Özbekistan ERK Demokratik Partisi Genel Başkanı Muhammed SALİH

 

Publications of the past years

 

 

Will Czar Cotton Still Reign Across Soviet Central Asia?

06.11. 1988, The New York Times

By BILL KELLER

A Fantastic Dream

...I would not be surprised if in 10 or 15 years, there would be no cotton in this region," Mr. Nurmetov mused to a visitor. "Just fruits, grapes, tourism. Anyway, that is what I dream of..."

In Uzbekistan, which since Stalin's day has been pressed to make the Soviet Union self sufficient in cotton and to provide a source of foreign  currency, Mr. Nurmetov's dream seems fantastic, even blasphemous.

But it is no longer his alone. A small group of Uzbek writers, economists and officials have begun to openly question the republic's role as Moscow's cotton plantation, and also to question the basic relationship between Moscow and the fastest-growing region of its domain, Soviet Central Asia.

Uzbek intellectuals say that if anything is likely to provide a focal point for a nationalist movement here, it is not Islamic fundamentalism - Moscow and modernization seem largely to have tamed Islam in this region - but the resentment of the cotton economy.

"Everything comes down to the Stalinist demand for self-sufficiency in cotton," said Mukhamed Salikh, a poet and secretary of the official writers union. "The country's independence has been Uzbekistan's enslavement."

The authorities are taking steps to alleviate the harmful effects of the cotton monoculture, as the crop's domination is called. The annual quota was cut by about 10 percent this year, although critics point out that this only eliminated the padding in previous harvest reports. A new law has restricted the use of child labor in the fields. One of the most toxic pesticides has  been banned. There is a committee to save the Aral Sea. Special medical teams  will try to combat infant mortality.

But critics say these measures are far too little to remedy the complex of problems connected with cotton...

...The unemployment problem is growing because of high birth rates and because Uzbek villagers firmly resist Government entreaties to relocate to other, labor-short areas of the country.

Critics say one solution is to create more jobs in Uzbekistan by processing cotton here, instead of shipping it to mills in other republics.

"We sell our cotton as raw material," said Mr. Salikh, voicing a complaint widely heard. "Ninety-two percent of it leaves the republic. And then we buy our shirts from Russia..."

 

The Wall Street Journal

28.06. 1989

By Peter Gumbel

Staff Reporter of The W.S.J.

TASHKENT, U.S.S.R. -- In a courtyard near the old bazaar, sipping tea, Kakhar Uzmanov, a 45-year-old janitor, talks bluntly about how the standard of living has deteriorated in Uzbekistan. "My grandfather, who lived to be 101, used to say we have everything," he says. But times have changed. Few people now have gardens in which to grow their own fruit and vegetables. Prices in the bazaar have risen sharply. And with four young children to feed, his monthly pay of $120 is barely enough to live on.

"If we don't solve our economic problems very quickly, I fear that civil war might break out in Uzbekistan," says Muhammad Solih, a poet who visited the valley of Fergana soon after the clashes there. "Ninety Per cent of the people live very badly. They have nothing."

One sign of change is the recent formation of a mass movement for reform named Birlik. Loosely based on the popular front organizations that have become powerful voices for more home-rule in the Soviet Baltic republics, it is campaigning to end Uzbekistan's overreliance on cotton and to clean up the environment. "We need to help the Party apparatus find a way out of this crisis," says Abdurakhim Pulatov, himself a Communist Party member.

The argument is dismissed out of hand by both conservatives and liberals in Tashkent, who point out that Uzbeks and Meskhetians generally belong to the same Sunni branch of the Moslem faith. Mr. Solih, the poet, says interest in Islam has increased, as have feelings about national identity. "But these are just pretexts" for the deeper disgruntlement over living standards, he says.

 

The New York Times

03.09. 1989

By Bill KELLER, Special to The New York Times

Turkic Republics Press Soviets to Loosen Reins

In the republics that stretch from the Caucasus Mountains to the central Asian Steppes, Turkic peoples are also beginning to channel their grievances  into mass political movements under the banners of democracy and sovereignty.

"We want what the Baltics want, an end to colonialism and the freedom to run our own affairs," said Ekhtibar Mamedov, a Baku historian and a leader of the new Azerbaijani Popular Front, which has shown unexpected public support by holding mass demonstrations and a large-scale protest strike in the city's factories...

Although the republics of the south are predominantly Muslim, the movements Leaders of the groups say their movements were invigorated this spring and summer by televised proceedings of the new Soviet Parliament, which gave Turkic peoples a chance to compare their own, machine-elected deputies with the more aggressively independent political figures elected from the Baltics, Moscow and other regions.

Rural Poverty and Degradation

"The Congress showed people who was who, and what was possible," agreed Muhamed Salikh, a poet who is active in Uzbekistan's popular movement, called Birlik, or unity.

Although the southern Soviet Union has experienced bloody outbreaks of ethnic conflict - most notably Azerbaijan's clash with neighboring Armenia over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, murderous Uzbek assaults on the Meskhetian minority, and economic riots in Kazakhstan - the Turkic republics have lagged far behind in the formation of organized political movements.

Local leaders attribute that to a lack of political sophistication and the feudal domination of local Communist Party bosses.

In Uzbekistan, the political movement has been stimulated by the rural poverty and environmental degradation associated with the republic's role as Russia's cotton-growing colony.

 

UPHEAVAL IN THE EAST

25.01.1990

The New York Times

By Bill KELLER

Leaders of nationalist independence movements from the Baltic Sea to the Ukraine to Soviet Central Asia say their campaigns for greater liberty from Moscow will continue undeterred by upheavals in Azerbaijan, where Soviet troops are struggling to contain an insurgency.

While the political independents said they were concerned about the use of  military force against domestic unrest, many expressed at least a grudging sympathy for the sending of troops in that case.  The nationalists agreed that hard-liners in the Kremlin would try to use the unrest in the south as an excuse to slow the decentralization of power. But they also agreed the pressure for self-determination has now grown to  the point that it cannot be stopped.

Nationalist leaders were interviewed Tuesday and today by telephone from Georgia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Moldavia, the Ukraine, Armenia and the Baltic republics of Latvia and Lithuania. They stressed that they were speaking personally, not on behalf of their organizations, and they said they were hampered by a shortage of reliable information on events in Baku.

The nationalist groups vary widely in their aims and level of sophistication. Those in Georgia and the Baltics advocate eventual secession from the Soviet Union, while the Ukrainian and Moldavian popular fronts stop short of that. In Lithuania, the popular front group Sajudis sets the pace of political activity for the republican government. In Uzbekistan the aspiring nationalist movement, called Birlyk, is just finding its legs.

Mukhamed Salikh, a poet and member of the Birlyk movement in Uzbekistan,  said Uzbeks "to some extent" felt Moscow may have been quicker to send troops against Azerbaijan because of an exaggerated fear of Islamic fundamentalism.

"At the beginning, I thought it was necessary." Mr. Salikh said of the military intervention. "But what happened then - so much blood flowed - that, of course, puts one on one's guard."

But there was no sign of an organized solidarity campaign in the other Islamic republics, where independent political groups have not acquired nearly the commanding force of the Azerbaijani front.

 

Defiance of Kremlin's Control Is Accelerating in Soviet Asia

01.07.1990, The New York Times

By Francis X. CLINES, Tashkent, U.S.S.R., June 28

While Moscow tries to find an accommodation with the rebellious Baltic republics, the shift of political authority from the Gorbachev Government to the provinces is accelerating here in the Islamic heartland of Central Asia.

Searing summer heat is bringing along another crop of prime Uzbek cotton, nurturing with it this republic's insurgent plan to pluck economic sovereignty with the September harvest by keeping part of the crop from Moscow to sell for itself in the world market.

Uzbekistan is demanding that it keep a third of its cotton this year and all of it in 1991.

Just as threatening to the central Government of President Mikhail S. Gorbachev is a new economic alliance signed this week by the five republics of  Soviet Central Asia. It provides for circumventing the decrepit Soviet economic-planning system by retaining and bartering local consumer goods that planners in Moscow normally send elsewhere.

One example of the plan is for Uzbekistan henceforth to trade from its cornucopia of melons and vegetables for a better deal in grain from neighboring Kazakhstan instead of from the Russian republic, as at present under Moscow's central planning.

Other deals are being planned within Soviet Central Asia, which also  includes Turkmenia, Tadzhikistan and Kirghizia. The new alliance is of key regions of former Turkestan, which the czars and Bolsheviks alike took care to keep fragmented, the better for colonizing.

No 'Pan-Turkic' Challenge

Uzbekis who led the move to an alliance say their strategy has nothing to do with decades-old notions about a "pan-Turkic" challenge to Moscow but rather with the far more realistic goal of a regional economic federation rooted in true sovereignty.

Juggling an agenda of emergencies, Moscow has not yet reacted to these Central Asian plans. The most likely time for confrontation will be the fall, when the cotton is harvested. ''We are doing all this without dramatizing the process, without playing to the crowds,'' said Mohammed Salikh, a founder of the New Democratic Party, part of the insurgent vanguard

The local Communist Party has cooperated in Parliament's challenges to Moscow's rule.

The republic's new Prime Minister, Shukrulla R. Mirsaidov, an adaptive party stalwart who drives around without the motorcades of his predecessors, has been in the forefront of the recent tough oratory directed at Moscow's traditional exploitation of the republic's resources.

His pronouncement of "economic independence" was followed two weeks ago by Parliament's declaration of political sovereignty, tailored to stop short of outright secession but focus on the cotton, gold, farm produce and other Uzbek riches.

"We're in a much worse situation than the Baltics, which have many defenders while we are our only defender," Mr. Salikh said.

While Western attention has been riveted on Lithuania's rebellion, he  added, observers may be missing the point of how general the nation's de facto decentralization is becoming.

The Uzbek Communist leadership has not openly split with the national party, but the republic's party congress chose to recess and keep its options open should the 28 th Congress in Moscow next week result in a split.

Uzbek Communists have been politic lately in adjusting to the fact that the  republic's increasingly separatist agenda is driven by such popular front movements as Birlik and the Erk group, which gave birth to the New Democratic Party.

These movements, aiming for full independence and pluralism, have seen such intellectuals as Mr. Salikh and Erkin Wahidov, both poets, elected to Parliament.

 

 

The Baltimore Sun

30.09.1990

Scott Shane (Chief of The Sun's Moscow Bureau)

Nervousness infuses the politics of Uzbekistan today, as unmistakable as the scent of lemon trees in the courtyards of the clay houses in this capital's old quarter. The troubled giant of Soviet Central Asia declared its political sovereignty in June, and people agree that it is on the brink of dramatic change. But what kind of change?

