1878. On 5 June 2003, the Special Rapporteur sent a joint urgent appeal with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the Chairman-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Special Representative on human rights defenders concerning Ruslan Sharipov, an Uzbek human rights activist and independent journalist who was allegedly arrested on 26 May 2003 and charged with having committed homosexual acts. He was reportedly detained in Mirzo-Ulugbek District Police Department of Tashkent city, where he was allegedly hit by the police several times and threatened with rape with a bottle. Two of his colleagues, Azamat Mamankulov and Oleg Sarapulov, were allegedly also arrested but reportedly had still not been charged.

1899. On 1 October 2003, the Special Rapporteur sent a joint urgent appeal with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the Special Representative on human rights defenders concerning Ruslan Sharipov, a human rights activist and journalist, for whom previous urgent appeals had been sent on 5 June 2003 and 13 August 2003 (see above). According to new information received, Ruslan Sharipov was found guilty on 13 August 2003 of homosexuality, inciting minors to anti-social behaviour and sexual relations with a minor, despite the fact that forensic medical tests conducted after his arrest allegedly found no evidence that he had had sexual relations with minors. He was reportedly sentenced to five and a half years in prison. In a statement written from prison on 5 September 2003 addressed to the United Nations Secretary-General, Ruslan Sharipov reportedly claimed he had been subjected to torture and threats while in detention. At an appeal hearing that took place on 25 September 2003, during which his sentence was reduced to four years on appeal after charges of inciting minors to anti-social behaviour were dropped, Ruslan Sharipov’s face was reportedly injured and his glasses were broken.^[91]

link to the full text of the Report: http://www.unhchr.ch/huridocda/huridoca.nsf/(Symbol)/E.CN.4.2004.56.Add.1.En