Human rights defender Ms Tatiana Dovlatova has recently been subjected to harassment by police authorities in Tashkent, and faced an illegal police search at her home on 21 April 2010.

Further Information

Tatiana Dovlatova is a member of the Human Rights Alliance of Uzbekistan, an unregistered organisation which works on several human rights issues including torture, access to justice, the right to a fair trial, economic and social rights, and the rights of vulnerable groups in Uzbekistan.

On 21 April 2010, at approximately 17.45, five men in plain clothes who introduced themselves as workers of the gas service tried to enter the yard of Tatiana Dovlatova's house. Tatiana refused to let them in, and when she showed the paid gas bill, the men said that they had to bring her to Khamzinsky police department in Tashkent because a search warrant had been issued against her.

Some time later, they came back and started to break the lock on the fence. Without showing any documents, they entered the house by force and started the search. The search was conducted in absence of witnesses, the policemen refused to identify themselves or present legal documents justifying the need of the search.

Despite the fact that Tatiana Dovlatova was recovering from the surgery, the police attempted to take her to the police station by force. She managed to call her colleagues from the Human rights Alliance of Uzbekistan who called an ambulance. Upon arrival, the doctors provided Tatiana Dovlatova with medical aid and forbid her from moving due to her medical state.

After the ambulance departed at approximately 20.55, the policemen presented Tatiana Dovlatova with a letter of convocation to the police station without explaining the legal grounds for the convocation.

Front Line believes that the police harassment against Tatiana Dovlatova is directly linked to her legitimate work in defence of human rights, in particular her criticism of the work of Khamzinsky police department of Tashkent.

Recently another member of Human Rights Alliance of Uzbekistan, Mr Dmitry Tikhonov, was the victim of a physical attack. Front Line is seriously concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Tatiana Dovlatova.