Azam Farmonov

Azam Farmonov
Nationality Uzbekistani
Occupation rural development activist
Known for 2006 imprisonment
Spouse(s) Ozoda Yakubova

Azam Farmonov is a currently-imprisoned Uzbekistani rural development activist. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience and named him a 2011 "priority case".[1]

Farmonov has a wife, Ozoda Yakubova, and two children.[2] His father-in-law, Talib Yakubov, is the Vice President of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan.[2]

On 29 April 2006, Farmonov was arrested along with fellow activist Alisher Karamatov and charged with extortion.[1] The two later reported torture by security forces, including partial suffocation with a disconnected gas mask and beatings on the legs and heels.[1] 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.[3] Front Line also described the arrests as politically motivated and "part of an ongoing campaign against human rights defenders in Uzbekistan."[4] Amnesty International also condemned the charges and called for the immediate release of Farmonov and Karamatov.[1] Uzbekistani government officials, however, denied that the extortion charges were politically motivated.[3]

Both men were convicted and sentenced to nine years in prison.[1] As of February 2010, Farmonov was currently serving his sentence at Yaslik "severe regime" prison camp in violation of his sentence, which called for a "general regime" camp.[5] According to his wife, he has repeatedly been placed in a "punishment cell," and on 8 January 2008, was stripped naked, handcuffed, and left in an unheated punishment cell for 23 days.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "ALISHER KARAMATOV AND AZAM FARMONOV, PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE". Amnesty International. Archived from the original on 29 April 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  2. 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.
  3. 1 2 "Uzbekistan: Broader Criminal Charges Used to Quash Dissent". Human Rights Watch. 20 June 2006. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  4. ↑ "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.
  5. 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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