388. On 16 July 2001, the Special Representative sent an urgent appeal regarding the case of an NGO representative based in Belfast whose name has appeared on a list called "Know The Provo". According to the information received, the fact that he appears on the list constitutes a threat to him as well as to other members of the NGO concerned. The NGO representative had heard nothing of his own inclusion in the list until he was informed by someone in the
United States. The web site on which the list appeared now advertises that if $20 is sent to the Loyalist Volunteer Prisoner Welfare (LVPW), to an address in the United States, a hard copy of the list will be posted out. It has been reported that the list was previously available on the Ulster Loyalist Information Services Network (ULISNET) web site but has been removed. It allegedly targets many known republicans but also human rights activists, lawyers, journalists, politicians, community activists and others. It was further reported that the list, which names about 970 individuals, makes many false accusations of involvement in or sympathy for republicanism.
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Communications received
389. In a letter dated 2 May 2001, the Government of the United Kingdom replied to the urgent appeal sent on 11 December 2000 and reported that officials had investigated the circumstances surrounding this incident. According to the Government, the Commanding Officer of the Scots Guards affirmed that no official card was sent. The origin of the card remains unknown. The Government added that the Police Division of the Northern Ireland Office, which operates the Key Person's Protection Scheme (KPPS) in Northern Ireland, had stated that it had had no approaches from members of the Pat Finucane Centre expressing concern regarding their safety.
390. In reply to the communication dated 16 July 2001, the Government of the United Kingdom provided, on 7 August 2001, information on the "Know the Provo" list. The Government reported that the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) had a dedicated computer crime unit, which had been working with the service provider to have the sites removed from their server. The Government further indicated that the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland had concluded that no criminal offences in respect of the ULISNET list had been committed within Northern Ireland. However, the Government stated that the RUC had also been in contact with the United States authorities and had taken steps to inform those named on the list and to offer them advice on personal security. Regarding the case of the Belfast based NGO representative, the police informed him on 20 July 2001 that his name was found on a computer owned by a person believed to have an association with a Loyalist paramilitary organization, and offered him the opportunity to seek advice about his personal security.
Observations
391. The Special Representative would like to thank the Government for its replies. However, she remains concerned about the threats directed against human rights defenders in Northern Ireland and would urge the Government to investigate them thoroughly and without delay. In this regard, a prompt and independent judicial investigation into the murders of lawyer Patrick Finucane in 1989 and solicitor Rosemary Nelson in 1999 are essential in order to restore a secure environment for human rights defenders in Northern Ireland.
UZBEKISTAN Communications sent
392. On 22 February 2001, the Special Representative sent an urgent appeal concerning the arrest on 19 February 2001 of Elena Urlayeva, a member of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU). Information received indicated that she was taken by four militia workers
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to the Yunusabad District Department of Internal Affairs, where several documents she was carrying were confiscated and recorded as anti-constitutional. These documents apparently included the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, documents from various non-governmental organizations, correspondence addressed to President Karimov and the Ombudsman of Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan legislation and individual complaints to the United Nations. The militia workers reportedly demanded that she sign a statement admitting the material was anti-constitutional. She was allegedly detained for seven hours, during which time she was threatened and given no water nor her medication for a heart condition, then taken to the office of Colonel Djurabayev, who told her she was not guilty and would be freed. However, the information indicated that neither her documents nor her passport were returned to her. Furthermore, urgent attention was drawn to the case of Tulkan Karaev, also a member of the HRSU, who was detained by the militia at Tashkent airport on 15 February 2001 as he returned from a human rights course in Ekaterinburg. He was reportedly carrying human rights literature and other documents from various non-governmental organizations. According to the source, the militia declared the literature unconstitutional and called an official from the Department for the Prevention of Religious Extremism and Terrorism. Tulkan Karaev was reportedly informed that he would be imprisoned for carrying this literature and asked to write an explanatory paper. The information indicates that later that evening he was released and his passport and other documents were returned to him.
393. On 15 March 2001, the Special Representative sent, jointly with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, another urgent appeal regarding Elena Urlayeva. It was reported that in the night of 8 March 2001, her house was doused with petrol and set on fire while she and her family were asleep inside. According to the source, the arson could be connected to an incident that occurred on 19 February 2001 when Ms. Urlayeva was reportedly arrested by four militia workers.