Nationalist dictatorship or Western-style democracy? Islamic revolution or ethnic civil war? Intellectuals debate the probabilities over shish kebab in the private cafes that abound in the one-story neighborhoods that survived the 1966 earthquake.

"There's a feeling of uneasiness, of uncertainty about what tomorrow may bring," said Mirzaakhmed Alimov, Uzbekistan correspondent for Komsomolskaya Pravda. "The genie of nationalism is out of the bottle, and no one's going to get it back in."

Mr. Alimov, who is close to the Communist Party leadership, scoffs at the idea of such a rapid transition to democracy.

"Our people were enslaved on the cotton plantation," said poet Mohammad Salikh, chairman of the new political party known as Erk - "Will" in Uzbek. "That's what socialism has given us," he said....

That is precisely the point, says Mr. Salikh.

"We say to the Russians, `Stay here, but on equal terms.' We have to work on a percentage basis. Now, most of the good jobs are held by Russians, while our national cadres {of Uzbeks} are unemployed," Mr. Salikh said...

 

FINAL

24.10.1990, The Washington Post

Michael Dobbs

Washington Post Foreign Service

...A few years ago, such religious fraternization would probably have alarmed the Kremlin. But the Soviet authorities have encouraged the Islamic revival in Central Asia, granting permits for the opening of new mosques with little difficulty. At a time when Communist ideology is rapidly breaking down, the party seems to see the mufti and other Moslem leaders as important political allies in the fight against crime and moral decay.

"The rise in crime is directly due to the lack of religion," said Shukrullo Yusupov, a prominent Uzbek writer and member of the republic's presidential council. "For years, we taught our people to believe only in what they saw directly. People assume that it's all right to steal something as long as the boss isn't looking. A religious person, on the other hand, believes that God sees everything-and he will punish you even if your boss doesn't."

"We are forced to rediscover our roots because we have been betrayed by our political ideals," said Mohammed Salikh, an Uzbek playwright and opposition member of parliament. "Communism turned out to be a mirage, but people must have faith in something. The moral code by which we lived for all these years has suffered a collapse."

 

THE HIDDEN NATIONS

The People Challenge the Soviet Union

Nadia DIUK and Adrian KARATNYCKY

William Morrow and Comp, INC. New York, 1990, p. 174

"...Mohammed Salih, a secretary of the Uzbek Writers Union, has emerged as a leading spokesman for the Uzbek people. He is concerned about Uzbekistan's economic problems, and has spoken out on the subject on many occasions, despite the Uzbek authorities' disapproval: "There is a direct link between the deteriorating ecological situation in Uzbekistan and the cotton monoculture", he tells us, "We have lost not only our lands and waters, we have forfeited the health of our people. The land is ailing and also the people who work on it. Around eighty percent of Uzbeks live in kishlaks, traditional rural Uzbek settlements, where they work the fields. This part of the population is basically in a state of ill health".

Salih runs down the list of Uzbekistan's grievances in a matter-of-fact way. He is not pleading for special consideration for the Uzbeks, merely stating facts and statistics that are well known among the increasingly active Uzbek intelligentsia. Threatened with reprisals by the authorities for his outspokenness, he was vigorously defended by student demonstrators and all charges against him were dropped. He was on the record as speaking out against corruption in the ranks of Uzbekistan's Communist leaders, Rashidov and Usmankhodjayev, long before glasnost made it fashionable to do so. Asked about Uzbekistan's new first secretary, Islam Karimov, Salih adopts a tone of determined resignation: "he is said to have very democratic views, so we have hope for him. We'll see. We can only hope. Apart from hope, we have very little else". Salih is also a member of the presidium of Birlik, the Uzbek Popular Front, which has based its program on relieving the social and economic injustices resulting from the imposition of the cotton monoculture."

 

THE NATIONALITIES QUESTION IN

THE SOVIET UNION

Graham SMITH

Longman Publishing, London and New York, 1990, p. 223

...Birlik (Unity), the largest of the co Conntemporary political movements in Central Asia, founded in Tashkent in November 1988 by a group of Uzbek intellectuals, was closely modeled on popular front movements in other parts of the Soviet Union, in particular, that of Lithuania's Sajudis. The movementgrew rapidly,

...it succeeded in attracting supporters from all walks of life; at its height it numbered some 500,000 members. It put forward a candidate, the poet Muhammad Salih,in the elections of March 1989 for the Congress of People's Deputies. Despite Birli'k'popularity, however, and despite Salih''s own very considerable folloergs, hewas unsuccessful,defeated by the underhand and highly unconstitutional tactics of the Local Party and government representatives... (p.223)

 

RED ODYSSEY

Marat AKCHURIN

RED ODYSSEY. A Journey Through the Soviet Republics

Haper Collins Publishers, New York,1992

...I was going to meet an old acquaintance of mine in Tashkent, the poet Mohammed Solikh, who like many other intellectuals preferred active involvement in politics to literary activities in the years of perestroika.But unlike many others who do not go beyond idle talk, he had founded a democratic party, called ERK (Freedom)." (p.231)

...The next day I called the Writers' Union of Uzbekistan and arranged a meeting with Mohammed Solikh. He is young, tall, and slim. But the _expression of his intelligent eyes is always sullen, and his face is stern. It has nothing to do with the fact of his being a very important person, since he was the same before, about nine years ego, when my close friend Yura Lassky, who was also a friend of Mohammed Solikh's, introduced us to each other. Yes, Mohammed Solilkh had gone far in these years-both as a person and as a political figure. In the first years of perestroika there was a coup in the Writers' Union of Uzbekistan.Brezhnev's old guard faltered and retreated, leaving the battlefield to the generation of thirty- and fourty-year-olds. Then Solikh became one of the secretaries of the nomenklatura for the formation of the first legal political opposition in the Soviet period of Uzbekistan's history.On the base of the popular front movement Birlik (Unity), and with the help of political camrades-in-arms and allies, Solikh managed to organize the group Erk, which became the foundation of a new democratic party of Uzbekistan." (p.232)

 

The San Francisco Chronicle

19.02.1993

...This is the second in a series that examines the obstacles hindering the transition to democracy in the former republics of Soviet Central Asia. Uzbekistan declared its independence from the former Soviet Union on Aug. 31, 1991, but democracy remains stillborn in this agricultural giant of Central Asia.

Police set the tone on the very day of independence by forcibly dispersing a rally of democratic forces in Tashkent. More than 17 months later, things have gone from bad to worse, as opponents of the governing regime of former communists try to weather an unrelenting wave of persecution. Uzbekistan held a presidential election in late December 1991. But the former communists took no chances, banning the participation of the Birlik (Unity) People's Movement, one of two important democratic organizations, allowing President Islam Karimov to steamroller over Muhammad Salikh, leader of the Erk (Freedom) Democratic Party.

Several months later, a civil war pitting Islamists and democrats against a pro-communist establishment erupted in neighboring Tajikistan. Mindful of similar conditions at home, the Uzbek government intensified its panicky clampdown.

Many Uzbeks eager for a change had pinned their hopes on Salikh, a tall man of 43 who generated euphoria with his calls for free Islamic worship and free enterprise.

Today, Karimov's regime has shut off the power at Erk headquarters, banned its newspaper and imprisoned several leaders. Members of opposition parties are forbidden to congregate in groups of any significant size.

Salikh was not permitted to speak in parliament, and security police placed him under house arrest to prevent him from appearing at an international human rights conference. In January, thugs in a screeching car without license plates tried to run him down on the street.

A haggard Salikh said in a recent interview: "After an active start, the democracy movement was stopped. Now it is a question of its life or death. Our aim is just to survive."

...Salikh attributes the intimidation to Erk's complaint that Karimov's government is profiteering through payoffs for business licenses and blocking economic recovery. "Ministries are getting rich on bribes, and the people are getting poorer," he said.

Birlik chairman Abdul Rakhman Pulatov and colleague Miralim Adylov were severely beaten by men with iron pipes outside the Interior Ministry on June 29. Pulatov is now living in Moscow.

 

The Baltimore Sun

28.02.1993

Will ENGLUND,  a Moscow cor. for The Baltimore Sun

Tashkent, Uzbekistan. -- The mindless pop music thumps away at the "Istanbul" cellar restaurant here; the prostitutes conscientiously ply their trade at the hard-currency hotel; the markets groan with melons, carrots, spices and pistachios - all in all, it doesn't really look like a police state. But the government is cracking down on its scattered opposition here with a vengeance.

Jailings, beatings and rigged trials are giving Uzbekistan - the largest and most important of the new countries of Central Asia - the worst human rights record of any former Soviet republic not now engulfed in a shooting war.

Uzbekistan's internal crackdown has sharply intensified this month, driving even the moderate opposition nearly to desperation.

"We are pressed to the wall. And we have only one way to carry on," Mukhammad Salikh, leader of the only legal opposition party, said in a recent interview. "Now is the time of confrontation. The time of dialogue is over.  We kept silent for a year and a half because we feared bloodshed. But now, even if our blood is spilled, we will go the streets. It's our only course. We have no weapons, we have no regiments, no squadrons, but we will come out with our bare hands."

The day after making that declaration in his office, Mr. Salikh was hauled in for a series of police interrogations, during which, he later said, he was told he would be beaten or killed if he didn't keep quiet.

Since then he has gone into hiding. Uzbekistan's government casts itself as a bulwark against religious extremism, prepared to use whatever means are necessary to preserve a secular state. Incessantly, it uses the example of war-torn Tajikistan as a hammer with which to pound its opponents.

Leaders of the opposition - most of whom are now in jail or on the run - say they want a democratic state, not a religious one. They portray the struggle in Uzbekistan as one that pits a repressive, holdover regime against the inexorable rise of democracy and freedom that is sweeping across the world.

The government dismisses that argument out of hand.

This month, the government shut down the only remaining independent newspaper. It drove the leadership of the democratically oriented Erk ("Will") Party - the only legal opposition party - underground. A member of parliament was expelled from the legislature and put on trial on charges of "hooliganism" and resisting arrest. Another, also expelled from parliament, was beaten and forcibly evicted from his apartment, along with his wife and three children, even though they own it.

...In fact, though, opposition leaders are floored by the crackdown. Theirs has never been a strong movement. They are, for the most part, intellectuals - many of whom studied in Russia. They concede that among ordinary Uzbeks the government remains relatively popular.

Why, they ask, are they being hounded so relentlessly?

