Shown here, Independent Human Rights Organization of Uzbekistan (IHROU) members Mahbuba Kasymova (left) and Ismoil Adylov (right), prior to their convictions on fabricated charges, and IHROU Chairmain Mikhail Ardzinov (center), who was detained and brutally beaten by police in July 1999.

In November 1999, Ardzinov told Human Rights Watch:

"The human rights situation in our country is utterly depressing. There is no freedom of speech and no press freedom....The Ministry of Justice refuses to register independent human rights organizations....Two persons from the Board of our Independent Human Rights Organization of Uzbekistan, Mahbuba Kasymova and Ismoil Adylov, were thrown behind bars on fabricated charges for five and six years respectively. I myself was severely beaten up....The international democratic community tries to draw attention to the depressing human rights situation in our country, but unfortunately they have not done enough to place the blame with the authorities in Uzbekistan."