Azam Farmonov

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Azam Farmonov
Occupationrural development activist
Known for2006 imprisonment
SpouseOzoda Yakubova

Azam Farmonov is an Uzbekistani rural development activist who spent 11 years in prison following conviction for extortion in 2006. [1] Amnesty International considered him a prisoner of conscience and in 2011 named him a "priority case". [2]

Farmonov has a wife, Ozoda Yakubova, and two children. [3] His father-in-law, Talib Yakubov, is the Vice President of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan. [3]

On 29 April 2006, Farmonov was arrested along with fellow activist Alisher Karamatov and charged with extortion. [2] The two later reported torture by security forces, including partial suffocation with a disconnected gas mask and beatings on the legs and heels. [2] Human Rights Watch condemned the trial and stated that it "appear[ed] to be a politically motivated effort to stop their human rights work" in keeping with a recent pattern of suspicious charges against human rights workers. [4] Front Line also described the arrests as politically motivated and "part of an ongoing campaign against human rights defenders in Uzbekistan." [5] Amnesty International condemned the charges and called for the immediate release of Farmonov and Karamatov. [2] Uzbekistani government officials, however, denied that the extortion charges were politically motivated. [4]

Both men were convicted and sentenced to nine years in prison. [2] Farmonov was the first citizen activist to be sent to the notorious Jaslik "severe regime" prison camp [6] in violation of his sentence, which called for a "general regime" camp. [7] According to his wife, he was repeatedly placed in a "punishment cell," and on 8 January 2008, was stripped naked, handcuffed, and left in an unheated punishment cell for 23 days. [7] In April 2015 his prison term was extended by another five years after the authorities accused him of disobedience to prison rules. [1]

Farmonov was freed from Jaslik on 3 October 2017, two and a half years before the end of his extended prison sentence. [1] [6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Long Held Journalist and Human Rights Defender Freed From Prison in Uzbekistan - Civil Rights Defenders". Civil Rights Defenders. 2017-10-04. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "ALISHER KARAMATOV AND AZAM FARMONOV, PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE". Amnesty International. Archived from the original on 2011-04-29. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  3. 1 2 Talib Yakubov (9 December 2009). "Blog: My son-in-law, the prisoner of conscience". Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Uzbekistan: Broader Criminal Charges Used to Quash Dissent". Human Rights Watch. 20 June 2006. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  5. ↑ "Uzbekistan - Ongoing detention and deterioration in health of human rights defender Alisher Karamatov". Front Line. 10 December 2008. Archived from the original on 4 March 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  6. 1 2 "Узбекистан: Из заключения освобожден известный правозащитник Азам Фармонов, отсидевший 11 лет". Фергана - международное агентство новостей. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
  7. 1 2 "Imprisoned Human Rights Defenders in Uzbekistan". Human Rights Watch. 5 February 2010. Archived from the original on 27 March 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
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