Bahtiyor Hamroev is the Chairperson of the Jizak regional brnach of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU). He is involved in campaigning for civil and political rights. In particular he focuses on the issue of forced child labour and the rights of farmers. As a result of his human rights work he is under persecution by the authorities in Uzbekistan. He has been attacked and beaten on several occasions and his son has been imprisoned for 3 years.

"Everything changed in Uzbekistan after a crowd of thousands of people, protesting against poverty and unemployment, was shot at in the town of Andijan on 13th May 2005:

• International organisations were expelled;
• Foreign radio stations were closed down, and correspondents from all foreign media were deprived of their accreditation;
• The authorities hurled repression on human rights organisations, mainly on the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, taking falsified criminal proceedings against more than 30 HRDs, of whom at least 23 ended up in prison;
• A host of HRDs were forced to leave the country, seeking political asylum in European countries, the USA and Canada; independent journalists and members of opposition parties also left the country;

After international human rights and other non-governmental organisations were expelled, HRDs were left alone with a harsh political regime. Security personnel began watching the homes of HRDS, often not letting them leave their apartments. HRDs were denied freedom of movement even in their region or town. Before Andijan, HRDs would hold protest pickets against abuse of power, especially in the law machinery, the office of the public prosecutor and the courts, they protested against the infringement of their own rights and for the protection of imprisoned comrades. They were successful to a certain degree. For example, on 29th April 2003 the HRSU began picketing in several cities in support of four members of the organisation who were in prison. The pickets continued until 23rd July when they were released.

After Andijan the authorities began suppressing protests at the beginning: at the appointed time and place of the picket nobody was allowed through – law enforcement staff detained everybody on the way to the protest. The authorities ‘contrived’ a host of ways to fight HRDs. In the regions and towns where HRDs lived, the authorities organised special groups of women to terrorise them. Here is one example. On 18th August 2006 two representatives from the British embassy came to see me at home in Tashkent. A group of about twenty aggressive women burst into my apartment, shouting ‘you’re a traitor’, ‘you’ve sold yourself to foreigners’, etc. In full view of the diplomats they destroyed everything in my apartment and beat me and my children up. Police officers calmly observed this bacchanalia from these specially organised women. My face was injured, my children were traumatised. The English diplomats were shocked by what they had seen.

On 2nd August, 16 days before this incident, my eldest son Ihtiyor Hamraev was arrested on fabricated charges. The arrest of a son, brother or other close relative of a HRD is a new approach from the authorities in their battle against them. Bakhodir Mukhtarov, the son of the chairperson of the Samarkand branch of the HRSU Mamatkul Mukhtarov, the chairperson of the Sirdarya branch of the HRSU Azam Farmonov, the son-in-law of the Chairperson of the HRSU Talib Yakubov, Uktir Pardaev, the brother of the chairperson of ‘The Independent Human Rights Organisation of Uzbekistan’ in Jizak Uktam Pardaev and Ihtiyor Hamroev, my son, were arrested to pressurise their relatives - well-known HRDs.

To suppress the human rights movement completely, at the end of 2005 the legislative authorities introduced amendments to existing legislation, even to the criminal code, according to which:

• It was made practically impossible for human rights organisations to receive state registration;
• Unregistered human rights organisations were forbidden from carrying out legal activity;
• the leader of an unregistered human rights organisation was subject to an enormous fine or administrative arrest for up to 15 days, or the punishment could even be a criminal penalty, if the organisation receives financial support from abroad;

Now the human rights movement in Uzbekistan is undergoing the most difficult time in its history. Nobody can say how long Islam Karimov’s harsh political regime will continue. He has almost completely stifled democratic and religious opposition, destroyed any kind of dissidence and is achieving the destruction of the human rights movement."

Bahtiyor’s son Ihtiyor was released fromprison under a Presidential amnesty in February 2008.