Dear President Obama, Senators, Representatives, Americans and Leadership of the Human Rights Community:

The United States has violated the rights of Uzbekistan refugees since 2006. They are being arrested and held without trial. They have been victims of violence and discrimination. The FBI and the police have violated the 9th, 12th, 14th, 17th, 18th and 26th clauses of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

For example, Olimjon Sobirov (born in 1973, Uzbek, Muslim, refugee) and Zohid Makhmedov (born in 1977, Uzbek, Muslim, refugee) were killed by unknown poison in 2006 in Idaho. Jamshid Muhtorov (born in 1976, Uzbek, Muslim, refugee) has lived with his wife and two children in Denver, Colorado since 2007. He was arrested on January 21, 2012 at the Chicago Airport and accused of providing material to an Uzbek terrorist organization. He has been in prison for more than three years and still has not had a trial. I grew up in the same city as him: Djizzakh, Uzbekistan. Jamshid is the same as me: Uzbek, Muslim, and a refugee.

Fazliddin Kurbanov (born in 1983, Uzbek, Muslim, refugee) has lived with his wife and daughter, parents, and sisters in Boise, Idaho, since 2009. I know him. I lived in his building from 2010-2012. His parents converted to Christianity. He remained a Muslim, but didn’t go to the Mosque. He was arrested on May 16, 2013, in a house in Boise and charged with providing information and money to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which the United States has designated as a “foreign terrorist organization.” He is constrained in a prison and still has not had a trial.

Regarding my own situation, in April and May of 2010, I re-published the article about the mysterious 2006 poison deaths online in English, Uzbek and Russian. Shortly afterwards I was wrongfully fired from three jobs in Idaho between July 2010 and January 2012 because of my human rights activities. My belongings were stolen nine times in Washington, D.C., between November 2012 and May 2014. I was beaten, robbed, and had all my personal documents along with my wallet stolen on November 21, 2013.

I was robbed at gunpoint and had my bag and backpack stolen on May 26, 2014. All my journalism equipment is gone. I have called the police seven times, they never called an Uzbek translator and did not even open a criminal case to investigate these nine thefts and two robberies. An October, 2013, police report about theft of my bag in the 801 East Men’s Shelter is also mysteriously missing.

It is no secret that employees of the Uzbek National Security Service cooperate with some of the U.S. law enforcement officers. I think these acts performed by the FBI and and police are wrong. Please, stop the persecution of Uzbek refugees in the U.S. and bring the perpetrators to justice.

I plan to meet Fazliddin’s and Jamshid’s wives and children as well as their lawyers, and to visit Fazliddin in prison, after accumulating money for a Washington, D.C.-Boise-Denver-Washington, D.C. ticket. I plan to write an article about them and to report to you about the results of my visit.

When you and your family celebrate the different holidays, please remember that in Idaho and Colorado there are small children with tears in their eyes, remembering their father, who was slandered and has been held in prison without trial.

Some may say, “They are Uzbeks, I am not Uzbek. They are Muslims, I am not a Muslim. They are refugees, I am not a refugee.” It is important to remember the words of Martin Niemoller, a German anti-Nazi theologian and Lutheran pastor:

“When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out; I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews, I remained silent; I was not a Jew.

When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out.”

Sincerely,

Shuhratjon Ahmadjonov

 

Human Rights Activist

Freelance Journalist

Refugee

Street Sense Vendor


Issues |Civil Rights


Region |Washington DC

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