394. On 22 June 2001, the Special Representative, together with the Special Rapporteur on torture, sent an urgent appeal concerning Shovruk Ruzimuradov, the head of HRSU. He was reportedly arrested on 15 June 2001 by members of the Kashkadaryn District Department of the Interior (DDI). Later the same day, a group of members of the DDI, including 31 armed policemen, are said to have raided and searched his house and to have confiscated several items, including a HRSU computer and several documents. It is believed that they did not have any search warrant. It was also alleged that Shovruk Ruzimuradov's mother, T. Burieva, his wife, R. Ruzimuradova, his sister, O. Burieva, and his daughter were present in the house during the search and were severely beaten. Since his arrest, Shovruk Ruzimuradov has reportedly been held incommunicado in a secret place.
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395. On 5 September 2001, the Special Representative sent, jointly with the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, an urgent appeal regarding Ruslan Sharipov, president of the Union of Independent Journalists of Uzbekistan. According to the information received, on 31 August 2001 Mr. Sharipov was detained by officials from the Kibrayskiy Department of Internal Affairs, who confiscated his passport and journalist's card. It was reported that the internal affairs officials interrogated Mr. Sharipov and accused him of being involved in terrorist activities. It was also reported that members of Mr. Sharipov's family were also intimidated by the same internal affairs officials. It was alleged that such harassment is linked to Mr. Sharipov's human rights activities in particular his publication of articles entitled "Shadow of independence" relating inter alia to persecution of Muslims, torture in Uzbekistan prisons, corruption and intimidation of journalists.
396. On 1 October 2001, the Special Representative transmitted, jointly with the Special Rapporteur on torture, an allegation regarding the following cases.
397. Elena Urlayeva, a member of HRSU, on behalf of whom the Special Representative sent two urgent appeals, on 22 February 2001, and 15 March 2001, was reportedly arrested
on 6 April 2001 and taken to Mirzo Ulugbek district police headquarters in Tashkent, where she is believed to have been interrogated and beaten. It was reported that she was later transferred to the Municipal Clinical Psychiatric Hospital No. 1, where on 7 April 2001 a medical commission, in which the deputy district police chief is believed to have taken part, reportedly ordered that she had to undergo "compulsory treatment". According to the information received, Elena Urlayeva was perfectly healthy and had never been treated for mental illness. It is thought that she was targeted for her human rights activities. On 4 June 2001, the Mirabadski court reportedly held a hearing to decide whether the forced treatment and detention of Urlayeva, who was not present, needed to be extended. The second day of the hearing, which took place in the Municipal Clinical Psychiatric Hospital, included Elena Urlayeva. The latter reportedly stated that hospital employees strapped her to a bed and forced her to receive injections and to take tablets. According to the information received, shortly after the hearing Ms. Urlayeva was transferred to the Republican Psychiatric Hospital No. 2, which she was reported to have left voluntarily on 20 June 2001. It was also reported that, on 12 July 2001, a hearing on the legality of her detention took place in the Tashkent City Court, which was alleged to have ruled that her detention was legal.
398. Vassily Evtigneev, the brother of the above-named human rights activist, Elena Urlayeva, was reportedly sentenced to six years' imprisonment by the Mirza Ulugbek District Court in Tashkent in April 2000, on allegedly fabricated charges, probably in retaliation for his sister's human rights work. According to the information received, he was kept in the "red zone" in
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Karshi town, and was transferred in October 2000 to a medical penitentiary facility in Tashkent in a serious condition. It was alleged that, on 6 November 2000, the manager of the medical facility did not allow his relatives to visit him.
399. On 1 October 2001, the Special Representative transmitted jointly with the
Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and the Special Rapporteur on torture, an allegation of the assassination of Shovruk Ruzimuradov, the head of the HRSU Kashkadaryn regional department, on behalf of whom the Special Representative had sent a joint urgent appeal on 22 June 2001. Mr. Ruzimuradov was reportedly arrested on 15 June 2001 and held incommunicado for at least three weeks. His body was delivered to his family on 7 July 2001. The reasons of his death in custody are not known.
400. On 2 November 2001, the Special Representative, together with the Special Rapporteur on torture and the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, sent an urgent appeal concerning Mr. Yusuf Juma, a poet, journalist and active member of The Popular Movement Birlik on Uzbekistan. Mr. Juma was reportedly arrested on 23 October 2001 by the Security Service of Uzbekistan (SSU) in Bukhara district. The SSU agents allegedly searched Mr. Juma's house and confiscated many poems written by him and his daughter. According to the information received, those poems criticized government policies and referred to police violence, impunity and corruption. Mr. Juma was allegedly accused of anti-government activities and charged under article 159 of the Criminal Code for having published some of these poems on a web site.
