Jahongir Sidikov - deportation delayed

Craig Murray reports (from Accra!) that the planned deportation of Jahongir Sidikov has been delayed. His case is to be reviewed. The government pleads Jahongir's right to privacy as the reason they won't discuss his case. It's a shame they don't take his right to life as seriously.

Note that deporting political dissidents to Uzbekistan is now government policy. I didn't realise the British government was quite as bad as that.

It remains vital to raise Jahongir's case. We can't let the story go away. Invisibility may mean death. This isn't victory. It may be a chance to help save a man's life.

Jahongir Sidikov - and what happens to protestors in Uzbekistan

If you can bear to see what happens to protesters in Uzbekistan, follow this link and watch the clip from Channel 4 News. Warning: some of the pictures are very disturbing.

The Home Office reckons Jahongir Sidikov doesn't need asylum because he's "not a major player". The "minor players" at Andijan and elsewhere ended up just as dead. Relatively unimportant people suffer just as much pain from torture as the rich and famous. Torture and murder are routine in Uzbekistan. Dissidents like Jahnogir are at serious risk.

It's time New Labour remembered old values. If government ministers don't believe in equality, simple humanity would do.


I'm glad to see that Channel 4 has taken an interest in this case. I wish the government would listen.

Deportation scheduled for 28th November - save Jahongir Sidikov now!

posted by k

You need only type the name Jahongir Sidikov into a search engine to see how the campaign to save him has grown. European and North American blogs are picking up the story. Jahongir's picture has been widely seen.

If the campaign fails, and he is deported, this may make things even worse for him in Uzbekistan - and the Uzbek authorities know how to make things very bad indeed.

The date of Wednesday, 28th November has been given for Jahongir's deportation. Scroll through the information given on this blog if you want to know what to include in a fax or e-mail to your MP or a fax to the Home Office.

Remember to include Jahongir's case details:

Home Office ref. - S2185191

Port ref. - BGT/188094

DMS ref. - 67823
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Campaign to save Jahongir Sidikov grows

These are just some of the bloggers and others opposing Jahongir Sidikov's deportation.


Turbulent Cleric
Postman Patel
Beeston Quakers
kllrchrd
Obsolete
Kathz's Blog
Question That
Crimes and Corruption of the New World Order
My Whine in Silence
Signs of the Times
Politics in the Zeros
Bloggerheads
Chris Floyd telegrams
Indymedia UK
Rochdale online
Chris: Paul: Labour of Love

Jailhouse Lawyer
Geoff Coupe's Blog
Ten Percent
Travellerspoint
Surreptitious Evil
War in Iraq (Russian)
British Blogs
Essential News
John Angliss
Buy Tramadol
The Sideshow
quaker fencer
Ordovicius
neon bubble
Thorn Tree - lonely planet
Open Debate Political Forum IMHO
Muslim Uzbekistan
hJc
Crooks and Liars
Democrats @ 2008 Presidential Election
Art Blog
Liberal England
Areopagitica

Craig Murray's Blog

Jahongir Sidikov's case details are:

Home Office ref. - S2185191

Port ref. - BGT/188094

DMS ref. - 67823


Find out how to contact your British MP here.

Fax your objections to the Home Secretary, Rt. Hon. Jacqui Smith at 020 7035 3262 (00 44 20 7035 3262 if you are faxing from outside UK).

The opening of the most recent U.S.A. Human Rights report on Uzbekistan is here. (There is also a link to the full report.)

Save Jahongir Sidikov - no deportations to Uzbekistan

The report below is not the work of a left-leaning group or pressur group. It is the opening of the most recent official report by the United States government.

No-one should be deported to Uzbekistan. The British government should end its attempts to deport Jahongir Sidikov.

