EU Meeting in Tashkent Should Condemn Uzbek Backtracking
The Uzbek government has banned Human Rights Watch’s representative, in direct defiance of the European Union’s express call for the organization’s Tashkent director to be accredited, Human Rights Watch said today. This is the first time that a Human Rights Watch representative has been banned from Uzbekistan....
11 Other Rights Advocates Remain in Prison
Uzbek human rights defender and government critic Mutabar Tojibaeva was released from the Tashkent Women’s Prison, where she was serving an eight-year prison sentence for her human rights activities, said Human Rights Watch said today....
Human Rights Watch today announced that Mutabar Tojibaeva, an Uzbek human rights defender, has been selected to receive the prestigious Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in 2008. Tojibaeva is currently serving an eight-year prison sentence for her outspoken criticism of the Uzbek government following the 2005 massacre in Andijan....
EU, US Should Press for Justice, Protection for Andijan Refugees
The Uzbek government continues to persecute people it believes have any connection with the May 2005 unrest in Andijan, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today....
Maintain Leverage Provided by Sanctions
The European Union should maintain its sanctions regime on Uzbekistan until Tashkent delivers on key human rights demands, Human Rights Watch said today....
EU Should Sustain Pressure on Tashkent to Release Other Imprisoned Activists
The Uzbek government’s recent release of five individuals imprisoned for human rights work shows that sustained international pressure on Tashkent is effective, Human Rights Watch said today. The releases occurred in the days preceding an important bilateral EU-Uzbekistan meeting in Tashkent on February 5....
Severe Restrctions Persist on Political Opposition and Independent Media
The Uzbek presidential election on December 23 cannot be free or fair, said Human Rights Watch today....
Calls for Urgent Steps to Rectify Tashkent’s Tarnished Record
The Uzbek government should urgently implement recommendations to combat torture issued by the United Nations Committee Against Torture, Human Rights Watch said today....
UN Committee Should Press Tashkent to Publicly Condemn and End the Use of Torture
Uzbekistan’s government continues to allow torture and ill-treatment in the criminal justice system without holding perpetrators accountable, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today....
Building an independent and informed media couldn’t be more important for Kyrgyzstan. For much of the country, public access to information is limited to thin weekly newspapers and nightly national news broadcasts. Still, Kyrgyzstan has one of the most open media environments in Central Asia.
So when Alisher Saipov, a 26-year-old Uzbek journalist living in Kyrgyzstan, was shot dead earlier this week as he left his office in the southern city of Osh, it was a significant blow to those working to build a strong media. (See the New York Times article.) While the circumstances and motivations surrounding Saipov’s murder aren’t yet clear (he was known as much for helping Uzbek refugees who fled to Kyrgyzstan in 2005 after the horrible events in Andijan as he was for founding the...
‘Suspending’ Sanctions Unconscionable Given Tashkent’s Abysmal Record
The European Union should firmly maintain its sanctions on Uzbekistan, making clear they will not be reconsidered until the Uzbek government delivers on key human rights demands....
A court in Uzbekistan’s Andijan province released human rights defender Gulbahor Turaeva on parole, Human Rights Watch said today. On June 12, an appeals court commuted her six-year prison term, handed down by a lower court in April, to a six-year suspended sentence....
Uzbek authorities should immediately release an Uzbek human rights defender who went missing earlier this week and has been detained on politically motivated charges, Human Rights Watch said today....
EU Visit to Tashkent Must Secure Concrete Progress on Human Rights
The Uzbek government’s unrelenting persecution of human rights defenders warrants urgent action by the international community, Human Rights Watch said today. On Monday, European Union officials are scheduled to begin a series of meetings with Uzbek authorities in Tashkent....
Uzbek authorities should reverse the six-year prison sentence handed down yesterday to yet another independent journalist following a politically-motivated trial, Human Rights Watch said today....
Absence of Public Scrutiny Following Andijan Deplorable
The United Nations Human Rights Council yesterday squandered a crucial opportunity to mount a principled response to the Uzbek government’s abusive crackdown on human rights following the massacre of hundreds of unarmed protesters in May 2005, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today....
The upcoming trial in Tashkent of a Muslim cleric kidnapped by Kazakh state agents in Kazakhstan and sent back to Uzbekistan highlights concerns about the safety of Uzbeks who have fled to Kazakhstan to avoid persecution and the risks of mistreatment they face if they are forcibly returned, Human Rights Watch said today....
Human Rights Defenders Imprisoned as Attack on Civil Society Intensifies
Two Uzbek human rights defenders were sentenced to lengthy prison terms and another was arrested last week, the latest moves in the government’s year-long crackdown on civil society, Human Rights Watch said today....
U.S., EU Should Impose Visa Ban, Asset Freeze on Top Uzbek Officials
One year after Uzbek government troops gunned down hundreds of unarmed protesters in the city of Andijan, no one has been held accountable for this crime, Human Rights Watch said today. The international community must do more to ensure justice for victims of the massacre, which took place on May 13, 2005....
Court Admits Confessions Allegedly Obtained by Torture
An Uzbek court based its verdict almost exclusively on confessions that defendants alleged were obtained under torture when it convicted them on Wednesday of participation in an illegal religious group, Human Rights Watch said today....
The Uzbek government’s closure of the U.N. refugee agency in Tashkent will deprive refugees in Uzbekistan of international protection and set a terrible precedent, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called on the Uzbek government to reverse its decision....
Forced Closures of Freedom House, Eurasia Foundation Bode Ill for Civil Society
(Tashkent, March 7, 2006) – The criminal process that led to the conviction of Uzbek human rights defender Mukhtabar Tojibaeva violated international fair trial standards, and the conviction should ultimately be set aside, Human Rights Watch said today....
No Court Access for Independent Observers
Uzbek authorities blocked access to the trial of a human rights defender who had spoken out about the May 13, 2005 Andijan massacre, Human Rights Watch said today. Uzbek law enforcement blocked the court building in a small town near Tashkent where the trial was to be held and set up check points along the roads to the town. Human Rights Watch and others were turned away by police and denied access....
Beatings Increase Ahead of Trials
An independent human rights defender was badly beaten yesterday in Tashkent, Human Rights Watch said today. The beating appears to be the latest in a growing number of physical attacks on human rights defenders, and occurred on the eve of the trial of an Uzbek opposition leader....