Jahonnoma

By Nasratulla Laheeb,

Chief of Uzbek Service, VOICE OF AMERERICA

UZBEK AUTHORITIES ARREST SISTER OF VOA UZBEK STAFFER

Uzbek Security agents arrested sisters of Jahangir Muhammad, a VOA Uzbek reporter last week allegedly on charges of dealing in narcotics. Uzbek reporter Ran Habib interviewed Mayram Mamatova, Muhammad’s sister, Rajab Ahmedov, his brother-in-law and Talib Yakubov, General Secretary of Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan about the arrests of Nodira and Mehrinisa Murtazayeva. According to them, after spednding two days in Samarkand prison, tey have been transferred to Nukus, Karakalpakistan. The search of their house was conducted right after a woman gave a bag of drugs to Sarvigul, a 12-year-old niece of Murtazayeva. They said the reason for the arrest of two sisters was to put pressure on him to stop interviewing opposition figures and human rights activists critical of the Karimov’s government. Talib Yakubov said his organization sent a letter to President Islam Karimov, asking him that Nodira and Mehrinisa be released as soon as possible.

5/14/01

JAHANGIR MUHAMMAD’S SOME INTERVIEWS (2001)

UZBEKISTAN /TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF INDEPENDENCE

The Republic of Uzbekistan declared its independence on August 31, 1991 and was recognized by the United States on December 25, 1991. Uzbekistan is a member of the United Nations and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Islam Karimov was first elected President by Uzbekistan’s Supreme Soviet in 1990, prior to independence, and later won a popular election in 1991. Uzbnek reporter Jahangir Muhammad interviewed Abdumannab Polat, Chairman of the Human Rihts Society of Uzbekistan, Atanazar Aripov of banned Erk Democratic Party of Uzbekistan, Polat Akhunov, former member of the parlament, Anwar Uzmanov, dissident and journalist about the political situation prior and after the declaration of independence. The rapid growth of the Birlik Popular Movement into a mass organization, said Aripov, gave rise to some serious problems. Birlik began to lose its appeal to the intellectuals, turning instead more and more into an organization that sought street confrontations with the authorities. Muhammad Salih, leader of the Erk, expressed his concerns about the danger of this trend at a general assembly in 1990, but radicals in the organization accused him of conservatism. As a result Salih left the Birlik movement and founded the “Erk” (Freedom) Democratic Party. The principle aim of the Erk Democratic Party was for Uzbekistan to secede from the Soviet Union and establish a democratic regime. The party prepared a “Declaration of Independence” for Uzbekistan and Salih presented this declaration in the parliament. After two days of debate in parliament, a version of the declaration was approved and on June 21, 1990, it was officially announced as the “Uzbekistan Declaration of Sovereignty.” In spite of this success, the Uzbekistan regime refused to recognize the Erk Party as an official party. Erk was only registered on September 5, 1991, following the 19 August 1991 coup attempt in Moscow. Although finally independent, Uzbekistan was left to deal with its tremendous economic, environmental, and ecological problems on its own, the discussant said, and the result was that, under the justification that it needed to maintain stability, Karimov’s government closed off any openings for expression by the opposition.

5.7.01

TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF UZBEK INDEPENDENCE

The Uzbek government is preparing for the celebration of the up-coming tenth anniversary of independence of Uzbekistan. Uzbek reporter Jahangir Muhammad had a discussion with Karim Bahriyev, a former member of the Uzbek parliament, lawyer and journalist about the country’s past ten years. Mr. Bahriyev said the Uzbek authorities have fallen back on Soviet methods of silencing opponents.  He added that Uzbek human rights activists have denounced the detention of a coleague in a Tashkent psychiatric hospital as a brutal attempt to silence the opposition. According to Mr. Bahriyev the government is keen to present itself as busy in building a civil society in Uzbekistan based on democratic principles. Meanwhile, General Secretary of Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU) Talib Yakubov told reporter Muhammad in a separate interview, “As in Soviet times, psychiatric hospitals are being used against dissidents in order to protect the regime.” Yakubov said Urlaeva had been doing a lot of useful work for HRSU, consulting citizens whose human rights had been violated.  In March and early April, she took part in protest rallies outside the local authority buildings to demand an independent inquiry into the imprisonment of her brother who was convicted of hooliganism. Urlaeva claims evidence against him was fabricated. But the fact remains such tactics scare ordinary people. “I am afraid, that in Uzbekistan, anyone who criticizes behavior of the Uzbek authorities could find himself in Urlaeva’s position,” said Bahriyev. On a related topic, Hashimjan Irisbaev, a human rights activist in Tashkent, Uzbekistan told Uzbek Service reporter Rano Habib that some members of a group, who have been recording for distribution a number of critical features aired by VOA, Radio Liberty and BBC Uzbek were arrested recently and put on trial for allegedly trying to overthrow the Uzbek government.

