481. On 5 June 2003, the Special Representative, in conjunction with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the Special Rapporteur on the question of torture and the Chairman- Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, transmitted an urgent appeal concerning Uzbek human rights activist and independent journalist, Ruslan Sharipov, and two of his colleagues, Oleg Sarapulov and Azamat Mamankulov. According to the information received, on 26 May 2003, Ruslan Sharipov was allegedly arrested and charged under article 120 of the Criminal Code with having committed homosexual acts. He was reportedly only granted access to a lawyer on 28 May, two days after his arrest. While in detention he was allegedly beaten, verbally abused and threatened to be raped with a bottle. The police allegedly displayed copies of his articles on a table in front of him and shouted at him for long periods. His colleagues, Azamat Mamankulov and Oleg Sarapulov were allegedly also arrested but at the time the appeal was sent, had reportedly still not been charged. These recent attacks reportedly followed previous harassment of the above-mentioned individuals in 2002. Concern was expressed that Ruslan Sharipov and his colleagues may be targeted as a result of their human rights activities, in particular articles on police corruption and human rights abuses.

487. On 1 October 2003, the Special Representative, in conjunction with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the Special Rapporteur on the question of torture, transmitted a second follow-up urgent appeal regarding Ruslan Sharipov, a human rights activist and journalist, for whom an urgent appeal was sent on 5 June 2003 on behalf of the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the Special Rapporteur on the question of torture, the Chairman-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Special Representative of the Secretary- General on the situation of human rights defenders. The Government responded to this appeal by a letter dated 18 July 2003. A second urgent appeal was sent in connection with this case on 13 August 2003 by the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the Special Rapporteur on the question of torture and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights defenders. Ruslan Sharipov was allegedly found guilty on 13 August 2003 under articles 120 (homosexuality), 127 (inciting minors to anti-social behaviour) and 128 (sexual relations with a minor) of the Uzbek Criminal Code, despite lack of forensic evidence that he had had sexual relations with a minor. He was reportedly sentenced to five and a half years in prison. It is reported that in a statement to the Secretary General of the United Nations written from prison on 5 September 2003, Ruslan Sharipov claimed he had been subjected to torture and threats while in detention. At an appeal hearing which took place on 25 September 2003 and during which his sentence was reduced to four years on appeal after charges under article 127 were dropped, Ruslan Sharipov’s face was reportedly injured and his glasses were broken.^[53]

link to the full text of the report: Report-SR Human Rights Defenders-2004-03