Wayzata World Factbook 1996/The World Factbook - 1996 Edition - Wayzata Technology (3079) (1996).iso/mac/TEXT/HUMANrts/UZBEKIST.TXT

Text File | 1996-01-05 | 27KB | 536 lines

TITLE:  UZBEKISTAN HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE:  FEBRUARY 1995

                           UZBEKISTAN


Three years after declaring independence, Uzbekistan, while
having taken significant steps toward economic market reform,
has made little progress in the transition from its
authoritarian legacy toward democracy.  President Karimov and
the centralized executive branch which serves him are the
dominant forces in political life.

The President heads the People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan
(PDP).  One other party, the Fatherland Progress Party, is
legally registered, but it was created by a presidential
adviser, presumably to give the appearance of a multiparty
system, and, although it supports the President, it fielded
candidates to oppose the PDP in most parliamentary districts.
The Government continued severely to repress genuine opposition
parties and movements, despite its frequently stated commitment
to multiparty democracy.  It justifies its repressive policy by
invoking the specter of Islamic fundamentalism, the civil
strife that has plagued neighboring Tajikistan, and possible
opposition preparations for armed struggle.

The National Security Service (NSS--formerly the Committee for
State Security, or KGB) deals with a broad range of national
security questions--including corruption, organized crime, and
narcotics control--but continues to be one of the main organs
for suppression of the opposition.  The Ministry of the Interior
prosecutes domestic crimes and often plays the lead role in
investigating cases against political opposition figures.

The economy is based primarily on agriculture and agricultural
processing; Uzbekistan is the world's fourth largest producer
of cotton.  It also has large deposits of gold, strategic
minerals, gas, and oil.  The Government has proclaimed its
commitment to a gradual transition to a mixed government-owned
and free market economy and introduced in February a package of
reforms to stimulate private enterprise, promote private
ownership, encourage privatization of state enterprises, and
attract foreign investment.  Thousands of private small farms
were created in 1994.  By the end of 1984, the Government had
undertaken reform and stabilization measures recommended by the
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Government observance of human rights did not significantly
advance in 1994.  To control the political arena, the
Government continued to deny registration to political parties
and some other social groups, which legally may not function
until they are duly registered.  It continued to suppress
unregistered opposition parties and movements and severely
limited distribution of opposition literature.  It continued to
ban unsanctioned meetings and demonstrations.  Security forces
detained or arrested opposition activists on false charges,
particularly in the early part of the year.  Police often beat
criminal suspects and detainees.  Although the Constitution
expressly prohibits it, press censorship continued, and freedom
of expression was constrained by an atmosphere of repression
which made it difficult to criticize the Government publicly.
There continues to be significant discrimination and violence
against women.

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1     Respect for Integrity of the Person, Including
              Freedom from:

    a.   Political and Extrajudicial Killing

There were no reports of political or extrajudicial killings.

    b.   Disappearance

There are no known cases of abductions by official forces or
politically motivated disappearances.

    c.   Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
         Treatment or Punishment

There were credible reports that police often beat criminal
suspects while taking them into custody or in the period
between arrest and trial.  Birlik (Unity) movement leader Pulat
Akhunov was beaten during incarceration, and he stated that the
prison administration frequently placed him in solitary
confinement.  Atanazar Aripov, an Erk (Freedom) Party leader,
stated that he was kept in solitary confinement for most of the
time he was in prison.

Prison conditions are inadequate and worse for male than for
female prisoners, with severe overcrowding.  Political
prisoners are often not allowed visitors or any other direct
form of contact with family and friends.  The families of
Atanazar Aripov and Erk member Salavat Umarzakov, two
defendants in the Melli Majlis (alternative parliament)
political trial in 1993 who were imprisoned in 1994 after their
suspended sentences were revoked, were unable to meet or
communicate with them until their release from prison.  The six
Erk Party activists being tried for the distribution of banned
newspapers were only released from the basement of NSS
headquarters and permitted to see their relatives during court
sessions.

    d.   Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile

Laws on detention have not changed since independence.
According to the law, police may hold a person suspected of
committing a crime for up to 3 days.  At the end of this
period, the suspect must be either officially charged or
released.  A procurator's order is required for arrests but not
for detentions.  A court case must be scheduled within 15 days
of the arrest, and the defendant may be detained during this
period.  A defendant may not have access to counsel while in
detention but only after formal arrest.

