According to relatives of Mekhriniso Khamdamova, who was imprisoned for religious beliefs, her health is deteriorating day by day in a women’s prison.

On the eve of 8 March, Jarayon’s journalist managed to talk on the telephone with a relative of Mekhriniso Khamdamova condemned in Uzbekistan on religious grounds. A woman, who introduced herself as Makhbuba, said that a gynecological surgery of Mekhriniso Khamdamova scheduled for February 2014 had been postponed.

“In January, Mekhriniso’s husband visited her in the prison. She has hysteromyoma. Her husband said that lately Mekhriniso’s condition deteriorated, her stomach grew big as if she were 5-6 month pregnant. She often faints. But despite this, she refuses a surgery she needs due in February. Mekhriniso has great concerns and fears that after a surgery she will be sent back to prison, where her condition may worsen and she may start bleeding. So she refuses a surgery as she is afraid to die in prison,” Makhbuba said.

According to this woman, relatives of Mekhriniso Khamdamova are allowed to visit her every three months in the women’s prison 64/1 located in Zangiatin district of Tashkent province (This punishment facility is the only women’s prison in Uzbekistan – Jarayon’s note).

“Mekhriniso relatives visit her every three months, they are granted two-day visits. If I am not mistaken, the next visit is due on April 17, 2014. We give her some medication to somehow alleviate her condition. We are strongly worried about her condition. During the next visit, we want to convince her to agree for a surgery,” said Makhbuba, Mekhriniso Khamdamova’s relative.

Mutabar Tadjibayeva, the head of Paris-based “Fiery Hearts Club”international human rights organization, a former political prisoner convicted in Uzbekistan to eight years in prison for her professional activities and civic position in 2006 on the eve of March 8, and who spent about 1.5 years in an Uzbek prison, believes that Mekhriniso Khamdamova’s concerns with a necessary gynecological surgery are justified.

“Naturally, Mekhriniso Khamdamova, a member of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan and religious activist, is under strict surveillance of the authorities. In the women’s prison, as in other prisons of Uzbekistan, human rights defenders and all female prisoners in general convicted for their political and religious beliefs are not treated well, to put it mildly. They are forbidden to communicate with other female prisoners; they are not provided necessary medical assistance. Even when health statuses of women prisoners worsen, the prison administrations force them to do heavy work.

“I remember when I was taken to a women’s prison in July 2006, other prisoners told me about one woman. I think her name was Muslima. She was convicted for his religious beliefs. Muslima had late-stage cancer, and despite the fact that she was kept in the medical unit, the doctors did not provide her with necessary painkillers and other medical assistance.

“Later I met the woman. She was so emaciated that she could hardy speak, she greeted me, barely nodding her head, and said: “You see, knowing my current situation, they do not want me to release me from prison. I did not want to die in prison, but everything is by will of Allah.”

After some time, Muslima’s condition worsened, and doctors, being sure that she would not live long, examined her and issued a medical report to have her released from the prison. Muslima’s relatives took her from the prison. One of the prisoners, who had been allowed to be visited by family members, came back to the colony with the news that the next day after her release from the prison, Muslima died. After the death, officers of Uzbek security services visited her relatives, and threatened and warned them that they should not make any complaints and release information about Muslima’s death, otherwise they would regret.

In addition, I would like to mention another prisoner, who was released “due to very serious illness.” This case can serve as an example to show how prison doctors, such as those, who waited Muslima to die, not only treat political prisoners inhumanely in such situations, but also issue medical reports for the sake of lucre according to which quite healthy prisoners are released from the prison due to “expectation of death”.

I was moved from Fergana prison to Tashkent prison on January 24, 2006. When I was on the train, I met a 60-year-old lady, who had been previously kept in the remand prison in Khavas. When we were brought to the Tashkent prison, prison officials stayed near her. While we were waiting in a cell called “station”, I directly witnessed conversation between this lady named Tunisa and jailers from the Tashkent prison.

Based on their conversations, I realized that previously Tunisia was imprisoned for drug trafficking, but after prison doctors gave her a report that “she was going to die soon”, the woman was released. However, three months after the release, the woman again was jailed for selling 10 kilograms of drugs.