A foreign ministry official, Akhmadzhan Lukmanov, said that the government  was forced to take strict measures against its opponents because their "uncivilized" protests and "lust for power."

And, inevitably, he raised the specter of Tajikistan. Uzbekistan, he said, must not allow itself to slide into civil war. Only a strong hand can prevent it.

Mr. Salikh has promised that the battered Erk Party would not give up. Despite its reputation for cautious moderation, he said, it would be taking to the streets with protests in the next several weeks.

...These past few weeks, though, the government's main focus has been on its scattered domestic opponents.

And it has been resolutely unapologetic about its human rights record.

 

Central Asia's Political Crisis . IN: RUSSIA'S MUSLIM FRONTIERS

Martha Brill OLCOTT

Edited by Dale F.Eicelman

Indiana Univ. Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis, 93, p. 57

"The weakening of the communist Party sparked the development of several opposition groups.The first, ERK (Independence), is largely a legislative caucus.Its head, well-known poet and former USSR Supreme Soviet Deputy Muhammed Salikh, ran against Uzbekistan's president, Islam Karimov, in the December 1991 election. Birllik is viewed as a more serious threat, and until October 1991 it was barred from the republic.At that time it was registered as a "movement," not a political party, and its cochair, Abdurahim Pulatov, was unable to get on the presidential ballot." (p.57)

 

New Nations Rising

Nadia DIUK & Adrian KARATNYCKY

John Wiley & Sons, INC. New York, 1993, pp. 185-187

... Mukhammad Salikh, formerly a secretary of the Uzbek Writers Union and now president of the Democratic Party "Erk", has long been a leading spokesman for the Uzbek people. He is concerned about Uzbekistan's economic problems, and has spoken out on the subject on many occasions, despite the Uzbek authorities' disapproval. He is forthright in his assessment: "There is a direct link between the deterriorating ecological situation in Uzbekistan and the cotton monoculture", he told us.

...By February of 1990, Salikh had become one of the founding members of the Erk Party, whose objectives were to work toward political objectives as far as possible within the legal framework of the state. Meeting up with these authors again in September 1991, Salikh demonstrated how his thinking had evolved: "Without independence [for Uzbekistan] there can be no other kind of independence, not economic, cultural, or any other".

Erk's objective, he explained, was to pursue this goal as a parliamentary political party, while spreading its views to the broad masses of the population through the party newspaper and television" (p.185-186).

...By the summer of 1992, the situation in independent Uzbekistan looked little different from circumstances of three years earlier. The defeated Muhammad Salikh, previously in favor of working with the existing regime, turned resolutely against such a path. After brutal beatings and the arrest of members of the Birlik opposition movement, he announced at a press conference that the Erk party would be joining Birlik in the underground to oppose the rejime of Islam Karimov" (p.187)

 

Tashkent takes the no-change route to reform

10.01.1993, The Sunday Telegraph London

Ian MacWilliam in Tashkent

...While most of these multi-ethnic republics have a more liberal air than in Soviet days, in Uzbekistan, most populous of the five Central Asian republics, the government of President Islam Karimov is busily building a strongly centralised state with all the necessary powers to squash any criticism. Uzbekistan introduced a constitution last month that promised freedom of thought and multi-party democracy in the best 20 th -century fashion. This gesture was followed almost immediately by a vote in parliament to investigate the Birlik (Unity) opposition movement for alleged anti-government activities.

Birlik has never been allowed to register as a parliamentary party. The only significant parliamentary opposition is the more moderate Erk (Freedom) democratic party. Even Erk is concerned for its future now. Muhammad Salikh, its chairman, was sitting glumly in his office last week. Telephones had been cut repeatedly for three weeks and he has been told that Erk will have to leave its premises. The KGB, renamed the SNB in Uzbekistan, needs to prove its continued usefulness by watching such people as opposition leaders. "There are no secrets here," Mr Salikh remarked, indicating the telephone and the walls, which he assumes are bugged. For critics of the government, even the old option of escape to Moscow is becoming more awkward. A new law forbids Uzbeks from leaving the republic without permission.

With a new government of former communists installed in Tajikistan last month, Uzbekistan may begin to relax about the threat of instability spreading. So far, however, the indications are that this republic has no intention of allowing the new world order to disturb unduly its former communist calm.

 

Empire's edge

Scott Malcomson 

Travels in South-Eastern Europe, Turkey and Central Asia

London and New York, 1994,  pp: 187-191

‘A powerful book about Europe's mutable boundaries.' (Caryl Phillips)

Mohammed Salih is  unusually tall, very handsome man around forty, and when you meet him-he enter the room with the easy confdence of a thoughtful businessman-he's dressed entirely in pristine white. He smokes foreign cigarettes stuck in a holder. He has just quit parliament . Mohammed Salih Ieads the Erk party, the only legal opposition party of any size. Erk puts out a weekly newspaper which is the only Iegal opposition newspaper of any size. He has Ieft parliament because he was attempting to speak there about what the govemment ought to do and his microphone was cut off. 50 he deposited his parliamentarian's card on his desk.

''lt was the Iast way remaining to me to fght against the estab- Iished regime of dictatorship. Over the Iast two years, 1 have demanded, on behalf of the opposition, that the govemment fulfll its promises of radical reform. But they do nothing. On the contrary , they have begun to work to strengthen the former system. All the same, this system won't work. The totalitarian system worked for sev- enty or eighty years. But now it won't work. 5uch a system has, historically, run out of time.

''We have emerged from this system, but we haven't gone to anything. We are living in a system without a system.''

The government, he says, has used the militia to keep itself in power; and indeed there have been regular arrests and beatings of Erk members and other dissidents. ''But that government which survives by force cannot survive long. People are becoming more opposed to the government, mainly because of the economy , and it has wasted the stability of the period that followed independence. We in the opposition understand very we11 that stability is necessary for reform. For the last three years we have tried to ensure stability , refraining from holding big meetings. But, as it turns out, this stability wasn't used to provide a space for reform. On the contrary. 50 the government has lost its chance to use stability .We are not at all sure now that stability will continue.''

Erk is working on a new constitution and an alternative economic plan, as well as building its own party structures. Conditions are less than ideal. The government printing house-the only printing house-reduced Erk's newspaper's press run from one hundred thousand to twelve thousand. And now Erk's leader has left parlia- ment, which most people still call the supreme soviet. A majority voted to accept his resignation.

''l won't go back until there's a new parliament. I didn't decide to be leader of the opposition, but events take you to such places. L never liked politics or politicians. I was just a poet. There are such periods in each country, when poets become involved in politics. ln- dependence, liberty , are among the ideas most dear to poets. A man should do something in his life. This is a rule of life. Writing poems was once my aim in life. Now this is my life-activity .''

Meanwhile, the government is creating its own opposition par- ties so that it can eliminate the exiting opposition while preserving the appearance of democracy. And it is increasing repression. Salih looks impressively calm in his crisp white clothes, gesturing with his cigarette holder.

‘'If the government reforms, such a tightening of control won't be needed. Such a repressive system will only increase instability . They're doing their best to increase stability , but they are destroying stability .The govemment should give the people economic and political freedom. If it doesn't, its life will be very short. If it does, then perhaps its life will be prolonged. This would be better for everyone. We don't want to throw President Karimov away. I talk to him all the time. But then, many people talk to him. Maybe their influence is greater than mine. The national and provincial chiefs-of course, all ex-Communists, Iike the president, only under a new party name- they're making obstacles to the new Iaws. The president can't enforce the Iaws by himself. Maybe, yes, he knows this. But if he eliminates these people, what will he have Ieft? He's afraid df the system he Ieads. The old Communists still rule. I am very sympathetic to him.''

The govemment uses the fear of Islamic fundamentalism to make itself more attractive to foreign govemments and the ex- Communist bureaucracy. Salih believes fundamentalism will become a problem only if the govemment makes it one. ''The Islamic activists are not aiming at political power now .But they certainly have such a potential. If there aren't reforms, some Muslims may tum to politics. But as for now there is no fundamentalist leader or program. Fun- damentalism is not politically important, not shaped or ripened. if a strong man appears with a strong program, then his party could be- come powerful.

''Islam is our holy religion. Of course its role is very great. This is natural. In our opinion, Islam shouldn't be political. Islam is higher 1 than any party. To draw it down would mean to curse God.''

A few months after that, Mohammed Salih the handsome poet and Ieader of the moderate opposition, who doesn't even want to get rid of the president of a government that rejects him, wili fnd his party crushed, his newspaper eliminated, his offces sealed. He will be jailed twice, charged with crimes against the state. One day , his Erk companions will inform him that he is due to be arrested again, this time for good, and at three the next morning he will slip away, travel by car to Kazakhstan, thence to Baku, Turkey , the United States. His wife and two small children will also flee, travelling for days around Uzbekistan to confuse the authorities then dashing over the border into Turkmenistan. Religious Ieaders will go underground, or be jailed. People will begin simply to disappear ...

 

THE NEW GEOPOLITICS of CENTRAL ASIA and its BORDERLANDS

Edited by Ali Banuazizi and Myron Weiner

Ind. Univ. Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis,94, pp. 49, 58

"... One of the main streets in Tashkent has been named 'Rashidov Prospoct', and the 75 th birth-day of the deceased leader was marked throughout the republic. This is something which is making Uzbekistan's 'democratic forces' nervous. To them Rashidov is not the 'Uzbek national hero' who is currently being depicted, but the representative of a more corrupt and even less democratic political administration than the one currently in power. Uzbekistan's political opposition has objected to the ways in which Karimov is manipulating nationalist themes. The leaders of ERK (whose leader, Muhammad Salih, a prominent poet-turned-legislator, ran against Karimov in the December 1991 elections) and Birlik (Unity) claim that Karimov's policies are mere sloganeering. They argue that renaming streets after previously suppressed historical figures does not constitute the development of a national history, that eliminating Russian-language announcements from public-address systems is not synonomous with the advancement of the Uzbek language." (p.49)

...Muhammad Salih, leader of ERK, fled the republic in early 1993 after having been called in for questioning, and has gone from being an establishment stalwart to an opposition figure." (p.58)

 

ISLAM AND POLITICS IN CENTRAL ASIA

Mehrdad HAGHAYEGHI

St.Martin Press, New York 1995., pp. 107, 123, 124, 125

"Birlik was established in February 1988 on the birthday of the famous Uzbek poet, Mir Ali Shir Navoi, by a number of intellectuals from the Uzbek writers Union and the Academy of Sciences, among whom Muhammad Solih, Abdurahim Pulatov, Shokrat Ismatullayev... gained considerable popularity.

