Human Rights Watch reported today that the whereabouts of Uzbek rights activist Ismail Adylov remained unknown more than 24 hours after he was detained by police on Saturday, July 10.
Human Rights Watch considers that Adylov's detention is part of a wider government crackdown on human rights activists, designed to silence criticism of the mass arrests and torture of religious Muslims being carried out by Uzbekistan authorities. "Mr. Adylov has attempted to defend the rights of hundreds of believers who have been harrassed, jailed and tortured by the state," noted Holly Cartner, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia Division. "Sadly, the Uzbek authorities believe that defending human rights is a crime."
Human Rights Watch is seriously concerned for the physical safety of Adylov. A longtime activist, he is a member of the Independent Human Rights Organization of Uzbekistan, chaired by Mikhail Ardzinov, who was recently brutally beaten by Uzbek authorities during 14 hours in detention. There is a great risk of torture during pre-trial detention in Uzbekistan, particularly in cases where suspects are held incommunicado. In addition, Adylov is ill with kidney disease and was released from hospital treatment only one week before officers took him into custody. He continues to require medical attention.
Human Rights Watch has gathered testimony from numerous people this past week who allege that police have planted leaflets from a banned organization on observant Muslims. In May, authorities charged another member of Adylov's group, Mahbuba Kasymova, with harboring a suspected terrorist after allegedly planting leaflets in her home; her trial is due to begin shortly. Thousands more independent Muslims and self-proclaimed members of Hizb ut-Takhrir (Party of Liberation), a group advocating the re-establishment of the Caliphate through non-violent means, are believed to have been arrested in recent months. On June 14, Tashkent police detained Farkhod Usmanov, reportedly for possession of a leaflet. The son of a well-known imam, Nosir-kori Usmanov, he was held in incommunicado detention for 11 days. On June 25, his body was returned to his family along with a death certificate claiming the 42-year old died of heart failure. Human Rights Watch representatives who viewed the body reported that it was covered with bruises and other markings suggesting Usmanov died from torture in custody.
A Human Rights Watch report documenting harassment and abuse of human rights activists by authorities in Uzbekistan is forthcoming.
Human Rights Watch has pieced together a brief chronicle of Mr. Adylov's detention. At approximately 8:30 pm on July 10, two plainclothes officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) and one officer from the local police precinct came to Adylov's home, demanded his passport, and told him a member of his neighborhood governing council wanted to speak with him. Adylov agreed to accompany the officers along with his wife, Mamura Adylova. When the couple reached the street however, they found three cars with six more officers in civilian clothes waiting. The officers put Adylov into one of the cars, telling his wife that they were taking him to the MVD and that she could see him again the next morning at 11am. However, the next day officials refused even to tell her where he was being held. Uzbek law requires that a person held for questioning by police be released by 11 pm of the day of their detention.
At 12 noon on July 11, Human Rights Watch's representative arrived at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where a duty officer claimed to have no information regarding Adylov and refused to notify a superior officer who could provide such information. Over 24 hours after authorities detained Adylov, family members and local and international human rights activists have been unable to confirm his wherabouts.
About 1.5 hours after officers took Adylov into custody Saturday evening, 30 additional plainclothes MVD officers came to his home according to family members. Soldiers in uniform carrying machine guns closed off the street surrounding the neighborhood. When Mrs. Adylova refused to let the officers conduct a search without her husband present, they threatened to order the soldiers to attack the house and enter by force. She relented, and they entered without presenting a search warrant. The officers ransacked the family home, confiscated Adylov's human rights documents, and allegedly planted a plastic bag with 100 leaflets of the banned Islamic group Hizb ut-Takhrir in a notebook. Adylov's daughter reported that before the search, when she took her fathers' passport out of that same notebook to give to the police, no leaflets were there.
Authorities earlier threatened to charge Adylov with membership in Hizb ut-Takhrir. In June, a judge presiding over a trial of Hizb ut-Takhrir members publicly threatened to charge Adylov, who was monitoring the trial, with membership in the group.
Adylov, still a member of the governing council of the banned Birlik (Unity) Democratic Party, was repeatedly taken in for questioning in 1991 and 1992 in connection with his political activities. In August 1994 he was held in the basement of the National Security Service (SNB, formerly the KGB) for three days.
For Further Information:
In Tashkent: Acacia Shields, (99871) 130-13-25
In Moscow: Sasha Petrov, (7095) 265-4448
In Brussels: Jean-Paul Marthoz, 322 732-2009
In London: Urmi Shah, 44 171 713-1995
In New York: Cassandra Cavanaugh (212) 216-1271
