Letter to the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev

(Translated)

 Praise be to Allah, and may blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah (saw), his family and Companions (ra).

Mr. Shavkat Mirziyoyev, in your speech to the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council in 2021, you said in your statement: “As a part of introducing the national mechanism for the prevention of torture, we shall continue to strictly suppress all forms of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment. Such crimes shall not have a statute of limitations. We intend to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture.” And it is known that the Uzbek government has joined this agreement and pledged to protect the people of Uzbekistan from crimes of torture.

In the same year, you also signed a new resolution, “On Improving the System for the Prevention of Torture.” For this purpose, training courses have been organized in the field of combating torture, for those conducting rapid investigation, initial investigation, investigation and preliminary investigation activities and for employees of institutions to implement punishment. On July 19, 2023, a training course was held in the Tashkent region on the topic, “Improving the professional skills of employees of state bodies in connection with the preparation of the sixth periodic report of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment.” According to the press service of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan, today Uzbekistan has ratified more than eighty international documents, in the field of human rights and freedoms. In this regard, many meetings and seminars were held and decisions were taken within the country.

Despite the measures and decisions taken to guarantee the human rights and freedoms of the citizens of Uzbekistan, except that on 4 January 2024, internal affairs officers, in cooperation with intelligence, in the depth of night, stormed the homes of some of our brothers, who live in the city of Tashkent who are members (Shabab/ shebaab) of Hizb ut Tahrir who were tried in 1999-2000 and were released after many years of imprisonment around 20 years. A number of members (Shabab) of Hizb ut Tahrir were criminally arrested in an atmosphere of horror by masked officers belonging to the Special Forces. The Shabab who were brought to the Ministry of Interior were subjected to severe torture. During the trial of these 23 young men, which began on 9 May of this year in the Sheikhan Tahur district of Tashkent, the Shabab narrated to the judge how they were subjected to torture after their arrest, including:

1) After bringing these Shabab to the Internal Affairs Office, they put bags on their heads and put severe pressure on them for two days, torturing them from two pm until six in the morning.

2) The Shabab were forced to sign a confession, prepared in advance by the investigation body, to use this confession as a basis for the indictment, as follows:

a) If one of the members (Shab) did not sign the confession, they threatened to bring his wife to the office and rape her...

b) Another Shab was threatened to bring his son, who is studying abroad, to Uzbekistan through the embassy.

c) Another Shab’s son was brought to the Internal Affairs Office and forced to sign a confession stating that his son would be imprisoned, if he did not sign it.

d) In another place, the initial investigation took place with one of our brothers before the investigation, where he was even tortured with electric currents.

It is known that the Constitution and legislation of Uzbekistan strictly prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention. However, state authorities still continue this practice. There was no material evidence proving the guilt of the above-mentioned persons arrested in Tashkent. There was no victim testimony against them. They were unjustly arrested! Although the Republic of Uzbekistan has ratified the United Nations Convention against Torture, the Shabab were subjected to cruel torture. They were forced to give confessions and testimonies under duress by the investigating officers. Articles 159 and 244 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which were used against members of Hizb ut Tahrir during the old Karimov regime, were imposed on all of these Shabab.

And here we ask: How does the regime dare to arrest and torture those who say "Our Lord is Allah" and strive for the good of Uzbekistan and its people, while at the same time allowing criminals and evildoers to spread corruption, plunder, and destruction in the country with complete freedom and ease? How? And where is the regime from its slogans: "Freedom of thought and belief," "thought against thought, purpose against purpose..."?

What has happened and is happening in Uzbekistan confirms the intellectual defeat of the secular regime and the continuation of its influential figures in the footsteps of the butcher Karimov... Otherwise, why does the regime go back to arresting and torturing the Shabab of Hizb ut Tahrir, who have spent more than twenty years of their lives in Uzbekistan's prisons? And why does the regime lie and fabricate baseless charges?!

Convicting someone merely for thought and belief is nothing new for the people of Uzbekistan. They have been accustomed to it since the Karimov regime, which could make any innocent person guilty.But what is astonishing is the continued adherence of the current regime leaders to the path of the former regime, despite claiming not to be like the previous regime in "policies of repression and silencing voices!"

Below, we provide you with a list of names of our brothers who are being tried Sheikhan Tahur district of Tashkent:

1) Yakubov Muradjan Nemtaovich

2) Afzalov Mahmut Dadabojevic

3) Alamov Isamuddin Jalalovich

4) Hekmatov Fakhruddin Sharafovich

5) Fazilbekov Dawaranbek Ulugbekovich

6) Akhonjanov Omid Abdurakhimovich

7) Mamurov Dilmurad Mukhtarovich

8) Tulaganov Mirzad Mirvoshidovich

9) Mirzi Akhmedov Mashrab Shamilevich

10) Gafurov Bakhtiyar Talatovich

11) Mirtalibov Abdurazak Abdovatahovich

12) Ashrafov Sadr al-Din Saladinovich

13) Ali Mammadov Aziz Agzamovich

14) Mirdib Akhmedov, Atabek Abdul Khalilovich

15) Rakhmetov Anwar Samadovich

16) Yuldashev Anorgan Sabitovich

17) Murat Tahirovic Nizamov

18) Kamalov Khairullah Abdul Ahdevich

19) Mahmudov Dilmurad Rahimovich

20) Abdullah Yev Zabihullah Khalilullah Yevitch

21) Abdurrahmanov Shaukat Abdurashidovich

22) Rahimov Ebadullah Rakhmonovich

23) Shamsev Alam Tulyaganovich

This is the list of our men (Shabab) who were unjustly arrested in the regions of Tashkent, Andijan, Hawqan, Karshi and Samarkand. They were brought to Tashkent and are being investigated:

1) Musa Yev Shukrallah Saadallah Yevitch

2) Salimov Dilshad

3) Tokhtasinov Abdul Hamid

4) Mammadov Mammadjan

5) Masalev Ravshan

6) Amanturdiyev Abdul Ghaffar

7) Timirov Torakul

8) Argachev Khurshid

9) Hemetov Atabek

10) Azizov Bakhtiar

11) Khakimov Bakhtiar

12) Yuldashev Kemal

13) Razquf Babur

14) Abdurrahmanov Anwar

15) Tagayev Shaukat

16) Arabov Ulugbek

We are extremely concerned about the fate of those mentioned, knowing about the torture and pressure our Shabab are facing during their trials.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is not a terrorist organization, and the party, which has been operating in more than fifty countries for more than seventy years since its founding, has not been recorded or proven to have committed any act of violence or sabotage anywhere...It has been more than twenty-five years since the Uzbek authorities declared their war against Hizb ut Tahrir. Despite all the terrifying crimes, gruesome killings, deadly torture leading to death, and decades-long imprisonments inflicted by a group of criminals within the Uzbek security apparatus against the Shabab of Hizb ut Tahrir, not a single incident of violence or sabotage has been proven or recorded to have been carried out by the Shabab of the Hizb against this regime and its butchers!

The inclusion of Hizb ut Tahrir on the list of terrorist organizations in Uzbekistan is completely baseless, but rather a grave crime and error. Therefore, we demand from the wise religious authorities of Muslims in Uzbekistan, the religious committee, law enforcement agencies, and other official bodies to pressure for the removal of Hizb ut Tahrir from the terrorism list!