Birlik began to gather followers in the summer of 1988 when its leading members joined a protest rally organized in response to the construction of a factory in the Bostonlik(ski) district, the site of which had been set aside for recreational purposes. The protest strengthened the resolve of the Uzbek population, paving the way for public criticisms of the Communist government on a number of cultural and socioeconomic issues that had not been expressed openly in recent decades" (p.107)

"Due to differences in political strategy, some leading members of Birlik, most notably, Muhammad Solih, left the party and created Erk in 1990.The main controversy revolved around two issues. First, some Birlik leaders were of the opinion that public demonstrations should be used as a method of political struggle against the government. Erk leaders, on the other hand, preferred a purely parliamentary means to realize their objectives. Second, Birlik was in favor of the dissolution of the parliament altogether, while Erk proposed to reform the existing parliament by replacing candidates who had Communist tendencies. The tolerant attitude of Erk helped secure an official recognition in September 1991, allowing Muhammad Solih to run as a presidential candidate against Karimov in the December 1991 elections... In later became apparent that Karimov's lenient attitude toward Erk was part of a premeditated plan to create an image of a democratic election in order to influence public opinion in the West in his favor."(p.123)

"In the absence of genuine democratic reforms, Muhammad Solih began to intensify his criticism of the government and, in an unexpected move,...  joined for public demonstrations on July 2, 1992. Later that day Solih resigned his post as a deputy to the parliament when his request to speak to the floor was denied. In an interview with Interfax, he pointed out: "The Erk party has maintained stability in the republic by its silence for two years..."

In response to Solih's growing condemnation of government, orders were sent out to confiscate printing equipment, freeze bank accounts, and move the party offices to the suburbs of the Tashkent. Thanks to Karimov's initial approval of Erk's activities, its membership expanded from 5,000 to 40,000 by 1992.The activities of Erk were severely curtailed as of September 1992, and later the organization was in effect banned. Birlik, however, has been less successful in conducting its affairs freely and its leadership has been more frequently subjected to coercion than has the Erk leaders. Both Birlik and Erk are essentially urban oriented and enjoy the support of the intelligentsia...

From an organizational point of view, Erk has been successful in setting up nationwide network. Given its semi-legal status, Birlik, however, has been less successful in developing an organizational infrastructure. Both parties are essentially monoethnic, though Russians and other ethnic minorities have been incorporated. From a financial point of view, both parties have been experiencing difficulties, particularly since Karimov banned the financing of public organizations by sources outside the republic." (p.124)

"In August 1992, Erk lost 192,000 rubles claimed to have been by party a Russian sponsor in Moscow.This, coupled with constant government intervention, have prevented either party from publishing a newspaper on a regular basis, thus limiting their capacity to use propaganda to attract more followers. In addition to Erk and Birlik, a host of other parties have been set up by individuals who support the policies of the President Karimov. One such party, Vatan Taraqiaty, was established on August 5,1992, by Usman Azim, a politician and former deputy chairman of the Birlik Movement. The party has been officially recognized by the government and has so far attracted some 4,000 to 5,000 members, most of whom are scholars, writers, journalists, and businessmen." (p.125)

 

"Political Development in Uzbekistan: Democratization?"

William Fierman

IN: Conflict, Cleavage and Change in Central Asia and the Caucasus.

Ed. by Karen Dawisha, Bruce Parrott. Cambridge

University Press, 1997; pp.: 360-408

The Emergence of Informal Organizations

... Some of the writers who contributed to the re-evaluation of Uzbek history, culture, and Moscow's policies in the conditions of glasnost became the initial core leadership of Uzbekistan's first important informal  group, "Birlik" ("Unity").1 Birlik was established at the meeting of an initiative group on November 11, 1988.2 In addition to the writers and other members of th creative intelligentsia, the new organization's leadership also included such scientists as Abdurahim Polatov and Shuhrat Ismatullaev.

One of Birlik's central goals was to improve the position of the Uzbek language, in part by granting it the status of state language; Birlik's program also called for an end to the "unjustified denigration"  of great Central Asian historical figures. Much of Birlik's program concerned social, economic, ecological, and health issues. Many of these  related to reducing Uzbekistan's role as a producer of raw materials, especially cotton. In addition, Birlik's agenda also had human rights and other more immediately political dimensions. It called for Uzbekistan to become an independent republic of the USSR determining its fate "on the basis of a leninist nationality policy;" it also proposed inviolability of private communications, individual rights to see and dispute materials in dossiers collected by any organization, and legal protection from slander. The Birlik program supported the CPSU's efforts to "reform the USSR's political system," and noted that petitions, demonstrations, and rallies were appropriate forms of participation.

From its very inception, Birlik had an especially close bond with the Uzbekistan Writers Union. Muhammad Salih, besides being one of Birlik's founders, was also a popular poet. A number of his colleagues in the leadership, some of whom did not join until 1989, were also writers and literary critics; they included Ahmad A"zam, Usman Azim, Zahir A'lam, and Dilaram Ishaqova. Birlik members and sympathizers were active in organizing demonstrations in Tashkent at the end of 1988 and in 1989. Some of these demonstrations took place without official permission from the authorities. The first one, in Tashkent's university district on December 3, 1988, was in support of the Uzbek language. Although the organization Birlik formally did not organize the December demonstration, it did seek permission for a rally to be held in early 1989. When over the course of at least two months the authorities refused to grant permission for this gathering, Birlik leaders proceeded without authorization; they called a meeting in support of the Uzbek language which was held March 19 on Tashkent's Lenin Square. At this meeting (which according to one source attracted 12,000 participants), writers and other Birlik leaders were permitted to address a large crowd. Probably recognizing that they could not prevent gatherings, authorities granted Birlik permission to hold another meeting, on April 9, 1989. This one, however, was not held on a central Tashkent square, but in relatively remote Chuqursay raion. Along with changing directives from Moscow, these demonstrations were likely a factor encouraging the CPUz leadership to make modest concessions on language and other issues on the Birlik agenda in the first half of 1989. While signalling attention to the problems raised by Birlik, authorities continued to condemn the informal organization's techniques, the character of its leadership, and the chaos it was allegedly creating. For example, a report of a Tashkent city party conference referred to "cliques and an unhealthy moral-psychological climate" and efforts by "self-proclaimed leaders" to create extremist formations and the informal association "Birlik" and "Free Union of Uzbekistan Youth."6 At about the same time the republic press carried an especially venomous attack on Muhammad Salih, comparing him to Goebbels.

At the very end of the Nishanov era in the spring of 1989 the CPUz began to show flexibility in admitting that informal organizations could play a positive role in addressing social and political problems. However, it is clear that the party did not consider Birlik a worthy partner for cooperation. Thus, the report of an April 1989 CPUz buro meeting specifically mentioned a high level of harmful activity by "some organizers of the unregistered informal association calling itself 'Birlik'... "

Moreover, it called upon party committees to assure "high political vigilance" and to "assess in a principled fashion facts of complacency, connivance, and unscrupulousness in relation to extremist actions...

 

Karimov-Era Uzbekistan Prior to Independence

... The CPUz's policy toward the informal opposition forces in Uzbekistan changed when Islam Karimov replaced Rafiq Nishanov as republic party first secretary.

... With Karimov's ascension, the anti-corruption campaign of the Usmankhojaev and Nishanov eras began to be publicly portrayed in Uzbekistan as an action led by central party figures who unfairly singled out Uzbekistan for punishment, Thus, Karimov's ascension also marked the end of an assault on much of the old political guard.

However, like Karimov and former first secretary Sharaf Rashidov many of the political forces whom the new first secretary rehabilitated were members of the Samarkand-Jizzakh political grouping. Karimov's appointment also marked a new policy concerning "participation." Karimov opened up new opportunities for informal groups to operate and began to distinguish between those individuals (and wings of  organizations) which sought to bring the masses into the streets and those who were satisfied to press for reform through more easily controlled activities. Beginning in the fall of 1989, the regime granted the "law abiding" leaders positive recognition and permitted them greater freedom to promote their ideas. In fact, the direction of change in policy toward the opposition was becoming evident even before Nishanov was formally removed. In early June, as riots were rocking the Fergana Valley, Nishanov was formally elected chairman of the USSR Supreme Soviet Council of Nationalities. (Thus, it was already clear that a new CPUz first secretary would soon be elected.) At this point-already in Moscow-Nishanov dispatched Abdurahim Polatov, Muhammad Salih, and Mufti Muhammad Sadiq Muhammad Yusuf (head of the Spiritual Directorate of the Muslims of Central Asia and Kazakstan) to the Fergana Valley in order to attempt to quell the violence. The disturbances in the republic at this time may help explain why Karimov, once elected, was willing to try a new tack.

...As will be discussed in more detail below, the Birlik organization was eventually to split. Although the Birlik leadership was fairly united on eventual goals, they did not agree on questions of strategy. Some leaders, such as M. Salih, apparently believed that positive change could be stimulated without mass public meetings. Others, perhaps inspired by the course of events in the Baltic republics, were less inclined to eschew public demonstrations as an instrument of pressure on the Communist Party.

...As of late 1989, none of the informal organizations besides Birlik was very large or powerful. Nevertheless, as in other republics, in Uzbekistan, too, a group named Intersoiuz arose to protect the interests of the non-indigenous nationalities, especially the Slavs. Uzbekistan's Intersoiuz was created at an "initiative group" meeting in August 1989.9 Some Birlik leaders asserted that Intersoiuz was itself an invention of the KGB.

... Given the CPUz's persecution of the "bad" groups and the genuine philosophical disagreement about utility of confrontational tactics, it is not surprising that Salih's wing of Birlik decided to distance itself from those led by Aburahim Polatov. Consequently, on February 20, 1990, Salih became head of a new smaller "Erk Public Organization." ("Erk" translates into English as "Freedom" or "Will.")

A separate and smaller organization had the advantage of permitting better control over membership. According to some sources in Tashkent, the authorities had been infiltrating Birlik with provocateur "extremists" in order to discredit it. In establishing this separate organization, Salih criticized Birlik for having become carried away with public demonstrations.

...Given the very poor personal relations between Abdurahim Polatov and Muhammad Salih, it was very difficult for Birlik and Erk to cooperate in Tashkent.

 

The Post-Coup "Thaw"

...The limits to Karimov's willingness to democratize were evident in the election rules and the deadlines for registration. Although the election was scheduled for 29 December 1991, the rules governing its conduct were not published until 23 November; even worse, the rules for collecting signatures--which non-party organizations had to submit to the Central Election Commission by 3 December- was not promulgated until 26 November. Due to weekends (i.e., non-working days) and the three days required to call a nomination meeting, groups other than registered parties were in effect given only one day to gather the necessary  signatures! Because registered political parties were not subject to these regulations, differential treatment of Birlik and Erk registration in the fall of 1991 was of critical importance. The political party Erk received registration on September 4, 1991.

