Uzbekistan-South Korea: Do Economic Ties Outweigh Rights Obligations?

As EurasiaNet.org previously reported, South Korea deported a citizen of Uzbekistan on March 21. A South Korean non-profit organization, Advocates for Public Interest Law (APIL), has issued a statement with additional information on the circumstances surrounding the deportation. APIL had been handling the Uzbek citizen’s case at the time.

According to APIL, the Uzbek citizen, identified as Usmon Rakhimov, stated that he was a practicing Muslim seeking asylum in order to avoid persecution by the Uzbek government. According to a number of human rights organizations, Uzbek authorities severely restrict religious freedom: membership in certain religious groups, or simply frequent attendance of services at a mosque, is sufficient to expose individuals to criminal charges of religious extremism. In one notorious case, 47 Muslims charged in 2009 with being followers of Said Nursi -- a fairly moderate Turkish theologian, whose books are openly published in Turkey -- were tortured during the investigation and sentenced to long prison terms.

The APIL statement on March 29 suggested that South Korea was acting in an inconsistent manner. It pointed out that at a recent UNHCR session, South Korean officials condemned a Chinese government move to forcibly repatriate several North Korean defectors to their country of origin, where they stood a good chance of being tortured.

Rakhimov was reportedly detained immediately upon return to Tashkent. Since then, family members have been unable to contact him, and his specific whereabouts remain unknown.

By denying the Uzbek asylum seeker the right to appeal the deportation decision within 14 days, South Korean authorities may have violated the principle of non-refoulement. That principle, officially enshrined in the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, prohibits the expulsion of a refugee to a country where his or her life, or civil liberties could be threatened. Such a threat definitely exists in Uzbekistan, where, according to multiple reports by international organizations, torture is a routine practice in law enforcement, and the judicial branch is under the control of the executive.

Economics may have factored into South Korea’s actions concerning Rakhimov. South Korea is one of Uzbekistan’s key trade partners and investors. For instance, the South Korean company Daewoo International operates two textile production joint-ventures, one in Fergana, the other in Bukhara. The output of one of the two, Daewoo Textile Fergana, accounts for as much as 20 percent of Uzbekistan’s textile exports.