UZBEKISTAN: "NUR" RELIGIOUS GROUP CRACKDOWN CONTINUES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 TASHKENT 000277

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019-03-13
TAGS: PHUM KCRM KIRF KISL KPAO PGOV PINR PREL SOCI TU UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN: "NUR" RELIGIOUS GROUP CRACKDOWN CONTINUES

REF: TASHKENT 177; TASHKENT 271

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


1. (C) Summary: Authorities are continuing a widespread crackdown
on suspected members of "Nur," a banned conservative (but not
extremist) religious organization associated with Turkish scholar
Fethullah Gullen (ref A). According to reports from independent
and state-controlled media, at least 16 individuals have been
imprisoned recently for membership in Nur and another 29 have been
arrested across Uzbekistan. The imprisonment of five suspected Nur
members associated with the Irmoq magazine - including Abdulaziz
Dadahanov, a U.S. exchange program alumnus - has garnered the most
attention from international media outlets. Most of the
individuals arrested had studied at Turkish-Uzbek high schools in
Uzbekistan, which were supported by Gullen until they were forced
to close in 1999. In a documentary aired on state-controlled
television, authorities alleged that Nur restarted its activities
in Uzbekistan in 2006 and was actively recruiting alumni of
Turkish-Uzbek high schools. End summary.



FIVE IRMOQ JOURNALISTS IMPRISONED

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2. (U) As has been reported in international media outlets, the
Tashkent City Criminal Court on February 26 sentenced five men
associated with the Irmoq magazine - Bahrom Ibragimov, Davron
Kabilov, Ravshanbek Vafoyev, Abdulaziz Dadahanov, and Botirbek
Eshkuziyev - to between eight and twelve years' imprisonment each
for membership in the banned religious organization Nur (ref A).
Specifically, the men were convicted of violating criminal code
article 244 part two (preparing and distributing literature posing
a threat to public security and order) and article 244 part one
(participating in a banned religious organization). A February 27
article on the independent Ferghana.ru website reported that
Irmoq's former editor Khamza Jumayev testified that Irmoq and its
sister-publication "YETI Iqlim" received financial support from Nur
leaders based in the Kazakh city of Shymkent. According to a
February 28 article on the independent Uznews.net website, all five
men testified that they were not Nur members and that the charges
against them were fabricated.




3. (C) On February 20, independent human rights activist Ismoil
Adilov, who has been monitoring the Irmoq case, provided poloff
with a copy of the indictment against the five men. The court
document, dated December 23, 2008, states that all five men had
given written statements that they were members of the Nur
religious group and also had written "letters of regret."
According to the indictment, an investigation allegedly uncovered
that Bakhrom Ibragimov recruited new members for Nur by
reestablishing contacts with classmates of the Turkish-Uzbek school
"Fatkh." The group allegedly met together on the last Sunday of
each month, received financial assistance from other Nur members,
and distributed "religious extremist materials." The indictment
was signed by NSS Investigator Captain R.M. Mamatkulov and approved
by Chief of the NSS Investigation Department of Uzbekistan
Lieutenant Colonel R.R. Nurmatov.



CNN PROFILES DADAHANOV'S PLIGHT

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4. (C) Dadahanov, a UGRAD (U.S. government university-level
international exchange program) alumnus who studied in Connecticut,
was the subject of a lengthy March 10 article on the CNN.com
website which included shocked reactions from his American friends.
A mutual acquaintance recently told a PAS locally-employed staff
(LES) member that Dadahanov's mother-in-law had last seen him two
weeks ago and that he appeared to be in good health. Dadahanov is
reportedly still being held at a pre-trial detention facility
awaiting transfer to another prison. He was sentenced to eight
years' imprisonment at a "general regime labor camp" (a
medium-security facility.)



