ALMATY (Reuters) - The first prominent dissident to return to Uzbekistan since the death of its long-time leader was detained on arrival on Wednesday, his wife said, raising questions about the new president’s efforts to change the country’s image.

FILE PHOTO: Uzbek writer Nurulloh Muhammad Raufkhon is pictured in Istanbul, Turkey, September 16, 2017. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo

Uzbek police took writer Nurulloh Muhammad Raufkhon away in handcuffs after he landed at Tashkent airport, and sent him to jail after questioning, Gulnara Otakhonova told Reuters in tears.

Officers told her to bring him clothes and a lawyer but did not say what he was charged with, she added.

The interior ministry in mainly Muslim ex-Soviet state bordering Afghanistan did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Raufkhon had been in self-imposed exile in Turkey since 2016, when he was placed on a security blacklist after publishing a book that criticized former leader Islam Karimov.

Karimov, held responsible by Western governments for systematic human rights violations during his 25 years in power, died last September.

His successor, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, has sought to present himself as a more liberal leader, and this month Raufkhon told Reuters in an interview that, despite harboring some misgivings, he would soon return home.

In an open letter to Mirziyoyev last week, Raufkhon said his safe return would “suit the country which is repackaging itself in front of the world community as free and fair since you came to power”.

Improving Tashkent’s image could help Mirziyoyev forge closer ties with the West and attract foreign investment to modernize the economy which has struggled to create enough jobs, forcing millions of Uzbeks to look for work abroad.

BLACKLIST

Raufkhon’s wife , said by telephone that she and their son had waited for several hours at the airport before seeing Raufkhon escorted outside in handcuffs, then taken to a police station.

As she waited outside the police station later in the day, a police officer told her to hire a lawyer.

In the evening, police told her they were taking Raufkhon to jail and instructed her to bring clothes for him, still without stating any charges, Otakhonova said.

Steve Swerdlow, Uzbekistan researcher for Human Rights Watch, called Raufkhon’s detention “troubling, particularly given reports authorities had informed him about his rehabilitation and the various steps President Mirziyoyev has taken to show this is a new political era in Uzbekistan”.

Mirziyoyev last month ordered the removal of 16,000 people, including Raufkhon, from the blacklist.

But some of his reforms announced since the December election have suffered from setbacks or delays caused, according to Uzbekistan-based foreign diplomats, by interventions of Karimov-era security boss Rustam Inoyatov with whom Mirziyoyev effectively shares power.</s>related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery.

3 related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery.

Uzbek police detained dissident writer Nurulloh Muhammad Raufkhon as he returned to the Central Asian country from Turkey on Wednesday, his wife told Reuters.

ALMATY: Uzbek police detained dissident writer Nurulloh Muhammad Raufkhon as he returned to the Central Asian country from Turkey on Wednesday, his wife told Reuters.

Gulnara Otakhonova said by telephone from Tashkent that police had escorted her husband, handcuffed, out of the airport and taken him to a police station.

She said police only told her where they were taking Raufkhon, without explaining the reason for his detention or allowing her to talk to him.

The government of late President Islam Karimov put Raufkhon on its security blacklist last year after he published a book criticising Karimov.

The move forced Raufkhon, who was in Turkey at the time, into a de facto exile.

Having been president for a quarter of a century, Karimov died last September. His successor Shavkat Mirziyoyev last month ordered the removal of 16,000 people from the blacklist, prompting Raufkhon to return.

Karimov was derided by Western governments as a dictator who violated human rights, but for many people in Uzbekistan, a mainly Muslim ex-Soviet state which borders Afghanistan, he is the only head of state they have ever known.</s>ALMATY, Sept 27 (Reuters) - The first prominent dissident to return to Uzbekistan since the death of its long-time leader was detained on arrival on Wednesday, putting under scrutiny efforts by its new president to show the country in a more liberal light.

Uzbek police took writer Nurulloh Muhammad Raufkhon, 62, away in handcuffs after he landed at Tashkent airport, his wife told Reuters.

She said a police officer told her that banned material - which could refer to audio or video recordings as well as literature - had been found at their house, and advised her to hire a lawyer.

Raufkhon had been in self-imposed exile in Turkey since spring 2016, when he was placed on a security blacklist after publishing a book that criticised former leader Islam Karimov.

Karimov, held responsible by Western governments for systematic human rights violations during his 25 years in power, died last September.

