Uzbek authorities should ensure that an appeal hearing that began today for a human rights advocate is fair and independent, Human Rights Watch said. The activist, Farkhad Mukhtarov, was convicted of criminal charges in a trial that appeared to have been politically motivated, and he was denied the right to defend himself fully.
The Kyrgyz authorities should immediately release the human rights activists Bakhrom Hamroev and Izzatilla Rakhmatillaev and allow them to continue their fact-finding work without further interference.