HONORARY MEMBER
YUSIF RUZIMURADOV
 Uzbekistan

Professional background:
Journalist Yusif Ruzimuradov wrote extensively for Erk ("Freedom"), the newspaper of Uzbekistan's first official opposition party, after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. After the 1991 election brought Islam Karimov to power, Erk served as the primary forum of written dissent against his government. While President Karimov's policies aimed at limiting democratic development and at silencing criticism by hounding journalists and their families, Ruzimuradov continued to contribute regularly to Erk and to support the Erk party. The refusal of Ruzimuradov and his fellow journalists to be intimidated led Karimov finally to ban Erk and the Erk party in 1994.

Case history:
Ruzimuradov, along with Muhammad Bekjanov (also a PEN Honorary Member) and others, fled to the Ukraine following the banning of Erk and the Erk party in 1994. Erk continued as an underground opposition movement through the 1990s. In 1999, a series of explosions in the Uzbek capital Tashkent was blamed on Erk, and President Karimov ordered all members associated with the opposition to be arrested. Ruzimuradov was arrested in Kiev on March 15, 1999, and extradited to Uzbekistan. It is suspected that Ruzimuradov's arrest resulted from his position as a former Erk journalist.

On August 18th of the same year, at a trial in which much of the testimony was extracted under torture, Ruzimuradov was convicted of "attempting to overthrow the government by force," "membership of an illegal organization," and "slander" of the Uzbek president. He was sentenced to eight years in prison. According to a written statement released by Reporters sans Frontières on January 18, 2003, violent threats were made against members of his family, and torture and psychological incentives were used to obtain his "confession."

For more information on the Erk case, please click here.

Current status:
Recent developments have generated considerable fear for Ruzimuradov's physical and psychological well-being. In a statement signed by Ruzimuradov and five others associated with the Erk arrests, the journalists allege that, during their pretrial detention, they had been suffocated, beaten with rubber truncheons and plastic bottles filled with water, and given electric shocks.

Following his conviction, Ruzimuradov was transferred from Tashkent City Prison to "strict-regime" Penal Colony 64/33, near the village of Shakhali in southern Uzbekistan. While exact details of his physical state are unknown, there are reports that Ruzimuradov's health is deteriorating as a result of the appalling conditions at this prison camp.

PEN considers Yusif Ruzimuradov to be detained solely for exercising his right to free expression as guaranteed by Articles 19 and 22 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and is calling for his immediate and unconditional release.


HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Please write a polite letter on your personal or institutional letterhead requesting that Yusif Ruzimuradov be released - or copy the one below - and mail to President Islam Abduganievch Karimov (postage 80¢) and the Uzbek Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Shavkat S. Khamrakulov (postage 37¢).

[Date]

His Excellency President Islam Abduganievch Karimov
Rezidentsiya prezidenta
Tashkent 70000
Republic of Uzbekistan
Fax: + 998 71 139 5625

Your Excellency,

I am writing to express serious concern over the continued imprisonment of the journalist Yusif Ruzimuradov. I understand that Mr. Ruzimuradov was convicted in 1999 under dubious circumstances, including allegations by the defendant and lead witnesses of coerced testimony and torture. I fear that Mr. Ruzimuradov's trial was unfair and that he is being held merely for exercising his right to free expression. I am especially worried for his safety in prison, where he has sustained numerous injuries. I therefore urge the Uzbek government to reconsider Mr. Ruzimuradov's case and in a spirit of humanity order his immediate and unconditional release.

Sincerely,

[Your name and signature]

Cc:
H.E. Shavkat S. Khamrakulov
Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary
1746 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20036
Fax (202) 293-6804