Glennalicious

I would recommend writing to the Uzbekistan Ambassador here in the US or the EU. That's what I'm doing.

From Matilda Bogner, HRW, Tashkent
Dear John,
Thanks for your e-mail and for the support for Ruslan. Ruslan’s trial has started, but is at the beginning stages. It has now been adjourned off to Tuesday next week. The judge has declared the trial closed, which unfortunately is legal here for cases that involve sexual crimes. Ruslan’s mother will be allowed in to most of the trial though, and he has a lawyer and a local defender representing him.

I’ve pasted in below an urgent action that we put out with another group- it has suggestion of where people can write and what to write. I would also suggest that you write to your government, asking them to raise the issue with the Uzbeks- you probably know who is best to approach- whether it be your congressman or senate representative, or direct to someone in Washington. If the US takes up the case more strongly than it has thus far, it would be very useful. I would change the letter a bit, putting in that you personally know Ruslan and respect him and so on.

I’ll try to get your message through to Ruslan. I’m sure that he will be very grateful for the support.

Thanks again, and let me know any response to letters that you write. I’m happy to keep you up with how the trial is going, but you should write and ask me sometimes (otherwise I’ll forget in this hectic environment).
Matilda

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ SUMMARY @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
On Monday May 26th, 2003, activists Ruslan Sharipov, Oleg Sarapulov, and Azamat Mamankulov were arrested and detained by the District Internal Affairs Department.  Ruslan Sharipov is now charged with violating articles 120 (homosexual sex), 127 (sex with a minor), and 128 (sex with a child under sixteen) of the Uzbek Criminal Code.  Oleg Sarapulov is charged with article 131 (providing premises for debauchery). The police continue to question Azamat Mamankulov, however, it remains unclear whether he is being questioned as a witness or a defendant.  There is evidence that the police have used physical and psychological pressure to obtain evidence from him. On May 26 police also detained three fifteen-year-old boys and held them for three days of questioning. The police state that Ruslan Sharipov had homosexual sex with two of them for money. 

Ruslan Sharipov does not deny his homosexuality. He believes that the charges are being fabricated because of his human rights and journalistic work, critical of government policies and in particular of police corruption.  Sarapulov and Mamankulov have been released. Sharipov has been subjected to beatings, threats of sexual violence, and verbal abuse by the police.

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission and Human Rights Watch urge you to write letters to the addresses below urging the immediate release of Sharipov pending an investigation of the charges against him, the dismissal of the Article 120 charge against him, and the dismissal of all charges against the two other activists.  A sample letter is provided below.  Please also send copies to diplomatic representatives of Uzbekistan accredited to your country, as well as to the United Nations representatives of Uzbekistan, and the European Union (EU - Europa House) and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) offices in Uzbekistan.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@ BACKGROUND INFORMATION @@@@@@@@@@@@
According to Eurasianet.org, members of National Security Service of Uzbekistan attacked Ruslan Sharipov near the court building in Tashkent on the morning of July 12, 2001.  According to the same source, he had reported being followed by the NSS for several months prior, when he  began working as a journalist at the PRIMA news agency and as the press-secretary for the NGO "Society for Human Rights of Uzbekistan."  According to Reporters Sans Frontieres, on August 1, 2001, Ruslan Sharipov was arrested by NSS agents and accused of being involved in a terrorist group. Secret service agents also applied pressure on his relatives. His mother, brother and a cousin were questioned and threatened. In an open letter to the Uzbekistani President, Ruslan Sharipov asked that an order be issued to end his being followed by the security services, that the pressures on his family stop and that he be allowed to exercise his profession as an independent journalist.

