Open letter to the MEPs who visited

Brussels, 24 April 2007

Dear Members of the European Parliament,

As members of the European Parliament Delegation to the EU-Kazakhstan, EU-Kyrgyzstan and EU-Uzbekistan Parliamentary Cooperation Committees, you visited Uzbekistan on the week of 19 March 2007, notably to participate to the 6th session of the EU-Uzbekistan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee.

This visit took place in the context of high level discussions on the possible lifting of the EU sanctions taken against Uzbekistan in the aftermath of the tragic events in the city of Andijan - where hundreds of unarmed civilians were killed in May 2005 - and the devising of an EU strategy for under the auspices of the German Presidency of the EU.

This should have been a unique occasion for your delegation to collectively raise concerns about the situation of human rights in Uzbekistan, and in particular of human rights defenders who remain in prison or are kept in psychiatric hospital for ungrounded reasons, such as: − Umida Niyazova, a freelance journalist and translator for the Human Rights Watch office in Tashkent, who was arrested on 22 January 2007 and who is now facing possible 5 to 15-year imprisonment. − Mutabar Tadjibaeva, the Chairwoman of the human rights organization Fiery Hearts Club and a 2005 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, who was detained on 7 October 2005 when she was scheduled to fly to Ireland to attend an international conference on human rights defenders hosted by Front Line. On 6 March 2006 she was sentenced to eight-year imprisonment and was moved to a psychiatric hospital. Mutabar Tadjibaeva's health has seriously deteriorated and it has been reported that she is being denied appropriate medical attention. − Human rights defender and journalist Jamshid Karimov, President 's own nephew, who is currently detained in the psychiatric hospital for his independent reporting on the situation in Uzbekistan?

Unfortunately, human rights defenders working at great personal risk within Uzbekistan perceive that your visit to Uzbekistan was driven by the Uzbek authorities, and they now find it difficult to expect concrete action from the EU as they have been informed that, on 22 March, MEPs went shopping and celebrated Navruz in Andijan, a city where a bloodshed took place two years ago. The story circulating inside Uzbekistan is that some MEPs were 'drinking and dancing'. This behaviour has been perceived as an insult to the memory of those who were killed and injured, and to their families. Front Line welcomes the fact that the Delegation met with representatives from the Ezgullik movement, one of the few registered human rights organisations. However, it is regrettable that the delegation did not feel it appropriate to have additional meetings with Uzbek human rights defenders, in particular with any of the human rights organisations that have been denied registration, with human rights defenders who have been imprisoned and tortured, with the families of those imprisoned or forcibly undergoing psychiatric treatment. According to information received, some MEPs even refused to meet with the representatives from Ezgullik.

It has also been reported that defenders were put under house arrest during your visit.

Respect for human rights is presented as a cornerstone of the EU external policy, but it seems that some Member States, and now some Members of the European Parliament, prefer to put the issue of human rights in Uzbekistan on the back burner, remain silent or even forget about it. Any dialogue or cooperation is welcome provided that it deals honestly with the reality of the human rights situation and is not merely an excuse to do nothing. Given the previous record of the current Uzbek regime, human rights defenders are sceptical about how much can be achieved by “dialogue”.

The European Union must insist on concrete measures being put in place before reviewing its position again in May 2007:

1. The release of all human rights defenders and their family members unjustly imprisoned or detained in psychiatric hospitals as a result of their legitimate work for human rights; 2. The legal registration of independent human rights organisations; 3. An independent commission of inquiry into the human rights violations in Andijan in May 2005.

Ensuring that human rights defenders are free to conduct their legitimate activities is a basic precondition for any progress on human rights.

The reported behaviour of some MEPs in Andijan – although the Delegation Chairwoman had stressed that “the visit to Andijan should be focused on human rights issues” (see minutes of the Delegation meeting of 15 February 2007) – and the short-sighted way it seems the EU is currently re-thinking its relationship with Uzbekistan, send a bad signal to other authoritarian regimes in the region and beyond, who are harassing, intimidating, and putting in detention human rights defenders.

Human rights defenders at risk in Uzbekistan are calling on the EU to take appropriate action, and the victims of Andijan still demand justice...

Yours faithfully,

Vincent Forest Head of EU Office