UZBEKISTAN: Human Rights Defender Elena Urlaeva in Psychiatric Hospital

Source: FIDH

On April 5 a well-known human rights activist Mrs Elena Urlaeva, a leader of the unregistered human rights group “The Human Rights Alliance of Uzbekistan” was placed into a psychiatric clinic # 1 in Tashkent.

According to her family members and colleagues, Urlaeva started behaving in an absolutely inadequate way soon after she returned from a recent business trip to Turkey.

It was reported that the Uzbek court based on the appeal of Urlaeva’s family members has passed a decision on putting Elena Urlaeva into the local psychiatric clinic for an obligatory medical treatment.

However, late last year Elena claimed that the authorities wanted to commit her to a psychiatric hospital.

About Elena

Elena with children forced to pick cotton in 2010Human Rights defender Elena Mikhailovna Urlaeva, born in 1957, was first held on the 6th of April 2001 by members of the Mirzo-Ulugbekskii police in the city of Tashkent, when she was on her way to a picket in the centre of the city with her mother.

Members of the police force illegally placed Elena Urlaeva in psychiatric hospital number 1 in Tashkent, in the 4th division, headed by the psychiatrist Kapitollina Petrovna Budyakova.

In the hospital she was subjected to severe violence and forced treatment from medical personnel. Elena Urlaeva was given psychiatric drugs including Triftazine, Aminazine, Sulfazine and others, over the course of three months.

Elena Urlaeva was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and paranoia syndrome. On the 10th of April 2001 Judge S.N. Shakhabutdinov in the Mirabad court took a decision on forced in-patient treatment for 1 month. On the 20th of September 2001 Judge A Khalikov took the decision to prolong this forced treatment.

On the 26th of August 2002 Elena Urlaeva was held by members of the police force in Tashkent at a picket in the centre of the city. They illegally placed her in psychiatric hospital number 1 in Tashkent in the 17th ward, where for four months she was forced to take neurological and psychiatric medication. During her time in the psychiatric hospital she was visited by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Theo van Boven.

On the 18th of March 2003, the Independent Psychiatric Association of Russia in Moscow decided that there was no basis for the treatment of Elena Urlaeva On August, 27th, 2005 Elena Urlaeva was detained by members of the police force in Tashkent, and placed in the Republican psychiatric hospital RUZ in the sixth branch headed by Tavsei Balievna Shaikova. A criminal case, approved by the public prosecutor of the Sergeli region of Tashkent, Detective Dzhamalov, was also begun. For four months violence and forced treatment was used. On the 30th December 2005 Elena Urlaeva was released.

In total she was subjected to forced treatment for eleven months in psychiatric hospitals.

On September 19, 2010  Elena  was again detained by police while she was taking pictures of children, forced to pick cotton.

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PETITION

We, the representatives of the civil society, are seriously concerned about Urlaeva’s fate, and hereby sign this petition in order to draw the attention of the international organizations and representatives of the democratic countries to the human rights activist’s situation and call on the following actions:

 The representatives of the regional office of the International Committee of Red Cross, embassies of the western democratic countries, in particular the Embassies of the European Union, the United States of America, Great Britain, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy and others, should immediately visit Mrs Urlaeva in the psychiatric clinic to provide a moral support to her, her relatives and colleagues;

1. Take all possible measures to establish true reasons of unexpected psychiatric problems the human rights activist started facing;
2. Taking inquiries into what type of medical treatment Mrs Urlaeva is undergoing in the psychiatric clinic, to what degree such medical treatment is needed for improving her health and what consequences it might have for her health in the future;
3. Regularly visit and keep an eye on the health conditions and personal integrity of the human rights activist while she is kept in the psychiatric clinic if she will have to spend some time at this facility for improving her health;
4. In case of absence of a solid ground for keeping the human rights activist in the psychiatric clinic further assist in annulling the court decision which ordered her psychiatric treatment and in her immediate release.

