Uzbekistan: Arrest of Human Rights Defender Gulshan Karaeva

Gulshan Karaeva has previously been the subject of threats and intimidation; her dog has been poisoned, she has been physically attacked.

(SALEM) - Human rights defenders in Uzbekistan need to know their government will enforce their right to operate without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions and reprisals, including judicial harassment.

At this point, the very opposite is still taking place and it is taking a toll on human rights defender Ms Gulshan Karaeva, who was arrested in her home in Qarshi in late September and taken to a local police station where she was informed of charges brought against her.

It is the latest example of what appears to be a clear case of government retaliation and it is ongoing. Gulshan Karaeva has previously been the subject of threats and intimidation; her dog has been poisoned, she has been physically attacked.

Gulshan is the Chairperson of the Kashkadarya regional branch of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU). She was charged under two articles of the Criminal Code: article 139, “Slander”, and article 140, “Insult”.

These charges are based on allegations by two women who Gulshan Karaeva suspects of working for the National Security Service (SNB). These two women attacked members of the human rights defender’s family on 19 July 2012, and later have accused Gulshan Karaeva of calling them prostitutes, although the human rights defender denies ever having made such statements. Gulshan Karaeva was detained for four hours at the police station, after which she was released.

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President Islam Karimov
Office of the President 43 Uzbekistan Avenue
700163 Tashkent
Uzbekistan

Your Excellency,

I am William Nicholas Gomes, Human Rights Ambassador for Salem-News.com

I came to know about the situation from Front Line Defender.

On 27 September 2012, human rights defender Ms Gulshan Karaeva was arrested in her home in Qarshi and taken to a local police station where she was informed of charges brought against her. Gulshan Karaeva is Chairperson of the Kashkadarya regional branch of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU). She was released on the same day after four hours’ detention at the police station.

Gulshan Karaeva was told at the police station that she had been charged under two articles of the Criminal Code: article 139, “Slander”, and article 140, “Insult”. These charges are based on allegations by two women who Gulshan Karaeva suspects of working for the National Security Service (SNB). These two women attacked members of the human rights defender’s family on 19 July 2012, and later have accused Gulshan Karaeva of calling them prostitutes, although the human rights defender denies ever having made such statements. Gulshan Karaeva was detained for four hours at the police station, after which she was released.

Gulshan Karaeva has previously been the subject of threats and intimidation. On 19 May 2012, two women attacked the human rights defender in a local shop, beating her on the head. The attackers attempted to take her outside of the shop but she managed to seek help and the two women were removed from the shop. That same day, unknown persons sprayed the gate and walls of the human rights defender’s home and that of her neighbour, with explicit and abusive graffiti. These incidents are believed to be related to Gulshan Karaeva’s public statement issued on 5 May 2012, in which she declared that she had refused a proposal of cooperation put to her by the SNB.

On 7 July 2011, Gulshan Karaeva’s dog was poisoned. In addition to this, she received threatening phone calls from unknown individuals. The following day, she was attacked by Mr Arif Pardayev, a resident of Kashkadarya region, who was travelling in the same taxi as the human rights defender from Tashkent to Qarshi.

In light of the previous threats, physical attacks and intimidation directed at Gulshan Karaeva, I express serious concern for her security, and her physical and psychological integrity as well as that of her children, one of whom is disabled. I view these charges as part of an ongoing campaign of threats and intimidation against Gulshan Karaeva, as a result of her legitimate and peaceful human rights work in Uzbekistan.

I call upon the authorities of Uzbekistan to:

1. Immediately drop all charges against Gulshan Karaeva as it is believed that they are solely motivated by her legitimate and peaceful work in defence of human rights;

2. Take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity and security of Gulshan Karaeva, as well as that of her family members;

3. Take measures to ensure that all human rights defenders in Uzbekistan, while carrying out their legitimate work in the defence of human rights, are able to operate without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions and reprisals, including judicial harassment.

Yours Sincerely,

William Nicholas Gomes
Human Rights Ambassador for Salem-News.com
www.williamnicholasgomes.com

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Salem-News.com Human Rights Ambassador William Nicholas Gomes is a Bangladeshi journalist, human rights activist and author was born on 25 December, 1985 in Dhaka. As an investigative journalist he wrote widely for leading European and Asian media outlets.

He is also active in advocating for free and independent media and journalists’ rights, and is part of the free media movement, Global Independent Media Center – an activist media network for the creation of radical, accurate, and passionate telling of the truth. He worked for Italian news agency Asianews.it from year 2009 to 2011, on that time he was accredited as a free lance journalist by the press information department of Bangladesh. During this time he has reported a notable numbers of reports for the news agency which were translated into Chinese and Italian and quoted by notable number of new outlets all over the world.He, ideologically, identifies himself deeply attached with anarchism. His political views are often characterized as “leftist” or “left-wing,” and he has described himself as an individualist anarchist.