Observations
401. The Special Representative regrets that at the time of the finalization of this report the Government had not sent any reply to her communications. The Special Representative recalls that she has indicated her interest in visiting Uzbekistan and hopes that the Government will give positive consideration to this request.
VENEZUELA
402. An official invitation to visit Venezuela was extended to the Special Representative by the Government on 8 August 2001, following a request sent by the Special Representative
on 27 April 2001. The Special Representative hopes to undertake this visit in the near future.
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VIET NAM Communication sent
403. On 26 September 2001, the Special Representative transmitted an allegation to the Government of Viet Nam. The Special Representative expressed her concern that human rights defenders are perceived with unveiled hostility by the authorities. Under vaguely defined "national security" provisions embodied in the Criminal Code and other domestic legislation, human rights defenders are said to be at risk of being imprisoned or placed in "administrative detention" without trial, allegedly for their peaceful activities. The Special Representative was also concerned that there are no independent indigenous human rights NGOs in Viet Nam and that all "social organizations" (i.e., organizations which are not direct branches of the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP)) must belong to the "Fatherland Front", an umbrella organization composed of non-Party elements, but said to be under Communist Party control.
404. The communication concerned the following cases.
405. Professor Nguyen Dinh Huy, a journalist and press editor, founder and president of the Movement to Unite People and Build Democracy, is said to be currently detained in Z30A prison camp, Xuan Loc, Dong Nai province, where he had been since May 1996. According to the information received, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Huy was arrested on 17 November 1993 for trying to organize an international conference on democracy, human rights, economic development and peaceful political change in Ho Chi Minh City. In April 1995, he was reported to have been sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment and hard labour, allegedly for "acting to overthrow the people's Government".
406. Professor Nguyen Thanh Giang, a writer and outspoken intellectual, was reportedly arrested and imprisoned for two months on 4 March 1999, for having reportedly written documents which showed "close collusion with reactionary forces abroad to disrupt the social order". His writings have allegedly focused on political pluralism, labour rights and the problems of State-owned enterprises. According to the information received, he was released after he went on hunger strike in June 1999 and he has been victim of harassment since then. It was alleged that on 20 October 1999 he was subjected to police harassment and his computer was confiscated after two days of interrogation and he was forced to quit his research job at a government science institute. According to the information received, Mr. Giang remained under surveillance throughout the year 2000.
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407. Mr. Nguyen Dan Que, founder of the Non-violent Movement for Human Rights in
Viet Nam, was reportedly under house arrest at Ho Chi Minh City. According to the information received, he was arrested in 1990 for "trying to overthrow the regime" and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment. He reportedly issued an appeal calling for a free and democratic Viet Nam through free and fair elections. Mr. Que was reportedly released and placed under house arrest in 1998. It was also alleged that, in 1998, his telephone was cut, his mail censured and his family harassed by the police. According to the information received, on 12 April 2000, the Vietnamese authorities arrested Ms. Sylvaine Pasquier, a reporter with the French magazine L 'Express, while she was trying to meet Mr. Que for an interview at his house. She was reportedly expelled from Viet Nam after 24 hours of detention and interrogation at a police station in Ho Chi Minh City. It was also reported that, on 15 January 2001, Mr. Que and his wife were summoned to a "popular denunciation session" staged by the public security in the 5th district of Ho Chi Minh City. They were accused of treason because Dr. Que is said to have proclaimed the foundation of his new organization, named "Get-together for Democracy", in November 2000.
408. Mr. Nguyen Van Ly Thadeus, a Roman Catholic priest, was reportedly detained in Thua Phu prison. He was allegedly arrested on 17 May 2001 for his peaceful advocacy of religious freedom. According to the information received, Mr. Nguyen Van Ly Thadeus was placed under administrative detention for two years for having sent, on 13 February 2001, a written testimony to a United States congressional hearing on violations of religious freedom in Viet Nam. The Thua Thien-Hue Provincial People's Committee had reportedly forbidden him to exercise his religious functions during his two-year administrative detention period and he was said to have later been arrested for violating this order. It was also reported that the State-controlled press has begun a vilification campaign against him, accusing him of treason.