POLITICAL PROBLEMS IN UZBEKISTAN

Uzbek president Islam Karimov does not intend to allow anyone involved in the opposition movements of the late 1980s and early 1990s to engage in politics in Uzbekistan—unless such individuals are willing to support publicly his rule and policies. Samad Murad, a member of the opposition Erk Democratic Party of Uzbekistan told reporter Jahangir Muhammad that President Karimov has continued his rhetorical campaign for human rights. Nevertheless, the reality has hardly chaned. Tulqun Karabayev, an Uzbek journalist from Kashkadarya region of Uzbekistan said, there are no independent human rights monitoring groups registered in Uzbekistan, there are no opposition political parties, and there are no independent voices in the strictly state-controlled media.

ROUND-TABLE DISCUSSION WITH HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS

Uzbek reporter Jahangir Muhammad invited Ismailjan Dadajanov, leader of the Democratic Movement in Ferghana Valley, Talib Yaqubov, general secretary of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan and Abdumannob Polatov, chairman of the Human rights Society of Uzbekistan to discuss human rights abuses in Uzbekistan. They said while the government continues to voice rhetorical support for human rights — it does not ensure these rights in practice. The police and security forces continued to use torture, harassment, illegal searches and wiretaps, and arbitrarily detained or arrested opposition activists and other citizens on false changes. They said that those responsible for the documented abuses rarely are punished and that police continue to beat and otherwise mistreat criminal suspects. Detention can be prolonged, and prison conditions are poor. They stated that the judiciary is largely under the control of the executive branch.  The Uzbek government severely limits freedom of speech and the press. Although the Uzbek constitution expressly prohibits it, press censorship continues, and officials sharply restrict citizens’ access to foreign media. According to them, authorities further consolidated their grip recently on the press with a new law that increases government oversight of the media. Freedom of assembly and association are also severely restricted in Uzbekistan, they said.  They also argued that it is time to open up the political as well as civic space and to have a reasonable dialogue with the exiled political leaders about realistic conditions under which they can and should return and operate freely and safely. We would like to see movement in this direction very soon, they added.

4.16. 2001 UZBEK SERVICE

NEW ATTACKS ON HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS IN UZBEKISTAN

Elena Urlaeva, a member of the non-governmental Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, was forcibly detained in the locked ward of the main psychiatric hospital in the capital, Tashkent. Reporter Jahangir Muhammad interviewed Talib Yakubov, head of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, who spoke to Urlaeva briefly on April 8, said that she was perfectly healthy and that she should not be hospitalized. Urlaeva, who until 1999worked for the national television, he said, had never been treated for mental illness. Urlaeva’s hospitalization raises serious concerns that she is being targeted for her recent human rights activism. According to him, Urlaeva first came to the attention of authorities in October 2000, when she severely criticized the government at the Annual Implementation Meeting of the OSCE Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in Warsaw. On February 19 police in Tashkent detained her for seven hours, confiscating her passport, several documents and notes pertaining to her human rights activities, and forcing her to sign a statement admitting that these documents were “anti-constitutional.”

UZBEK MEDIA/IDEOLOGY

Uzbek president Karimov professed a “commitment to democratic media and reform”, which he attempted to prove with the passage of a Law on the Mass Media. However, several articles of this law are worded in such a way that they could be used to punish government critics. One provision, for example, makes journalists responsible for the truth of the information contained in their news stories, potentially subjecting journalists to prosecution if a government official disagrees with a nes report. Asadullah Artikov, an Uzbek writer told reporter Jahangir Muhammad that journalists are subjected to direct, institutionalized censorship despite Article 4 of the law on mass media, which clearly makes this illegal. Journalists’ articles are not allowed to be published until they have the Inspection Agency of State Secrets’ stamp of approval. This instrument of censorship has not changed with the Republic’s independence in 1991 and the establishment of the Constitution, which outlaws censorship.

UZBEK MEDIA/IDEOLOGY

Uzbek president Karimov professed a “commitment to democratic media and reform”, which he attempted to prove with the passage of a Law on the Mass Media. However, several articles of this law are worded in such a way that they could be used to punish government critics. One provision, for example, makes journalists responsible for the truth of the information contained in their news stories, potentially subjecting journalists to prosecution if a government official disagrees with a news report. Asadullah Artikov, an Uzbek writer told reporter Jahangir Muhammad that journalists are subjected to direct, institutionalized censorship despite Article 4 of the law on mass media, which clearly makes this illegal. Journalists’ articles are not allowed to be published until they have the Inspection Agency of State Secrets’ stamp of approval. This instrument of censorship has not changed with the Republic’s independence in 1991 and the establishment of the Constitution, which outlaws censorship.

INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN UZBEKISTAN

2001 annual conference of the American-Uzbek Chamber of Commerce (AUCC) will be held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on May 3. Reporter Cevdet Seyhan interviewed Robert Pace, Director of AUCC about the meeting. The Republic of Uzbekistan, he said, is the business hub of Central Asia, and the AUCC is the largest U-S based business council dealing with Uzbekistan.  Its rapidly growing base represents every major industrial sector in Uzbekistan including telecommunication, mining, energy, aerospace, agribusiness, construction and engineering. The AUCC is dedicated to expanding the community of investors in Uzbekistan by arranging meetings with senior Uzbek government officials and advocating the interests of American business with the U-S and Uzbek governments, he added.

4.9. 2001

HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION IN UZBEKISTAN

Talib Yakubov, the general secretary of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, told Jahangir Muhammad that upwards of 40 percent of those being held in Uzbek jails could be considered prisoners of conscience, whose Islamic beliefs were directly responsible for their arrest and incarceration. Most are serving prison terms of between 10-20 years. President Islam Karimov’s administration has intensified the crackdown against Islamic believer in recent years, ostensibly in response to an armed insurgency conducted by the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), which operates out of bases in Afghanistan.

APPEAL IN THE CASE OF UZBEK MOTHER

Adina Maksudvoa appealed to the world community to intervene in the case of her mother, Rahima Ahmadalieva, a citizen of Uzbekistan, who was taken into custody by Uzbek police on March 17, 2001.  She told Uzbek stringer Marfua Tokhtakhdjaeva that Mrs. Ahmadalieva is being held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) in Tashkent. According to her, police have detained Mrs. Ahmadalieva as a hostage, in order to force the appearance of her husband, Imam Ruhiddin Fakhruddinov, or to obtain information about his whereabouts, and that Mrs. Ahmadalieva is enduring physical and psychological mistreatment while in custody. According to Mrs. Ahmadalieva’s nineteen year-old daughter, Maksudova, policemen entered the Ahmadaliev home, conducted a search without displaying a warrant, and detained her mother, claiming to have found illegal religious literature in her home. When Maksudova went to the MVD to inquire after her mother on March 20, she herself was brought to the notorious basement of the building together with her mother, where both women were stripped of their religious head covering, and threatened with physical violence. Police operatives accused them of membership in an allegedly extremist sect, and threatened that Mrs. Ahmadalieva would be sentenced to prison for her religious affiliation.

4.2. 2001

HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN UZBEKISTAN

The Uzbek government has tried to justify its repression by pointing to the terrorist threat, as exemplified by the February 1999 bombings, said Aktam Osman, an Uzbek dissident living in Macedonia, in an interview with Uzbek reporter Jahangir Muhammad. There is no doubt that countries in Central Asia, including Uzbekistan, must confront this threat, he said, but a democratic and open society provides the best defense against extremism and trrorism. Respecting the criminal law, any implementation of force for giving evidence, that is, by psychological or physical act on the suspect and the accused; by threatening, hurting, beating and torturing, causing body harm or using other unlawful ways to extort statements, is forbidden. Albert Musin, another dissident residing in Norway told Uzbek reporter that, it is time for the Uzbek government to take serious steps toward democracy and immediately release people jailed for their political or religious beliefs in Uzbekistan.

DECLINE IN LIVING STANDARD AND MORALITY IN UZBEKISTAN

Mutabar Ahamedova, member Amnesty International told reporter Rano Habib that despite the government’s pronouncements, Uzbekistan has no free-market economy. The ownership of 96 percent of government enterprises, collective farms, and ministries remains the same-only the names have been changed. Furthermore, contradictory laws and decrees, exorbitant taxes, government interference, and Mafia harassment overwhelm private initiatives. The size of the “free market” has actually declined and the majority of private banks are closed. Poverty, unemployment, weakening social security networks, the decline of traditional family life and hopes for better work and a better life are the major factors for decline in living standards and morality, she said. Meanwhile, the position of Uzbek women, she said, has deteriorated because of political and economic factors as well. Clearly any improvement in the economy would help both women and men. She added.