The legal provision permitting detention without the filing of
charges led to several cases in which opposition figures were
detained for questioning and then released without prosecution.
The Government used this provision to harass and restrict the
actions of opposition figures.  For example, during the June
2-4 visit to Uzbekistan by U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, four
opposition activists were detained to prevent them from meeting
him.  They were released following his departure.

In some cases, opposition figures were arrested on false
charges for offenses unrelated to their criticism of government
policy, such as drug possession, weapons possession, or
disorderliness.  Vasilya Inoyatova, one of the three activists
held in jail to prevent their attendance at a human rights
conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in May, was retroactively
charged with insulting a policeman.  Mikhail Ardzinov, another
activist held, was charged with hooliganism.  Mamadan
Makhmudov, Uzbek writer and friend of Erk leader Mohammed
Solikh, was arrested for possessing a pistol believed planted
by police.  Makhmudov was also charged with narcotics
possession, abuse of government position and misappropriation
of government funds.  Nasrullah Saidov, Erk secretary in
Bukhara, was arrested for possessing a grenade reportedly found
among his children's clothing, as well as Erk newspapers.  Erk
activist Saparboy Bekchanov was convicted in February for
allegedly stealing a rare coin to finance Erk.  Nosir Zokir,
Erk chairman of the Namangan region, and Atmatkhan Turakhanov,
Erk chairman of the city of Namangan, were arrested on charges
of possessing weapons and drugs.

    e.   Denial of Fair Public Trial

Under the Constitution, the President appoints all judges for
10-year terms.  They may be removed for crimes or failure to
fulfill their obligations.  Power to remove judges for failure
to fulfill their obligations rests with the President, except
for Supreme Court judges, whose removal must also be confirmed
by Parliament.  No judges are known to have been removed for
political reasons.  In political cases, government direction
influences the judiciary.

Uzbekistan still uses the Soviet judiciary system which
features trial by a panel of three judges:  one professional
judge and two "people's assessors" who are chosen by the
workers' collectives for a period of 2 1/2 years.  The
professional judge presides and directs the proceedings.

There is a three-tier court system:  the people's court on the
district level, the regional courts, and the Supreme Court.
District court decisions may be appealed to the next higher
level within 10 days of the ruling.  The new draft criminal
code reduces the list of crimes punishable by death to murder,
espionage, and treason, eliminating the economic crimes
punishable by death in the former Soviet code.  Officially and
in recent practice, most court cases are open to the public but
may be closed in exceptional cases, such as those involving
state secrets, rape, or young defendants.  When the probations
of Aripov and Umarzakov were revoked, there were no observers
present.  Aripov's family did not know the exact grounds for
the revocation of his probation until he was released 8 months
later.

Defendants have the right to attend the proceedings, confront
witnesses, and present evidence.  The State will provide a
lawyer without charge, but by law the accused has the right to
hire an attorney.  In some political cases, the defendants have
not had access to lawyers.  For example, when the suspended
sentences of Atanazar Aripov and Salavat Muradov were revoked,
they did not have the opportunity to hire a lawyer to assist in
their defense.

Detainees deemed not to be violent may be released on their own
recognizance pending trial.  No money need be posted as bond,
but in such cases the accused must usually sign a pledge not to
leave the city.

The Government denies that there are any political prisoners in
Uzbekistan.  However, by all evidence, the Government does hold
political prisoners.  Several opposition members are being held
for "antigovernment activities" (distributing Erk newspapers).
In the cases of Makhmudov, Saidov, Bekchanov, and Turakhanov,
the evidence strongly suggests that they are political
prisoners (see Section l.d.).  Aripov and Zokir were held under
similar charges until their release by presidential decree in
November.  In addition, Pulat Akhunov and Erk chairman in the
Fergana region Inamjan Tursunov are opposition activists who
were released by the same presidential decree from sentences
imposed in 1992 under similar circumstances.  There is not
enough reliable information available to determine whether
other prisoners are jailed for political offenses.

    f.   Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
         Correspondence

By law, search warrants issued by a procurator are required.
There is no provision for judicial review of search warrants.
There does not appear to be a legal mechanism for authorizing
telephone tapping or monitoring.  Security agencies nonetheless
monitor telephone calls, and there is evidence that they employ
surveillance and wiretap telephones in the cases of persons
involved in opposition political activities.  Certain high-
profile opposition activists were the subject of very visible
surveillance, including round-the-clock police monitoring of
all movements.

