(New York, November 18, 1999)--The younger brother of exiled Uzbek opposition leader Muhammad Solih has disappeared while in state custody, Human Rights Watch reported. Solih's brother, Komil Bekjanov, has not been seen nor heard from since July 12. Family members who have searched for news of him for the past four months now fear for his physical safety.
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"The government of Uzbekistan professes to be preparing for free and
fair elections, but at the same time it is locking up the opposition's
family members and throwing away the key. This is no way to achieve democracy."
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Holly Cartner Executive
Director of the Europe and Central Asia division of Human Rights Watch
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With an election assessment team from the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe in Tashkent and world leaders in Istanbul this
week for the OSCE summit, Human Rights Watch urges the international
community to insist that Uzbekistan comply with the human rights
components of its international agreements.
Human Rights Watch has independently documented a pattern of police
arrest, detention, and harassment of family members of political
activists and religious dissidents during the past six months. There is
also a wealth of credible evidence that police routinely plant small
amounts of narcotics or ammunition on persons whom they arrest for their
political or religious affiliation.
Bekjanov is serving a ten-year prison sentence after being condemned in
a politically motivated trial on fabricated charges of illegal narcotics
and weapons possession. Human Rights Watch is deeply concerned that
Bekjanov was arrested and tried solely because of his brother's
political activity and prominence as head of the political opposition
party Erk.
"The government of Uzbekistan professes to be preparing for free and
fair elections, but at the same time it is locking up the opposition's
family members and throwing away the key," said Holly Cartner, executive
director of the Europe and Central Asia division of Human Rights Watch.
"This is no way to achieve democracy."
Authorities reportedly transferred Bekjanov from Urgench prison on July
18, but have failed to give his relatives any information regarding his
current location. His relatives' own attempts to locate Bekjanov by
going from prison to prison have proven fruitless, as prison authorities
as well as the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the regional
prosecutor's office refuse to respond to their queries.
Solih was the only candidate to run against President Islam Karimov in
the presidential elections of 1991. He was forced into exile in 1994,
fleeing an arrest on fabricated criminal charges. He has denied the
Karimov government's latest allegations that he was one of the
organizers of the February 16 bombings in Tashkent.
Two of Solih's other brothers, Rashid and Muhammad Bekjanov, were tried
and convicted along with four others in August in a politically
motivated case that raised alarm in the international community.
Although the defendants described the torture police used during
interrogation to force them to incriminate themselves, the presiding
judge ignored them and the defendants' own exculpatory testimony and
sentenced them to lengthy prison terms.
Komil Bekjanov (age 47) was first detained by police on February 19,
1999, in Khorezm (western Uzbekistan) where they interrogated him
continuously for three days. Questioning reportedly centered
exclusively on the activities of his brother Solih. Officers reportedly
promised to release Bekjanov and leave him alone if his brother would
return to Uzbekistan to take his place. On February 22, police
temporarily released Bekjanov only to arrest him again on March 31.
This time, they reportedly planted opium and a pistol in his car in
order to provide grounds for his arrest. Bekjanov, who worked as a
farmer in Khorezm and was not politically active, has denied the charges
of weapons and narcotics possession. After a three-day trial which
Bekjanov's own lawyer was prevented from attending, on May 31, 1999,
presiding judge Azad Karimov condemned Bekjanov to ten years in prison.
Uzbek police have arrested family members of independent Islamic
leaders, as well as those related to political activists. During the
summer, the younger brother, uncle, and brother-in-law of independent
imam Obidhon Qori Nazarov were all sent to prison. Abdumalik Nazarov,
the imam's youngest brother, was convicted earlier, in April 1998, on
allegedly fabricated charges of possession of illegal narcotics. He too
has reportedly disappeared in custody and has not been seen since the
end of May 1999. Imam Nazarov himself was last seen March 5, 1998.
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