman
in 2003, had defended some activists in court. Knowing the system
as he does, he is not optimistic about the outcome of the
proceedings, but he expressed his gratitude to Embassy staff for
meeting him and providing moral support as he awaited the next
hearing later in February.




11. (C) Comment: Isoqov has long been a reliable grantee,
alumnus, contact, and outspoken advocate for the disabled in
Uzbekistan, and we believe the general details he provided about
his arrest are plausible. We think it is unlikely that Isoqov was
targeted for his advocacy on behalf of disabled persons, especially
his lobbying for Uzbekistan to adopt the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Disabled (in fact, all other indications point to
Uzbekistan adopting the Convention in 2009). As he himself
speculated, most likely Isoqov was framed by Burkhanov, who might
have been interested in taking over the Uzbek Society of the
Disabled for his own personal gain. There is also no indication
that Isoqov was targeted for his association with the Embassy. We
will continue to follow Isoqov's case closely and will provide any
updates. Isoqov himself specifically asked the Embassy not to

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intervene on his behalf. End comment.
NORLAND

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