Tajikistan: Kyrgyz human rights defender, lost in Dushanbe, is placed to the reception center
Mukhammadtokhir disseminated the open letter, addressed to international organizations, the governments of democratic countries, human rights advocates, journalists and people of goodwill with the request to protect the human rights defender.
Ferghana.Ru reported earlier that the citizen of Kyrgyzstan Nematillo Botakozuev disappeared on February 26 in Dushanbe after visiting UNHCR office, where he arrived to apply for international protection and registration as a refugee.
Botakozuev was assisting western mass media in information search and preparation of publications. He also assisted Alished Saipov, murdered on October 24, 2007 in Osh.
Botakozuev became wanted by the Kyrgyz authorities that accused him of organizing the protests in the town of Nookat in the fall of 2008; the reason is that Nematillo informed mass media about protest action in the town on October 1.
Nadejda Atayeva, the President of Human Rights in Central Asia association, learned that Botakozuev was arrested in the night of February 26, 2010 by border service of Dushanbe "because he had no ID and UNHCR certificate and he did not tell his real name and the reason of visiting Tajikistan".
According to Atayeva, the trustworthy source informed that "Nematillo was sent to special reception center; he is subjected to torture and injured". Botakozuev confirmed "he feels sick and asks for urgent medical help. As a result of beating he has headache and feels pain".
Meanwhile, on March 4, in his interview, published on March 4 at Voice of America website, Ilia Todorovich, the Head of UNHCR in Tajikistan, says that "Nematillo Botakozuev is not lost but “absent for unknown reason“. According to Todorovich "UNHCR sent the inquiry messages to law enforcement bodies of Tajikistan, but Botakozuev is not registered in hospitals, mortuaries and detention centers". Todorovich says "this is the first case in Tajikistan, but in other Central Asian countries people, looking for asylum, often times disappeared, fearing the prosecution".
Ilia Todorovich hopes in the next few days Botakozuev will show up in UNHCR office in Dushanbe in order to get the documents, verifying his need in international protection and refugee candidate status in accordance with UN Convention on refugee status, dated 1951, and attached Protocol, adopted in 1967.
The Head of UNHCR instructed his officers to find people, contacting Botakozuev. However, three week search produced no results and Nematillo’s brother Mukhammadsolikh Mukhammadtokhir was forced to address the open letter to the world community.
Human Rights in Central Asia association and Uzbek Initiative – London public organization urged the government of Tajikistan "to stop tortures against Nematillo and other types of inhuman treatment, provide medical aid, and let him access UNHCR office".
Addressing the international organizations and the governments of democratic countries, the human rights advocates ask "to help protect Nematillo Botakozuev and pay attention to the fact that Tajik government does not perform its UN Convention obligations".