Section 2     Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

    a.   Freedom of Speech and Press

Freedom of speech remained severely limited.  The fear of
expressing views critical of the President and the Government
persisted as the Government continued its general crackdown on
all forms of opposition.  A February 15, 1991, law (before
independence) against "offending the honor and dignity of the
President" limits the ability to criticize the President.

Although the Constitution prohibits censorship, it is widely
practiced, and the Government tolerates little, if any,
criticism of its actions.  Newspapers may not be printed
without the censor's approval.  Journalists and writers who
want to ensure that their work is published report that they
practice self-censorship.

The Uzbekistan Information Agency cooperates closely with the
presidential staff to prepare and distribute all officially
sanctioned news and information.  Press reports from Moscow and
Uzbekistan media sources allege that the presidential staff has
advised newspaper editors in chief to limit strictly their
contact with American and some European diplomats.  Nearly all
of Uzbekistan's newspapers are government owned and controlled;
the key papers are organs of government ministries.  State
enterprises control the printing presses.

The last opposition newspaper to be published was the paper of
the Erk Party.  In January 1993, the newspaper was banned and
has not been published in Uzbekistan since then.  Attempts to
smuggle in copies of the newspaper from outside the country
resulted in several arrests and confiscation of the
newspapers.  On March 3, following a nationwide search of the
homes of Erk activists, eight members of the Erk presidium were
arrested on charges of distributing antigovernment literature
when copies of banned Erk newspapers were found in their
homes.  Ismail Adylov and a companion were arrested for
possession of Erk newspapers on August 4 in Tashkent.  Birlik
leader Vasilya Inoyatova was charged in the same incident for
accepting the newspapers.

The Government forbade the distribution of foreign newspapers
critical of Uzbekistan.  The publication of the local editions
of Izvestia and Pravda and the sale of the Moscow editions
remained suspended throughout 1994.  All newspapers, magazines,
and weeklies have to be registered, a procedure which includes
providing information about the sources of funding, means of
distribution, founders, and sponsors.  A resolution of the
Cabinet of Ministers banned private persons and journalists'
collectives were banned from founding newspapers or magazines.
Foreign correspondents based in Tashkent reported that the
security services harassed and threatened their translators and
other employees after the correspondents posed questions at
government press conferences and published articles abroad
which displeased the Government.  In October the Government
refused to renew the accreditation of Steven Le Vine, a
free-lance journalist for several U.S. publications and one of
the few foreign journalists in Uzbekistan, reportedly because
of articles he wrote critical of the President and of the
Government's human rights record.

Television broadcasting is state controlled.  Although there
are local stations in various regions, nationwide programming
is carried on two state-run channels that fully support the
Government and its policies.  Through an agreement with Russia,
two Moscow channels were broadcast as well.  The Russian
channels were Ostankino and Russian Television (Rossiskaya
Televideniya).  In 1994 the Government canceled the latter
channel, and shortened the broadcast hours of the Ostankino
channel full-time to only evening broadcasts.  Its news
broadcasts are blacked out when they are critical of the Uzbek
Government.  Radio Liberty, the Voice of America, and the
British Broadcasting Corporation are among the few sources of
uncontrolled news, although there have been unconfirmed reports
that the Government occasionally interferes with Radio Liberty
broadcasts.

There are no private publishing houses, and government approval
is required for all publications.  In an attempt to circumvent
the requirements of state-controlled publishing, Erk party
supporters attempted to smuggle in a pamphlet of its leader's
speeches as well as its newspaper.