His successor, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, has sought to present himself as a more liberal leader, and this month Raufkhon told Reuters in an interview that, despite harbouring some misgivings, he would soon return home.

In an open letter to Mirziyoyev last week, Raufkhon said his safe return would "suit the country which is reassuring itself in front of the world community as free and fair since you came to power".

Raufkhon, 62, is the first prominent dissident to return to Uzbekistan, a mainly Muslim ex-Soviet state which borders Afghanistan, following Karimov's death.

His wife, Gulnara Otakhonova, said by telephone that she and their son had waited for several hours at the airport before seeing Raufkhon escorted outside in handcuffs, to be taken to a police station.

She said police only told her where they were taking Raufkhon, without explaining the reason for his detention or allowing her to talk to him.

As she waited outside the police station later in the day, a police officer told her to hire a lawyer.

Mirziyoyev last month ordered the removal of 16,000 people, including Raufkhon, from the blacklist.

But shortly after that, the writer's name appeared on a public list of wanted criminals, from which it was subsequently removed by district officials. (Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by John Stonestreet)</s>ALMATY, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Uzbek police detained dissident writer Nurulloh Muhammad Raufkhon as he returned to the Central Asian country from Turkey on Wednesday, his wife told Reuters.

Gulnara Otakhonova said by telephone from Tashkent that police had escorted her husband, handcuffed, out of the airport and taken him to a police station.

She said police only told her where they were taking Raufkhon, without explaining the reason for his detention or allowing her to talk to him.

The government of late President Islam Karimov put Raufkhon on its security blacklist last year after he published a book criticising Karimov.

The move forced Raufkhon, who was in Turkey at the time, into a de facto exile.

Having been president for a quarter of a century, Karimov died last September. His successor Shavkat Mirziyoyev last month ordered the removal of 16,000 people from the blacklist, prompting Raufkhon to return.

Karimov was derided by Western governments as a dictator who violated human rights, but for many people in Uzbekistan, a mainly Muslim ex-Soviet state which borders Afghanistan, he is the only head of state they have ever known. (Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)</s>Uzbek prison guards line up in Jaslik jail some 1,000 km west from the capital Tashkent, September 29, 2003. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov

GENEVA (Reuters) - Torture is rife in prisons and police stations in Uzbekistan, where activists are rounded up and routinely mistreated, the U.N. torture watchdog said on Friday.

It cited “numerous, ongoing and consistent allegations” that detainees in the ex-Soviet state were tortured, including by rape and sexual violence, in order to extract confessions. Some alleged abuses had resulted in deaths in custody.

The U.N. Committee against Torture called on Uzbekistan to carry out prompt, impartial and effective investigations into all allegations of torture and punish those responsible.

The government of President Islam Karimov should report back within a year on its progress in wiping out “widespread torture” and arbitrary imprisonment of human rights defenders and journalists imprisoned in retaliation for their work, it said.

There were also substantiated reports that Uzbek women who have given birth to two or more children, particularly in rural areas, have been “subjected to sterilization procedures without informed consent”, according to the U.N. watchdog.

Karimov brooks no dissent and has ruled his mainly Muslim Central Asian nation of 30 million for more than two decades.

However, Akmal Saidov, chairman of the National Human Rights Centre of Uzbekistan who led its delegation, and said during the watchdog’s review that numerous complaints of torture raised were “unfounded”.

He accused the committee of being corrupted by information provided by “certain politically biased non-governmental organizations”.

Amnesty International accused Russia, Ukraine and the five Central Asian states, including Uzbekistan, in July of colluding in abductions and unlawful transfers of asylum-seekers and refugees back to Central Asia where they faced the risk of torture. Russian and Uzbek officials were not available for comment at that time.

Referring to Uzbekistan, the committee voiced concern, without elaborating, at “allegations that some individuals extradited from neighboring countries have been subjected to torture and others detained incommunicado”.

The U.N. experts said the International Committee of the Red Cross had halted its prison visits in Uzbekistan in April, leaving an absence of external monitoring. They voiced deep concern at conditions at Jaslyk detention facility in the north, which some activist groups have named “The House of Torture”.

The ICRC, an independent aid agency, had said its terms were not respected, including being able to speak to detainees in private about conditions of detention.

The U.N. panel also aired allegations it had received that Uzbek detainees were “frequently denied access to a lawyer of their choice independent of state authority”.

It said lawyers in Uzbekistan were not sufficiently independent from the Justice Ministry and that judges were not permitted to assess the legality of detention.

