Uzbekistan

Front Line is deeply concerned following reports received the authorities arrested, tried and fined ten human rights defenders following their organisation of, and participation in, a peaceful demonstration in Tashkent on 6 December 2008. The defenders were members of the Ezgulik Human Rights Society, the Committee of Prisoners of Conscience and Uzbek Human Rights Alliance.  

Front Line is deeply concerned by the health conditions of the imprisoned human rights defender Abdurasul Khudoynazarov who tried to commit suicide on 1 September 2008, reportedly as a result of the harsh conditions of detention he endures in the N64/1 Prison in Bekabat, Tashkent region. Abdurasul Khudoynazarov, a member of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU) “Ezgulik”, was arrested on 26 June 2005, and condemned to nine years imprisonment.  

Front Line is deeply concerned following reports that the trial of Salijon Abdurahmanov commenced on 12 September 2008. Salijon Abdurahmanov was arrested on 7 June 2008, after drugs were planted in his car. He is a founding member and leading journalist with Uznews.net, a member of the Real Union of Journalists of Uzbekistan, and a member of the Committee to Protect Individuals' Rights in Karakalpakstan. He has also worked for Radio Liberty and the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, and has made public statements concerning human rights violations and restrictions on freedom of expression in Uzbekistan. His case was the subject of a Front Line urgent appeal on 20 June 2008.  

Front Line is deeply concerned by reports of the assault and detention of human rights defenders Zohir Hasanzoda, Pardakul Turakulov and Kamiljon Ashurov. Zohir Hasanzoda is a journalist with the Ovozi Tojik (Tajik Voice) and the newspaper’s correspondent in the Samarkand region, Pardakul Turakulov is a freelance journalist with the same newspaper. Both journalists are also members of the Centre for Human Rights Initiatives, in Samarkand, of which Kamiljon Ashurov is the Director.