Signatures are open only to journalists. Please state your country of residence and publication (If any)

To:  Miklos Haraszti, OSCE Representative of Freedom of the Media Pierre Morel, European Union Special Representative for Central Asia Richard Holbrook, Special Ambassador to Afghanistan and Pakistan, United States Department of State Rolf Timans, Head of Huma

We the undersigned, journalists from Uzbekistan who live and work outside of our country, along with concerned Western journalists, ask for your help in securing the release of our colleagues—journalist inside Uzbekistan who have been imprisoned for their independence and commitment to free speech.

We hereby call on governments and international organizations to put pressure on the government of Uzbekistan to stop its policy of persecution and harassment against the independent media. Eight journalists have been arrested in the past year alone, and in total there are at least 14 journalists in Uzbek prisons. The full list of these imprisoned journalists is attached in an Appendix to this petition. In every one of these cases, the charges have politically motivated and part of the campaign against free speech in Uzbekistan. We call for the immediate release of all of these colleagues, and an end to the harassment of others.

Uzbekistan’s judiciary is neither independent nor fair-minded, and in all of the cases against journalists with which we are familiar, there has barely been a pretense of having a fair trial. Evidence of guilt is simply stated by the prosecutor and accepted by the judge, without any requirement for proof. Meanwhile the defense is typically not allowed to present any evidence of its own.

One of the latest victims of this campaign was Umida Akhmedova, a famous Uzbek photographer and filmmaker, who was detained on charges of slander and “insulting the Uzbek people” because of a book of photographs she published in 2007, and a documentary film produced in 2008.

Ahmedova's 2007 book, Women and Men: From Dawn Until Dusk, portrays rural Uzbekistan and Uzbek traditions, focusing on gender inequality. Her 2008 film, The Burden of Virginity, explores the social consequences for brides who are suspected of not being virgins. A so-called “expert panel” convened by Uzbek prosecutors concluded that “Ahmedova's work is insulting to the people of Uzbekistan and portrayed Uzbekistan in a negative light to Western audiences.” She is now facing the likelihood of three years in prison, although her trial has not yet been scheduled.

On January 7th, six journalists—Vasily Markov, Sid Yanishev, Abdumalik Boboev, Khusniddin Kutbiddinov and Alexey Volosevich—were summoned to the state prosecutor’s office to give an explanation about their professional activity. We consider such actions by the authorities to be a clear form of intimidation amounting to a threat to these journalists to stop their professional activity.

Uzbekistan is one of the worst offenders against media freedom in the world. The 2009 Press Freedom Index published by the non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders places Uzbekistan 160th out of 175, confirming that it has one of the repressive media environments in the world. It is almost impossible for independent journalists to work in Uzbekistan. All Internet sites questioning or criticizing the present political regime and leadership are blocked by local service providers. It is illegal for journalists to work for any foreign media organization without accreditation from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is nearly impossible to obtain.

Many journalists have had no choice but to flee their country in the face of threats to their freedom and their lives; an increasing number of those who remain are in prison.

Repression against independent media intensified after government troops killed hundreds of innocent people in Uzbek city of Andijan on May 13, 2005. In the wake of this massacre the offices in Uzbekistan of the BBC, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, Freedom House and other international media organizations were shut down. The litany of arrests described in the Appendix to this letter shows that repression against journalists has become worse yet following the decision by the European Union to lift its mild sanctions against Uzbekistan in October 2008.

We appeal to you and your organizations to support us in our demands, and to do everything possible to secure the release of our colleagues from the horrors of Uzbek prisons, where torture is systematic, and to begin the process of restoring justice in Uzbekistan.


Appendix: Imprisoned Independent Uzbek Journalists


Khayrullo Khamidov, a famous sports commentator and radio talk show host, was arrested on January 21, 2010, on the charges of establishing and participation in religious organization. If found guilty he faces up to five years in prison. We believe that Khamidov’s arrest is politically motivated and can be attributed to official displeasure regarding a radio programme Khamidov hosted in September 2009 during which he made reference to the teachings of the well-known imam Abduvali Mirzoev, who disappeared in 1993.


Dilmurod Saidov, an independent journalist, was sentenced to 12 years in prison in July 2009 on charges of extortion and forgery, charges for which only the flimsiest evidence was presented during his trial. Saidov was an outspoken critic of human rights situation in Uzbekistan and came under severe pressure by the authorities after publishing critical articles in newspaper Advokat Press (“The Lawyer’s Press”), which was shut down shortly after these articles were published. Last year, his wife and six-year-old daughter were killed in a car accident while on their way to visit him in prison.

On February 26, 2009, the authorities sentenced to prison five journalists writing for the magazine Imroq, which is officially registered in Uzbekistan. According to the non-governmental Association for Human Rights in Central Asia, the journalists— Ravshanbek Vafoev, Abdulaziz Dadakhanov, Botyrbek Eshkuziev, Bakhrom Ibragimov, Davron Kobilov—are now serving prison terms ranging from 8 to 12 years on charges of “authoring and spreading materials which pose a threat to state security” and “setting up a religious and extremist organization.”


Saidjahon Andurakhmanov is an independent journalist who previously wrote several Internet publications from his home in his native Karakalpakistan, a part of Uzbekistan, which has the status of an autonomous republic. Andurakhmanov was sentenced to 10 years in prison on October 10, 2008, after being arrested on charges of drug possession. According to the independent news agency Uznews.net, police stopped his car and planted drugs in the trunk of his car.

Djamshid Karimov, a former writer for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), a UK-based non-profit media organization, was sentenced to compulsory psychiatric treatment in the hospital on September 12, 2006. He is still detained there despite being and always having been in good mental health. His family is not allowed to visit him.

Ortiqali Namazov, a former correspondent for the state newspaper Qishloq Hayotti (Village Life), was sentenced to five and a half years in prison in 2004 for publishing several articles criticizing local governments for mismanagement. He remains in prison.

Gairat Mehliboev, an independent journalist, was sentenced to seven years in prison on February 18, 2003 for writing a political commentary in the newspaper Hurriyat in which he debated the ways to achieve social justice by introducing western democracy or Islamic justice system. According to the Real Trade Union of Uzbek Journalists, his whereabouts are still unknown.

Mukhammad Bekjanov, the editor of opposition newspaper Erk, along with Yusuf Ruzimuradov, a correspondent for the same newspaper, were in 1999 sentenced to prison for terms of 15 and 14 years respectively for publishing their newspaper, which had been banned, and on charges “attempting to overthrow the constitutional regime.”

Sincerely,

The Undersigned