This was the very day of its application and less than a week after Uzbekistan's declaration of independence.18 Birlik did not have such good fortune. Over a year earlier it had created the "Uzbekistan Democratic Party;" in October 1991, Birlik called another meeting at which it replaced or renamed its older party with one called "Birlik." At about the same time, the Birlik Popular Movement applied to the Ministry of Justice for registration. This was granted on 12 November 1991...

Birlik Party's failure to achieve registration meant that it could not nominate a presidential candidate without gathering signatures. Birlik Popular Movement did attempt to do the impossible, to gather the required 60,000 of signatures in the course of one day. Indeed, it claims to have gathered more than the minimum, 63,000. However, because 25,000 of these were rejected by the authorities, the movement was not permitted to register Abdurahim Polatov, its chosen representative, as a candidate for president. Erk's candidate, Muhammad Salih, was not required to gather signatures because he was nominated by a registered party. Nevertheless, the presidential race was hardly played on a level field. One of the greatest advantages was that Karimov as president could directly or indirectly mobilize resources--among them the press, transportation, meeting space, and supplies--in his support. These advantages frequently manifested themselves in subtle ways. For example, the pictures which accompanied the notices of registration of the two candidates for president were of very uneven quality: In contrast to Karimov's, which was quite crisp, Salih's was somewhat blurred. Moreover, Karimov was the candidate of a large political organization, the People's Democratic Party (PDP). This party had emerged when in September a CPUz extraordinary congress adopted a declaration calling for the PDP's creation.25 Not all CPUz members joined its successor, but as of December 1, 1991, the PDP had 351,000 members.26 In contrast, Erk had 3,000 members, while Birlik claimed 500,000 supporters.

In accordance with the election law, all campaign financing for both Salih and Karimov was paid by the government. Given that Karimov was much better known than Salih, this naturally worked to the president's advantage. Likewise, the election rules specified that candidates should have equal access to the mass media. This was clearly violated, as the press devoted much more attention to the incumbent. Karimov's speeches were regularly broadcast on television. Salih was granted only fifteen minutes of air time, and this only after Birlik and Erk supporters demonstrated with demands that this time be provided; in the end, however, two minutes of Salih's speech were cut by censors. Erk alleged that there were numerous violations of the election law, including the failure to include its representatives in electoral commissions at all levels. Erk also charged that the official republic media refused to print any information about the election law or criticism of the government, that extra ballots were delivered to polling stations, and that artificial obstacles were created to hinder Erk's election observers.

...Before closing this section, a few words should be said about the respective platforms of Muhammad Salih and Islam Karimov in the presidential elections. Karimov's official campaign appeal was vague, referring to such general themes as the importance of Uzbekistan's independence, the spiritual rebirth of society, principles of relations with foreign countries, and the destruction of Uzbekistan's economy under Soviet power. He also spoke in very general terms about economic reform, such as extending privileges and greater freedom to peasants, and the need for a social safety net. Karimov's platform did not contain any specifics about political reform or guarantees of political rights. In contrast to Karimov, Salih's appeal stressed more economic change than stability. He also emphasized changes in political structures, such as the separation of legislative,executive, and judicial branches of power, and guarantees of such freedoms as speech, press, and assembly. Salih also placed an "absolute priority" on the protection of personal freedoms, including the privacy of communication. In the economic sphere, Salih expressed strong support for the introduction of a market economy and privatization "on a priority basis" of the service and household sectors, as well as the trade system, housing, and unprofitable and low-profit enterprises and farms.

Official election results purported to show that 94 percent of eligible voters took part in the election. In these same tallies, 86 percent of the votes cast for president went to Karimov, and 12 percent to Salih. Reassertion of Authoritarian Control The Crackdown of January-July 1992 It is impossible to determine with any certainty what factors encouraged Karimov to allow a "thaw" at the end of 1991. In any case, the early months of 1992 marked its end; indeed, the next three and a half years would bring no significant relaxation of Uzbekistan's authoritarian system. By July 1992, Karimov's regime had suppressed even Erk to such an extent that M. Salih would withdraw from the official political process and soon flee the country.

...As the regime was severely limiting the possibilities for dissident voices to organize within the legislative and executive branches, it also took measures to limit opportunities for foes to find support in other quarters. On April 3, the Supreme Soviet presidium adopted a resolution "On Measures to Prevent the Illegal Financing of Public Associations of the Uzbekistan Republic." This measure prohibited political parties and mass movements that pursued political goals from financing their publications with funds from religious organizations, or from foreign states, organizations or citizens. It also entrusted the Ministry of Finance to review declarations on sources of funding for all associations seeking registration in the republic, and to "strictly adhere" to the relevant regulations in the February 15, 1991 Law on Public Associations...

The growing repression convinced a wide range of the opposition-including Muhammad Salih-that a change in the dynamics of republic politics would come only with the election of a new Supreme Soviet. Consequently, as the preparations were made for the early July convening of the Supreme Soviet, leaders of Birlik and Erk held an unprecedented joint news conference where they announced plans for a demonstration on Tashkent's Independence (formerly Lenin) Square and in other cities to demand dissolution of the Supreme Soviet and new parliamentary elections.

...The Karimov regime's increasingly crude tactics made Muhammad Salih lose any hope that change could be achieved from within the system. In a journal article that went to press in May 1992 he is quoted as saying that Erk favored "cooperation with the official powers on the basis of mutual respect,pluralism of opinions, and political freedom; in July, however, he walked out of the Supreme Soviet session that his party claimed was illegal, and he resigned from his seat. Karimov, for his part, justified the continuing crackdown. In his speech on the day that Salih left the Supreme Soviet the president stated, "It is necessary to straighten out the brains of one hundred people in order to preserve the lives of thousands."

 

Consolidating and "Legalizing" the Crackdown

...Although beginning with the July 1992 session of the Supreme Soviet both Erk and Birlik were marginalized, they would remain legal forces into 1993. In the meantime, the Karimov regime intensified repression against both organizations and created a new "opposition."

...In late July, just weeks after Salih's departure from the Supreme Soviet, a new law took effect which provided a basis for that now even more compliant body to remove independent members. According to this law, in "exceptional cases" the parliament could "curtail the powers of deputies prior to the expiration of their terms of office." Among the conduct which qualified for such treatment was anything that "besmirch[ed] or discredit[ed] the high calling of people's deputy" or "unconstitutional acts directed... at destabilizing the sociopolitical situation, or calling for such acts..." Against this background, in August, another major figure opposition figure with a parliamentary seat, former Vice President Mirsaidov, also resigned in protest. The regime had been tightening censorship and other control of information ever since early 1992. This process intensified in the summer of that year. Erk newspaper editors found it increasingly difficult to publish materials critical of the regime and to distribute their publication. Paper, largely under government control, was in critically short supply. This forced Erk to cut its print run, which meant that it was no longer available through kiosks, only through subscription. By January 1993, the paper was shut down entirely.

Abbreviations of Parties Used in Text

CPUz: Communist Party of Uzbekistan (Russian: Kommunisticheskaia partiia Uzbekistana).

IRP: Islamic Renaissance Party (Russian: Islamskaia partiia vozrozhdeniia)

DMU: Democratic Movement of Uzbekistan (Russian: Demokraticheskoe dvizhenie Uzbekistan)

PDP: People's Democratic Party

 

 

 

Czech Arrest, 1st Ld-Writethruc ozbek opposition
leader arrested in Prague

 

29.11.2001

Associated Press, Ankara

Karel JANICEK

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) - Acting on an international warrantr police have tamed an Uzbek opposition leader who came to Prague on invitation of Radio Free Erope/Radio Liberty, his lawyer said Thursday.

Miroslava Kohoutova said that Mukhamrnat Salih was ordered held on arrival ednesday at Pragues Ruzyne airport on the 1993 warrant, issued on request of uzbekistan, and that a court was to rule on his extradition to his home country ater Thursday or on Friday.

Police spokeswoman Eva Srozova confirmed Salikh was detained Wednesday. She aid he was being held in a police cell but offered no further details.

Salikh, head of the opposition Erk Party, was sentenced in absentia last yeaf o 15 1/2 years in prison for alleged involvement in a bombing that killed 16 peop(in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, in 1999.

He is currently living in Norway where he was granted political asylum after uthorities ruled that he was in danger of persecution in his home country. ohoutova said Norwegian authorities had already turned down an extradition reques from  Uzbekistan.

Uzbek President Islam Karimov has received Western praise for opening his irspace and a key air base to U.S. aircraft to help America pursue its campaign in neighboring Afghanistan.

But Uzbekistants human rights record has been under criticism, with Western ouritries complaining that the governments broad crackdown against Islamic ctivists is so sweeping that moderate opponents of the regime may be turning to adicalism.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has accused authorities of torturing 15 eople in custody to death during the past three years. Diplomats based in Uzbekistan estimate that 5, 000 to 10,000 Uzbeks are in jail for crimes related to political activities.

In a telephone call to the Ankara office of The Associated Press, his daughter, Umida Salikh, said the family fears for his life if he is returned to Uzbekistan.

If he is extradited he will be killed, we have no doubt about that, she said.

Brozova said that Salikh is wanted for in connection with several serious criminal offenses in Uzbekistari, but refused to elaborate. Kohoutova too refused  to go into details, citing rules of privacy.

RFE spokeswoman Sonia Winter confirmed the station had invited Salikh, but said that to firm date had been set for his visit.

His arrival was a surprise for us, ~ Winter said.

She said the radio was in frequent contact with Salikh, describing him as a human rights advocate.

We interviewed him several times on our programs as a person who has been persecuted and a person who spoke out against violation of human rights in Uzbekistan,  Winter said.

 

Czech Republic/Uzbekistan: Fear of forcible deportation/fear of torture, Muhammad SALIH

29.11.2001

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, UA 305/01 Fear of forcible deportation-fear of torture 29 November 2001. CZECH REPUBLIC-UZBEKISTAN Muhammad SALIH, aged 52

Exiled Uzbek opposition leader Muhammad Salih was arrested by Czech police when he arrived at Prague airport on 28 November, reportedly at the request of the Uzbek authorities. He may now be forcibly returned to Uzbekistan, where he would be at grave risk of torture. Muhammad Salih has had refugee status in Norway since 1999, and the Czech authorities should allow him to return to Norway, for the Norwegian authorities to decide on any request for extradition.

