Local rights activists welcome freeing of Mukhadirova

Leading human rights groups in Uzbekistan welcomed on Wednesday a court ruling in the capital, Tashkent, to free Fatima Mukhadirova, convicted of alleged extremist activities earlier this month, after intense international pressure. "It is a positive development," Surat Ikramov, head of the Independent Initiative Group of Human Rights Activists of Uzbekistan, told IRIN from Tashkent, admitting, however, that it had been quite unexpected. Concurring, Vasilya Inoyatova, head of the Ezgulik Human Rights Society, said that it was a good thing that she had been freed, but noted that she should have been freed without any fine as her case had been fabricated from the very beginning. Their comments came following a court decision on Tuesday to fine Mukhadirova US $280, ordering her release from custody given her age and the fact that she was a woman. The 62-year-old mother of Muzafar Avazov, who died in August 2002 during his incarceration at the isolated Jaslyk prison, a facility well known for its harsh conditions and ill treatment and torture of religious prisoners, was sentenced to six years of imprisonment on 12 February for alleged adherence to the banned Hizbut-Tahrir political party, propagating an Islamic state and undermining constitutional order. In a statement by Human Rights Watch (HRW), the 35-year-old religious prisoner and father-of-four showed signs of extensive burns, injuries doctors contend could only have resulted from immersing Avazov in boiling water, a claim that has horrified local and international rights groups alike. Both Ikramov and Inoyatova told IRIN earlier this month that the real reason behind the verdict to imprison the old woman had been her persistent efforts to make the case of her son's death publicised in the international press and for those responsible for his death to be brought to justice. "The pressure from the international community is the main factor that led to her freeing," Ikramov said, following the court decision. Inoyatova of Ezgulik echoed that view, noting that pressure from the international organisations, coupled with local rights groups' efforts and statements about Mukadirova's case, had impacted her release. But the decision to release Mukhadirova also came just hours before the arrival of the US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld who was scheduled to hold talks on defence and security issues with Tashkent, its staunch Central Asian ally in the US-led war on terror. HRW urged Rumsfeld on Tuesday to tell the Uzbek government that its poor human rights record would impede developing relations between the two countries. "Rumsfeld should tell Karimov that real partners in that fight [against terrorism] abide by the rule of law, and give people peaceful avenues for expressing themselves," said Tom Malinowski, Washington advocacy director for the watchdog group.