UZBEK ASYLUM-SEEKER EXTRADITED FROM KYRGYZSTAN RECEIVES

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 000463 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA, DRL, AND PRM PRM FOR MATTHEW JOHNSON AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PASS TO AMEMBASSY PODGORICA AMEMBASSY ATHENS PASS TO AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019-04-07 TAGS: PHUM KCRM KIRF KISL PGOV PREF PREL SOCI UNHCR KG UZ SUBJECT: UZBEK ASYLUM-SEEKER EXTRADITED FROM KYRGYZSTAN RECEIVES 13-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE REF: TASHKENT 222 CLASSIFIED BY: Richard Fitzmaurice, Poloff; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (C) On March 30, independent human rights activist Ismoil Adilov provided poloff with court documents regarding the case of Haitjon Juraboev, a religious extremist suspect who was extradited by Kyrgyz authorities to Uzbekistan in September 2008 (reftel). According to the documents, on February 24, the Tashkent City Criminal Court sentenced Juraboev to 13 years' imprisonment after finding him guilty of several violations of the criminal code, including those related to religious extremism and illegal border crossing. The documents also showed that Juraboev's appeal of the verdict was rejected by the Tashkent City Criminal Court of Appeals on March 17. Adilov reported that Juraboev now planned to submit an appeal to the Uzbek Supreme Court. He also noted that Juraboev's family had seen him recently at the Tashturma prison in Tashkent and found him to be in good health. KYRGYZ AUTHORITIES RECEIVED JURABOEV'S REFUGEE APPLICATION -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) Adilov provided poloff with a copy of an identification document from the State Committee on Migration and Employment (SCME) of the Kyrgyz Republic, which certified that SCME registered Juraboev's application for refugee status on October 8, 2007. The document was originally valid until January 8, 2008, but its validity was later extended until July 8, 2008. Human Rights Watch earlier reported that Juraboev was granted refugee status by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Bishkek shortly before his forcible extradition to Uzbekistan (reftel). ¶3. (C) Adilov also shared with poloff an appeal that Juraboev's parents recently had sent to Uzbek Human Rights Ombudsman Sayyora Rashidova, which argued that the charges against their son were groundless and that he "always supported the policy of President Karimov." Adilov said that the family has not yet received a reply. ¶4. (C) Comment: Juraboev's case appears to be a continuation of efforts by Uzbek authorities to seek the forcible extradition from neighboring countries of alleged religious extremists, including those who have been granted refugee status. Juraboev's case is similar to that of Uzbek asylum seeker Erkin Halikov, who was forcibly extradited from Kyrgyzstan to Uzbekistan in May 2008 to face religious extremism charges and whose current fate is still unknown. NORLAND