Uzbekistan: Five-Year-Old Son of Human Rights Activist Beaten

Just over a week after thugs pummeled a prominent human rights activist in Uzbekistan, her five-year-old son suffered a beating at the hands of an unidentified youth that required a visit to a hospital emergency room.

Muhammad Mashurov, the son of rights activist Elena Urlaeva, required medical treatment for head injuries after a teenager battered him with a stick. The boy reportedly suffered a concussion and lacerations, the CA-News service reported. The incident occurred in a courtyard outside the family's apartment in Tashkent on April 22, the opposition website Uznews.net reported.

Urlaeva, a member of the Human Rights Alliance of Uzbekistan, was assaulted near her home on April 15 as she took her son to school. She was punched, kicked and threatened with a knife by attackers demanding to know why she had not left the country already. Human Rights Watch say the April 15 confrontation is linked to Urlaeva's activism. She continues to receive daily death-threats by phone, Uznews.net reported.