The U.N. watchdog, composed of 10 independent experts, examined the records of nine countries including Uzbekistan during a four-week meeting ending on Friday. It was Uzbekistan’s first review since 2007.</s>Uzbek prison guards line up in Jaslik jail some 1,000 km west from the capital Tashkent, September 29, 2003. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov

GENEVA (Reuters) - Torture is rife in prisons and police stations in Uzbekistan, where activists are rounded up and routinely mistreated in a crackdown on dissent, the U.N. torture watchdog said on Friday.

It cited “numerous, ongoing and consistent allegations” that detainees in the ex-Soviet state were tortured, including by beatings, rape and sexual violence, to extract confessions.

Some alleged abuses had resulted in deaths in custody, the U.N. Committee against Torture said.

“Indeed when it comes to practicising torture, Uzbekistan represents one of countries where torture occurs systematically, and sometimes in the worst forms,” George Tugushi, an expert from Georgia on the committee, told a news briefing.

The panel of 10 independent experts called on Uzbekistan to carry out prompt, impartial and effective investigations into all allegations of torture and punish those responsible.

President Islam Karimov’s government should report back within a year on its progress in wiping out torture and arbitrary imprisonment of human rights defenders and journalists imprisoned for their work, it said.

“What we’ve seen has been a crackdown across the board. Not just punishment of people and continuing use of torture, but actually punishment of those who even report about torture to committees like our own,” said Felice Gaer, an American expert who serves as its vice chairwoman.

In 2007, when it last examined Uzbekistan’s record, a group of non-governmental organizations had attended, she said.

”They were largely Uzbek. They lined the room, they brought us documentation, they brought us cases.

“When we reviewed Uzbekistan (this time), we didn’t have a single Uzbek NGO present. And in fact, this was because some of these people had been imprisoned,” she added, mentioning Azam Formonov, Gaibullo Jalilov, Dilmurod Saidov from a long list.

There were also substantiated reports that Uzbek women who had given birth to two or more children, particularly in rural areas, had been “subjected to sterilization procedures without informed consent”, according to the U.N. watchdog.

Karimov brooks no dissent and has ruled his mainly Muslim Central Asian nation of 30 million for more than two decades.

However, Akmal Saidov, chairman of the National Human Rights Centre of Uzbekistan who led its delegation, said numerous torture complaints cited by the U.N. watchdog were “unfounded”.

He accused the committee of being corrupted by information provided by certain “politically biased” NGOs.

Amnesty International accused Russia, Ukraine and the five Central Asian states, including Uzbekistan, in July of colluding in abductions and unlawful transfers of asylum-seekers and refugees back to Central Asia where they risked torture. Russian and Uzbek officials were not available for comment at that time.

Referring to Uzbekistan, the committee voiced concern at “allegations that some individuals extradited from neighboring countries have been subjected to torture and others detained incommunicado”.

The U.N. experts said the International Committee of the Red Cross had halted its prison visits in Uzbekistan in April, leaving an absence of external monitoring. They voiced concern at conditions at Jaslyk detention facility in the north, which some activist groups have named “The House of Torture”.

The ICRC, an independent aid agency, had said its terms were not respected, including being able to speak to detainees in private about conditions of detention.</s>In a recent article, I honed in on Uzbekistan’s notable reengagement with the international community, particularly its budding embrace of multilateral cooperation on top of bettering bilateral relations with its neighbors.

Changing the tone of external relations is one thing; domestic reform and shifts in managing human rights are another issue.

Regional experts remain rightfully circumspect about how much Uzbekistan is really changing and whether the door that seems to be opening will remain open and under what circumstances.

The release of a handful of political prisoners is weighed against the dozens more still in jail; plans to shift cotton fields to fruit and vegetables are contrasted with reports of continued use of forced labor — followed by news that students and teacher had been ordered out of the fields.

The case of Uzbek writer Nurullo Otakhonov, who uses the pen name Nurulloh Muhammad Raufkhon, is illustrative of both caution and optimism when it comes to Uzbekistan’s progress, particularly with regard to human rights. Caution, in this case, trumps optimism.

Raufkhon’s plan to return to Uzbekistan after being removed from a massive blacklist (along with thousands of others who were reportedly cleaned off the lists), was profiled recently by Reuters. The article highlighted the unease which Uzbek exiles continue to feel toward their homeland.

