Monday, December 23, 2013

Uzbekistan: Free Human Rights Defender Gaybullo Jalilov & All Prisoners of Conscience

Uzbekistan's Imprisoned Human Rights Defenders. Gaybullo Jalilov, 
49, is pictured on the bottom row, 2nd to the left (black & white ).
Earlier this month, on December 10, rights activists around the world celebrated International Human Rights Day, which commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Although the UDHR was passed by the UN General Assembly 65 years ago, its promise remains unfulfilled in states like Uzbekistan, where the government continues to persecute its own citizens for peacefully exercising their fundamental human rights.

Among the most basic liberties protected by the UDHR is right to freedom of belief. In 1998, 50 years after the adoption of the UDHR, the United States Congress adopted the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA), which made religious freedom a priority for U.S. foreign policy. At the time of its passage, former Senator Sam Brownback, a leading advocate for religious freedom and supporter of the IRFA, expressed concern about the appalling state of religious freedom worldwide and urged the U.S. government to take a more active role in promoting respect for this fundamental human right abroad. Senator Brownback was especially concerned about the widespread violations of religious freedom in Uzbekistan, where “Muslims who [did] not conform to the government-prescribed ideas [were] imprisoned and often tortured.”

Indeed, Uzbekistan continues to be among the worst violators of religious freedom in the world. The Uzbek government attempts to regulate all aspects of religious life from bans on women wearing hijab and men having beards to raiding religious gatherings and imprisoning individuals for practicing Islam outside state-sanctioned mosques. The government often charges those who practice their faith independently with religious extremism, even though at trial the prosecutors fail to present any evidence that the individuals promoted or participated in terrorist activities.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) reports that there are as many as 10,000 individuals imprisoned in Uzbekistan on charges of religious extremism. Many of these individuals are also accused of “anti-constitutional activity” and are sentenced to extremely long prison terms. Once in prison, many face unsanitary conditions, a lack of basic medical care, and are often singled out for especially cruel treatment. Prison authorities commonly accuse religious prisoners of violating prison regulations, subjecting them to various punishments and longer prison sentences without any due process. Moreover, these prisoners are rendered ineligible for amnesty releases. The entire system appears designed to remove independent religious practice from society.

The case of Gaybullo Jalilov, a 49-year-old human rights defender and observant Muslim, exemplifies the fate of thousands of religious prisoners. He has been wrongly detained since September 5, 2009 on vaguely defined charges of “religious extremism” and “anti-constitutional activity.” Uzbek authorities detained Mr. Jalilov because of his work monitoring over 200 different cases of religious persecution in Uzbekistan and sentenced him to 11 years in prison. While in detention, Mr. Jalilov has suffered greatly. On one occasion, prison guards violently bludgeoned him with truncheons after he refused to sing the Uzbek national anthem, leaving him nearly deaf in both ears.

Since 2006, USCIRF has recommended that the United States designate Uzbekistan as “a country of particular concern” (CPC), a status given to countries with “systematic, ongoing and egregious” violations of religious rights. In 2011, the State Department designated Uzbekistan a CPC, which normally requires that the United States impose sanctions. However, the State Department issued a waiver for Uzbekistan, allowing the government to dodge the restrictive measures because of its key role in the Northern Distribution Network, a supply route for U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Allowing Uzbekistan to escape responsibility sends the wrong message about the United States’ commitment to religious freedom. Uzbekistan and other states that systematically violate their citizens’ right to religious freedom should not get a pass. As we celebrate the adoption of the UDHR this month, the United States must recommit itself to the cause of religious freedom and hold accountable those regimes that continue ignore international law.

Gaybullo Jalilov Case (Freedom Now)





Patrick Griffith is a Program Attorney at Freedom Now, a Washington D.C- based nongovernmental organization that works to free prisoners of conscience worldwide. Freedom Now considers Gaybullo Jalilov to be a prisoner of conscience and advocates for his release.

Monday, December 9, 2013

FREE Teleconference - Protecting Human Rights: Are Drones the New Sheriff in Town?


Protecting Human Rights: Are Drones the New Sheriff in Town?

A FREE non-CLE teleconference proudly presented by

ABA Section of International Law
International Human Rights Committee


Co-sponsored by
ABA Section of International Law
ABA International Criminal Law Committee


Thursday, December 12, 2013
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM US EST



By teleconference only



The U.S. Drone program has been the subject of much debate. Join our experts in a riveting assessment of whether Unmanned Arial Vehicles ("UAVs" or "Drones") have the potential to protect and promote human rights? Surveillance drones have raised privacy concerns; but what if they are used to document and monitor abuse in dangerous crisis zones or remote locations unreachable by monitors? Our experts will discuss various non-military uses for Drones, the rapid advance of technology, the possible benefits of Drones to the human rights cause, and the legal framework implicated.


Moderator:

Theresa Harris, Senior Program Associate, AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program


Speakers:

Mary “Missy” Cumming, Visiting Professor, MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics


Amie Stepanovich, Director, EPIC Domestic Surveillance Project


Christopher Tuckwood, Executive Director and Co-Founder Sentinel Project




*Registration for this program is complimentary through our website*











740 15th Street, NW • Washington, DC 20005 • 202-662-1660
intlaw@americanbar.org - www.americanbar.org/intlaw

Friday, December 6, 2013

Nelson "Madiba" Mandela (1918-2013)

Nelson Mandela, the towering figure of Africa’s struggle for freedom and a hero to millions around the world, has died at the age of 95. South Africa’s first black president died in the company of his family at home in Johannesburg after years of declining health that had caused him to withdraw from public life. The news was announced to the country by the current president, Jacob Zuma, who in a somber televised address said Mandela had “departed” around 8.50pm local time and was at peace.

“This is the moment of our deepest sorrow,” Zuma said. “Our nation has lost its greatest son … What made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human. We saw in him what we seek in ourselves.

“Fellow South Africans, Nelson Mandela brought us together and it is together that we will bid him farewell.”

Mandela was taken to hospital in June with a recurring lung infection and slipped into a critical condition, but returned home in September where his bedroom was converted into an intensive care unit. His death will send South Africa deep into mourning and self-reflection, nearly 20 years after he led the country from racial apartheid to inclusive democracy.

But his passing will also be keenly felt by people around the world who revered Mandela as one of history’s last great statesmen, and a moral paragon comparable with Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Martin Luther King.

It was a transcendent act of forgiveness after spending 27 years in prison, 18 of them on Robben Island, that will assure his place in history. With South Africa facing possible civil war, Mandela sought reconciliation with the white minority to build a new democracy.

He led the African National Congress to victory in the country’s first multiracial election in 1994. Unlike other African liberation leaders who cling to power, such as Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, he then voluntarily stepped down after one term.

Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

At his inauguration a year later, the new president said: “Never, never, and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another … the sun shall never set on so glorious a human achievement. Let freedom reign. God bless Africa!”

Excerpts, read more here.

Read also, Mandela -By Editorial Board | New York Times