International Federation
for Human Rights

The Observatory deplores indeed that ten years after the adoption of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, and particularly on the occasion of the celebrations organised for the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration for Human Rights (UDHR), arbitrary detention remained one of the tool most used by some of the OSCE Participating States to muzzle civil society. Human rights defenders recently involved in the organisation and in the participation of such celebrations in Uzbekistan and in Belarus were indeed arrested, arbitrarily detained and - in some cases - sentenced.

This crackdown on civil society celebrating the core document of the International Bill of Rights is once again evidence of the persistence of the determination of the authorities of a certain number of countries to silence dissenting voices, in breach of international human rights standards and OSCE Human Dimension commitments.

In Tashkent, Uzbekistan, ten human rights defenders, namely Ms. Lyudmila Koutepova, Ms. Victoria Bajenova, Ms. Elena Urlaeva, Mr. A. Mukhitdinov, Ms. T. Davlateva, Ms. Zulkhumor Tuychieva, Mr. A. Volkov, Ms. S. Baymatova, Mr. O. Sarapulov, and Ms. A. Kim, members of "Ezgulik", the Committee for the Prisoners of Conscience and the Uzbek Human Rights Alliance, were arrested on December 6, 2008, arbitrarily detained and released after being sentenced to an important fine[1].

On December 10, 2008 in Minsk, Hrodna and Mahiliou, Belarus, human rights activists were also arrested and arbitrarily detained for distributing copies of - and brochures on - the Universal Declaration:

– In Minsk, six persons were detained: Mr. Ales Bialiatski, Head of the human rights centre Viasna, Mr. Uladzimir Labkovich, Mr. Aleh Matskevich, Ms. Maryna Statkevch, Mr. Siarzhuk Sys and Ms. Iryna Toustsik[2].

– In Hrodna, the police detained Messrs. Aleh Kalinkou, Uladzimir Khilmanovich and Viktar Sazonau. They were released a few hours later, after the police asked them to produce written explanations and asserted that they would decide at a later date whether to draft any violation reports against them.

– In Mahiliou, Messrs. Alexander Karaliou and Alexander Padalian were also subjected to arbitrary detention and subsequently released.

In addition, human rights defenders continue to serve long-term sentences in Uzbekistan, Turkey and Azerbaijan, following blatantly unfair rulings. The Observatory therefore urges the OSCE Participating States to release them immediately and unconditionally, in line with their Human Dimension commitments.

In Uzbekistan, as of December 15, 2008, an important number of human rights defenders remain arbitrarily deprived of liberty, among them were[3]:

– Mr. Abdurasul Abdunazarov, Head of the human rights organisation 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 Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (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. 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;

– Mr. Salijon Abdurahmanov, a human rights activist and a journalist in Karakalpakstan, sentenced to ten years in prison by the Karakalpak Supreme Court’s Appeal Commission for "selling drugs in large consignment" (Article 25-273, Part 5 of the Uzbek Criminal Code) on November 19, 2008;

– Mr. Akzam Turgunov, Executive Director and founder of "Mazlum" human rights centre, sentenced to ten years imprisonment by a court in Manget, Karakalpakstan, for "extortion", on October 23, 2003.

In Turkey, on March 3, 2008, the Court of Appeal (Yargitary) confirmed the judgement of the second Bingöl Criminal Court, which, on October 6, 2005, had sentenced Mr. Ridvan Kizgin, a member of the Human Rights Association (Insan Haklari Dernegi - IHD), to two and a half years’ imprisonment, after he had published a report denouncing the assassination of five persons in a village of the region in 2003. On November 5, 2008 Mr. Kizgin would have been transferred from Bingöl Prison to Erzurum H-Type Prison, where he remains detained[4].

In Azerbaijan, Mr. Novruzali Mammadov, a fervent defender of the cultural rights of the Talysh people sentenced on June 24, 2008 to ten years in prison for high treason - on the basis of fabricated charges -, is still currently detained, waiting for his appeal to be heard[5].

Last but not least, in Turkmenistan, as of the end of 2008, no official information could be obtained on the fate of Mr. Annakurban Amanklychev and Mr. Sapardurdy Khajiev, members of the Bulgaria-based Turkmen Helsinki Foundation (THF), who had been arrested on June 18, 2006, at the same time as Ms. Ogulsapar Muradova, a reporter for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, who died in detention on September 14, 2006, probably as a result of tortures and ill-treatments.

In the light of these extremely worrying situations, the Observatory urges the OSCE Participating States to:

- Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of human rights defenders in the OSCE Participating States;

– Cooperate with other relevant human rights defenders’ protection mechanisms, such as the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, the Commissioner on Human Rights of the Council of Europe and the Human Rights Defenders’ Unit of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights.

For further information, please contact:

OMCT : Delphine Reculeau, + 00 41 22 809 49 39