Uzbekistan: authorities staged a provocation against a human rights activist
On April 19, 2022, law enforcement officers intended to search the house of human rights activist Agzam Turgunov in his absence. This was reported by the Association “Human Rights in Central Asia” (France).
At 9 am, several employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (one in uniform, three in civilian clothes) came when the human rights activist was heading to the Ministry of Justice for a second attempt to register the non-governmental organization “House of human rights”.
Turgunov’s son, who didn’t allow the employees to enter, was able to send a message to his father. The human rights activist quickly returned and insisted on presenting a warrant. One of the employees introduced himself as an investigator of the Department of Internal Affairs of Almazar district of Tashkent and handed over the document, but immediately pulled it out of his hands when Turgunov tried to take a picture.
According to Turgunov, the home address of the human rights activist was indicated in the document, as well as the name of his son, co-founder of the House of human rights. There was also a reference to a certain criminal case against a person unknown to Turgunov’s family. He was charged under Article 244-2 of the Criminal Code “Creation, guidance, participation in religious extremist, separatist, fundamentalist or other prohibited organizations”.
The policeman then allegedly told his colleagues that he had received an urgent phone call from a high-ranking official with an order to stop the operation. Then he apologized to Turgunov citing a misunderstanding, after which all four officers quickly left.
This was the latest in a recent series of incidents allegedly aimed at harassing and intimidating Agzam Turgunov. Starting from April of this year, the human rights activist began to notice that he was being closely watched by the security forces. In addition, recently he has received calls from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, asking about his plans for the day and offering to convoy.
Agzam Turgunov served three prison terms for his human rights activities. He was released in October 2017 after serving nine years in prison. In 2009 and 2014, the European Parliament called on the authorities of Uzbekistan to release Turgunov along with other political prisoners in Uzbekistan.
After his release, Turgunov and other activists unsuccessfully tried to register the NGO “House of human rights”. The Justice Department’s grounds for rejecting applications were unclear and unfounded. This circumstance indicates that the registration was rejected for political reasons. In March 2022, Turgunov received another refusal. He is currently updating the package of documents for his tenth application.