NSS ALLEGEDLY THREATEN DADAHANOV'S WIFE

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5. (C) The mutual acquaintance also reported to a PAS FSN employee
that National Security Service (NSS) officers have been in constant
contact with Dadahanov's wife Aziza and have warned her not to talk
to reporters, including those from CNN. They also have reportedly
threatened that if she does not cooperate with them, they will have
Dadahanov transferred to the Jaslyk prison in Uzbekistan's
Karakalpakstan Autonomous Republic (Note: Jaslyk, located in one of
the most barren and isolated corners of the country, has a
reputation of being Uzbekistan's worst prison. End note.) In
exchange for cooperation, the NSS officers also reportedly offered
to transfer Dadahanov to a prison with better conditions or even
have him eventually amnestied and released.



ENGLISH CENTERS FORCED TO CLOSE

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6. (C) In addition, the mutual acquaintance reported to our PAS
FSN that approximately 20 English centers associated with
individuals who had studied at Turkish-Uzbek schools have been
forced to close across Uzbekistan. Dadahanov was associated with
one such center in Tashkent, which employed 30 teachers and
accommodated roughly 600 students. The mutual acquaintance was
also forced to close his own English center, although he has not
been charged with Nur membership. While the acquaintance denied
that he was a member of Nur, he reported that Dadahanov was invited
to Nur meetings by other graduates of Turkish-Uzbek high schools
and possessed literature by Said Nursi (Nur's founder) and Gullen.




TRIAL ONGOING FOR "YETI IQLIM" JOURNALISTS

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7. (U) On March 5, the independent Harakat.net website reported
that a trial was ongoing for three individuals associated with
Irmoq's sister publication "YETI Iqlim" who have been charged with
membership in Nur. The three individuals include journalist Davron
Tojiev, distributor Sahvkat Ismoilov, and Namangan-based imam

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Mamadali Shahobiddinov. According to the article, Shahobiddinov
had previously won a world-wide contest for his recital of the
Koran, and was the only one of the three defendants who was
directly connected with Nur.



UZBEK TELEVISION AIRS SCATHING DOCUMENTARY ON NUR

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8. (U) Recently, state-controlled Uzbek television aired a
documentary entitled "The Beam, Leading into Darkness" on Nur,
describing the organization as an extremist sect led by Gullen
which aims to establish a pan-Turkic state in Eurasia. The
documentary claimed that Uzbek-Turkish high schools in Uzbekistan
were forced to close in the 1990s because they allegedly
disseminated Nur propaganda. Quoting "religious expert" Uygun
Gofurov, the program reported that the schools were established as
boarding institutions so that Nur members could indoctrinate pupils
far away from their relatives and family. Another "Islamic
expert," Nuriymom Abdulhasan, was quoted as stating that the
schools promoted pan-Turkism, so that "Nur's actions under the
guise of free aid have undermined our centuries-old national values
and damaged the future life of knowledgeable and talented young
Uzbek people."




9. (U) The documentary claimed that "the evil intention behind
[Nur's] generosity was disclosed" in 1999, leading to criminal
cases against several sect members studying at Uzbek universities
and "three Turkish members." Starting in 2006, the documentary
claimed that Nur resumed activities in Uzbekistan and that "Turkish
nationals, who were deported from Uzbekistan for promoting
religious extremist, fanatic, and pan-Turkic views in the past,
started entering the country...using new tactics for promoting the
sect's ideas...a tactic of controlling Uzbeks through Uzbeks
themselves. The Turkish citizens found their former students,
members of Nur, gave them instructions and orders...training and
languages centers were set up, newspapers and magazines were
issued."




10. (U) The documentary reported that Nur member Bahrom Ibragimov
(one of the convicted Irmoq journalists) recruited Khamza Jumayev
(Irmoq's editor, who also is a well-known television journalist)
and paid him 1,000 dollars a month to dub and broadcast "Turkish"
films. Jumayev was quoted as stating that the manager of his
television station refused to broadcast the films, and that he
received a total of 8,000 dollars from Ibragimov. The documentary
also noted that Jumayev had graduated from an Uzbek-Turkish high
school in Bukhara. The documentary made no specific mention of
Irmoq.