“After all, we had to pay a lot of dollars to members of the commission, representatives of GUIN (Main Administration for Execution of Punishments), prosecutors and other officials for releasing me as if “the day of my death was coming”.

“While I was in prison, they milked my son as he were a cash cow. He works as a rector of one of the universities, and they used pretexts saying they needed to buy a refrigerator and curtains for the women’s colony, equipment for GUIN. And what could I do to recover the money my son spent on me to pay a certain amount of money to officials, who helped me to get released? I was forced to do what I used to do to pay the necessary amount of money to those, who constantly demand money from me saying “give – give”. Now they will milk my son again,” indignant Tunisa told Tashkent prison officers, who approached her to say hello and ask about her health.

“These two examples clearly show that despite of the serious health condition of Mekhriniso Khamdamova, the prison administration will not render necessary medical assistance to her and will not release her.

“Therefore, I believe that we need to start demanding that the authorities of Uzbekistan should release Mekhriniso Khamdamova. We need to draw attention of Western politicians to this political prisoner,” – human rights activist Tadjibayeva told Jarayon.

At the end of January 2014, human rights activist Gulshan Karayeva from Karshi told Jarayon that there are rumors in the makhallya where Mekhriniso Khamdamova’s family lives about her death in the women’s prison (makhallya is a traditional Uzbek neighborhood – Jarayon’s note).

However, later on, one of the Uzbek refugees, who resides in Europe and knows Mekhriniso Khamdamova’s family well, told Jarayon that rumors about Khamdamova’s death were false.

Later on, Surat Ikramov, the head of the Initiative Group of independent human rights activists of Uzbekistan, told reporters that he met with Erkin Bobokulov, the Deputy Chairman of Uzbekistan GUIN in early February, who denied that Mekhriniso Khamdamova had died, and added that she “is alive and healthy”.

Then human rights defender Ikramov told media representatives that he submitted a written request to the Chief of Uzbekistan GUIN on February 3, 2014 to ask for permission to visit prisoners in women’s prisons: Mekhriniso Khamdamova , Zulkhumor Khamdamova, Shakhlo Rakhmatova and Mutabar Gafurova.

“Our goal is to study status of their health, prison conditions and conversation with them,” said Ikramov.

However, it is unknown yet whether the human rights activist has managed to get permission from the GUIN authorities to visit Uzbek political prisoners in jails.

Mekhriniso Khamdamova, a Muslim from Kashkadaryo, graduated from the specialized secondary religious school named after Haja Bukhory in Kitab in 2006. Then she attended a special course on Islamic Studies in 2007. Sometime later, following a recommendation of Mufti Usmonkhon Alimov, the chairman of the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan, and Sh. Karomova, the senior officer from the Women Department of Kashkadarya province, Khamdamova was appointed to Karshi mosque titled ‘Kuk Gumbaz’ to work with women and young people as the lady dealt with problems arising in makhallyas.

In November 2009, there were mass arrests of female believers in Karshi, and about 30 Muslim women were arrested by Kashkadarya law enforcement body and the national security service. On 5 November 2009, Mekhriniso Khamdamova was detained as a dangerous special criminal.

Many of Mekhriniso Khamdamova’s relatives were detained, her sisters and nieces.

On April 12, 2010, Kashkadarya Criminal Court sentenced three Muslim ladies, including Mekhriniso Khamdamova, to long terms of imprisonment for “encroachment on constitution” and “threat to public order”. Mekhriniso Khamdamova was sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment, her sister Zulkhumor Khamdamova and her relative Shakhlo Rakhmatova were sentenced to 6.5 years in colony.

Annually reputable human rights organizations include Mekhriniso Khamdamova, Zulkhumor Khamdamova and Mutabar Gafurova on the list of persons convicted for political and religious reasons, who have been imprisoned on trumped up charges, kept imprisoned unjustly and subjected to brutal tortures in prisons of Uzbekistan.

Sofia DAVRONOVA