Uzbek Activist Jailed

Date Issued: October 26, 2005

Mukhtabar Tojibaeva, a well-known human rights activist in Uzbekistan, was arrested at her home during the night of October 7, 2005. Ms. Tojibaeva has been an outspoken critic of the May 13 massacre in Andizhan.

Like dozens of other human rights defenders in Uzbekistan, Ms. Tojibaeva has become the target of intensified government repression in the aftermath of Andizhan.

In the last few months, authorities detained Ms. Tojibaeva for several days without charge and prevented her from traveling within the country to monitor human rights conditions. When she was arrested, Ms. Tojibaeva was preparing to attend a human rights conference in Dublin, where she was to describe human rights violations currently occurring in Uzbekistan.

Ms. Tojibaeva’s arrest is a continuation of the Uzbek government’s politically motivated campaign to silence defenders and prevent the international community from learning about human rights violations in Uzbekistan. Take action to send Uzbekistan’s government a clear message that it should release Ms. Tojibaeva and cease its systematic persecution of human rights defenders.

Background:

Mukhtabar Tojibaeva is the head of the "Fiery Hearts" human rights organization based in Margilan in the Ferghana Valley region of Uzbekistan. Since May 13, 2005, when the Uzbek military killed hundreds of unarmed, civilian protestors gathered in Andizhan, she vocally criticized the massacre. In an August interview on Radio Liberty she described the situation in Uzbekistan and the need for a new government that respects the rule of law.

As a result of her comments, Ms. Tojibaeva was detained for three days without charge, summoned for questioning by counterterrorism officers, and prohibited from travel to regions within Uzbekistan for the purpose of monitoring cases of human rights violations. Other members of her organization have also been under intense pressure from authorities to cease their human rights activities.

Then on October 7, at 11 p.m., more than a dozen heavily armed and masked police officers stormed into Ms. Tojibaeva's house. The Uzbek authorities charged her with extortion based on a financial dispute with one of her employees she had settled earlier that day. Ms. Tojibaeva claims the accusations are unfounded and were trumped up solely to provide the authorities with an excuse to arrest her hours before she planned to depart for a conference in Dublin, sponsored by the international human rights organization Frontline.

The persecution of Ms. Tojibaeva is part of a severe government crackdown on independent human rights defenders and other critics who have spoken out against the government's excessive use of force on May 13. Defenders have been persecuted for attempting to interview eyewitnesses and families of victims, report on violations suffered by the protestors, monitor official investigations as they unfold, or communicate their findings and opinions to the international press. More than a dozen defenders remain in jail, and some have been tortured or otherwise mistreated. For example, human rights defender Elena Urlaeva has been detained in a psychiatric institute as a result of her commentary on the Andizhan massacre and is being forcibly administered psychotropic drugs in violation of international standards.

The independent voices of defenders are especially valuable in the months following the Andizhan events. Reports from government and independent sources vary widely as to the events leading up to the violence, the identity of the victims, and the actual death toll. Whereas eyewitnesses report that at least 750-1000 unarmed civilians were killed, President Islam Karimov and other official sources have claimed that 187 "bandits" were killed as part of a legitimate counterterrorism operation. Despite calls from the United Nations, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the United States and other national governments, President Islam Karimov has refused to allow an international, independent investigation into the violence in Andizhan.

Though President Karimov took to accusing his non-violent critics and political opponents of being “a threat to the constitutional order” early in his fourteen year presidency, after deadly bombings in Tashkent in 1999, the government capitalized on public fear of the threat of terrorism and religious extremism to undermine and discredit its critics. Those who objected to Karimov’s authoritarian practices and exposed the government’s violations of human rights were accused of giving aid and comfort to terrorists.

The September 11 attacks on the United States of America and the U.S. government’s declaration of a “global war on terrorism” were an opportunity for the Karimov government to evade international condemnation of its widespread violations of human rights. The Karimov government formed a strategic partnership with the U.S. government, and ever more confident that its treatment of non-violent dissidents would be overlooked by its global allies, stepped up repression of independent civil society and human rights defenders.

The Uzbek government’s suppression of human rights defenders is one of the most extreme case studies of the misuse of legitimate concerns over security to undermine respect for basic rights and freedoms and to persecute those who seek to promote human rights. This counterproductive policy has contributed to an escalation in political violence, instability and violations of human rights.

Sample Letter:

Islam Karimov
President of the Republic of Uzbekistan
c\o Embassy of Uzbekistan to the United States
1746 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036-1903

Dear President Karimov:

I am writing to express my concern for the safety and wellbeing of Uzbek human rights defender Mukhtabar Tojibaeva. Ms. Tojibaeva, a long-time human rights activist and member of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, was arrested on October 7, 2005, and detained by the government of Uzbekistan. I understand that this is just the latest in a string of attempts to harass and intimidate Ms. Tojibaeva, and I urge the Uzbek government to release her without delay.

The persecution of Ms. Tojibaeva is part of a severe government crackdown on independent human rights defenders and other non-violent critics who have spoken out against the government's excessive use of force on May 13. Defenders have been harassed, arrested and detained for attempting to interview eyewitnesses and families of victims, report on violations suffered by the protestors, monitor official investigations as they unfold, or communicate their findings and opinions to the international press.

The government must allow human rights monitors to report on recent events in Uzbekistan as provided for under international law. Any arrests of defenders on account of their monitoring or reporting activities are direct violations of the 1998 UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, under which all persons have the right "freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms," as well as other international instruments that are binding on the government of Uzbekistan, like the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The government should recognize and support the important work of Uzbek human rights defenders instead of persecuting them for their legitimate activities.

While Ms. Tojibaeva is in detention, she must be treated with humanity and dignity. International human rights law requires that persons held in detention must not be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

I urge the government of Uzbekistan to release Ms. Tojibaeva, and to cease all further harassment, arrests and detentions of human rights defenders in Uzbekistan. I will continue to monitor this and other similar cases closely. I appreciate your attention to this most serious matter.

Sincerely,