The following facts indicate that placing Elena Urlaeva into the psychiatric clinic might be used as a punishment for her human rights activity:

Elena Urlaeva has been involved in defending the rights and interests of alleged human rights victims in Uzbekistan for more than 10 years. Obviously most of the perpetrators in the cases of victims Urlaeva represented are the government officials. Urlaeva has been one of the most outspoken critics of the Uzbek authorities for many years, known for her critical reports, interviews and statements from the international tribunes.

It can be suggested that as a result of her active civic virtue and human rights activity Elena Urlaeva has made enough enemies. She has been subjected to different forms of persecutions many times: e.g. beatings, threats, humiliations, denial of exit visas, etc.

According to Urlaeva part of the persecutions are addressed to her close relatives: her adopted son Mukhammad and husband Mansur Mashurov.

In January 2012 Mirzo Ulugbek district hokimiyat (the local executive power or administration) of Tashkent city attempted to take away her adopted son from her and place him into the orphanage. Only after a series of protests by Urlaeva and her colleagues the authorities have ceased their attempt to deprive the activist from her son. In March 2012 Urlaeva’s husband Mansur Mashurov was forcedly taken away to a meeting with the local police. He returned home afterwards very drunk and embarrassed, started demanding Urlaeva stop her human rights activity and going on the protests against the authorities. Then Mansur beat Urlaeva. Urlaeva thinks the city police has set her husband against her.

Urlaeva has previously been placed into the psychiatric clinic for obligatory medical treatment for several times under the order of the Uzbek courts. Urlaeva and her colleagues are confident that the Uzbek authorities have used forced psychiatric treatment against her for her dissident views. In her recent interview in December 2011 the human rights activist has already warned that she might be placed into the psychiatric clinic (see. “Position. Without censorship – Forced psychiatry in Uzbekistan as a method of suppression for dissent”, December 2, 2011, http://www.uznews.net/news_single.p...). She mentioned in her interview that the Uzbek court has already prepared the draft decision on placing her into psychiatric clinic. According to her she would have to undergo a group of psychiatrists should watch her condition for six months and then present the results of their investigation to the court. The court then was expected to pass a decision on whether the activist should be under a forced psychiatric treatment or not. It should be mentioned that this is not the only case when forced psychiatric treatment is used against the representatives of the Uzbekistani civil society.

We call on all stakeholders to whom this petition addressed not to ignore our suggestions and call on Elena Urlaeva’s situation.

List of persons who signed this petition:

Sukhrobjon Ismoilov – leader of the Human Rights Policy NGO “Expert Working Group”, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Mutabar Tadjibaeva – leader of the international human rights NGO “The Club of Courageous Hearts”, Paris, France

Yuriy Djibladze – president of the Center for Development of Democracy and Human Rights, a member of the Council for Development of Civil Society and Human Rights under the President of Russia, a member of Coordination Coundil of the Civic Forum of the European Union - Russia, Moscow, Russia

Bakhodir Choriev – leader of public movement “Birdamlik”, the U.S.A

Umida Niyazova – leader of the human rights NGO “Uzbek-German for Human Rights”, Berlin, Germany

Bahadir Namozov – leader of the Committee for Release of Prisoners of Conscience, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Vasila Inoyatova – leader of “Ezgulik” Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Souhayr Belhassen, President of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Gerald Staberock, Secretary General of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of FIDH and OMCT.

Mirvari Gahramanli - Chairperson Oil Workers’ Rights Protection Organization Public Union Baku,Azerbaijan, AZ1060

Arthur Sakunts, chairman of the Helsinki Citizens Assembly - Vanadzor, Armenia Steve Sverdlov - Human Rights Watch’s researcher on Europe and Central Asia

Olof Kleberg - Vice President of the Swedish OSCE Network

Kamoliddin Rabbimov – Director, Center for political studies ”LIGLIS-Center”, France

Ulugbek Haydarov – independent journalist, Vancouver, Canada

Hasan Temirov and Muhammadsolih Abutov – leaders of NGO “Tayanch”, Sweden, Germany

