Mutabar Tadjibayeva

In 1937 Uljaboy Khamrakulov, her maternal grandfather, was declared public enemy and exiled to Siberia with his family.

Since then he had been being transferred all over the Soviet Union.

They married in 1944 and their first son was born in Ukraine.

Although Tojiboyeva was not eyewitness of those events, her mother's memories played a significant role in her maturing as a human rights defender.

In 1946 for having served in the ranks of partisans against the German invaders he was rehabilitated by the Soviet government and returned to the homeland.

During World War II, Kandolathon Uljayeva met her future husband in Ukraine.

Ibrohim Tojiboyev was a soldier of the Soviet Army.

For the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the "Fiery Hearts Club" was awarded with the French Republic's "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" Prize.

Moʻtabar Tojiboyeva Ibragimovna (Uzbek Cyrillic: Мўтабар Тожибоева; born 25 August 1962) is an Uzbek independent journalist and human rights activist.

She is a founder of the International Human Rights Organization "Fiery Hearts Club".

Tojiboyeva monitored human rights implementation and carried out journalist investigations.

She participated in investigative actions and judicial trials as a defense counsel and authorized representative in Uzbekistan.

Tojiboyeva is also a founder of the Popular Movement "Civil Society".

Tojiboyeva was born on August 25, 1962, in Margilan, Ferghana region, into a workers' family.

Her father is Ibrohim Tojiboyev, her mother – Kandolathon Uljayeva.

In 1969, Tojiboyeva entered the school No.7 in Margilan named after Khamzy.

After graduation in 1979, Tojiboyeva had worked as a spinner at the Margilan filature for one year.

In 1980, she started working as an assistant at a State notary office in Akhunbabayevsky district.

In 1981 Tojiboyeva got an office secretary job in the District Department of Agriculture.

From 1987 to 1989 she studied by correspondence in Margilan technical secondary school of economic planning and was conferred a diploma in economics.

At the same time she completed journalism courses under the Press department of Fergana Region.

She was arrested on 7 October 2005 just before leaving to Dublin where she was due to attend an international conference on human rights protection.

Tojiboyeva was accused in breaching the 18 articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

She was convicted on 13 counts and sentenced to 8 years in prison for criticizing the Uzbek government for having used violence against the participants of the peaceful demonstration in Andijan in 2005.

In 2005, the international organization PeaceWomen Across the Globe under the Nobel Committee included Tojiboyeva's name to the list of 1000 women peace activists, thus making her the official nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize.

On May 15, 2008, when she was still in prison, Tojiboyeva was awarded with the Martin Ennals Award.

The same day the bloggers who wrote about human rights announced a top 10 list of the women who had played the most significant role in human rights protection.

Tojiboyeva was among them.

On July 2, 2008, Tojiboyeva was released.

The Martin Ennals Award Ceremony was held in Geneva on November 20, 2008.

On December 10, 2008, Tojiboyeva was awarded with the same prize during the ceremony in Paris.

In March 2009, Tojiboyeva received the International Women of Courage Award established by the State Department of the USA.

Later she returned the award because of her own principles.

In August she became a member of the International Council of the Human Rights Found.

In 2011, Tojiboyeva appeared in the list of the ten most influential women in Central Asia.

In 2011 she wrote a book "Prisoner of Torture Island".

In the book, Tojiboyeva shares her memories and tells about the atrocities of the Uzbek government over its people.

The book will be translated into English, Russian, French and Uzbek.

Tojiboyeva is now a political refugee and lives in Ile-de-France.

At present she is at the head of the International Human Rights Organization "Fiery Hearts", registered and based in Paris.