U.S.A: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - Uzbekistan 2006

Uzbekistan is an authoritarian state: The government's human rights record, already poor, continued to worsen during the year. Citizens did not have the right in practice to change their government through peaceful and democratic means. Security forces routinely tortured, beat, and otherwise mistreated detainees under interrogation to obtain confessions or incriminating information. In several cases, authorities subjected human rights activists and other critics of the regime to forced psychiatric treatment. Human rights activists and journalists who criticized the government were subject to harassment, arbitrary arrest, politically motivated prosecution, and physical attack. The government generally did not take steps to investigate or punish the most egregious cases of abuse, although many officials were prosecuted for corruption. Prison conditions remained very poor and outside monitors did not have full access to places of detention. In many cases those arrested were held incommunicado for extended periods without access to family or attorneys. The government tightly controlled the mass media and treated criticism of the regime as a crime. The government did not observe citizens' right to free assembly or association; police regularly detained citizens to prevent public demonstrations and authorities sought to control all nongovernmental organization (NGO) activity, forcing many local and international NGOs to close. The government restricted religious activity, treating virtually all religious observance outside state sanctioned structures as a crime.

If you have access to a fax machine, please fax the Rt. Hon. Jacqui Smith, Secretary for State at the Home Office, asking her to intervene to stop the deportation of Jahongir Sidikov and including these references:

Home Office ref. - S2185191

Port ref. - BGT/188094

DMS ref. - 67823

Fax Rt. Hon. Jacqui Smith at 020 7035 3262 (00 44 20 7035 3262 if you are faxing from outside UK)

You can draw on the facts given in the post "Jahongir Sidikov's story" which also includes a sample letter to send to your MP or anyone else who might be able to help.

When writing to members of the government and/or Labour Party, it may be worth mentioning Gordon Brown's intervention to stop the deportation of a Burmese dissident. There are similar risks to Jahongir.

There's a list of some of the bloggers and others supporting Jahongir here.

Jahongir Sidikov's story

This information comes from the campaign to stop the deportation of Jahongir Sidikov. Details of the Andijan massacre from an independent source can be found here.

Jahongir Sidikov’s story

Jahongir SIDIKOV was born on 10 June 1980 in the Zangiatin district of Tashkent province in Uzbekistan. He has a higher education in finance. He started his career in banking, getting his first job in the private bank “Pahtabank”. In September 1999 he arrived in London on a student visa and entered the City University, where he completed his B.Sc. in 2003. After completing his degree he got married in 2003. All his attempts to find a job failed.

The massacre of more then a thousand innocent people in the Uzbek city of Andijan on May 13, 2005 became a turning point for Jahongir. He started to be actively engaged in opposition activities and propaganda against the Uzbek regime. He became instrumental in organizing a demonstration to commemorate the first anniversary of the massacre on May 13, 2006 in front of Downing Street. He joined the ERK Democratic Party, an opposition party in exile.

In the meantime, in 2006, his marriage fell apart. On top of this he lost his Uzbek passport. He had to contact the Embassy of Uzbekistan. He was strongly advised by the Uzbek Embassy staff to return to Uzbekistan in order to obtain a new passport. However, returning to Uzbekistan at that stage was not an option. Jahongir was already known to the authorities in Uzbekistan for his opposition views. The protest in London on May 13, 2006 was filmed by a representative of the Uzbek Embassy in London and everyone who was there is now known to the authorities back home.

Jahongir was also recorded on video. His relatives have reported that law enforcement authorities summoned the neighbours of Jahongir Sidikov for questioning in Uzbekistan. During the meeting, they were asked to identify Sidikov in the video. Consequently, in the event of his return to his country of origin, it is unlikely that the special services will neglect his activities at the time of his residence in Great Britain. Reports of human rights defenders regularly confirm the continuing torture and ill-treatment of representatives of the democratic opposition and those with religious convictions.

Jahongir’s asylum claim has failed because the court didn’t believe that there is a genuine threat to his life in Uzbekistan. The court also didn’t believe that Jahongir will be subjected to torture and human rights abuses in Uzbekistan . The court doubted that the letters submitted by the leader of the ERK Democratic Party of Uzbekistan , Muhammad Salih and the President of the Association for Human Rights in Central Asia, Nadezhda Ataeva are genuine. The court refused to postpone the hearing so that former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, who was on a visit to Africa, could give evidence.

