A group of 22 Muslim women imprisoned in the Uzbek capital Tashkent
on what they claim are trumped-up charges have written an open letter to
Interior Minister Zakir Almatov complaining of maltreatment in prison. "We
are defenceless women who are barred from being amnestied and viciously
insulted for practising our religion," the women declared in the 22 April
letter, passed to Forum 18 News Service by the Human Rights Society of
Uzbekistan. "We call all of you, who're lucky enough to be free, to heed
the situation of Muslim prisoners; to listen to the cry of the women imprisoned
for their belief in Allah." Officials have been quick to deny the women's
accusations. "I know about the letter, we have investigated it and have
concluded that the circumstances cited in it bear no relation to reality,"
Aziz Ernazarov, director of the interior ministry press office in Tashkent,
told Forum 18 on 29 April.
The 22 women - who are serving their sentences in women's prison number 64/7 in
Tashkent - were all found guilty under article 159 of the criminal code, which
punishes "undermining the constitutional system of the republic". The
chairman of the Human Rights Society, Talib Yakubov, believes all these women
are prisoners of conscience. "For the majority of these prisoners their
only guilt is that they are devout Muslims," he told Forum 18 on 29 April
in Tashkent.
The women who give their names on the letter complain that they cannot
practise their faith. "We prisoners are prohibited to pray to our Creator;
here we are subjected to insults if we perform prayers, while the Holy Koran
will be seized from us if it is found." They say that in the prison
"any oppression, any outrage and any violence" is directed first of
all at those sentenced under Article 159. "If we perform prayers or recite
the Koran we'll be blamed with the words 'The 159ers do not keep the routine'
and a note 'infringer of the routine' will be placed in our file. And this
means we cannot be included in the amnesty."
The women who all work in the prison textile workshop complain that their
children have been taken from them and say they have been denied the right to
wear the Islamic veil.
"Punishments and oppressions used against us today absolutely contradict
the standards of the international human rights norms," they add. They
tell Almatov that they believe it is an "open secret" for him why the
prison administration punishes the women if they perform their prayers.
"We know very well that all these measures and arrangements are in
accordance with orders from higher levels," they declare. "We also believe
that our torments and anguish are not for nothing. We believe that one fine day
we will prove ourselves in the right."
As well as denying the substance of the accusations, Ernazarov of the interior
ministry denied the authenticity of the appeal. "We have talked to the
women who supposedly wrote this letter and they deny that they wrote it,"
he claimed to Forum 18. "We shot a video of this, which we will show very
shortly on national television."
But Yakubov insists that the appeal is genuine. "This letter came from a
very trustworthy source which we cannot identify for quite understandable
reasons," he told Forum 18. "It would be astounding for the Interior
Ministry to admit to the circumstances cited in the letter. It is quite possible
that threats have been used to force the poor women to renounce their
appeal."
One senior official, who asked not to be identified, told Forum 18 that the
government is "ready" to amnesty Islamic radicals, in particular
members of the Hizb-ut-Tahrir party, an international Islamist party which
calls for the unification of Muslims throughout the world under a single
caliphate. Many Hizb-ut-Tahrir members, supporters or alleged supporters have
been imprisoned in Uzbekistan. Those prepared to sign appeals to President
Islam Karimov for clemency have been released in recent years.
The official blamed Islamist activists for the fact that not more of these
prisoners have been freed under amnesty. "Someone is carrying out
propaganda work among Islamic radicals in prison, urging them not to write a
request for a pardon," he told Forum 18. "But the state will never go
back on its word, and such propaganda will only do poor service to the Muslims
who are in prison."