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Ongoing wave of repression against human rights defenders in Uzbekistan / Call for the renewal of the EU sanctions

OPEN LETTER TO THE MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION MEMBER-STATES

Excellencies,

On October 13 and 14, 2008, the General Affairs and External Relations Council will gather in Luxemburg to address, inter alia, the question of sanctions against Uzbekistan. These sanctions had been adopted on October 3, 2005 by the European Union (EU) against the Uzbek authorities following the tragic events of Andijan and the refusal to have an independent investigation carried out.

On the eve of this meeting, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), would like to draw your attention on the alarming record of this country as regards the situation of human rights defenders and to call for the renewal of these sanctions.

Indeed, even though the Observatory welcomed in 2008 the release of several defenders[1], the repression that followed the events of Andijan in May 2005 is still high, and many other human rights activists are consequently being detained as a means to sanction their human rights activities[2]. Among them are the following members of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU) and of the human rights organisations "Ezgulik" and "Sakhroi sherlar":

• Mr. Abdurasul Abdunazarov, Head of the Ezgulik branch in Angren (Tashkent region), arrested in 2005 and sentenced by the Court of the city of Angren to six years' imprisonment;
• Mr. Norboy Kholjigitov, a member of the HRSU branch in the Ishtikhan region, arrested on June 4, 2005, sentenced on October 18, 2005 to ten years' imprisonment by the Djizak Court and detained in UYA 64/49 colony (Karshi);
• Mr. Abdulsattor Irzaev, Head of the HRSU branch in the Ishtikhan district, arrested on June 4, 2005, sentenced on October 18, 2005 to ten years' imprisonment by the Samarkand Regional Court and detained in UYA 64/49 colony (Karshi);
• Mr. Khabibulla Okpulatov, a member of the HRSU branch in the Ishtikhan district, arrested on June 4, 2005 and sentenced on October 18, 2005 to six years' imprisonment by the Samarkand Regional Court;
• Mr. Dilmurod Mukhitdinov, Head of the Ezgulik branch in the Markhamat district in the Andijan region, arrested in July 2005 and sentenced on January 12, 2006 by the Court of the city of Chirchik (Tashkent region) to five years' imprisonment;
• Mr. Nasim Isakov, a member of the HRSU branch in the Djizak region, arrested on October 27, 2005, sentenced on December 20, 2006 to eight years' imprisonment, and detained in colony UYA 64/3 (Tavaksay, Tashkent region);
• Mr. Azam Formonov, Head of the HRSU branch in the Syrdarya region, arrested on April 29, 2006, sentenced on June 16, 2006 to nine years' imprisonment by the Yangiyar Criminal Court and detained in colony UYA 64/71 (Djaslyk, Republic of Karakalpak);
• Mr. Alisher Karamatov, Head of the HRSU branch in the Mirzaabad district, arrested on April 29, 2006, sentenced on June 16, 2006 to nine years' imprisonment by the Yangiyar Criminal Court and detained in the UYA 64/49 colony (Karshi, Kashkadarya region);
• Mr. Mamaradjab Nazarov, Head of the Ezgulik branch in the Zarbdor district (Djizak region), arrested in June 2006 and sentenced by the Djizak City Court to five years' imprisonment;
• Mr. Djamshid Karimov, a member of the HRSU branch in the Djizak region and a journalist for the Institute on War and Peace Reports (IWPR), arrested on September 12, 2006 and sentenced on the same day to three years' internment in a psychiatric hospital by the Djizak Court;
• Mr. Rasulev Yuldash, a member of the HRSU branch in the Kashkadarya region, arrested at the end of April 2007 and sentenced in October 2007 to ten years' imprisonment;
• Mr. Zafar Rakhimov, a member of the HRSU branch in the Kashkadarya region, arrested in Karchi at the end of April 2007 and sentenced in October 2007 to six years' imprisonment;
• Mr. Yusuf Jumaev, Head of the human rights organisation "Sakhroi sherlar", arrested on December 17, 2007, sentenced by the Bukhara Regional Court to five years' imprisonment and currently detained in the colony Uya 64/71, Djaslyk settlement, Republic of Karakalpakstan.

Furthermore, in September 2008, the Observatory expressed its deepest concern over further arrests, arbitrary detentions and judicial harassment against Mr. Salijon Abdurahmanov, a human rights activist and a journalist in Karakalpakstan, and Mr. Akzam Turgunov, Executive Director and founder of "Mazlum" human rights center[3].

In the light of this worrying situation, the Observatory urges the General Affairs and External Relations Council – through the following recommendations – to send a clear message to the Uzbek authorities so that the rights of human rights defenders be fully respected:

• Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of all human rights defenders in Uzbekistan;
• Release immediately and unconditionally the above-mentioned defenders, as well as all human rights defenders in Uzbekistan;
• Refrain from undertaking further acts of harassment, including judicial harassment, against human rights defenders in Uzbekistan;
• Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, especially its Article 1, which states that "everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels" and Article 12.2, which states that "the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration";
• Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments ratified by Uzbekistan.

The Observatory believes that the General Affairs and External Relations Council should take the unanimous decision to renew the sanctions against the Uzbek authorities since the criteria that were set at the moment of their adoption have still not been met. Renewing the sanctions would indeed be a strong signal of the condemnation by the EU of the ongoing repression of human rights defenders, that is persistent since the Andijan events. Alleviating or de facto lifting the sanctions would be a sign that the EU does not take its own words seriously.

The Observatory wishes to point out that the fulfilment of all the above recommendations by the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as the full cooperation of the Uzbek authorities with an independent enquiry on the Andijan events[4] and their repercussions, should therefore be a pre-requisite to the waving of sanctions against the country.

In the hope that you will take these elements into consideration,

We remain,

Souhayr Belhassen
FIDH President
Eric Sottas
OMCT Secretary General

Topics: Human rights activists, Arbitrary arrest and detention, Sanctions,