The campaign

We are asking people to write to or e-mail their MP requesting them to intervene urgently by asking the Home Office to stop the deportation of Jahongir to Uzbekistan. Deportation to Uzbekistan would put Jahongir in great danger of torture or death. Uzbekistan is an oppressive regime where any display of dissent is harshly repressed. There are more than 10 thousand political and religious prisoners in Uzbekistan, one of the world's most violent regimes.

Sample Letter:

Dear ,

We wish to draw your attention to the case of Uzbek refugee, Jahongir Sidikov, who is at grave risk of torture and death. He is currently in the deportation centre at the following address:

IRC Colnbrook

Colnbrook By Pass

Harmondsworth

West Drayton

Middlesex

UB8 0HB

These are his case details and references provided by various authorities:

Home Office ref. - S2185191

Port ref. - BGT/188094

DMS ref. - 67823

Jahongir Siddikov is a member of the Uzbekistan opposition party, ERK Democratic party. He is a political activist in exile. Uzbekistan is the world’s most oppressive dictatorship. No opposition to the regime is permitted inside the country. There is no freedom of speech and no free media.
Any form of dissent is severely suppressed in this country, and according to the international human rights organizations, there are at least 10 thousand political and religious prisoners in jail. Torture is a standard procedure in Uzbekistan.
If deported to Uzbekistan, Jahongir Siddikov is facing prison, torture and very possibly death.

We ask you to support our campaign against his deportation.

You can find the e-mail address and contact details for your MP through the website WRITE TO THEM - click HERE.

Jahongir Sidikov - updates

posted by k

22.11.07

Jahongir Sidikov is being detained at Heathrow. He refused to board the plane (using passive resistance). This means it is still worth e-mailing MPs, registering protests, etc. See below for the reference numbers. Check Craig Murray's blog for further updates.

No-one should be deported to Uzbekistan until Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch say the country respects the rights of dissidents and citizens.

posted by k


Some Bloggers and others supporting Jahongir

Turbulent Cleric
Postman Patel
Beeston Quakers
kllrchrd
Obsolete
Kathz's Blog
Question That
Crimes and Corruption of the New World Order
My Whine in Silence
Signs of the Times
Politics in the Zeros
Bloggerheads
Chris Floyd telegrams
Indymedia UK
Rochdale online
Chris: Paul: Labour of Love

Jailhouse Lawyer
Geoff Coupe's Blog
Ten Percent
Travellerspoint
Surreptitious Evil
War in Iraq (Russian)
British Blogs
Essential News
John Angliss
Buy Tramadol
The Sideshow
Areopagitica

Craig Murray's Blog



21.11.07

The deportation is scheduled for tonight. Craig Murray gives the following updated information at his blog:

November 21, 2007

Save Jahongir Sidikov

I have just spoken to Jahongir who is expecting to be deported this evening, so we still have a few hours to try to stop this. An article 39 application to the European Court of Human Rights is being worked on, but not safe at this short notice. Meantime please contact your MP, any media contacts you have, anyone who might help. Both Tom Porteous of Human Rights Watch and myself worked the media yesterday, but to little apparent effect.

One of the many gross aspects of this case is that Jahongir's case has been "fast tracked" and gone through hearing and appeal to deportation in just a fortnight. His solicitor had less than a week to prepare his appeal - and unfortunately I was in Africa all that week and could not appear as a witness. The judge dismissed requests for a postponement on the grounds she could see no valid reason why witnesses could not get to court. She also dismissed a letter from Uzbek opposition leader Mohammed Salih as not genuine - even though I know for sure it was genuine. This case points up the farce of our asylum system and the cruelty of the "Fast Track" process.

These are Jahongir's Home Office references:
Home Office ref. – S2185191
Port ref. – BGT/188094
DMS ref. – 67823

Jahongir is currently in Harmondsworth Detention Centre.

Jahongir's deportation is, beyond any possible dispute, illegal under international law. The UK is a State Party to the UN Convention Against Torture, which states at Article 3:

Article 3 1. No State Party shall expel, return ("refouler") or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture.

