Law enforcement officials in Khatlon region reported that searches for Salimboy Shamsiddinov, leader of the Uzbek community, did not give any results.

Deputy Head of the Department of Internal Affairs of Khatlon region of Tajikistan, Eminjon Jalilov, said that rumors in the community that local security forces are involved in disappearance of Salimboy Shamsiddinov are unfounded.

A well-known journalist, human rights defender and activist of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan “Ezgulik”, Dilmurod Sayyid, who is serving a sentence in prison 64/36 in Navoi region of Uzbekistan, needs immediate medical checkup and qualified hospital care.

Dilmurod Sayyid’s brother Obid Saidov, who met him in prison in the middle of March this year, told mass media about his difficult physical condition. Their meeting was held in a special prison in Tashkent (Sangorod) for sick inmates, where the journalist was transferred because of his critical physical condition and severe illness.

As we have reported earlier, in the beginning of March, Mutabar Tadjibayeva, head of the International Human Rights Organization “Fiery Hearts Club”, Craig Murray, former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, well known Danish filmmaker Michael Andersen, Igor Vorontsov, former employee of an international organization “Human Rights Watch” and journalist Andre Lorsch went to Cologny, one of the most exclusive areas of Geneva, to see the house of Gulnara Karimova, eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov.

After this visit, Gulnara Karimova’s personal blog and several other online media published her interview to Swiss magazine Bilan in which she gave unfounded statements, offensive words and accusations against Mutabar Tadjibayeva and Craig Murray.

We decided to publish our stand and position on this situation.

On March 13 in Geneva international NGO CIVICUS organized a meeting with three countries, such as Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in order to examine the key areas of concern to be highlighted during each country’s upcoming Universal Periodic Review in April this year. The topic of the side event was “Eurasia: The silencing of Human Rights Defenders” and brought together both local and international NGOs, national civil society activists and professionals interested in this topic. Renate Bloem, head of Geneva UN Advocacy Office, CINICUS moderated the conference.

In early March of this year, Mutabar Tadjibayeva, prominent human rights activist and head of the International human rights organization “Fiery Hearts Club”, based in France, went to Geneva to participate in the ten-day International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH).

Also, during her visit to Switzerland, a human rights activist and several of her colleagues visited one of the most élite areas of Geneva – Cologny. The purpose of their visit to Cologny was to see the house of Gulnara Karimova, eldest daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, at the address 7 Rue Prevote, Cologny, Geneva.

We would like to draw your attention to the 11th Joint meeting of the Uzbek-Japanese Economic Cooperation Committee which took place on March 5, 2012 in Tashkent with the participation of the Vice President of «Marubeni Corporation» Mr.Mamoru Sekiyama and the senior advisor of the fund «The Sasakawa Peace Foundation» Professor Mr.Yoshiaki Sasaki.

Starting 2013, graduates of Uzbek schools in Kyrgyzstan will not be able to take university admission tests in Uzbek language.

According to the decision of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic, starting 2013 national university admission tests will be held only in Kyrgyz and Russian.