86
Concerns in Europe: January - June 2001
AI Index: EUR 01/003/2001
Amnesty International September 2001
she was too frightened to speak, but she finally defied
the MVD’s orders and appealed for help, putting
herself in great danger.
Rahima Akhmadalieva was held without charge
for two months in a basement cell at the MVD
allegedly to force her husband to surrender to police.
She was also reportedly denied regular medication
which she needed for the treatment of heart problems.
She was transferred to the investigation-isolation wing
(SIZO) of Tashkent prison on 10 May and charged
with Article 244-1, points one and two (“Production
or distribution of material constituting a threat to
public security and public order”. Point one of the
article relates to the production or possession with the
aim of distribution of material advocating religious
extremism, separatism and fundamentalism, or
containing calls to violence, or designed to create
panic among the population. Point two relates to the
distribution of such materials), and Article 159
(“undermining the constitutional order”). She denied
244-1 point two and 159, but admitted possessing
religious literature. Her lawyer was allowed some
visits, however, her family were not able to see her.
According to her lawyer, Rahima Akhmadalieva was
receiving some medical treatment in the SIZO but it
was not adequate and her heart problems were
continuing. She was also reportedly suffering from an
ulcer and was still very thin at the end of June.
Arbitrary arrest of Shovruk Ruzimuradov
Former prisoner of conscience and head of the
Kashkadarya branch of the non-governmental
organization Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan
(HRSU), Shovruk Ruzimuradov, was detained on 15
June by officers of the Kashkadarya Regional
Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
(OUVD). A group of 31 OUVD officers, some of
them
armed,
reportedly
searched
Shovruk
Ruzimuradov’s home later that day without a warrant
and beat his wife, daughter and sister. His elderly
mother was reportedly pushed to the floor. According
to his sister, officers planted leaflets from the banned
Islamist party Hizb-ut Tahrir and cartridges in the
house during their unsanctioned search. They also
confiscated computer equipment, which belonged to
the HRSU, a copy of the banned opposition movement
Birlik’s magazine Karakat, several books and
documents, and cut off the telephone line. Supporters
believed that Shovruk Ruzimuradov was arrested to
punish him for his recent human rights activities,
especially his monitoring of the forcible deportation
of thousands of ethnic Tajik mountain villagers from
Surkhandarynsk Region accused by the Uzbek
authorities of collaborating with the IMU during their
August 2000 armed incursions into Uzbekistan (see
below). He was reportedly transferred to Tashkent and
held incommunicado in a basement cell of the MVD,
although the family was unable to confirm his exact
whereabouts. There was grave concern that he was
being tortured and that his life might be in danger.
Shovrik Ruzimuradov had previously been
detained in April 1998, also on charges of illegal
possession of firearms cartridges. Human rights
activists believed the cartridges were planted by law
enforcement officers in order to provide a basis for his
detention. Shovrik Ruzimuradov was said to have
been questioned on several occasions about his human
rights activities by law enforcement officers since
October 1996. He had allegedly been asked repeatedly
by the authorities to stop promoting human rights
activities and to resign from the HRSU. Shovrik
Ruzimuradov was released after HRSU members
raised his case with the chairman-in-office of the
Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe
(OSCE) who was visiting Uzbekistan at the time.
Forcible confinement in psychiatric hospital
Elena Urlaeva, a member of the HRSU, was detained
and forcibly confined a in psychiatric hospital on 6
April. Elena Urlaeva was on her way to attend a
peaceful demonstration protesting house demolitions
outside the khokimiat (city administration) of
Tashkent when she was stopped in the street by
several law enforcement officers and forced into a
waiting car. She was taken to the Mirzo Ulugbek
district office of Internal Affairs (RUVD) where,
according to reports, she had her documents
confiscated; was questioned and beaten; and was then
taken to Tashkent City Psychiatric Hospital No.1. On
7 April a medical commission ordered Elena Urlaeva
to undergo compulsory treatment in a secure unit, a
decision confirmed by Mirzo Ulugbek district court.
The HRSU, however, challenged the court’s decision,
claiming that Elena Urlaeva was being punished for
her human rights activities. Both the timing and the
manner of Elena Urlaeva’s detention raised serious
questions about whether legitimate concerns for her
mental health and her personal safety motivated the
authorities
to
authorize
her
compulsory
hospitalization. In June she was transferred to
Tashkent Regional Psychiatric Hospital where she
remained for observation, reportedly in an open ward.
On 30 June Elena Urlaeva checked out of the open
ward and returned home to await the outcome of her
legal challenge against her forcible confinement.
Death in custody
On 28 February 56-year-old Emin
Usman, a well-known Uzbek writer of
ethnic Uighur origin and chairman of the
Uighur Cultural Centre in Tashkent, died
in detention in the MVD. He had been
detained on 11 February in the village of
Navoy, near the capital Tashkent, where
he lived with his family, and had been
taken to a basement cell in the MVD in
Tashkent. His lawyer was only granted