Azam Farmonov is an

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

rural development Rural development is the process of improving the quality life and economic well-being of people living in rural areas, often relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas. Rural development has traditionally centered on the exploitation of l ...

activist who spent 11 years in prison following conviction for extortion in 2006.

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

considered him a prisoner of conscience and in 2011 named him a "priority case". Farmonov has a wife, Ozoda Yakubova, and two children. His father-in-law, Talib Yakubov, is the Vice President of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan. On 29 April 2006, Farmonov was arrested along with fellow activist

Alisher Karamatov Alisher Karamatov is a currently-imprisoned Uzbekistani rural development activist. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience and named him a 2011 "priority case". Before his arrest, Karmatov was an activist with the Human Rig ...

and charged with extortion. The two later reported torture by security forces, including partial

suffocation Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can i ...

with a disconnected

gas mask A gas mask is a mask used to protect the wearer from inhaling airborne pollutants and toxic gases. The mask forms a sealed cover over the nose and mouth, but may also cover the eyes and other vulnerable soft tissues of the face. Most gas mask ...

and beatings on the legs and heels.

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

condemned the trial and stated that it "appear dto be a politically motivated effort to stop their human rights work" in keeping with a recent pattern of suspicious charges against human rights workers.

Front Line A front line (alternatively front-line or frontline) in military terminology is the position(s) closest to the area of conflict of an armed force's personnel and equipment, usually referring to land forces. When a front (an intentional or uninte ...

also described the arrests as politically motivated and "part of an ongoing campaign against human rights defenders in Uzbekistan."

condemned the charges and called for the immediate release of Farmonov and Karamatov. Uzbekistani government officials, however, denied that the extortion charges were politically motivated. Both men were convicted and sentenced to nine years in prison. Farmonov was the first citizen activist to be sent to the notorious Jaslik "severe regime" prison camp in violation of his sentence, which called for a "general regime" camp. According to his wife, he was repeatedly placed in a "punishment cell," and on 8 January 2008, was stripped naked, handcuffed, and left in an unheated punishment cell for 23 days. In April 2015 his prison term was extended by another five years after the authorities accused him of disobedience to prison rules. Farmonov was freed from Jaslik on 3 October 2017, two and a half years before the end of his extended prison sentence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farmonov, Azam Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Uzbekistan Uzbekistani activists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Uzbekistani prisoners and detainees Extortionists