Attack on Elena Urlaeva and her five-year-old son
On 22 April 2009, approximatively at 6.30pm the five-year-old son of Yelena Urlaeva, was assaulted near his apartment building by an unknown young man who hit him with a baton on the head. The child was diagnosed as being concussed. At the children's hospital N14 of Tashkent, where Mukhammad was admitted, doctors refused to note in his medical card that the concussion was the result of an attack.
Elena Urlaeva is the Head of the Human Rights Defenders Alliance of Uzbekistan and organises public demonstrations for the right to freedom of association and assembly. She also communicates with victims of human rights violations on an individual basis, partly due to the lack of human rights organisations in the region. Recently, Elena Urlaeva has been monitoring cases of the subjection of Uzbek civil servants and students to forced labour. The evidence gathered by her and her colleagues, at the Human Rights Defenders Alliance of Uzbekistan reveal a widespread and systematic state policy of forcing citizens to weed cotton fields in several regions of Uzbekistan.
On 22 April 2009, approximatively at 6.30pm the five-year-old son of Elena Urlaeva, was assaulted near his apartment building by an unknown young man who hit him with a baton on the head. The child was diagnosed as being concussed. At the children's hospital N14 of Tashkent, where Mukhammad was admitted, doctors refused to note in his medical card that the concussion was the result of an attack.
Elena Urlaeva reported the incident at the local police station, but she was told that a child's testimony was not sufficient evidence to warrant a serious investigation. Following the attack on her son, Elena Urlaeva received a telephone call from an unknown male caller who threatened her with an “even worst attack”.
On 15 April 2009, Elena Urlaeva was with her son when she was assaulted and threatened by two unknown young men near her apartment building in Tashkent. Her assailants were dressed in black and wearing sunglasses. They kicked and punched her in the head and chest and demonstratively cut her leather jacket with knives. On that occasion, Elena Urlaeva also filed a complaint with the police but the investigation has not yielded any results yet. Elena Urlaeva believes that the attacks against herself and her son could be part of a campaign of intimidation and harassment against her.