Human Rights Watch has documented other prior harassment of Ruslan Sharipov,
Oleg Sarapulov and Azamat Mamankulov. On October 21, 2002, National Security Service officers forcefully escorted Mamankulov out of an Internet cafe, hit him several times in the stomach and head, and warned him to stop working with Sharipov. On February 22, police detained Sarapulov and questioned him about Internet articles in his possession that were critical of the Uzbek government. He was released after two days. He told Human Rights Watch that the police planted leaflets on him belonging to Hizb ut-Tahrir, an Islamic group banned in Uzbekistan.
In March 2002, Human Rights Watch wrote to President Karimov, expressing
alarm at three attacks on Sharipov in January and February 2002, including being dragged into a car by police officers and questioned about his journalistic activities, and being beaten twice by unidentified attackers who took his mobile telephone, journalist accreditation card, passport and money.
Since 1994, the United Nations Human Rights Committee, which monitors compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), has called on countries that are party to the convention to repeal sodomy laws, or laws that punish adult, consensual homosexual acts. The Committee held that such laws violate protections against discrimination in the ICCPR, as well as article 17, which protects the right to privacy. Specifically, the Committee held that "sexual orientation" was a status protected under the ICCPR from discrimination. Uzbekistan ratified the ICCPR in 1996.

President Islam Abduganievich Karimov
Office of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan
Rezidentsia prezidenta / The Presidential Palace
700000 g. Tashkent   
RESPUBLIKA UZBEKISTAN
Fax: +998-71-139-53-25
E-mail:  presidents_office@press-service.uz
Salutation:  Your Excellency
Siradzhuddin Mirsafayev
Minister of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan
Respubliki Uzbekistan Ministru
ul.Sayilgokh, 5 Ministerstvo yustitsii
700047 g. Tashkent   
RESPUBLIKA UZBEKISTAN

Tel: if fax is not working: +998-71-133-1305, or mail/ telegram letters.

Fax: +998-71-133-51-76 
E-mail: no e-mail available at this time: please fax or telegram letters.
Salutation:  Dear Mr. Mirsafayev
Sayora Rashidova

Oliy Majlis Commissioner for Human Rights /

Upolnomochennoy po pravam cheloveka pri Oliy Majlis

pl. Mustakillik, 2 Oliy Majlis Respubliki Uzbekistan
700008 g. Tashkent   
RESPUBLIKA UZBEKISTAN
Fax: +998-71-139-85-55
E-mail: office@ombudsman.gov.uz
Salutation: Dear Ms. Rashidova
Sodiq Safaev
Minister of Foreign Affairs
ul. Gogolya #87
700047 g. Tashkent
RESPUBLIKA UZBEKISTAN
Fax: +998-71-239-4348
E-mail: jahon@tiv.uz
Salutation: Dear Mr. Safaev

To write to the Uzbek Ambassador to the US:

Hon. Shavkat Khamrakulov, Ambassador
Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan
1746 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington DC, 20036
Fax: +1-202-293-6804
E-mail: uzbconsul_dc@yahoo.com
Salutation: Your Excellency
To write to the Uzbek UN Permanent Mission:
Hon. Alisher Vohidov, Ambassador
Permanent Mission of the Republic of Uzbekistan
to the United Nations
866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 326
New York, NY 10017
Fax: +1-212-486-7998
E-mail: uzbekistan@un.int
Salutation: Your Excellency
To send a copy to the Uzbek office of the European Union (EU - Europa House) and OSCE:
Peter Reddish, Co-ordinator
Europa House of The European Commission - Tashkent
11th floor - International Business Centre
107A Amir Temur Street
700084 g. Tashkent   
RESPUBLIKA UZBEKISTAN
Fax: +998-71-139-18-68
E-mail:  office@europahouse.uz
Salutation: Dear Mr. Reddish
Hon. Ahmet Kamil Erozan, Ambassador
OSCE Centre in Tashkent
Western Side, 2nd Floor, Khamid Alimdjain Sq.
70000 g. Tashkent   
RESPUBLIKA UZBEKISTAN
Fax: +998-71 120 61 25
E-mail: oscecao@online.ru and cmusinschi@osce.sand.uz
Salutation: Your Excellency
To send a copy to the US Ambassador to Uzbekistan:
Hon. John E. Herbst, Ambassador
Embassy of the United States
ul. Chilanzarskaya 82
700115 g. Tashkent   
RESPUBLIKA UZBEKISTAN
fax: +998-71-120-6335; +998-71-120-5448
E-mail: consular@usembassy.uz
Salutation: Your Excellency