Muhammad Salih is the leader of the banned Erk Democratic Party of Uzbekistan. He had travelled to Prague at the invitation of the Uzbek Service of Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe. He was detained at passport control at 10am, and the police reportedly did not allow him to use a telephone until 7pm. He called his son and told him that he had been detained at the request of Uzbekistan. A court hearing will take place on 30 November to decide on possible deportation to Uzbekistan.

The Czech Republic is a state party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (the Refugee Convention) and the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Both of these prohibit the return of a person to a country or territory where they may face serious human rights violations. There are similar provisions in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

In February 1999 16 people died in bomb explosions in the centre of the Uzbek capital, Tashkent. The Uzbek authorities have used the bomb explosions and other violent incidents to justify a clampdown on individuals and groups they perceive as a threat to their authority and the country's stability.

President Karimov blamed Muhammad Salih for the bombings, and state-owned newspapers, radio and TV stations described him as a traitor, a murderer and a terrorist. The Uzbek authorities have accused him of being one of the leaders of an international conspiracy aiming to overthrow the government. In November 2000 the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan sentenced Muhammad Salih in absentia to 15 and a half years' imprisonment on charges of terrorism and treason in connection with the bombings. Muhammad Salih has always denied the charges and has insisted that they were fabricated by the authorities to punish him for his non-violent opposition activities.

Hundreds of people] have reportedly been arrested during the clampdown that followed the explosions, and allegedly ill-treated and tortured. They range from members and suspected supporters of the banned secular political opposition parties and movements Erk and Birlik, to alleged supporters of banned Islamic opposition movements or parties, such as Hizb-ut-Tahrir, and their relatives, as well as independent human rights monitors. Thousands of devout Muslims and dozens of members or supporters of Erk and Birlik are now serving long prison sentences, convicted after unfair trials of membership of an illegal party, distribution of illegal religious literature and anti-state activities.

Muhammad Salih founded Erk in 1990; it was officially registered as Uzbekistan's first opposition political party the following year, and Salih ran for president. Following a clampdown against government opponents Erk was effectively banned in 1993, and Muhammad Salih went into exile soon afterwards.

Amnesty International is particularly concerned that Uzbekistan may use the "international fight against terrorism" as an opportunity to further clamp down on the country's internal opposition, with greater impunity than ever before. Uzbekistan, which borders Afghanistan, is one of the main allies of the US-led coalition in the region. At least 1,000 US ground troops are based at the Khanabad military base in the south of the country.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Czech, English or your own language:

-- urging the Czech authorities not to forcibly return Muhammad Salih to Uzbekistan, where he would be in grave danger of torture and cruel and inhuman treatment;

-- reminding the authorities that the Czech Republic is a party to the UN Refugee Convention; the United Nations Convention against Torture, and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms;

-- reminding the Czech government that Muhammad Salih has been recognized as a refugee in Norway and that he should be returned to Norway for the Norwegian authorities to deal with the extradition request.

Update:

Further information on UA 305/01 (EUR 71/004/2001, 29 November 2001).

Exiled Uzbek opposition leader Muhammad Salih was remanded in custody for 40 days by Prague City Court today, while the extradition request from Uzbekistan is being examined.

FURTHER RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please continue appeals as before, in Czech, English or your own language:

-- urging the Czech authorities not to forcibly return Muhammad Salih to Uzbekistan, where he would be in grave danger of torture and cruel and inhuman treatment;

-- reminding the authorities that the Czech Republic is a party to the UN Refugee Convention; the United Nations Convention against Torture, and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms;

-- reminding them that Muhammad Salih has been recognized as a refugee in Norway and that he should be released and returned to Norway for the Norwegian authorities to deal with the extradition request.

APPEALS TO:

President Václav Havel

President of the Czech Republic

Prazsky Hrad, Praha 1, 11908

CZECH REPUBLIC

 

 

THE POET MUHAMMAD SALIH, CHAIRMAN OF ERK, THE OPPOSITION DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF UZBEKISTAN,

HAS BEEN DETAINED IN PRAGUE

29.11.2001

Vitaly Ponomarev

Memorial Human Rights Centre, Moscow

Czech Republic/Uzbekistan - The foreign press service of Erk, the Democratic Party of Uzbekistan, reports that the party's leader, the poet Salay Madaminov (better known by his nom-de-plume, Muhammad Salih), was detained in Prague at about 1000 on 28th November 2001. His detention only became publicly known at about 1900, when Czech police allowed the Uzbek dissident to contact his son by telephone. Salih said that he had been detained at the request of Uzbekistan and that the question of whether he would be extradited would be decided at a court hearing which would be held in three days' time.

Sources in Prague today confirmed that Muhammad Salih had been detained after he arrived in the Czech republic from the Netherlands at the invitation of the Uzbek Service of Radio Liberty. It is reported that Salih was detained at passport control as a person wanted by Interpol.

Fifty-two year old Muhammad Salih is one of the central figures in the Uzbek political opposition. In 1991 he was the only rival candidate standing in a presidential election against the present head of state, Islam Karimov. As a result of persecution by the security services, Salih was forced to emigrate in 1994. In the years since then he has continued to be politically active abroad.

The Uzbek authorities have previously accused Salih of preparing a coup d'etat, of having links to Islamic insurgent groups based in Afghanistan, and of complicity in the acts of terrorism which took place in Tashkent on 16th February 2000. On 17th November 2000 the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan found him guilty (in absentia) under thirteen articles of the Criminal Code, and sentenced him to fifteen and a half years' imprisonment, to be served in a harsh-regime prison camp. Salih himself denies all these accusations.

Human rights organisations consider that criminal cases arising out of investigations into cases of terrorism in Uzbekistan are in the main fabricated. Despite this, more than 7,000 people have been given court sentences for anti-state activity in Uzbekistan in the last three years alone. Confessions, which form the basis for prosecution, are frequently obtained through horrific torture. If Salih is extradited to his home country, it is impossible to count on him having a fair trial. Three of his brothers are already in prison on various trumped-up charges.

The Memorial Human Rights Centre calls on the Czech authorities to release Salih from detention immediately, and to turn down Uzbekistan's request for his extradition.

 

Uzbek Militant Detained in Prague

29.11.2001

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 1:43 p.m. ET

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) -- Acting on an international warrant, police have detained an Uzbek opposition leader who came to Prague at the invitation of Radio Free Europe, his lawyer said Thursday.

Mukhammat Salikh was held shortly after arriving in the Czech capital on Wednesday, according to his lawyer, Miroslava Kohoutova, who said a court would rule on extradition by the end of the week.

Police spokeswoman Eva Brozova confirmed Salikh was being held in a police cell but offered no further details.

Brozova said Salikh is wanted by the Uzbeks in connection with several serious criminal offenses there, but refused to elaborate. Uzbekistan accuses him of being an Islamic militant.

Salikh, head of the opposition Erk Party, which means Freedom, was sentenced in absentia last year to 15 1/2 years in prison for alleged involvement in a bombing that killed 16 people in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent in 1999.

He currently lives in Norway where he was granted political asylum after authorities ruled that he risked persecution if returned to his home country. Kohoutova said Norwegian authorities had already turned down an extradition request from Uzbekistan.

Uzbek President Islam Karimov has received Western praise for opening his airspace and a key air base to U.S. aircraft for the war in Afghanistan.

But Uzbekistan's human rights record has been under criticism with Western countries complaining that the government's broad crackdown against Islamic activists is so sweeping that moderate opponents of the regime may be turning to radicalism.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has accused authorities of torturing 15 people in custody to death during the past three years. Diplomats based in Uzbekistan estimate that 5,000 to 10,000 Uzbeks are in jail for crimes related to political activities.

Sonia Winter, a spokeswoman for Radio Free Europe, confirmed the station had invited Salikh, but said that no firm date had been set for his visit.

She said the radio was in frequent contact with Salikh, whom she described as a human rights advocate.

``We interviewed him several times on our programs as a person who has been persecuted and a person who spoke out against violation of human rights in Uzbekistan,'' Winter said.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a private nonprofit corporation funded by the U.S. Congress and established in 1949 to spread uncensored news to Soviet- controlled countries and to promote democratic values and institutions.

Programs are transmitted in 27 languages to 25 countries, including Uzbekistan

---  from indymedia web posting ---

Salih was invited to Prague by the US  nongovernmental broadcasting bureau `Radio Liberty'. Now, he is at the  custodial  of  Interpol  in Prague. Muhammad Salih is going to be deported to Uzbekistan under the convoy. Organizations of Human Rights try  to  have  Muhammad Salih free. We please everybody struggling for the  democracy  in  the  world  to  cooperate in getting the leader of democratic  opposition  of  Uzbekistan  and  poet Muhammad Salih free. Phone    of    Muhammad    Salih's   attorney,   Murch   Koftova,   is 004202-22-721-424

 

Uzbek Opposition Leader Arrested in Prague

29.11.2001

Dear President Havel,

The International League for Human Rights, an international, non-governmental human rights organization with consultative status at the United Nations ECOSOC, is extremely concerned by the arrest of Muhammad Salih, leader of the banned Erk Democratic Party of Uzbekistan. Salih was arrested by Czech police upon his arrival at Prague airport on November 28, 2001, reportedly at the request of the Uzbek authorities. He had traveled to Prague at the invitation of the Uzbek Service of Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe. The trial which will decide whether or not to extradite Salih to Uzbekistan is said to begin within days.

After the Erk Party was registered in 1990, it became one of the leading political forces in Uzbekistan, leading to the decision of its leader, Muhammad Salih, to participate in the presidential elections in 1992. Mindful of the increasing political weight of the party, the Uzbek government banned Erk in 1993, forcing Salih into exile. In February 1999, following the bomb explosions in the center of Tashkent which killed 16 people, the Uzbek authorities unleashed a campaign to clamp down on various groups and individuals allegedly presenting a threat to the country's stability. In November 2000, the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan sentenced Muhammad Salih in absentia to 15 and a half years' imprisonment on charges of organizing the bombings. Since no conclusive evidence of his guilt was presented, it is highly likely that these charges were politically motivated and designed to discredit Salih as a political opponent in the eyes of the Uzbek people.

The League fears that Muhammad Salih faces a prospect of bodily harm or even death if extradited to Uzbekistan, the known violator of human rights and freedoms. We call upon you to abide by the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Punishment, to which your country is a party and which states that “No State Party shall expel, return or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture,” and release Muhammad Salih to his country of residence, Norway, which has recognized him as a refugee.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. We await your response.

