Europe and Central Asia Summary of Amnesty International’s Concerns in the Region, January-June 2007 som, as well as identification and other official documents. It was not clear what happened to Ilhom Zainabitdinov following his detention and it has not been possible to establish whether and when he has been brought to trial, nor what sentence was passed. His whereabouts remained unknown. Ilhom Zainabitdinov has a prior conviction for theft, dating back to 1997. He served three years of a seven-year sentence and was released in 2000. He alleged that he had been tortured into confessing to a crime which he had not committed. His case as well as the detention and reported ill-treatment of his younger brother Mumin in 1999 were taken up by the UN Special Rapporteur on torture during his visit to Uzbekistan in 2002. Mutabar Tadzhibaeva On 6 March 2006, Mutabar Tadzhibaeva, chairwoman of the human rights organization Utiuraklar (Fiery Hearts Club), based in Ferghana City, and one of the founders of the national civil society movement Za Pravovoe Obchshestvo (For a Just Society), was sentenced to eight years in prison on economic and political charges by a court in Tashkent. Mutabar Tadzhibaeva had been detained on 7 October 2005, on the eve of an international conference on human rights defenders in Dublin, Ireland, which she was due to attend. She had come under increasing pressure from the authorities for her human rights activities. She was convicted on 13 charges including membership of an illegal organization and using funds from foreign governments to threaten public order. She had insufficient time to prepare her defence, and consultations with her lawyer were in the presence of armed guards. In court, she was seated inside a cage. Her appeal against the verdict was turned down on 30 May 2006 and she was transferred to the women’s prison in Tashkent (prison no. 64/7). In January, Mutabar Tadzhibaeva’s brother Rasul Tadzhibaev was finally granted a second visit with her. The family had not Amnesty International 151 been able to see her for five months and, at the time of writing, had not been able to since. According to her brother, Mutabar Tadzhibaeva was concerned that her health continued to deteriorate and that she was not receiving appropriate medical attention for a kidney-related illness she had developed. She also requested meetings with her lawyer. Such meetings, however, have not been granted since Mutabar Tadzhibaeva’s sister took over her defence in the summer of 2006. Mutabar Tadzhibaeva’s brother also claimed that she continued to be put in solitary confinement to punish her for alleged infringements of prison rules. She had reportedly been put in solitary confinement following one of his visits. On 5 March 2007, her family had reportedly been promised a three-day visit with her in prison, however, according to her daughter she was put in solitary confinement on 4 March and the family visit was cancelled. On 8 March, her brother was detained in order to prevent him from attending a demonstration in Tashkent calling for the release of Mutabar Tadzhibaeva and other detained female human rights activists. On 13 April he was again prevented from seeing his sister. He had also been evicted from his apartment on 22 March and reportedly been warned that if he continued to campaign on behalf of his sister he would be forcibly expelled from Tashkent. Mutabar Tadzhibaeva’s daughter Makhlio has complained that she had been threatened by the authorities not to travel to Tashkent to visit her mother. Makhlio has not been able to visit her mother since she was detained. Umida Niazova On 1 May Umida Niazova, an independent human rights activist and journalist, was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment by a district court in Tashkent on charges of illegally crossing the border, smuggling and distributing material causing public disorder after a two-day trial which fell far short of international fair trial standards. The judge reportedly did not give witnesses for the prosecution and the defence adequate time to respond to questions and reportedly AI Index: EUR 01/010/2007