Uzbekistan: Umida Niyazova is Arrested

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Two hours after we began receiving initial reports that Umida Niyazova had been arrested, one journalist in Uzbekistan sent us an email. To protect this person’s personal security we will not reveal his or her identity. As Umida Niyazova’s arrest once again makes clear, the Uzbek authorities are doing everything they can to silence independent journalists and to restrict access to information about human rights abuses in Uzbekistan.

This email very clearly reflects the attitudes of Uzbekistan’s community of journalists toward Umida's arrest, and toward the repression of the freedom of expression in Uzbekistan.

The text of the e-mail is as follows:

Letter from Uzbekistan

Umida Niyazova has been arrested. From January 22 to January 26, she was kept in the pre-trial detention unit in Andijan city. On January 26, she was tranfered to Tashkent where she is being held at the Office for Prosecution of Transport Offenses.

It appears that Uzbek law enforcement agents have decided that Andijan is the most secure place in Uzbekistan at the moment. Here the regime fought against the truth with gunfire and swords, here they insulted the pride of the people. In May 2005, this Uzbek town showed to the whole world the extent of brutality and repression in Uzbekistan.

In her capacity as a defender of human rights, Umida did a lot for the people who suffered during and after the Andijan massacre. Now she herself needs protection. Her colleagues inside Uzbekistan cannot do much to secure her release, and the fact that their hands are tied makes them furious. I continue to be surprised at the cowardice of this regime. This incident once again showed utter cynicism on the part of the authorities. Umida was tricked into coming to the prosecutor's office by lies; indeed the authorities even fabricated a document saying that previous legal charges against her had been dropped.

Umida had in effect become Enemy Number One in Uzbekistan. She has been accused of absolutely ridiculous charges such as illegal crossing of the border and the smuggling of literature and documents containing extremist material. In December 2006 she traveled to Bishkek. Her flight was delayed for one day due to weather. The customs search was as thorough as ever, and Umida was searched from head to toe before she boarded the plane. Her fellow passengers were surprised by the attention she received. One interesting detail is that her laptop, which contained materials which have more recently “shocked” Uzbek security agents with their extremism, was not even inspected when she exited the country.

This is because they were waiting for her return. The human rights defender had of course returned from rebellious Kyrgyzstan intending to import the concept of the “coloured revolution”! Apparently this is how the authorities believe such infectious ideas are being smuggled into what official propaganda used to call “a country with a great future.”

President Karimov has already stopped talking about “the great future.” On the contrary, it was Umida who has been talking about the future of Uzbekistan with love and hope. She is absolutely opposed to extremism of any sort; she simply believed there should be less pressure against her kind of work. She believed that with some more effort it would become much easier to breathe in Uzbekistan. For about two years Umida received warnings about possible threats against her, and she was many times advised to leave the country. She didn't listen and continued her work for international and local human rights organisations. She didn’t leave perhaps because she knew that she was irreplaceable. Uzbek National Security officers couldn't look her straight in the eyes; one cannot forget a person with such honest eyes.

One cannot call her naïve; she is simply kind, and her kindness was limitless. Many people believed so. I don't trust all of the human rights community of Uzbekistan, but Umida manages to destroy journalistic stereotypes about human rights defenders here. You can see what kind of person she is from the first look. She has natural charm that makes people with different beliefs trust her. Journalists love to gossip and backstab each other, but all of them have enormous respect for Umida.

Her little son is waiting for her. He is not yet three years old. He misses his mother. She is also missed by many other people who love and respect her.

Umida's arrest is an act of cowardice on the part of the authorities. Once more, the servants of the totalitarian regime, with the blessing of the nation’s “stepfather” Islam Karimov, have showed that there is no respect for human rights in Uzbekistan. Who can help?

Uzbek law enforcement agencies are constantly trying to find or simply falsify compromising materials to use against Umida Niyazova and other Uzbek human rights defenders. Those whose view on the situation in the country differs from the official Uzbek government line are a great irritant to the authorities. Many have faced imprisonment on false charges if they stay in the country. Many have been tortured in prison. The Uzbek government apparently does not see any other way to cover up the evidence of the many witnesses of the Andijan massacre, or any other way to deal with those who critise the political situation in the country.

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The negotiations about human rights between the European Union and Uzbekistan have not been very effective in achieving any real objectives. We do not believe that an objective investigation of the Andijan massacre, or any easing of repression, is possible under President Karimov. Umida Niyazova has been arrested based on the supposed violation of two articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan. First is Article 223, which discusses “Illegal exit from the country and illegal entry into the Republic of Uzbekistan.” This charge envisages punishment of between three to ten years in prison. She is also accused of violating Article 246 against smuggling, which envisages punishment of between five to ten years in prison. These articles are categorized as severe crimes in the country’s Criminal Code. Persons accused under these articles are not subject to amnesty. For this reason there is an increasing tendency to use false accusations of smuggling along with extortion in the state persecution of human rights defenders in Uzbekistan.

According to our information, the materials confiscated from Umida Niyazova do not contain calls for violence or an overthrow of the constitutional regime. Her arrest has only one purpose, to discredit the human rights movement in Uzbekistan. All efforts to make human rights abuses in Uzbekistan continue to be brutally repressed.

Please tell us about your actions in support of Umida Niyazova. Our contact details:

“Human Rights in Central Asia”-Association, which started its activities in 2006. It is registered in France, № 1458
Address:
Email : asiecentrale@neuf.fr
Tel: + 33 6 13 41 40 70 /
Fax: + 33 2 43 24 00 72/

Uzbekistan Initiative-London, a non-profit organisaion based in London.
Address ; Flat 8, Carisbrook Court
Weymouth Street
London W1G 8NZ
Email : shahidayakub@uzbekistaninitiative.com

Signatures:

Nadezhda Ataeva, Director, «Association for Human Rights in Central Asia», France
Shahida Yakub, Director, «Uzbekistan Initiative-London, UK
Yusuf Rasul, Chairperson, «Union of Writers and Artists in Exile», Sweden
Khazratkul Khuyberdiev, speaker, Commission on human rights in Uzbekistan, Sweden
Mukhiddin Qurbanov, Chairperson, «Society of International Human Rights Defenders», Sweden
Bakhodir Choriev, Chairperson, «Birdamlik» movement, USA
Qudrat Babajon, member of Group on Freedom of Press in Uzbekistan, Sweden
Tulqin Qaraev, independent journalist, Sweden
Dustnazar Khudoynazar, Vice-Speaker of Commission on Human Rights and Democracy in Uzbekistan», Sweden
Bakhtiyor Khamroev, Chairperson of Dzhizak branch of «Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan
Ismoil Dadajanov, deputy Chairperson of «Birlik» movement
Sulaimon Muradov, member of Central Committee of ERK party, USA
Safar Bekjon, member of the International Parliament f Writers, Switzerland
Bakhodir Faizi, sociologist, USA
Khotam Khadjimatov, Chairperson of «Society of Political Immigrants of Uzbekistan», Norway
Laurent Ruseckas, consultant, UK