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ MODEL LETTER @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Your Excellency,
I am writing to express my deep concern about the detention and abuse of Ruslan Sharipov, and to request his release pending the investigation of charges against him, and the immediate dismissal of the charges under Article 120 of the criminal code. We also ask that all charges be dropped against his colleague Oleg Sarapulov.
According to local sources,  these men are being singled out for punishment due to their sexual orientation and regular publication of their views expressing outspoken opposition to government practices.  Ruslan Sharipov in particular has been subjected to abuse in detention due to his political views and sexual orientation.
Uzbekistan ratified the ICCPR in 1996, which, according to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, protects the signatory countries' citizens from discrimination based on sexual orientation. The UNHRC also holds that laws such as Uzbekistan's law outlawing homosexual sex (Article 120), allegedly violated by the accused, violate ICCPR protections against discrimination, as well as the right to privacy (Article 17).
I anticipate your swift action to end the harassment of journalists and human rights defenders and to guarantee respect for human rights in accordance with international human rights standards in Uzbekistan.  Please contact me with news of your response to this incident at the address below.
Sincerely,
(your name, organization and address)

@@@@@@@@@@@@@ INTERNATIONAL LAW @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The right to freedom from torture and cruel or inhuman treatment is protected by the UDHR (Article 5), and by the ICCPR (Article 7).
The right to liberty and security of person is protected by the UDHR (Article 3), and by the ICCPR (Articles 6 and 9).
The United Nations Human Rights Committee affirmed in its decision in Toonen v Australia (1994) that existing protections against discrimination in Articles 2 and 26 of the ICCPR should be understood to include sexual orientation as a protected status.  Numerous other human rights mechanisms of the United Nations have subsequently condemned discrimination based on sexual orientation. The UN Committee on Economic and Social Rights has made a similar observation, in its General Comment 14 on the right to health, to be applied to all economic, social and cultural rights.
Rights of human rights defenders: the UN Declaration Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (G.A. res.53/144, UN Doc. A/RES/53/144 - 1999) affirms: "Everyone is entitled, individually and in association with others, to be effectively protected under national law in reacting against or opposing, through peaceful means, activities and acts, including those by omission, attributable to  States which result in violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms as well as acts of violence perpetrated by groups or individuals that affect the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms" (Article 12.2). And it adds that, "In this connection, everyone is entitled, individually and in association with others, to be protected effectively under national law in reacting against or opposing, through peaceful means, activities and acts · attributable to States that result in violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as acts of violence perpetrated by groups or individuals that affect the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms" (Article 12.3).
The right to equality before the law and to be free from discrimination are protected by the UDHR in its Articles 2 and 7, by the ICCPR in its Articles 2 and 26, and by the IACHR in its Articles 1 and 24.  The right to equality before the courts and tribunals is protected by ICCPR in its Article 14.
The right to privacy is protected by the UDHR in its Article 12, and the ICCPR  in its Article 17.

In 1996 Uzbekistan became a signatory to the ICCPR and is bound by its provisions. The UDHR is considered customary law for all Member States of the United Nations, including Uzbekistan.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ ABOUT IGLHRC and HRW @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Please contact IGLHRC or HRW for further background information.

IGLHRC's mission is to secure the full enjoyment of the human rights of all people and communities subject to discrimination or abuse on the basis of sexual orientation or _expression, gender identity or _expression, and/or HIV status.  A US-based non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO), IGLHRC effects this mission through advocacy, documentation, coalition building, public education, and technical assistance.
Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice; we investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable; we challenge governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and respect international human rights law; we enlist the public and the international community to support the cause of human rights for all.
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--

Sara Moore

Program Associate for Eastern Europe & Central Asia

sara@iglhrc.org -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission -
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  tel: +1-415-561-0633 - fax: +1-415-561-0619 - http://www.iglhrc.org
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IGLHRC's mission is to secure the full enjoyment of the human rights of all people and communities subject to discrimination or abuse on the basis of sexual orientation or _expression, gender identity or _expression, and/or HIV status.  A US-based non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO), IGLHRC effects this mission through advocacy, documentation, coalition building, public education, and technical assistance.
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http://www.muslimuzbekistan.com/eng/ennews/2003/05/ennews29052003_h.html
 
http://action.web.ca/home/lgbt/alerts.shtml?sh_itm=9579284b3beac1e6e69aabf809d08dd6&AA_EX_Session=f0c2c427e922c8d8a8348613ad251bae
 
http://www.uiju.org/eboard.html
 
http://www.hrw.org/press/2003/05/uzbek052903.htm