11. (U) The documentary also reported that an Uzbek court on
February 16 sentenced eight individuals - Eldor Shermatov, Anvar
Sharipov, Jamshid Rasulov, Oktam Bekiyev, Olimjon Musayev, Muzaffar
Karimov, Sharofiddin Gofurov, and Baxt Abdugaffarov - to between
six and half and eight years' imprisonment for membership in Nur.
In addition, Uzbek law enforcement had recently uncovered a Nur
sect in Bukhara led by Ikrom Merajov and seized literature and
correspondence with Turkish Nur leaders at his home. The
documentary also reported that law enforcement in the town of Asaka

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in Andijon province had uncovered a group of female Nur leaders and
seized literature, video tapes, and CDs from their homes.


REPORTS OF ADDITIONAL NUR ARRESTS ACROSS UZBEKISTAN

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12. (U) On March 6, Harakat.net reported that four individuals
suspected of Nur membership had been recently arrested in Namangan,
including Turkish-Uzbek high school graduate Muhammadjon Sobirov.
The article also reported that three unknown individuals were
imprisoned for membership in Nur in Tashkent in December 2008. On
February 17, Harakat.net reported that Mansurali Arraboev, an
instructor at Tashkent's Islamic Institute, was arrested for
suspected Nur membership.




13. (C) A PAS LES employee reported studying at university with
Sobirov. He explained that Sobirov had not graduated from a
Turkish-Uzbek high school, but had studied abroad for one year in
Turkey and had worked previously at a Turkish company in Namangan.
Before his arrest, he was working for the Namangan branch of Nestle
Uzbekistan. As far as the PAS LES knew, Sobirov had no connection
to Nur or any other religious sect.




14. (C) On March 10, Forum 18 reported that university lecturer
Ikrom Merajov (featured in Uzbek television documentary, see para
10) was arrested along with eight other men in Bukhara for
suspected membership in Nur. The men were reportedly arrested in
December 2008 after police raided a meeting at Merajov's home and
seized religious literature, including works by Nur's founder Said
Nursi. The men are currently being held at NSS pre-trial detention
facilities in Bukhara. Human rights activist Shukhrat Ganiev had
earlier reported the arrest of suspected Nur members in Bukhara
(ref A). According to a February 27 Forum 18 article, 12 suspected
members of Nur also had been arrested in Khorezm province.



COMMENT

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15. (C) One link tying many of the individuals arrested for Nur
membership together is that they are alumni of Turkish-Uzbek high
schools. While at least some of the evidence used against them
appears to be fabricated, it also seems that some of those arrested
were actual Nur members. Why the authorities have undertaken such
a widespread crackdown against Nur at this point remains unclear.
On one hand, this may be just part of the general crackdown on
independent Muslims groups which has been ongoing (with periodic
waxing and waning) since the late 1990s. There does not appear to
be much of a connection to Turkey itself, at least as far as the
Turkish Embassy in Tashkent is concerned (although the Turkish
Ambassador characterizes the bilateral relationship these days as
poor and unproductive). Nevertheless, Nur might be seen as a
double ideological threat by the Uzbek government, as it promotes
not only a conservative interpretation of Islam, but also
pan-Turkism and the creation of a single Turkic state in Eurasia.
On the other hand, it is also possible that many of these arrests
and convictions are simply fabricated by law enforcement officials

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seeking to justify their relatively fat budgets to superiors.




16. (C) The Uzbeks continue to show signs (ref B) that they think
U.S. dependence on Uzbekistan for Afghan transit (NDN) may give
them more leeway to ignore our human rights concerns. Our
challenge remains to show them this is not the case, without in
fact undermining important equities in Afghanistan. The sooner we
engage the Uzbeks at an authoritative Administration level on the
interplay between these issues and develop mechanisms for
addressing them, the better.
NORLAND