“They would have come back in an instant, but what stands in their way is uncertainty about what is going to happen to them upon return,” Raufkhon told Reuters last week.

This week, Reuters reported that Raufkhon was detained upon landing in Tashkent. So much for uncertainty about what is going to happen if exiles return.

As Eurasianet reports, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev had told a group of U.S.-based Uzbek expats that he supported and encouraged their return to the country.

If Raufkhon was to be a test case for such returns, the country failed in a very high-profile way. Uzbek expats — for example, the more than 55,000 Uzbekistan-born persons living in the United States and the similar number residing in Turkey — are unlikely to try their luck at returning having seen what happened to Raufkhon.

Mirziyoyev has sought to cast himself as a reformer. Those looking closely, however, would note that to date most of the presented reform efforts target economic rather than human rights issues. Yes, Uzbekistan welcomed in its first Human Rights Watch delegation in more than a decade recently and also its first-ever visit by a UN High Commissioner on Human Rights. But, such visits and the attendant discussions are starting points — talk not action — and the more critical observers may cast them as placating moves, done for image not substance.

A tightly controlled, authoritarian system cannot be overturned in a year. More importantly, the people in positions of power — from the very top, down to local officials — would have to reorient how they exercise their power, how they understand the relationship between people and the state.

One recent incident underscores this issue. A video appeared online showing the mayor of Saikhunabad district berating — yelling at and hitting — the local school principals, apparently, as Eurasianet put it, “for failing to organize sufficiently elaborate celebrations for Independence Day.” The mayor had been “rapped on the knuckles by his superior. He in turn decided to take out his frustration on his underlings.” Reportedly, the Uzbek General Prosecutor’s Office said it would investigate the mayor, though regional observers posit that this has more to do with the outrage generated by the video than the actions themselves.

The state system in Uzbekistan — developed under Karimov, with Mirziyoyev in the prime minister’s seat for more than a decade — has long been run on fear and subservience, engendering a state which eschews criticisms that move up the chain of power, rather than down. Raufkhon’s work was critical of the status quo in Uzbekistan since independence, earning him the ire of the state and leading to his exile in Turkey. Such an atmosphere cannot be cleared quickly, especially because those who have benefited from the system continue to run it.

Changing direction in any meaningful fashion will step on good number of toes that have long been comfortable in their position, and the power of those positions.

In early September, Mirziyoyev shuffled some key security posts. Karimov’s defense minister, Qobul Berdiyev, was replaced with Abdusalom Azizov. Azizov had been appointed interior minister soon after Mirziyoev became president. His position as interior minister was filled with another of Mirziyoyev’s allies, Pulat Bobojonov. Bobojonov had most recently been a regional governor, but back between 2006-2011 he was chief prosecutor in Jizzakh region, from which Mirziyoyev hails.

One security figure left in place, however, was Rustam Inoyatov, the head of the SNB state security service (the heirs to the Soviet KGB). Inoyatov has long been described as a very powerful individual in Uzbekistan and before Karimov’s death was always among those short-listed by observers to take over when he died. According to Reuters, Inoyatov is the only Karimov-era senior security official still in office.

What happens next in Raufkhon’s case will be critical, not just for him and his family, but those watching both internal political dynamics in Uzbekistan and those concerned with human rights. Will he be released with a mea culpa from Mirziyoyev? Will the detention be pinned on an underling and a mistake? Will he disappear into detention indefinitely? The real question — how and why this happened — may not be answered publicly or satisfactorily at all.</s>Uzbekistan jointly with the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development has launched the project "Development of the Livestock Sector in the Republic of Uzbekistan."

The project covers Karakalpakstan and other regions of Uzbekistan.

The International Bank of Reconstruction and Development allocated a loan amounting to $30 million for the implementation of the project. The International Development Association has also provided $120 million with a maturity period of 25 years, including a 5-year grace period, Uzbekistan Today reported.

Uzbekistan, in turn, invested $77,82 million in the project. The executive body responsible for the project’s timely and full implementation is the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources of Uzbekistan.

Local banks, participating in the project, are entrusted to manage the credit line, the timely development and targeted use of loans and credits, as well as, monitoring and reporting of the process.

The goods, transport purchased at the expense of loan funds are exempted from customs duties, VAT, mandatory deductions and fees in state trust funds.
Uzbekistan dissident writer Nurulloh Muhammad Raufkhon is arrested on his return to the Central Asian country from exile.