All News items from Uzbekistan

Mutabar TADJIBAEVA, released from prison on the 2nd of June and for the first time allowed to travel abroad, will receive the 2008 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders (MEA) on Thursday 20th November, 18h00, during an international ceremony in Geneva at the prestigious Musée Ariana. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights will present the award and opera star Barbara Hendricks will perform. This year’s event is covered by Swiss Television for the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) which will broadcast a news flash on Euronews.  

Uzbek human rights defender Mutabar Tadjibaeva was released from the Tashkent Women’s Prison where she had been frequently detained in solitary confinement in the psychiatric wing of the prison. Mutabar Tadjibaeva was arrested while on her way to attend the Front Line Dublin Platform for Human Rights Defenders and subsequently sentenced to eight years in prison.  

Front Line welcomes the announcement that imprisoned Uzbek human rights defender Mutabar Tadjibaeva of Uzbekistan is the winner of the prestigious Martin Ennals Award 2008. Mutabar Tajibaeva was arrested on 7 October 2005 while en route to the Dublin Platform for Human Rights Defenders and subsequently sentenced to 8 years in prison on 6 March 2006. She is currently being detained at Tashkent Prison.  

"Human rights activists in Uzbekistan and abroad have been left angry and disappointed at the European Union’s decision to relax sanctions against the country’s government, in the face of strong evidence that the regime is as oppressive as ever" according to a statement issued by IWPR (the Institute for War and Peace Reporting). On October 15-16, EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg decided to suspend visa restrictions against eight top Uzbek officials who are accused of playing a part in the bloody suppression of a demonstration in the eastern city of Andijan in May 2005.  

A softhearted prison guard deeply concerned about the health of human rights defender Mutabar Tajibayeva who is a political prisoner at jail No UYa 64/7 now, , has passed the following letter from her on to the Ezgulik human rights society, risking his career and many other things.  

Talib Yakubov, a representative of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU) has issued a statement detailing the Uzbek authorities harsh crackdown on the Pakhtakor district division of the HRSU. The statement condemns the harassment of HRSU’s members and calls for international support.  

Human rights defender and journalist Umida Niyazova was released from custody on 8 May 2007 and given a suspended sentence following her appeal hearing against the seven-year prison sentence handed down to her on 1 May 2007.  

Mutabar Tadjibaeva is the Chairwoman of the human rights organization Fiery Hearts Club, which is based in Ferghana City in Uzbekistan. She is also one of the founders of the national movement Civil Society and a 2005 Nobel Peace Prize nominee. Mutabar Tadjibaeva has monitored human rights violations in the Ferghana Valley and she has reported on issues such as the violations of women’s rights to the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), an international non-governmental organization that trains journalists in human rights reporting. Mutabar Tadjibaeva was due to attend an international conference on human rights defenders in Dublin on 8 October 2005 hosted by Front Line. She was detained on 7 October when she was scheduled to fly to Tashkent to get a connecting flight to Ireland. On 6 March 2006 human rights defender Mutabar Tadjibaeva was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment. She was subsequently moved to a psychiatric hospital. According to reports, Mutabar Tadjibaeva's health has seriously deteriorated. She has low blood pressure and a kidney problem.