2. For the purpose of determining whether there are such grounds, the competent authorities shall take into account all relevant considerations including, where applicable, the existence in the State concerned of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights.

it is quite impossible to argue, by the standard given, that it is admissible to return Jahongir to Uzbekistan. As a nation we appear to have abandoned all pretence at legality.
http://www.ohchr.org/english/law/cat.htm

If there is anything you can do to help - however little - please act.

"What are the bugles blowin' for?"

posted by k

"The air of England is too pure for a slave to breathe, so everyone who breathes it becomes free."

These words are given the date 1772 and attributed to Judge William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield. They have been cited in other law-cases. This year we are celebrating the 200th anniversary of the British abolition of the trade in slaves.

Tomorrow an Uzbek asylum-seeker, Jahongir Sidikov, will be deported to Uzbekistan. According to Amnesty International, Uzbekistan has announced plans to abolish the death penalty next year, but there are no plans to commute existing sentences. There are no statistics on the number of people sentenced to death or executed. Human Rights Watch documents widespread torture in the "justice system". As Craig Murray has pointed out, opponents of the regime are frequently killed.

Jahongir Sidikov is a member of Erk, the banned opposition party in Uzbekistan. There's a strong chance he will be tortured or executed after his forcible return to Uzbekistan. I wonder if the people involved in his deportation - or members of the government that encourages such deportations - could be charged and taken to trial. The government suggests downgrading murders caused by "reckless indifference" to a kind of 2nd degree offence so they might not receive an automatic life sentence. But anyone complicit in this deportation may risk a long prison sentence - and will certainly deserve it.

"When constabulary duty's to be done"

posted by k

There used to be jokes about police incompetence. Detective stories pitted the aristocratic seuth or thoughtful private investigator against the bumbling bobby. There was a lot of snobbery in this, including the old-fashioned snobbery that believed that income from fees - or, better still, income from inheritance or investment - was superior to income from regular wages.

Most of this snobbery is upper-class contempt for what the idle rich sometimes term "the lower orders". But it's true that payment of wages buys a certain measure of loyalty - and sometimes that loyalty can be misplaced. Before the snobs think this works in their favour, they have a similar loyalty to whoever pays their fees or the system that provides them with unearned income. Our need to eat and comfortable familiarity with a certain standard of living is likely to skew our view and interpretation of the world.

Nowadays we have more sympathy with the police, and considerable nostalgia for the "bobby on the beat". This has spilled over to the defence of the police in the wake of the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes. I've heard a range of spokesmen (they have all been men) defending the police in the wake of the recent verdict. "It was unjust," defenders of the police proclaim. "These were ordinary policemen doing their job. Policemen have to make split-second decisions. Sometimes they'll get it wrong."

But the verdict wasn't against any individual policemen. The verdict said that the Metropolitan Police as an organisation, failed to take sufficient note of Health and Safety procedures. The BBC lists 19 failures of organisation. These are to do with strategy and procedures - and are not a condemnation of the firearms officers who shot an unarmed Brazilian electrician seven times in the head.

For the sake of all travellers, these errors need to be addressed. They include a "noisy and chaotic control room", where officers couldn't hear or misheard the urgent information that was being passed to them by surveillance officers. They also include a four-hour delay in sending support to the surveillance team. These are procedural problems which cost a man's life.

Despite unfounded fears that Jean Charles de Menenez was a suicide bomber, no-one atttempted to stop him from boarding a bus or underground train. It's lucky the police officers weren't more trigger-happy. The train driver was chased down a tunnel by an armed officer and a policeman from the surveillance team (known only as "Ivor") had a gun pointed at his chest.

There are links to fuller coverage of the trial at the blog calm, almost too calm.

Meanwhile, I'm grateful to the judge and jury for their deliberations and careful judgment. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner denies "systematic failure". Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, who I once admired, condemns the verdict as "disastrous." Cabinet Ministers are lining up in defence of the police and Commissioner. But the Met's refusal to accept the verdict or address its failings endangers us all.

've lived with awareness of terrorism since the I.R.A. attacks on the 1970s. I'm pretty tough about travelling around London - it's my home town. I can cope with the fear of terrorism. But just now I'm a little nervous of the police and their great big guns.