Uzbekistan is now seeking to extradite detained UNHCR-recognized refugee Makset Djabbarbergenov from Kazakhstan on charges which carry a maximum 15 year jail term. The Protestant who fled to Kazakhstan is being sought by Uzbekistan for exercising freedom of religion or belief in his hometown of Nukus. A Kazakh Almaty court decision Oct. 15, authorized further detention until 5 November. The Kazakh court also claimed that the Uzbek charges — which seek to prosecute exercising freedom of religion or belief — can be equated to terrorism-related charges in Kazakh law.
Djabbarbergenov's wife has been stopped by Kazakh authorities from visiting him, she told Forum 18 News Service, as has a human rights defender who found he is being held in solitary confinement. The Supreme Court claims it cannot find an appeal he lodged in August. Also, Kazakhstan has yet to reply to a finding of the UN Committee Against Torture that it violated human rights obligations by extraditing to Uzbekistan a group of Muslim refugees and asylum seekers. Kazakhstan's current bid to join the UN Human
Rights Council claims it would, if elected, "enhance the credibility and effectiveness of the Human Rights Council.”
(F18)
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