A little less than a quarter of a century has passed since Islam Karimov became the president of the Republic of Uzbekistan and its irreplaceable leader.

During this period of time, Islam Karimov created one of the most authoritarian, oppressive and brutal regimes of the 21st century. Annual reports of international organizations continuously name him a dictator, and the country is put is on one of the last places in the world on the corruption index.

All political and religious opponents of Karimov were arrested and imprisoned on trumped-up criminal cases during the first years of his reign. Torture, abuses, violence and inhuman treatment of prisoners in penal institutions are practiced by authorities to the present day.

Despite the end of their sentence, those prisoners convicted for political and religious reasons are given fake violations by prison administration and their sentences are prolonged, thereby becoming hostages to the regime. Most of them, after serving 15-18 years in prison, become sick and eventually die because of inhumane conditions behind the bars.

Active civil society representatives and followers of traditional Islam are especially persecuted by the authorities. Political repression is an integral part of public policy in Uzbekistan. Dissent of any form is brutally and ruthlessly suppressed by the security forces. The country has no freedom of expression, assembly and expression, and repression practiced to this day. Islam Karimov massacred several hundreds of peaceful demonstrators in Andijan in May 2005 by shooting them with automatic weapons. Despite the fact that Uzbekistan has signed many international treaties that are binding, the government persistently ignored the recommendations of international NGOs.

Wanting to rehabilitate dictatorial regime of her father in international community, the eldest daughter of Islam Karimov, Gulnara Karimova, is engaged in creating a positive image of the country, which allegedly has a healthy civil society, and the government of which adheres to democratic principles. Beginning 2006, she has been organizing annual six-fay week of Arts named “Art Week Style.uz” in capital city Tashkent, which is attended by well-known persons from world’s arts and show business. However, to give importance to her project, she invites internationally famous pop stars to perform in the opening and closing ceremonies of the event, and pays them lavishly with the help of generous sponsors.

Forgetting about their honor and human values, in the pursuit of million-dollar salaries, some stars of show business agree to generous offers of the dictator’s daughter in exchange for the promotion of her father’s regime.

One such example is British film director Nick Powell, who participated in “Art Week Style.uz- 2012” and in the film festival “Golden Cheetah” as a member of jury. Later he gave an interview to the BBC’s Uzbek Service, where he hypocritically gives a positive assessment of the regime of one of the most brutal dictators of our time, supporting the repressive policies pursued by the Uzbek authorities against their own people.

Another example is British rock musician Sting, who participated in the final stage of “ArtWeekStyle.uz- 009”. For performing in Tashkent, Sting, who is said to be engaged in human rights work, received 2 million British pounds as royalties. Upon arrival in the UK, a rock musician was severely criticized by international media for performing at the event organized by Uzbek dictator’s daughter, who put luxuriously high prices for concert tickets – 45 times more than the average salary of an ordinary Uzbek citizen.

Having an experience of dealing with the representatives of the dictatorial countries, and in a sign of solidarity to the striking oil workers in Kazakhstan’s Mangistau region, Sting refused to give a concert in Astana in July 2011 in honor of the Day of Astana and the birthday of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Musician wrote on his personal website that he refused to give a concern in order to support striking oil workers in western Kazakhstan. “The hunger strikes, imprisonment of tens of thousands of workers and strikers are a virtual line of protest for me that I’m not going to cross,” Sting said in his statement.

Gulnara Karimova has an extensive experience of raids and extortion of huge sums of money from local businessman and foreign investors. A good example of Gulnara’s extortion is described in a documentary of Swedish television channel SVT named “Mission: Investigation”. Film confirms extortion of large money from “TeliaSonera”, Swedish telecom company operating in Uzbekistan, in exchange for influx of new customers and protection from government offices.

Despite official statements of the “TeliaSonera” that the company does not finance projects undertaken by Gulnara Karimova, the fact that mobile operator “Ucell”, controlled by “TeliaSonera”, became a general sponsor Yuri Bashmet’s concert in Uzbekistan, only confirms the words of John Davy, former CFO of the company, who said that “… the company pays bribes in a form of charitable donations…”

However, neither the official website of the project, nor organizers’ website has a single word about the general sponsor of the event. We had a great difficulty in finding information about the general sponsor of “Art Week Style.uz-2013”. We finally found the information on a Facebook page of “Style.Uz”, where the organizers published photos of concert tickets that have logo of the mobile operator.

On the same Facebook page, one of the fans asks the organizers contact phone numbers in order to purchase tickets. At her request, the administrator of the page gives two mobile numbers (+998909570000, +998909580000). Continuing the conversation, a fan writes “9580000 – This number is turned off, and the other number is nor responding”. For unknown reasons, this comment was later deleted.

Representatives of the International Human Rights Association “Fiery Hearts Club” also tried to call to the specified phone numbers, but to no avail – one was turned off, and the other did not respond.

A halo of mystery around the general sponsors of the project, and the lack of information in the information resources of the organizers allows us to conclude that there were cases of extortion of money in large scales from mobile operators “Ucell” and “Beeline-Uzbekistan” by Gulnara Karimova.

We reserve the right to inform the Prosecutor General of Sweden, who is investigating the financial transactions of “TeliaSonera” in Uzbekistan, about the circumstances of participation of “Ucell” in the latest project of Gulnara Karimova.

Dear Ms.Lara Fabian and Mr.Yuri Bashmet!

We are aware about your upcoming trip to Tashkent to participate in the “Art Week Style.Uz-2013”, organized by the Uzbek dictator’s daughter Gulnara Karimova. We are also genuine fans of your work. Divine “Adagio” by unmatched Lara Fabian or the virtuoso playing of one of the world’s finest violinists Yuri Bashmet is forever imprinted in the memory listeners, even those who listened to their performances for the first time.

However, the participation of such authoritative masters in questionable projects carried out in the space of lawlessness and injustice, where child labor in the agricultural sector is widely practiced, can cause significant damage to your reputation, exposing you as advocates of dictatorship.

International Human Rights Association “Fiery Hearts Club” calls on you to boycott the project “ArtWeekStyle.uz-2013” held at the expense of the ordinary Uzbek people, and used by Gulnara Karimova as a PR-campaign to participate in the upcoming presidential elections in 2015.

We hope that learning the socio -political situation in Uzbekistan from independent and reliable sources, and giving off the temptation for quick profit, you take the right decision.

Today, prisons of Karimov’s bloody regime keep thousands of freedom-loving citizens of Uzbekistan, who wanted to turn their country into a free and economically developed state. They had a dream to create a democratic society, where multi-ethnic and multi-religious society of Uzbekistan would live in peace, and where people would have the right to freedom of opinion and expression. However, dictator Islam Karimov has taken away from them that dream. These people are still being humiliated and tortured.

International Human Rights Association “Fiery Hearts Club” offers you to make an open joint statement calling the Uzbek government start to implement all of its international obligations, and immediately release journalists, prisoners of conscience and other representatives of civil society, who have long been in custody.

Sincerely,

Mutabar Tadjibayeva,

Head of the International Human Rights

Association “Fiery Hearts Club”

October 15, 2013

Paris, France