Bashorat Eshova – independent human rights activists, Switzerland Will Lacky – freelance journaliste

Vokhid Karimov – NGO Leader, Bukhara Uzbekistan

Sonya Zilberman - Founder and Executive Director for Eurasia Law Initiative

Gulshan Karaeva – member of Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, Karshi, Uzbekistan

Toshpulatov Yuldashev – independent political scientist

Farkhodhon Mukhtarov – independent human rights activists

Bahodir Musaev – independent political scientist

Gafur Yuldashev – independent journalist

Bahodir Uzakov – independent human rights activist

Abdujalil Boymatov – member of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan

Salomatoy Boymatova – member of the Human Rights Alliance of Uzbekistan

Lutfullo Samsutdinov Amerika

Togboy Abdurazzoq, Kanada

Tulqin Karayev - Popular Movement of Uzbekistan, Sweden

Said Kamol - human rights activist

Pirmuhammad Holmuhammad - Kanada

Shuhratjon Akhmadjonov - Chairman of the NGO "The Circle of democrats", Washington USA

The list is open for signatures for all those who know and support Elena Urlaeva

Contact information for this petition:

Mutabar Tadjibaeva – Paris, France Email: mutabartadjibaeva@gmail.com Tel. mob. +33760183844, +33679233927 Office: +33950147243

Sukhrobjon Ismoilov – Tashkent, Uzbekistan Email: sukhrob.ismoilov@gmail.com Tel.mob. +99890 1895999

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Read More

2011

Elena Urlaeva claims authorities want to commit her to psychiatric hospital

The renowned Tashkent based human rights activist, Elena Urlaeva, who was awarded the prestigious Per Anger international human rights prize in Oslo last year, says she is about to be committed to a psychiatric hospital for compulsory treatment.

“Last Friday, I received notification from a Tashkent psychiatric clinic that, because I had ‘failed to complete out-patient treatment, an application had been made to the courts to commit me for compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital’,” claims Urlaeva, leader of the Human Rights Alliance of Uzbekistan (PAU).

Urlaeva said that the she was last sent to a psychiatric hospital by the authorities in 2005, although a court overturned this decision and Urlaeva has since had no contact in this regard.

Now, Urlaeva and her fellow human rights campaigners are at a loss to understand what Urlaeva could have done to provoke the authorities to take such radical action against her.

Urlaeva herself thinks it is possible that the authorities are angry at her interventions in Yangiyul (a town in Tashkent region). “The militia and the prosecutors there have become a genuine mafia operation, robbing and killing people,” says the PAU leader.

The human rights campaigner says that on 25th and 26th November she was in Yangiyul and complained about the lawlessness she perceives is taking hold there.

“Several hours later, a doctor from the psychiatric clinic came to my house,” says Urlaeva. “Can this really be a coincidence?”

Urlaeva is also suspicious that the authorities’ intention to place her in a psychiatric institution will make it easier for those who have signalled that they wish to take her foster son Muhammad Mashurov into care.

“If they don’t get me out of the way, it will be very difficult for them to explain why a child who is healthy, well fed, a high-achiever at school, is taken away, against his will, from the family of his birth uncle – my partner Mansur Mashurov,” says Urlaeva.

The human rights campaigner says that if her husband is left bringing up Muhammad alone it will be easier to claim that her foster son is not receiving adequate care and attention.

Urlaeva also claims that when she made a complaint against the Chirchick civil court last month, the head of the court, Abdugappar Khalikov, was heard to shout that he would ‘put her in a mental institution’.

“Khalikov was one of the judges who, in 2000, tried to send me for compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital first time around,” Urlaeva says.

Urlaeva is convinced that, first and foremost, the authorities want to halt the progress of her human rights work, which is gathering momentum and support.

“The PAU is gaining more and more supporters, who are seeking our advice before taking up their own causes, picketing those institutions who refuse to help people with their problems, and many are demanding fair treatment, says Urlaeva.

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