The Legal Aid Society of Uzbekistan

Human rights in Central Asia, while not a high-profile topic in world news, remains a salient concern both for citizens of the five former Soviet republics as well as the international community. Uzbekistan is one of these nations that has been designated a “Country of Particular Concern” by the U.S. State Department for religious persecution, and has also been defined as “an authoritarian state with limited civil rights.”ⁱ The nation has also been included, along with neighboring Turkmenistan, in Freedom House’s report of The World’s Most Repressive Societies 2006 as one of eight countries with the worst human rights records in the world.

In Uzbekistan, the president, who holds executive power, also wields considerable power in the judiciary, as he is solely responsible for appointing and dismissing judges from regional, district, and city courts of law. This indivisible system of power in the country has meant that torture continues to be a pervasive problem throughout the nation during investigative proceedings of criminal cases and remains a largely unpunished practiceⁱⁱ.

Furthermore, Uzbekistan has yet to hold truly free and fair elections, and opposition political parties are unable to operate freely. In 2006, two opposition leaders, Sanjar Umarov and Nodira Khidoiatova, were each sentenced to prison for over 10 years on "politically motivated charges." Independent journalists are likewise persecuted for being critical of authoritiesⁱⁱⁱ.

First Independent Human Rights Organization

Nozima Kamalova, a trained lawyer born and raised in Uzbekistan, received training while studying in Poland on international standards of human rights. During this period, she became acutely aware, for the first time, of Uzbekistan's violations of many of these global guidelines and recognized a need to raise awareness and make changes in her country. In 1998, with the help of ten forward-thinking and democratically-minded partners, she created the beginnings of the Legal Aid Society (LAS), an organization whose mission is to foster and ensure protection of human rights and assist in creating a democratic and lawful society in Uzbekistan. It was officially registered with NGO status by the Ministry of Justice in Uzbekistan following criticism of the Uzbek government by United Nation auditors in 1999.

From the start, the Legal Aid Society in Uzbekistan was faced with daunting challenges and barriers to its work as the first independent organization of its kind in the country working to investigate human rights abuses. The LAS also provided legal services to those who would otherwise be unable to obtain legal assistance, including religious and political figures, victims of domestic violence, street children, and refugees. However, with the assistance of the UNDP project on Democratization, Human Rights and Governance of Uzbekistan, the LAS was able to successfully pursue its mission and make a significant impact on the status of Human Rights in the nation. Kamalova, in conjunction with the LAS, has also successfully fought to change several laws in Uzbekistan affecting torture, human rights, and juvenile justice laws. She was instrumental in submitting statements to the constitutional court that influenced the abolishment of the death penalty and the implementation of Habeas Corpus in 1999. The group also conducted extensive research for presentation to the international community providing crucial information and recommendations through such documents as the Alternative Report of Uzbekistan to the Committee against Torture and Committee on the Rights of the Child, thus paving the way for the use of evidence-based and professional level research in the fight for human rights in Uzbekistan for the first time.

Regrettably, in December 2005, the Uzbek government passed new legislation, entitled “Amendments to the Code of Administrative Liability.” This decision made it impossible for independently functioning NGOs to operate in Uzbekistan, instituting enormous fines against NGO workers, and the LAS lost its legal status by decision of the Uzbek Court. At this juncture, the organization was faced with two possible options: to work under the dictate of the Uzbek government as a Government Organized NGO (GONGO) and forfeit its independent status, or to deregister the LAS. The organization elected to deregister. Functioning as a GONGO, which entails working under the mandate of the government and relinquishing all autonomy, would have meant that the LAS would be unable to continue the dissident work outlined in its mission.

On May 13th of this same year, unarmed protesters were killed by Uzbek authorities in the city of Andijan, an incident so unjustified that it was proclaimed a massacre by the Human Rights Watch. Kamalova was the first from her country to bring the Andijan case to the world’s attention through a statement made at the United Nations in Geneva. Following this incident, the government made attempts to obscure the circumstances and the scale of the killings. This extreme incident, along with the shutting down of several NGO’s like the LAS, has led the international community to believe that the human rights situation in Uzbekistan is worsening considerably.^iv

When questioned about the role of the international human rights community in advancing progress in Uzbekistan, Kamalova is clear on a few key strategies. First, she points out, international donors who have funds to spend in the region should not continue to fund GONGOs who will not realistically aid in creating positive change. Not only do these GONGOs work under the control of the Uzbek government, but they also serve as informants to incriminate those organizations and individuals that work underground without government permission. Rather, international donors should be working with those individuals, informal organizations, and even organizations working underground in Uzbekistan who are truly committed to creating change, even if these initiatives prove more difficult to carry out. The endorsing of GONGOs represents an unviable strategy for change, says Kamalova. The international community can play a role by refusing to fund these organizations, thus placing them in a position in which they will perhaps rethink their situation. International pressure will be vital in allowing native organizations similar to the LAS that are committed to impacting effecting political change, in spite of the inherent danger of their work, to succeed in advancing their cause.

Contact

Nozima Kamalova, Executive Co-Founder, Visiting Scholar at Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and Rule of Law; kamalova@stanford.edu

Related websites

http://www.omct.org/pdf/procedures/UzbCAT.pdf

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/11/07/uzbeki17229.htm

http://hrw.org/reports/2007/uzbekistan1107/

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/12/21/uzbeki17644.htm

http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=28721