Watchdog

A group of U.S. Senators has urged Uzbek President Islam Karimov to release five prisoners whose detention "appears to be politically motivated."

In a November 24 letter to Karimov, Democratic Senators Dick Durbin, Barbara Boxer, Bob Casey, Robert Menendez, Patrick Leahy, Richard Blumenthal, and Benjamin Cardin, and Republican Mark Kirk, expressed their appreciation of the U.S.-Uzbek cooperation on issues related to Afghanistan.

But they stressed that the ongoing detention of the five Uzbeks, all human rights advocates or journalists, remains "an impediment to further cooperation between our two countries."

The senators said Akzam Turgunov, Dilmurod Saidov, Salijon Abdurakhmanov, Muhammad Bekjanov, and Bobomurod Razzokov "have been characterized as prisoners of conscience" by international organizations.

They said all five are reportedly suffering from poor health brought on by years of incarceration and "a lack of adequate medical attention."

The senators called on Karimov to immediately release the five men "on humanitarian grounds," adding that this "would help to further relations between our countries."

BAKU -- A human rights lawyer activist Elcin Namazov has been sentenced to 15 days in jail in Azerbaijan.

Namazov's brother, Akram, told RFE/RL on November 26 that the activist had been found guilty of disobeying police and sentenced on November 25.

He said he fears his brother, whose office was searched on November 25 by police who confiscated documents, could face further charges.

Meanwhile, representatives of Azerbaijan's opposition Popular Front Party told RFE/RL that a party activist, Asif Yusifli, went missing on November 25.

Colleagues fear that he might have been detained by police.

Azerbaijan's Interior Ministry declined to comment on Yusifli's situation.

Western states and rights groups have repeatedly accused President Ilham Aliyev's government of stifling dissent and restricting basic freedoms in the oil-producing Caspian Sea state.