{"id":10765,"date":"2015-08-31T23:36:18","date_gmt":"2015-08-31T20:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/?p=10765"},"modified":"2015-09-04T14:22:21","modified_gmt":"2015-09-04T11:22:21","slug":"uzbek-human-rights-defenders-protest-against-enforced-disappearances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/news\/uzbek-human-rights-defenders-protest-against-enforced-disappearances\/","title":{"rendered":"Uzbek human rights defenders protest against enforced disappearances"},"content":{"rendered":"

International community and<\/span> partners<\/span> of Uzbekistan<\/span> should<\/span> urge<\/span> Uzbek government<\/span> for<\/span> accountability and transparency<\/span> concerning<\/span> the fate of<\/span> victims of enforced disappearances.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

The UN General Assembly<\/span> had <\/span>declared<\/span> August 30 the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances back in 2011.<\/span><\/p>\n

Enforced disappearances are part of the strategy for establishing atmosphere of terror and, according to the experts of the UN General Assembly, this practice has turned into a global problem. Cases are associated primarily with dictatorial regimes and the situation of enforced disappearances in Uzbekistan is no exception.<\/p>\n

Enforced disappearances<\/span> in Uzbekistan<\/span> began in<\/span> the mid 1990s<\/span> and<\/span> it was <\/span>mostly democratically-minded<\/span> political and religious<\/span> opponents<\/span> of the Uzbek authorities who had fallen victims of these disappearances<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Victims<\/span> of enforced disappearances<\/span> in Uzbekistan during<\/span> the period under review<\/span> can be divided into<\/span> two categories<\/span>: a) members <\/span>and activists of democratic political<\/span> opposition,<\/span> human rights activists<\/span> and independent journalists; b) <\/span>activists<\/span> and<\/span> leaders of independent<\/span> religious groups.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The following specific<\/span> characteristics<\/span> of enforced<\/span> disappearances of<\/span> people from <\/span>the above mentioned<\/span> groups<\/span> in Uzbekistan should be noted<\/span>:<\/span><\/p>\n

– enforced disappearances are always part of illegal struggle of the political elite of Uzbekistan against its opponents and critics, and they are always carried out as a clandestine operations by Uzbek special services and law enforcement agencies; they are the work of the state authorities and not some third parties or individuals, acting either with or without orders coming from the state power;
\n– while the cases of enforced disappearances of activists and leaders of the opposition, human rights defenders, leaders of independent religious groups, independent journalists almost always draw public attention because of the social prominence of these figures, the hundreds of cases of enforced disappearances of ordinary peaceful Muslim believers almost always remain unreported – their relatives are very afraid to publicize this information, it is difficult for human rights organizations and journalists to get in touch with them, and in general there are very few human rights defenders in Uzbekistan;