JEWS IN DANGER IN UZBEKISTAN (fwd)

[HEBASS <HEBASS...>]

It is not about music, but with this we can save lives.

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Henrique Ozur Bass                      Jewish Theological Seminary of America
Cantorial Student                       21 Pilgrim Lane
hebass (at) JTSA(dot)EDU                        Westbury, NY 11
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 29 Jan 1995 15:22:01 -0500 (EST)
>From: Seth Ness <ness (at) aecom(dot)yu(dot)edu>
To: Insights into Torah and life and personal growth by Rabbi Kalman
     Packouz of Yeshivat Aish HaTorah <shabbatshalom (at) 
israel(dot)nysernet(dot)ORG>
Subject: JEWS IN DANGER IN UZBEKISTAN

'


TO:         All Jewish networks 

FROM:     Pamela B. Cohen, National President                Micah H. Naftalin,
National Director                UNION OF COUNCILS FOR SOVIET JEWS 

SUBJECT:  JEWS IN DANGER 

URGENT ACTION REQUESTED: A letter from you could save the life of an elderly,
observant Jew presently being tried in Uzbekistan for a murder he could not
have committed. Apologies for cross-posting, necessitated by the gravity of the
situation. 

The Jews of Uzbekistan are deeply frightened because a well known Jewish man
has been falsely accused of the murder of an ethnic Uzbek youth.  "If he is
convicted, the whole Jewish community will be in great danger," according to a
Jewish leader in Uzbekistan who cannot be identified for fear of reprisal. 

We received the following information last night from The Caucasus Network, an
international organization for the benefit of Jews in the Caucasus and Central
Asian republics of the former Soviet Union.  You may be assured that the
information is based on unimpeachable sources. 

At 12:30 p.m. of September 29, a 17-year old Uzbek youth named Ibragimov was
found murdered in his bed in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. His skull was smashed and
his throat cut. An expert witness for the prosecution testified that he had
been dead for at least 10 hours, i.e. since around 2:30 a.m. or before.  His
landlord, Iosif Koinov, was arrested, jailed and, in late November, charged
with the murder.  He was viciously tortured into signing a confession he could
not read or understand. 

However, Koinov, a 76-year old observant, Bukharan Jew, was on an overnight
train traveling from the town of Margilan in eastern Uzbekistan which did not
arrive in Tashkent until 6 a.m. He provided the arresting officers with the
names of eye witnesses and the ticket, both proving that he was nowhere near
Tashkent at the time of the murder. 

Uzbekistan is one of the most totalitarian of the former Soviet republics,
whose leader maintains a near-complete stranglehold over his country. The
Jewish population, numbering between 60,000 and 100,000, lives in constant fear
of the security forces, of Islamic nationalists, and of a justice system that
does not protect its citizens.  In recent months, a vicious anti-Semitic tract
has been circulating in Uzbekistan aimed at rousing hatred against Jews in this
predominantly Moslem nation. It speaks of an historic "conspiracy of infidel
kikes" who are troublemakers responsible for Moslem woes.  With a harsh winter
threatening acute shortages of food, medicine and fuel, Uzbek authorities may
well be preparing the ground for scapegoating Jews. 

The trial, which had been set and delayed several times, began on January 5 but
adjourned within minutes until further notice. If the Union of Councils for
Soviet Jews has learned anything in its 25- year experience of defending the
safety of Jews in the former Soviet Union, it is that their best protection
lies in keeping their plight directly in the spotlight of publicity. 

Today, this very minute, the safety of Iosif Koinov -- and likely the safety of
the Jews of Uzbekistan -- depends on your joining in a campaign to let the
Uzbeks know that the civilized world is watching them.  This elderly man, who
is in ill health, must be released from jail immediately.  If you know anything
about Uzbek jails, you will understand that his life very likely depends on it.

WE URGENTLY APPEAL TO YOU, AT ONCE, TO DO THE FOLLOWING: 

     l.  Write personal and/or organizational letters addressed to Mr. Buri
Mustafoev, the Uzbek Prosecutor General, as follows: 

CIS 700 000 Uzbekistan, Tashkent ul. Gogol 66 Procurator General of Uzbekistan
Buri Mustafoev 


     2.  Address the envelope:  UCSJ: Koinov Appeal                            
                                                                              
1819 H Street N.W. Suite 230                                                   
                               Washington, D.C. 20006 

(It takes up to two months for regular mail to be delivered to Tashkent.  We
will forward your letters in bulk by DHL express delivery.) 

     3.  Please write a second letter (or telegram), or provide a cc of the
first, and mail it direct to the Uzbek Ambassador in Washington: 

     Honorable Fatikh Teshabaev, Ambassador      Embassy of Uzbekistan     
1511 K. Street, N.W.  #623      Washington, D.C. 20005 

(Please send us a copy of your letters so that we will know what the Ambassador
is receiving) Your letters need not be long.  Tell them that you are aware of
the spurious charges against Iosif Koinov, an elderly Tashkent Jew who could
not possibly have committed the murder for which he is charged.  That you
believe the trial constitutes an anti-Semitic provocation.  That Americans will
not tolerate normal relations with a country that permits such miscarriages of
justice and perpetrates human rights violations against its citizens.  Ask him
to use his supervisory powers to correct this abuse of prosecution by dropping
the charges and releasing Koinov from custody. 

This style of response was employed for two decades in behalf of the safety of
Soviet Prisoners of Conscience.  And it worked. Today, the prosecution of Iosif
Koinov is also politically motivated.  His safety, perhaps his life, and the
safety of Uzbekistan's Jews, depend on all of us. 

With thanks, we implore you to respond at once. 





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