Sincerely,

Catherine Fitzpatrick

Executive Director

 

Uzbek Dissident Arrested in Prague, Threatened with Extradition

29.11.2001

Human Rights Watch

(New York, November 29, 2001) - A prominent Uzbek dissident, Mohammed Solih, was arrested in Prague yesterday for a politically motivated conviction in Uzbekistan and faces extradition, Human Rights Watch said today. Solih had traveled to Prague on an invitation from U.S. Radio Free Europe.

Human Rights Watch today called on Czech authorities to refuse Uzbekistan's extradition request, release Solih immediately, and guarantee his security while in the Czech Republic.

"This is a matter of life and death for Mr. Solih," said Elizabeth Andersen, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia division. "The Czech government has got to act now to refuse the extradition request and release him."

Solih is chairman of the Erk Democratic Party, a political opposition group now banned in Uzbekistan. He was the only genuinely independent candidate to challenge Uzbek President Islam Karimov in the 1991 presidential elections. Following the elections, Uzbek authorities harassed and repeatedly detained him. Fearing arrest on dubious charges, he fled the country.

On November 28, Czech police detained Solih at passport control, on an Interpol extradition request placed by Uzbek authorities. He is currently in preliminary custody. Tomorrow the Prague City Court will hold a hearing to determine whether to go forward with extradition proceedings.

In November 2000, the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan sentenced Solih in absentia to a 15-year prison term on charges of terrorism and anti-state activities. Human Rights Watch monitored the trial, and found it reminiscent in all respects of Soviet-era show trials. No material evidence of Solih's guilt was presented. Nine of Solih's co-defendants also received lengthy terms in prison, and two other men, sentenced in absentia in the same trial, were sentenced to death. Uzbekistan continues to execute condemned prisoners. Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances.

Three of Mr. Solih's brothers-Komil, Muhammad, and Rashid Bekjonov-are currently serving sentences ranging from 10 to 15 years on politically motivated charges, reflecting the Uzbek government's program to arrest relatives of those labeled "enemies of the people." According to a human rights activist who served time in prison along with Rashid and Muhammad Bekjonov, the brothers have been subjected to particularly harsh treatment, including repeated torture, by prison authorities.

Elizabeth Andersen

Executive Director, Europe and Central

Asia Division Human Rights Watch

   

 

Czech police arrest Uzbek opposition leader wanted by Interpol

29.11.2001

RAGUE, Nov 29 (CTK) - The Czech police arrested Salai Madaminov, also known as Muhammad Salih, the leader of Uzbekistan's main opposition democratic Party Erk, at Prague Ruzyne airport on Wednesday, police spokeswoman Iva Knolova told CTK today.

According to Knolova, Salih, who arrived in Prague on the invitation of the Radio Free Europe radio station, is wanted by Interpol.

Salih is currently being held in a police cell in Prague 6.

According to agency AP, Salih was sentenced in absentia last year to 15.5  years in prison for an alleged involvement in a bombing that killed 16 people in Tashkent in 1999.

Salih now lives in Norway where he gained a political asylum.

The RFE invited him to take part in a discussion programme on the situation in Uzbekistan.

RFE spokeswoman Sonia Winter said the radio was in frequent contact with Salikh, describing him as a human rights advocate.

"We interviewed him several times on our programmes as a person who has been persecuted and a person who spoke out against violation of human rights in Uzbekistan," AP quoted Winter as saying.   Winter nevertheless admitted that Salih's arrival in Prague was a surprise as the RFE had not set any firm date for his visit.

As soon as RFE learned about Salih's arrest, it contacted his family and the Norwegian Embassy, Winter said.

"We were told that it would be dealt with on the highest level and that the Norwegian Ambassador immediately charged himself with the task," Winter said.

The embassy secretary told CTK that the office would provide no information. He only said that the embassy did not know the reason for Salih's arrest. He nevertheless added that he believed that the Czech police were acting in harmony with law.

He added that the Norwegian ministry wanted to acquire all available information on the case and only after that it would consider developing some diplomatic activities.

Erk was established in 1990 as an opposition to Uzbek President Islam Karimov. It was banned in 1993.

Its founders originally were members of the opposition group Nationalist Islamic Movement Birlik, whose aim is, among other things, the promotion of Islam. In 1990 some of its members left the group as they wanted democratic reforms and established Erk.

 

UZBEK DISSIDENT ARRESTED IN PRAGUE, FACES EXTRADITION TO UZBEKISTAN

30.11.2001, Eurasia Insight

Acting on a warrant issued by Interpol, authorities in the Czech Republic have detained one of Uzbekistan's leading political opposition figures, Mohammed Solih. A court hearing is scheduled for November 30 to determine whether Solih will be extradited to Uzbekistan.

Czech police arrested Solih on November 28 as soon as he passed through passport control at Prague Airport. He was visiting the Czech Republic at the invitation of the US-sponsored Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty. An associate of Solih's Czech defense lawyer, Miroslava Kohoutova, told EurasiaNet in a telephone interview that the Uzbek government was responsible for the Interpol arrest warrant.

Human Rights Watch, in a statement, called for the immediate release of Solih, who is chairman of the Erk Democratic Party. "This is a matter of life and death for Mr. Solih," said Elizabeth Andersen, the executive director of Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia Division.

Solih was convicted in abstentia on terrorism-related charges on November 17, 2000, receiving a 15-year prison sentence. He has vigorously denied any connection to terrorist organizations and characterized the verdict as illegal. "We do not expect any justice from this government [of Uzbek President Islam Karimov]," Solih told Iranian radio at the time of his conviction.

Solih's trial was connected to a 1999 series of bombings in the Uzbek capital Tashkent. The Uzbek government has portrayed the bombings as an assassination attempt against Karimov, organized by the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). IMU leaders Juma Namangani and Tahir Yuldashev were sentenced to death in abstentia at the same November 2000 trial. Namangani was recently reported killed in fighting in Afghanistan.

Solih was the only challenger to Karimov during Uzbekistan's 1991 presidential election. Erk was banned in 1992, and Solih went into exile. Since fleeing Uzbekistan, Solih has lived in Turkey and Germany, while continuing to denounce Karimov's administration. "I can only say that Karimov is not in an enviable position because, among Central Asian nations, Uzbekistan is in the worst position [in terms of economic development]," Solih said during a January 2001 interview broadcast by Iranian radio. "I am surprised that people … are not tired of believing in Karimov's lies."

Since the 1999 Tashkent bombings, the Uzbek government has carried out a ruthless crackdown against freedom of speech and religious _expression. Officials have justified their actions as necessary to maintain stability in Uzbekistan in the face of an insurgent campaign conducted by the IMU. International human rights groups and governments have criticized Uzbekistan's human rights practices.

However, such criticism by governments, including the United States, has become muted since Uzbekistan emerged as a key strategic partner in the anti-terrorism campaign in Afghanistan. Human rights advocates suggested that Karimov is taking advantage of his new international status to make a move to crush old domestic opponents.

According to Human Rights Watch's Acacia Shields, who attended the November 2000 trial, Uzbekistan urged Interpol to detain Solih shortly after his conviction. In recent weeks, Tashkent appears to have repeated its request, Shields told EurasiaNet. "That Interpol acted now … does appear to be very much linked with the international community's interest in anti-terrorism measures," Shields said. "I am appalled that Interpol would act as the henchman of a government that is known to convict people without grounds."

Three of Solih's brothers are currently imprisoned in Uzbekistan, serving sentences that range from 10 to 15 years. Solih insists that the charges against his brothers were fabricated and intended to punish him for his political opposition to Karimov's government. "My tragedy, the tragedy of my family and my brothers is only one episode of a greater tragedy [in Uzbekistan]," Solih said in his 2000 radio interview.

 

KARIMOV CRITIC ARRESTED IN PRAGUE

30.11.2001

IWPR'S REPORTING CENTRAL ASIA, No. 89

Institute for War & Peace Reporting

By Galima Bukharbaeva in Tashkent

Human rights activists fear the arrest of a prominent Uzbek opposition leader will be ignored by the international community

The arrest of a key opposition leader from Uzbekistan in Prague this week has removed one of the biggest thorns in the side of the country's authoritarian president, Islam Karimov.

Czech police working with Interpol pounced on Muhammed Solikh on November 28 at the city's airport, where he had arrived to take part in an interview with the Prague-based station Radio Liberty.

According to Navfar Kholmatov, Interpol's representative in Tashkent, the agency forwarded Uzbek demands for his deportation. A number of human rights organisations, meanwhile, have called for Solikh to be freed.

Solikh, exiled leader of the Uzbek Erk (Freedom) People's Democratic party, was sentenced to 15 and a half years' imprisonment in absentia in November 2000 for a range of heinous offences, including subverting Uzbekistan's constitutional order, plotting the death of the president, terrorism and establishing and taking part in a criminal society.

The Uzbek high court said Solikh was behind a series of bomb attacks that rocked Tashkent in February 1999 - in which 16 were killed 120 injured – and had organised an incursion of armed insurgents from Tajikistan from 1999 to 2000 in league with the outlawed Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, IMU.

Erk party supporters and human rights campaigners say Solikh was the victim of a judicial farce aimed at discrediting President Islam Karimov's only serious political rival.

After competing against Karimov in the presidential elections of 1991, Solikh was forced to leave Uzbekistan two years later to escape criminal charges. Before his detention in Prague he had been living in Norway where he had sought political asylum.

Mikhail Ardzinov, head of the Independent Human Rights Organisation in Uzbekistan, said the arrest raised suspicions that Interpol in Prague had acted at the behest of the Tashkent authorities.

He said that if the agency had really been interested in arresting Solikh, they could have done so in Norway, where he lived openly.

Human rights organisations say the Uzbek courts never established Solikh's role in the explosions in Tashkent or his participation in any of the other serious crimes he was accused of.

They said Solikh, and the leaders of the IMU tried alongside him, Takhir Yuldash and Juma Namangani, were brought before the courts with one aim in mind - to be found guilty so that Tashkent could demand their extradition from the countries where they had sought asylum.

Ardzinov said the Uzbek high court was the tool of the government, and that its rulings had never before enjoyed independent or international credibility. "It was clear to everybody that this was just a show trial, which is why in the year since it ended no one even tried to detain Muhammed Solikh," he said.

There is no mystery behind Tashkent's determination to see Solikh behind bars. In spite of the fact that he has been out of the country for eight years, he remains a symbol of the secular opposition to Karimov's autocratic style of government and is still a potential rival.

