By Shayne R. Burnham
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

Moscow, Russia – On October 23, 2008, a court in Manget, Karakalpakstan, a region in Uzbekistan, sentenced human rights activist Akzam Turgonov to a prison term of 10 years.  Turgonov was convicted of extortion.  He is the chairman of the human rights organization, Mazlum.

Turgonov was arrested on July 11, 2008.  He traveled to Manget to help a woman to seek child support payments from her husband.  The parties reached an out-of-court settlement and Turgonov went to meet the husband to give him the settlement money.  As soon as the plastic bag containing the alleged money reached Turgonov’s hands, police arrived at the scene and subsequently arrested him for extortion.

Since he was taken into custody, human rights groups stated that Turgonov has been denied basic human and legal rights such as ill-treatment and denied his right to counsel.  There is evidence of burns on his back, of which he claims authorities poured boiling water in order to obtain a confession.

Human rights organizations also urge that Turgonov’s arrest was politically motivated.

In 2005, the European Union (EU) imposed sanctions upon Uzbekistan in response to the Andijan massacre, when militia opened fire upon hundreds of unarmed protestors.  In addition, the EU required that the government cease in their harassment of civil society, to free human rights activists and dissidents and to allow experts from the United Nations to enter the country.

Approximately, two weeks prior to the Turgonov trial, the EU lifted the sanctions, citing the progress with regard to human rights.

Igor Vorontsov, Uzbekistan researcher for Human Rights Watch, said, “Now that the EU has lifted sanctions, the Uzbek government seems to feel freer than ever to crack down on dissidents.”  He continued, “Turgonov is yet another example of a human rights defender arrested on fabricated charges, ill-treated in custody, and subjected to a blatantly corrupted trial.”  Uzbekistan will not allow Vorontsov to enter the country.

Salijon Abdurakhmanov’s trial has recently commenced on his drug charges.  Abdurakmanov is an independent journalist.  At least 18 human rights defenders and government critics are currently detained.

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – Uzbekistan:  Activist Sentenced to 10 Years – 23 October 2008

Institute for War & Peace Reporting – Criminal Charges Used to Smear Uzbek Regime Critics – 24 July 2008

WorldNews – Uzbekistan:  Free Human Rights Activist – 16 September 2008