URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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24 April 2006
Fear of torture or ill-treatment/Forcible return/
Fear of death penalty
UZBEKISTAN/CANADA:
Husein Dzhelil (known as Huseyin Celil) (m), aged 37, Canadian
national
Husein Dzhelil, a Canadian citizen and ethnic Uighur from the Xinjiang
Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in northwest China, was arrested on
27 March while visiting relatives in Uzbekistan, and is at risk of torture
or
ill-treatment. He is also believed to be at risk of forcible return to
China,
where he would be at risk of further torture or ill-treatment and possibly
the
death penalty if his ''crimes'' are deemed to be ''serious''. The
Uzbekistani
authorities reportedly refused to allow Canadian government
representatives to see Husein Dzhelil until 14 April.
Husein Dzhelil reportedly fled China in the mid-1990s after being detained
in connection with his political activities there, which included
advocating
the rights of Uighurs. He appears to have travelled first to Kyrgyzstan
before eventually going to Turkey where he sought asylum through the
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). He was
recognized as a refugee and resettled to Canada in 2001. He now has
Canadian citizenship.
Husein Dzhelil was visiting his wife's family in Uzbekistan when he was
arrested. He was detained on 27 March when he tried to get an extension
to his visa. The authorities did not tell his family, who are also
Canadian
citizens, why they had detained him. His family have not been allowed to
visit him. Representatives of the Canadian government were allowed to
meet him for the first time on 14 April for 20 minutes.
Husein Dzhelil is reportedly also being sought by the Kyrgyzstani
authorities, although the reasons for this are unclear.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Chinese authorities are engaged in a crackdown on the so-called
''three evil forces'' of ''separatist, terrorist and religious
extremists'' in the
XUAR, and this has involved serious and widespread human rights
violations directed against the region's Uighur community, prompting many
of them to flee the country. The crackdown has intensified since the 11
September 2001 attacks in the USA, as China uses the international ''war
on terror'' as a pretext to justify its policies of repression in the
region.
Over recent years, Amnesty International has monitored growing numbers
of forced returns of Uighurs to China from several of its neighbouring
countries, including those in Central Asia, such as Kyrgyzstan and
Uzbekistan. There is evidence that China has been pressuring these
countries to forcibly return Uighurs. In some recent cases, returnees are
reported to have been subjected to serious human rights violations,
including torture, unfair trials and even execution.
The death penalty is used extensively and often arbitrarily in China.
Based
on public reports available, Amnesty International estimated that at least
1,770 people were executed and 3,900 people were sentenced to death in
2005. The true figures, which are classified as a 'state secret', are
believed
to be much higher. A Chinese legal expert was recently quoted as stating
the true figure for executions to be approximately 8,000 per year. Over
recent years, Amnesty International has documented several cases of
Uighurs being sentenced to death and executed in the XUAR for alleged
''separatist'' or ''terrorist'' activities.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly
as possible:
To the Uzbekistani authorities:
- calling on the authorities to ensure that Canadian citizen Husein
Dzhelil
is either charged with a recognizably criminal offence or released
immediately;
- urging them to ensure that he has access to his family and to a lawyer
of
his choice;
- asking them whether there is an extradition request from the Chinese or
Kyrgyzstani authorities;
- urging them to ensure that Husein Dzhelil is not forcibly returned to
China, where he would be at risk of torture and execution;
- reminding Uzbekistan of its international obligations not to forcibly
return
anyone to a situation where they would be at risk of torture or other
serious human rights violations.
To the Canadian authorities:
- calling on them to make immediate diplomatic representations on behalf
of Canadian citizen Husein Dzhelil, in custody in Uzbekistan;
- calling on them to urge the authorities in Uzbekistan to either charge
Husein Dzhelil with a recognizably criminal offence or release him
immediately.
Uzbekistani authorities:
President
Islam A. KARIMOV
Rezidentsia prezidenta
ul. Uzbekistanskaia, 43
Tashkent 700163; UZBEKISTAN
Fax: 011 998 71 139 53 25
Email: presidents_office at press-service.uz
Salutation: Dear President Karimov
Minister of Internal Affairs
Bahodir MATLIUBOV
Ministerstvo vnutrennikh del RU, ul. Novruz, 1
Tashkent 700029; UZBEKISTAN
Fax: 011 998 71 133 89 34
Salutation: Dear Minister Matliubov
Canadian Authorities:
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Peter MacKay
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Foreign Affairs Canada
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, ON, Canada
K1A 0G2
Fax: 1 613 996 9709
Email: MacKay.P at parl.gc.ca
COPIES TO:
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Elior GANIEV, Ministerstvo inostrannykh del RU
pl. Mustakillik, 5
Tashkent 700029
UZBEKISTAN
Fax: 011 998 71 139 15 17
Ambassador Abdoulaziz Kamilov
Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan
1746 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington DC 20036-1903
Fax: 1 202 293 6804
Please send appeals immediately. Check with the Colorado office
between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm, Mountain Time, weekdays only, if
sending appeals after June 6, 2006.
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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