At home, the absence of political freedom, of any real opposition or freedom of speech, have prevented the appearance over the last 10 years of any single politician capable of presenting a political platform to the public.

Opposition supporters in Uzbekistan fear that the government is using its increasingly close ties with the US to crush political dissent under the guise of prosecuting Islamic terrorists.

According to the Moscow-based human rights centre, Memorial, there are more than 7000 political prisoners in Uzbekistan accused of links with illegal religious groups.

This year two prominent Uzbeks - human rights activist Shovruk Ruzimuradov and the writer Emin Usman - died in custody.

As Tashkent assumes a key position in the American-led campaign against the Taleban in neighbouring Afghanistan by providing bases for US ground troops on the Afghan border, opposition activists worry that Solikh's arrest will be virtually ignored by the outside world.

 

The Municipal Court (of Prague) ordered detention for extradition purposes against Uzbek dissident Solich (Salih)

30.11.2001

PRAGUE/LONDON/OSLO 30. November (CTK) - Today, the Municipal Court of Prague ordered detention for extradition purposes against the Uzbek opposition leader Muhammad Solich (=Salih), according to the court's speaker Lubos Vlasák.

The decision to order detention for extradition purposes, however, does not mean, that Solich will be delivered to Uzbekistan, which has requested his delivery. Usbekistan made him search by Interpol for alleged murder and crimes against property.

The procurator's office of Prague now will examine in preliminary proceedings, whether Solich's extradition to Uzbekistan is admissible. If it comes to the conclusion, that it is admissible, the Court will decide about his extradition in a public hearing. The Czech police detained Solich, who is searched by Interpol, at the airport in Prague-Ruzyne on Wednesday.

Solich fled from Uzbekistan from the dictatorial regime of president Islam Karimov. He now lives in Norway, where he received political asylum two years ago. If Solich is extradited, he might be even in danger of death. The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs drew the attention of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the fact that Norway has already rejected his extradition to Uzbekistan three times. Today, the speaker of the Norwegian Ministry, Karsten Klepsvik, told in a telephone conversation from Oslo to CTK: "We follow up the case closely."

He added however that the case was completely within the competence of the Czech courts, his office could only supply the necessary documents. The speaker of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ales Pospísil confirmed that he was in contact with his Norwegian counterparts.

The humanitarian organisation Amnesty International (AI) in London released an urgent appeal today, asking Solich to be delivered to Norway. According to AI, he is in danger of being tortured in his home country. The organisation reminded the Czech authorities that the Czech Republic is a part to UN conventions which prohibit their signitaries from returning individuals to countries where they face torture or degrading treatment. The organisation asked the public to send urgent appeals on behalf of Solich to the Czech government as quick as possible.

The Russian organisation Memorial, which monitors the observation of human rights, joined the appeal. It called upon the Czech authorities to immediately release Solich and to reject the extradition request. In a declaration sent by Memorial to CTK in Moscow, it was mentioned that the charges brought up by the Uzbek authorities against Salih, are completely unfounded and fabricated.

The human rights organisationen Human Rights Watch (HRW), too, called upon the Czech authorities this Thursday to reject Uzbekistan's request to extradite Solich. HRW asked the Czech state to grant for Solich's security during his stay in the Czech Republic.

Last year, Solich was sentenced in Uzbekistan in absentia to 15,5 years of imprisonment in a case related to the bomb attack in Tashkent in 1999, when 16 people were killed. Prezident Karimov accused Solich's party Erk and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) of carrying out that attack. IMU is considered to be an ally of Usama bin Ladin's terrorist organisation Al-Kaida, and according to some source, IMU figures on an American list of terrorist organisations.

Experts on Uzbekistan consider that Solich as a representative of an organisation banned by Karimov's regime was put on Interpol's list of wanted people under the influence of Karimov himself.

Translation from Czech to English:

Georg Warning, Konstanz, 30.11.01

 

 

City Court imposes ext-adition custody on Uzbek dissident Salikh

30.11.2001

Zpravodajstvi CTK,  Daily News-vseobecné, anglicky: TAM

PRAGUE, Nov 30 (CTK) - The Prague City Court imposed extradition custody on Uzbek opposition party Erk leader Mukhammed Salikh today, court spokesman Lubos Vlasak has told CTK. The deeision however does not mean yet that Salikh will be extradited to Uzbekistan which has asked for it. Uzbekistan has had Salikh sought by Interpol accusing him of a murder and property crime. The Prague State Attomey's Office will now examine in a preliminary procedure whether Salikh's extradition to Uzbekistan is admissible. lf it finds it admissible, the court will decide on his extradition. The Czech police arrested Salikh at Prague Ruzyne airport upon his arrival from Norway on Wednesday.

 

STATE ATTORNEY WANTS  SALIKH TO BE TAKEN INTO EXTRADITION CUSTODY

30.11.2001

PRAGUE. Nov 30 (CTK) - The Prague State Attorney's Office proposed to the Prague City Court today to take Uzbek opposition politician Mukhammed Salikh into extradition eustody, but this does not yet mean that he would be extradited, court spokesman Lubos Viasak has told CTK. Salikh will be interrogated at I 1:00 a.m. and the investigator is expected to issue his verdict around noon. Salikh, who has been sought by Interpol for murder and property erime according to Marcela Kratochvilova, deputy city state attomey, was detained by Czech police at Ruzyne airport. Vlasak said that Czech authorities are obliged to detain any international wanted person. "The extradition custody is imposed to ensure that the person is available to interrogators and the judge. At the moment the eustody is imposed, 'extradition procedure' starts in which it is examined whether extradition to a foreign state is admissible," Vlasak said. lf the state attomey preliminarily concludes that the foreign citizen can be extradited, the final deeision is made by court in a public meeting. The court verdict can be appealed and the Justice Minister can submit the case to the Supreme Court if he doubts the verdict is correct. -more Interiror Minister Stanisalv Gross told CTK today that the police only did their duty when they arrested Salikh. "The police could do nothing else because it would violate the law," Gross said. He added he believed that if the court found out that Salikh's life would be threatened with any danger, "it is possible the court will conclude that the person will not be extradited." lf Salikh, whose true name is Salai Madaminov, chairman of the banned Democratic Party Erk (Freedom), is extradited, his life may be j eporadised. Salikh fled from the dietatorial regime of President Islam Karimov and now lives in  Norway where he was granted political asylum. Salikh was senteneed in absentia to 15.5 years in prison in connection with a terrorist attack in Tashkent in 1999 in which 16 people were killed. Karimov accused Erk and the Islamie Movement of Uzbekistan (IDU) of preparation of the attack. IDU is considered an ally of the terrorist organisation Al Qaeada of the world's terrorist number one Osama bin Laden and according to some infonnation it is on the U.S. list of terrorist organisations. Uzbek specialists believe that Salikh, a representative of an organisation outlawed by Karimov's regime, has got on the Interpol wanted persons by doing of Karimov himself Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Czech authorities yesterday to reject Uzbekistan's Salikh extradition request. HRW also asked Czech authorities to ensure Salikh's security during his stay in the Czech Republic. It is a death and life matter for Salikh, Elisabeth Andersen from HRW for Europe and central Asia, said. Salikh arrived in Prague at the invitation of Radio Frce Europe (RFE) and was to take part in its discussion programme on human rights in Uzbekistan.

 

Salikh wants to ask for asylum in Czech Repubhc RFE/ RL

30.11.2001

Zpravodajstvi CTK, Daily News-vseobecné, anglicky: PVR

PRAGUE, Nov 30 (CTK) - Uzbek opposition leader Mukhammed Salikh wants to ask for political asylum in the Czech Republie, Sona Winter, the spokeswoman for Radio Free Europe, told CTK today. Salikh was arrested by the Czech police at the instigation of Interpol on Wednesday. Today an extradition custody was imposed on him and he might be extradited to Uzbekistan.

"Winter said, referring to Salikh's lawyer Miroslava Kohoutova. According to unofficial infonnation the request for asylum might be a legal method with which Salikh's extradition to Uzbekistan might be prevented. Salikh, arrived in Prague on the invitation of the Radio Frce Europe (RFE) radio station with whose Uzbek section he has cooperated for many years. "I can say that we know Mr Salikh for years and he has o:ften featured in our programmes and he is an advocate of human rights. We hope the situation will be resolved soon," she added. -more Uzbekistan has asked for Salikh's extradition. The court decision made today docs not mean that this will really happen. The case is yet to be reexamined by the state attorney's office and a final decision would be made by a court. The Czech Centre of the International PEN club has asked for Salikh's immediate release, apology from the relevant authorities and his protection against possible attacks. "Salikh is an important and renowned poet and writer. He is equally, if not more known, as a human rights advocate," PEN club's chainnan Jiri Stransky said. The whole affair is "disgusting, humiliating and hartnful," PEN club wrote in its statement. Salikh heads Uzbekistan's main opposition democratic Party Erk which was outlawed as extremist by Uzbek President Islam Karimov some time ago. Karimov accused Erk of co-assisting to a terrorist bombing in Tashkent in 1999. However, neither Salikh nor his Erk party figure on the list of terrorists which is available on the U.S. government Intemet site. Salikh arrived in Prague on the invitation of the Radio Free Europe (RFE) station with whose Uzbek section he has cooperated for many years. Many international human rights watehdog organisations have already called on the Czech Republic to refuse Tashkent's request for Salikh's extradition. lf extradited, Salikh might face death penalty.

 

Salikh asks for political asylum in Czech Republic – lawyer

30.11.2001

Zpravodajstvi  CTK, anglicky: TAM  PRAGUE, 11.30

Uzbek dissident Mukhammed Salikh, currently detained in Prague on Interpol's initiativet has asked for political asylum in the Czech Republic, Salikh's lawyer Miroslava Kohoutova told CTK today. She however deelined to diselose the reason for the applieation, saying that it was a part of Salikh's defenec in court. Salikh, arrested by Czech police inprague Ruzyne airport on Wednesday, was taken to custody in Prague Panl<:rac prison today. According to Kohoutova, original documents on Salikh's alleged criminal activities in Uzbekistan must arrive from Uzbekistan within 40 days.

Uniess they come by that time, Salikh will be released on the 41 st day. lf they come, the state attomey will deeide on whether Salikh's extradition to Uzbekistan is admissible, Kohoutova said. The possible extradition wouid be deeided on by a court. The Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokesman told CTK that Salikh had been granted political asylum in Norway two years ago. Kohoutova confirmed this information quoting a letter sent to her by deputy director for relations with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) at the Norwegian Foreign Ministry. According to the letter, Salikh arrived in Norway from Tur