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RR RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHNEH RUEHPOD
RUEHPW RUEHSK RUEHSL RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHNT #1479/01 2521616
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 091616Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1306
INFO ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
CIS COLLECTIVE
NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0020
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0213
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 001479 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM ELAB PGOV UZ
SUBJECT: Uzbekistan: Amnesty Decree Announced, Human Rights Activist 
Released 
 
¶1.       (SBU) Summary:  The Government of Uzbekistan announced an 
amnesty resolution last week, through which some prisoners and 
criminal defendants may apply to the court for clemency.  The 
resolution includes several restrictions, which may serve to limit 
the number of political and religious prisoners that are eligible 
to apply.  The resolution may already be yielding results, however, 
as Oyazimhon Hidirova, a human rights activist on trial in Jizzakh, 
was released, reportedly under the provisions of the resolution. 
End Summary. 
 
 
 
The Amnesty Resolution 
 
------------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶2.       (SBU) On August 28, 2009, the Uzbek Senate adopted an 
amnesty resolution in connection with the 18th anniversary of 
Uzbekistan's independence.  "Amnesty" is defined to include one of 
three actions:  full exemption from further incarceration, transfer 
to a prison with lighter conditions, or stopping a criminal case at 
the pre-trial or trial stage from going forward.  The resolution 
lays out several categories of persons who are eligible to apply 
for amnesty, including women, minors, men over 60 years old, 
citizens of foreign countries, persons who were convicted of less 
serious crimes and do not pose a threat to society, seriously ill 
or disabled people, and convicts whose remaining sentences do not 
exceed two years from the time of issuance (convicts with between 
two and three years remaining may, however, apply for transfer to a 
better facility).  Those people who qualify under the named 
categories now have three months to apply for amnesty under the 
resolution. 
 
 
 
¶3.       (SBU) There are several restrictions included in the 
resolution.  For example, those people convicted of participating 
in the activities of banned organizations or crimes "against peace 
and security" are only eligible if they are first time offenders 
and can prove that they are "following the way of correction" in 
prison, which generally means signing a full confession, asking for 
forgiveness, and showing a clean record of behavior while in 
prison.  Convicts who "systematically violate" the terms of their 
incarceration are also not eligible to apply under the resolution. 
 
 
 
 
What it Means 
 
------------------- 
 
 
 
¶4.       (SBU) This year's resolution differs from years past in 
some respects.  For example, according to the resolution, amnesty 
will not be used to reduce prison terms without immediately 
releasing the prisoners.  Prison sentences were apparently commonly 
reduced under previous amnesty decrees, and officials gave no 
explanation for the change.  Also, under the heading of "judicial 
reform," application of the act has been transferred from 
parliament to the judicial branch, and therefore will be 
administered by the courts.  Because there is little true 
separation of powers here, however, the change is not likely to 
have practical implications. 
 
 
 
¶5.       (SBU) Local human rights activists are already complaining 
that religious and political prisoners are unlikely to be amnestied 
under this resolution.  Prison authorities have broad discretion in 
determining whether a prisoner is "following the way of correction" 
or "systematically violating" the terms of incarceration, and thus 
have great influence over amnesty eligibility.  Based on the 
frequent claims of torture and mistreatment of these prisoners 
already, activists may well be right in predicting that prison 
officials are unlikely to allow for early releases of such 
 
TASHKENT 00001479  002 OF 002 
 
 
convicts.  (Note:  Prison officials are frequently criticized for 
arbitrarily extending the prison terms of religious prisoners, in 
particular, for violation of "internal prison regulations.") 
Religious prisoners are also more likely to be excluded from 
amnesty because they are so often convicted of charges including 
being "a member of a banned organization," such as Hizb-ut Tahrir 
or Nur. 
 
 
 
Rights Activist Amnestied 
 
------------------------------- 
 
¶6.       (SBU) Despite concerns that the amnesty resolution will 
not be an option for political and religious prisoners, one human 
rights activist has already been released.  Oyazimhon Hidirova, a 
farmer from Jizzakh, was arrested on July 28 on thirteen charges, 
including fraud, tax evasion, hooliganism, and embezzlement.  It 
was widely believed that the charges were in fact were due to her 
work on farmers' issues and complaints she had written to local and 
regional government, as well as to President Karimov himself.  (See 
reftel.)  Hidirova's lawyer, Ziyodullo Razzakov, informed us that 
she had short trial, but before the verdict could be announced, 
their request for amnesty under the new resolution was granted. 
Hidirova was released unconditionally and was told that her record 
would be wiped clean. 
 
 
 
¶7.       (SBU) Bakhtiyar Hamroev, another human rights activist 
from Jizzakh and colleague of Hidirova, told us that that Hidirova 
has some health problems, specifically mentioning liver problems, 
resulting from her month-long incarceration.  He also stated that 
she was guilty only of trying to expose corrupt officials, and that 
she would still be in jail if not for the efforts of Human Rights 
Watch, Frontline, and local diplomatic missions, specifically 
mentioning the Swiss Embassy, who provided funding for Hidirova's 
attorney's fees. 
 
 
 
Comment 
 
------------- 
 
¶8.       (SBU) Officials have indicated that an "amnesty list," 
with actual names of people to be released, will be issued before 
the end of Ramadan on September 20.  Post hopes that some of the 
most egregious and higher-profile cases will be included in that 
list.  For the lesser-known political and religious prisoners, 
however (estimated recently by one local NGO at 25-30 political 
prisoners and 6,000-10,000 religious prisoners) applying for 
amnesty under this resolution is their only hope of release. 
Unfortunately, the cards are often stacked against them, as the 
terms of incarceration, particularly for religious prisoners, 
specifically exclude them from eligibility for amnesty, and prison 
officials, whether motivated by orders from above or internal 
prison issues, often stand in the way.  Thus, while Post is pleased 
to report the release of Hidirova, the amnesty resolution should 
not be expected to significantly change the landscape with regard 
to political and religious prisoners.  This makes the recent 
renewal of prison visits by the ICRC all the more important. 
NORLAND