Political repression enveloped academia as well.  In March
Tashkent State University expelled three students from the
journalism department after they questioned the Government's
press treatment of Erk leader Mohammed Solikh.  In addition, it
closed the department of journalism and folded a few of its
functions into the Uzbek philology department.  However, in
November the journalism department was reinstituted.  Also, the
three students expelled in the spring reentered the University
in the fall semester without incident.  In Samarkand the
Government unsuccessfully attempted to have local Erk leader
Suleiman Muratov fired from his teaching job after a police
search discovered copies of the banned Erk newspaper at his
house.  The Government has not allowed independent academic
institutions to register.

    b.   Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

The 1992 Constitution states that the authorities have the
right to suspend or ban rallies, meetings, and demonstrations
on security grounds.  The Government must sanction
demonstrations and does not routinely grant this permission.
After cordons of militia prevented attempts to hold
unsanctioned demonstrations in 1992, the opposition made no
attempts to hold public meetings during 1993 or 1994.

The Government also limited the exercise of freedom of
association by refusing to register opposition political
parties and movements.  The Constitution provides no general
guarantees of freedom of association; it places broad
limitations on the types of groups that may form and requires
that all organizations be formally registered with the
Government.  The Government frequently and seemingly without
legal basis denies such registration to groups in any way
opposed to the established order.  To be considered a public
association, organizations must be registered in accordance
with the procedure prescribed by law.

To register, a party must submit a list of at least 3,000
members and meet other requirements, such as providing an
official address.  Government control over buildings and office
space limits the ability of unofficial groups to obtain an
official address.  The Government has repeatedly denied the
Birlik movement permission to register as a party, first
claiming irregularities on its membership list, then
complaining about the group's name, and finally noting its lack
of an official address.

A 1993 Cabinet of Ministers decree required all public
organizations and political parties officially registered in
Uzbekistan to reregister by October 1, 1993, or be suspended.
This decree provided a quasi-legal mechanism for the
elimination of various organizations that were already
registered.  The mainstream PDP and Fatherland Progress Party
applied for and quickly received their reregistration.  The Erk
Party did not submit papers, holding that the decree was
unconstitutional as only the Supreme Court has the right to
withdraw registration.  The Government considers both the Erk
Party and the Birlik movement to have officially lost their
registration in 1993 because they failed to meet the
requirements of the 1993 decree.

Nonpolitical associations and social organizations usually do
not encounter comparable difficulties in registering, and the
number of such groups expanded in 1994.  Some evangelical
churches and several foreign humanitarian assistance groups
found it difficult to obtain registration or reregistration.

    c.   Freedom of Religion

the Constitution provides for freedom of religion and for the
principle of separation of religion and state.  After the
enforced atheism of the Soviet period, religious communities
are experiencing a significant revival.  Religious education is
becoming more widespread, although it is not included in state
schools.

While Islam is the religion of the majority, ethnic minorities
may also practice their religion in relative freedom.
Synagogues for the Jewish community are openly functioning;
Hebrew education (long banned under the Soviets), Jewish
cultural events, and the publication of a community newspaper
take place undisturbed.  Churches have been returned to their
ethnic communities and openly function within them.

However, tensions arise when churches attempt to convert across
ethnic lines, especially when they attempt to convert members
of generally Muslim ethnic groups to Christianity.

Although distribution of religious literature is legal in
Uzbekistan, missionary activity and proselytizing is not.  One
evangelical church, Word of Faith, lost its registration for
conducting missionary activities, and all churches are under
pressure not to evangelize among Uzbeks.  In reaction to
antimissionary sentiments, for a short period of time in the
summer of 1994 the Tashkent city government stopped allowing
churches to rent its property, specifically auditoriums and
other gathering places.

The Constitution and a December 1991 amendment to the law on
political parties ban those of a religious nature.  This
principle is cited for denying registration to religious
parties, including the Islamic Renaissance Party.

Fearing the destabilizing influence of extremist Islamic
forces, the Government has tried to temper the extent of this
spiritual renaissance by controlling the Islamic hierarchy, the
content of imams' sermons, and the extent and substance of
Islamic materials published in Uzbekistan.

    d.   Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
         Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation

The Constitution provides for free movement within the country
and across its borders.  In January 1995, the Government began
to issue new passports to everyone over age 16, which will
replace the old system of separate internal and external
passports.  In addition, Uzbekistan has greatly simplified the
process of obtaining exit visas, which will be valid for a
period of 2 years and will no longer require invitations.
Prior to this, foreign travel was restricted by difficulties in
obtaining an external passport and by a law that required an
exit visa for each trip based on an invitation.  Government
authorities frequently withheld exit visas when they did not
approve of the purpose of the travel.  Those who left without
an exit visa could be subject to severe penalties upon return.