UZBEK HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS VISIT VOA UZBEK SERVICE

Uzbek high school students are invited to participate in the ongoing exchange between schools in the state of Connecticut and Tashkent, Uzbekistan, through the USIA-sponsored project, “Linking Schools through Language and Technology”.  Students and teachers from Tashkent spent three weeks in Connecticut in March 2002 and last week visited VOA Uzbek Service. Reporter Jahangir Muhammad interviewed Shoira Ernzararova, leader of the group about on the students’ impression about their trip in the U-S.

TORTURE IN UZBEKISTAN

Reporter Jahangir Muhammad interviewed Bakhtiyar Hamrayev, a human rights activist van Mutabar Atababayeva, a lawyer in Jizzakh, Uzbekistan about torture in Uzbek prisons. They said torture victims include those arrested for common crimes as well as that accused of political and religious offenses. The mass arrests of those suspected of opposition sentiment based on their religious affiliation, however, have brought to light many instances of torture, often during trials in which defendants have testified about their ill treatment.

4.2. 2001

HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN UZBEKISTAN

The Uzbek government has tried to justify its repression by pointing to the terrorist threat, as exemplified by the February 1999 bombings, said Aktam Osman, an Uzbek dissident living in Macedonia, in an interview with Uzbek reporter Jahangir Muhammad. There is no doubt that countries in Central Asia, including Uzbekistan, must confront this threat, he said, but a democratic and open society provides the best defense against extremism and trrorism. Respecting the criminal law, any implementation of force for giving evidence, that is, by psychological or physical act on the suspect and the accused; by threatening, hurting, beating and torturing, causing body harm or using other unlawful ways to extort statements, is forbidden. Albert Musin, another dissident residing in Norway told Uzbek reporter that, it is time for the Uzbek government to take serious steps toward democracy and immediately release people jailed for their political or religious beliefs in Uzbekistan.

DECLINE IN LIVING STANDARD AND MORALITY IN UZBEKISTAN

Mutabar Ahamedova, member Amnesty International told reporter Rano Habib that despite the government’s pronouncements, Uzbekistan has no free-market economy. The ownership of 96 percent of government enterprises, collective farms, and ministries remains the same-only the names have been changed. Furthermore, contradictory laws and decrees, exorbitant taxes, government interference, and Mafia harassment overwhelm private initiatives. The size of the “free market” has actually declined and the majority of private banks are closed. Poverty, unemployment, weakening social security networks, the decline of traditional family life and hopes for better work and a better life are the major factors for decline in living standards and morality, she said. Meanwhile, the position of Uzbek women, she said, has deteriorated because of political and economic factors as well. Clearly any improvement in the economy would help both women and men. She added.

UZBEK HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS VISIT VOA UZBEK SERVICE

Uzbek high school students are invited to participate in the ongoing exchange between schools in the state of Connecticut and Tashkent, Uzbekistan, through the USIA-sponsored project, “Linking Schools through Language and Technology”.  Students and teachers from Tashkent spent three weeks in Connecticut in March 2002 and last week visited VOA Uzbek Service. Reporter Jahangir Muhammad interviewed Shoira Ernzararova, leader of the group about on the students’ impression about their trip in the U-S.

TORTURE IN UZBEKISTAN

Reporter Jahangir Muhammad interviewed Bakhtiyar Hamrayev, a human rights activist van Mutabar Atababayeva, a lawyer in Jizzakh, Uzbekistan about torture in Uzbek prisons. They said torture victims include those arrested for common crimes as well as that accused of political and religious offenses. The mass arrests of those suspected of opposition sentiment based on their religious affiliation, however, have brought to light many instances of torture, often during trials in which defendants have testified about their ill treatment.

3.23. 2001

NAWROZ CELEBRATION IN UZBEKISTAN

Nawruz (New Year), which occurs on the date of the vernal equinox, about 21 March, is celebrated like other holidays, with many symbols indicating spring and renewal. A week or so before the holiday grains are placed in a dish to sprout into a mass of green blades. On the day of Nawruz the family gathers in new or freshly cleaned clothes. The table is decorated with fruit, cakes, colored eggs and other treats. Uzbek reporter Jahangir Muhammd interviewed Artiqali Muhammadov, an Uzbek physician in Tashkent and Gulchehra Nurullaeva, an Uzbek poetess, also residing in the Uzbek capital about Nawroz. They said Nawroz, revived in all its beauty and greatness, has become a nationwide celebration of spring and renewal. Every family, no matter what nationality or religion, celebrates Nawroz. It is a holiday of hopes, clear thoughts and kindness, they added

HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN UZBEKISTAN

Talib Yaqubov, the co-founder of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan visited VOA Uzbek Service and was interviewed by reporter Jahangir Muhammad. The Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, he said, is aware of hundreds of people, who belong to the category of the victims of torture. This isn’t a small number, if to consider the fact, that the government is trying to conceal the facts concerning the use of violent tortures in order to extract confessions from those who are under investigations. Investigations of Criminal cases are based on not the presumption of innocence as it’s required by the Article 23rd of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, but on the presumption of guiltiness, as it was practiced by the inquisition during the middle centuries. There is no one among the former prisoners who hadn’t been exposed to torture. In this way, we can conclude that the use of torture has become a norm of treatment for prisoners. t can be said that, anyone who tries to prove his innocence in Uzbekistan, will be exposed to brutal forms of physical and psychical tortures by the legislative organs, which extract the needed statement with the help of generally known methods, such as systematic and non-systematic beating, torture by using dentistry, torture by hanging,  torture by electricity,  torture by suffocation, sexual torture, pharmacological torture, torture by cauterization, torture by causing severe injuries, and non-physiological positions.

3.16. 2001

HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION IN UZBEKISTAN

Uzbek reporter Jahangir Muhammad interviewed Zafar Mirza of Birlik Popular Movement of Uzbekistan and Akhtam Osman, a dissident and member of the opposition Erk Democratic Party on issue of human rights violation in Uzbekistan. They said government officials have publicly announced a policy of holding families accountable for the actions of any of their members suspected of illegal religious activity. Consequently, the relatives of those ccused or sought are often detained, held as hostages, threatened with torture. Since 1998, they said, the Uzbek government has arrested thousands of people in a crackdown against those, whose practice of Islam falls outside of state-sanctioned religion, often charging them with ill-defined crimes of “religious extremism.”  Police routinely torture defendants in these cases, not only to obtain confessions, but also to force them to incriminate others with whom they have prayed or studied the Koran.

MUNOJOT ENSEMBLE VISITS VOA

Staff member Jahangir Muhammad interviewed singer Zulaikha Baykhanova and Qizlarkhan Dusmtmehammedova, leader of the famous Uzbek Munojot Ensemble that visited VOA Uzbek Service for recording its music pieces. They both reiterated that they listen to VOA Uzbek Service as time allows them.

UZBEK DETAINEE DIES

Deaths in custody and torture are a growing problem in pre-trial detention in Uzbekistan. Though Uzbek laws forbid it, courts routinely rely on confessions or denunciations extracted under torture as evidence to convict suspects. There are increasing reports of deaths in detention, particularly of persons arrested for religious and political offenses. There is no effective recourse for victims of torture, and the perpetrators are held to account in extremely rare cases. The recent victim of death in custody was a prominent Uzbek writer, Emin Osman, who died in prison in Uzbekistan. His family told that they sent his body by the Uzbek authorities on 1 March and forced them to bury him immediately. The family members were told he had hanged himself, but they say the body had clear traces of torture. The fifty-five years old Mr. Osman was arrested on 21 February the on charges of possessing illegal religious literature and belonging to the banned Hizbut-Tahrir Islamic party. His relatives deny the charges.

UZBEK AUTHORITIES ARREST ANOTHER JOURNALIST

Aside from the routine financial difficulties inherent in Central Asia, journalists in Uzbekistan have faced arrest, visits from tax inspectors and sometimes authorities with padlocks. In extreme cases, journalists may be beaten, and a few have been killed for criticizing government officials. Uzbek journalist Tulkun Karayev told reporter Jahangir Muhammad that in Surkhandarya region of Uzbekistan, another journalist Majid Abdurahimov was arrested on March tenth for his critical reporting.

U.S. / CENTRAL ASIA RELATIONS

Uzbek reporter Jahangir Muhammad  interviewed Uzbek human rights activists, experts, opposition and people from different walks of life on U-S/Central Asian relations, in particular with Uzbekistan and the closure of VOA Uzbek Service. Mutabar Ahmedova, member of the Amnesty International,  and Ismail Rahmankulov, a retired Uzbek living in Kashkadarya, Uzbekistan said that authoritarian rulers in CentralAsia tend to believe that they furnish stability, thus answering one of America’s primary objectives. However, they are often quite surprised when the Department of State criticizes their human rights records. Unfortunately, countries in the region have not been models of virtue when it comes to political freedom free elections; Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan have not conducted elections that were recognized as free and fair by international observers. The free media, where allowed to exist, often work in very difficult conditions. The Bush administration must put more pressure on the regimes in the region, and educate the top leaders to the notion that in the long run, it is the participation of the society, its stake in the economy, and its free economic and political development which makes their countries strong. In those cases where flagrant violations are taking place, the U.S. should strongly condemn the culprits and clarify that U.S. assistance will be on the line if the violations do not stop, they said.

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