Most barriers to emigration were lifted before the Soviet
breakup.  Although in some instances emigrants are delayed by
long waits for passports and exit visas, potential emigrants
who can find a host country willing to accept them are able to
leave the country.  Since independence, a significant number of
non-Uzbeks, including Russians, Jews, Ukrainians, and others,
have emigrated, although no exact figures are available.  These
people have not left because of any systematic human rights
abuses but rather because of what they fear will be limited
future economic and social prospects for non-Uzbeks.
Emigration increased markedly in 1993 but remained steady in
1994.

The travel of local citizens within Uzbekistan is not
controlled, unlike travel by foreigners, including
journalists.  Foreign visitors must have each city they wish to
visit noted in their visas.  Travel to some sensitive areas of
the country, particularly the environmentally degraded Aral Sea
region and the Fergana valley, is controlled even more
carefully; requests for travel to these areas are turned down
in some cases.  Even travel to nonsensitive tourist areas is
unnecessarily complicated by internal visa requirements, and
tourists seeking to check into hotels without the appropriate
internal visa often find themselves having to pay fines or
bribes to the visa police first.  Due to agreements between
their countries and Uzbekistan, citizens of France, Germany,
the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Korea receive visas
valid for travel throughout Uzbekistan.

The law on citizenship stipulates that citizens do not lose
their citizenship if they reside overseas.  However, since
Uzbekistan does not provide for dual citizenship, those
acquiring the citizenship of other countries will lose their
citizenship in Uzbekistan.  If they return to Uzbekistan as
foreign citizens, they are subject to foreign visa
regulations.  There is no evidence that anyone was denied
permission to return.

Section 3     Respect for Political Rights:  The Right of
              Citizens to Change Their Government

Citizens cannot exercise their right to change their government
through peaceful and democratic means.  Government measures
severely repress opposition groups and individuals and apply
harsh limits on freedom of expression.

The Government's professed desire to create a multiparty
democracy is belied by its actions.  Due to the deregistration
of the one opposition party and the one opposition movement in
1993, there were no opposition parties legally active in 1994.
An across-the-board crackdown on actual and potential
opposition groups and individuals continued so that by the end
of the year few people were willing to challenge the
Government's grip on power or even criticize it.  On May 27,
there was a explosion at the residence of Hamidulla
Nurmukhamedov, an activist of the Erk Party.  No one was
injured, but substantial property damage occurred.

Only the two political parties linked to President Karimov
participated in Uzbekistan's first postindependence
parliamentary elections on December 25.  Independent candidates
representing local governments won the majority of the 250
seats.  Most of these candidates were also affiliated with the
PDP but were opposed by PDP-sponsored candidates.  All persons
wishing to vote apparently were able to do so and to choose
from among the available candidates.  However, not all
political parties were able to register and offer candidates.
In addition, the practice of one person voting for multiple
family members appeared widespread.

Uzbekistan is ruled by a highly centralized presidency,
comprising the President and a small inner circle of advisers
and senior government officials.  President Karimov, formerly
the first secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan under
Soviet rule, was elected in a limited multicandidate election
in 1991.  That election was marred by government control of the
media but Erk opposition candidate Mohammed Solikh was able to
compete and won 12.7 percent of the vote.

The President is the chairman of the People's Democratic Party
of Uzbekistan, the country's largest party.  Most government
officials are also members of the PDP, although it does not
play the leading role in governance or cadre selection that was
played by the Communist Party during the Soviet period.  There
is currently only one other legally registered party, the
Fatherland Progress Party.  Other political groups such as
Birlik, the People's Movement of Turkestan, and the Islamic
Renaissance Party have been denied permission to register as
parties.  The Erk Party lost its registration in 1993 when the
Government required all parties to reregister.

The Fatherland Progress Party was created as a loyal
"constructive opposition" party in June 1992.  Its existence
provides the appearance of a multiparty system.  The party is
headed by a presidential adviser, Shafkiddin Juraev, and
supports the President politically.  The party claims a
platform that differs from that of the PDP in that it seeks
more rapid economic reform and development of conditions
favorable to businessmen, but the difference is insignificant.

Although women participate much less than men in government and
politics, there are several female parliamentary deputies.