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Category: Uzbekistan

  • Central Asia Leaders Must Deliver on Human Rights Pledges Made at Summit say NGOs

    Photo and copyright: European Union.

    On 10 April 2025 Civil Rights Defenders, along with seven other international human rights organizations, commend the commitments made at the EU-Central Asia Summit in Samarkand. We urge Central Asian leaders to prioritize human rights and uphold the civil and political freedoms enshrined in their national constitutions and international treaties. The commitments to peace, security, democracy, and the elevation of relations to a strategic partnership must be matched by concrete actions to protect human rights.

    On Friday, April 4, the Uzbek city of Samarkand hosted the first ever EU – Central Asia Summit where high-level officials – all five regional presidents and European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen – discussed economic cooperation and agreed to bring their existing partnership to a new strategic level. At the end of the summit, participants issued a joint declaration that, among others, stated their commitment to freedom of expression and association, creating an enabling environment for civil society and independent media, protection of human rights defenders, as well as to respecting the rights of women and children. According to an official press release, the European Commission promised to invest €12 billion in the region to strengthen transport links and deepen cooperation on critical raw materials, digital connectivity, water, and energy.

    Paragraph 3 of the joint declaration says: “We are committed to cooperate for peace, security, and democracy, to fully respect international law, including the UN Charter and the fundamental principles of respect for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all States, within their internationally recognised borders. We emphasised the importance of achieving as soon as possible, a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine in accordance with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. We emphasized the need to uphold the principles of the OSCE by the participating States. We reconfirmed the obligation of all States to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force, to respect international humanitarian law and underlined the need for peaceful resolution of conflicts.”

    In paragraph 16, the “EU and Central Asian leaders reiterated that the promotion and protection of rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms is a common fundamental value. Ensuring freedom of expression and association, an enabling environment for civil society and independent media, protection of human rights defenders as well as the respect for the rights of women, the rights of the child, and labor rights remain at the core of EU–Central Asia relations. The EU reiterated its readiness to support efforts in this regard at regional as well as at national level.” 

    Furthermore, in paragraph 15 the “Participants affirmed the need for their continued commitment to enhanced cooperation and the development of new approaches in the joint fight against organised crime, violent extremism, radicalisation, terrorism, drug trafficking, trafficking in human beings, migrant smuggling, cyber threats, including cybercrime and disinformationas well as addressing Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear risks whilst safeguarding human rights and media freedom [emphasis added].”

    Civil Rights Defenders, International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR), Araminta, Freedom Now, Norwegian Helsinki Committee, People in Need, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) welcome these declared commitments and urge the leaders of each Central Asian nation to take immediate steps to fulfill their promises. They should start by releasing from prison all journalists, bloggers, lawyers, human rights defenders, civil society activists, and political opponents who have been prosecuted and convicted on retaliatory and unsubstantiated charges. They should also repeal legislation containing provisions that directly contradict their declared commitment to human rights standards. 

    The Central Asian governments should also end–and establish safeguards to prevent–the misuse of anti-extremism and anti-disinformation policies and security tools to restrict, persecute, and/or criminalize legitimate civil society activity. While enhanced cooperation in the joint fight against organized crime, violent extremism and terrorism, and disinformation are a welcome development, these types of laws and cooperation initiatives have been instrumentalized by the Central Asian governments against legitimate civil society actors, media and political opposition activists, including for imprisonment on lengthy sentences and transnational repression extending to the territory of the European Union. 

    In particular:

    • In Kazakhstan, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev should order the release from custody of activist Aigerim Tleuzhanova, political opposition party leader Marat Zhylanbayev, satirist blogger Temirlan Ensebek, and labor rights activist Erzhan Elshibayev among others prosecuted on politically motivated charges, We believe that these individuals were targeted in direct retaliation for exercising their civil and political rights, and authorities have failed to provide any credible evidence to support the allegations levelled against them. Kazakh authorities should repeal or thoroughly revise broadly worded criminal code provisions penalising the involvement in ‘’extremist’’ activities, ‘’incitement’’ to discord and the spread of ‘’false’’ information, which are frequently misused to target critics, including in some of the cases mentioned above. Kazakh authorities should also drop their declared plans to adopt a so-called “foreign agents’” law, cease the public attacks on the LGBTIQ community, and end reprisals against NGOs-recipients of foreign grants.
    • In Kyrgyzstan, it is welcome that President Sadyr Japarov pardoned Temirov Live associated journalist Azamat Ishenbekov this week, although he should not have been imprisoned in the first place. Authorities should also quash the charges against his colleagues convicted on similar charges, releasing Makhabat Tajibek Kyzy  and lifting the probational sentences imposed on Aike Beishekeyeva and Aktilek Kaparov. We believe all four journalists were targeted in retaliation for their critical opinions and independent journalism. Authorities should also release independent journalist Kanyshay Mamyrkulova and drop the criminal charges initiated against her and others in apparent retaliation for social media posts critical of the government. In addition, they should reverse the court ruling that ordered the liquidation of independent news organization Kloop Media and stop pressuring other independent media. They should repeal the law on so-called “foreign representatives” and revoke vaguely worded provisions that prohibit the dissemination of “false’’, defamatory or insulting information, as well as content that ‘’promotes non-traditional sexual relations’’. This legislation severely violates the fundamental freedoms of expression, association, and assembly.
    • In Tajikistan, President Emomali Rakhmon should take immediate steps to release from prison the eight independent journalists Rukhshona Hakimova, Abdusattor Pirmuhammadzoda, Ahmad Ibrohim, Abdullo Ghurbati, Daler Imomali, Khurshed Fozilov, Khushom Gulyam, and Zavqibek Saidamini. Human rights activists and lawyers Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoeva, Buzurgmehr Yorov, Manuchehr Kholiknazarov, and Faromuz Irgashov should also be freed without delay. By imprisoning these individuals the Tajik authorities have cemented a climate of fear among civil society actors – a record that must be reversed. Tajik authorities should also cease its continued crackdown in the Gorno-Badakshan Autonomous Region and its systematic use of transnational repression to target government opponents abroad, including in EU countries. Several individuals who were forcibly returned to Tajikistan in  2024 were tortured, arrested and handed lengthy prison sentences after closed trials. 
    • In Turkmenistan, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov should take concrete steps to rectify his government’s extremely poor human rights record, free political prisoners, and allow space for an independent civil society to develop. The government should publicly declare tolerance towards criticism in the media and end wide ranging internet censorship. Authorities should immediately end attacks and harassment of critics of the regime both inside the country and abroad, including veteran human rights defender and journalist Soltan Achilova, who has repeatedly been barred from leaving the country. They should also decriminalize homosexuality while adopting legislation to criminalize domestic violence.  
    • In Uzbekistan, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev should order to quash wrongful convictions and free from prison and retaliatory psychiatric ward lawyer Dauletmurat Tadzhimuratov, activists Nargiz Keldiyorova and Dildora Khakimova and blogger Valijon Kalonov. All these human rights defenders have been targeted with retaliatory prosecution and convicted on unsubstantiated charges for publicly expressing their opinions about the state of affairs in the country. The Uzbek government should also repeal the law on so-called “undesirable foreign persons,” decriminalize male homosexuality, and remove all legal provisions and bureaucratic obstructions that prevent independent civil society groups from engaging in legitimate human rights work.

    We urge the leaders of each Central Asian nation to demonstrate that they have the political will to deliver on their declared commitments made at the Samarkand summit and to respect human rights and civil and political freedoms protected by their national constitutions and international treaties ratified by them. We call on the EU to ensure that the commitments expressed in the joint declaration are followed through and that Central Asian governments are held accountable for violations of their human rights obligations under EU cooperation instruments, including bilateral partnership and cooperation agreements and preferential trade schemes. In line with the EU’s value-based partnership with the Central Asian countries, advancing connectivity, trade, and investment should go hand in hand with efforts to promote concrete progress in human rights and rule of law in these countries. The steps listed above are merely a suggested choice of actions that we urge the Central Asia governments to implement without delay. Much more needs to be done for addressing past and ongoing abuses that respect and protect citizens’ rights and freedoms.

    Signtures

    Civil Rights Defenders

    International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR)

    Araminta,

    Freedom Now

    Norwegian Helsinki Committee

    People in Need

    International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

    World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)

    Central Asia Leaders Must Deliver on Human Rights Pledges Made at Summit

    This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.

  • EU urged to put human rights centre stage at first central Asia summit

    Bloc to discuss trade, security and energy with leaders of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan

    The EU is being urged to put human rights centre stage as it begins its first summit with the leaders of central Asia.

    The president of the European Council, António Costa, and the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, are meeting the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan on Friday.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Uzbekistan Has A Lot Of Gas, But Uzbeks Are Shivering: A Central Asian Corruption Story


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and was authored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Prison Terms For 17 In Deadly Uzbek Dam Burst

    Uzbekistan’s Supreme Court has sentenced 17 people to prison terms of between four and 10 years for corruption and misconduct over a deadly dam burst last year.

    The Supreme Court said that the verdicts and sentences of the defendants, including energy officials, top officials of the state railways company, and leaders of construction companies that were involved into the construction of the dam, were pronounced on May 10.

    The defendants were found guilty of embezzlement, forgery, violating safety rules, negligence, and abuse of office.

    The dam at the Sardoba Reservoir in the eastern Uzbek region of Sirdaryo burst early on May 1, 2020, resulting in the deaths of six people and forcing at least 70,000 out of their homes.

    Over 600 homes in neighboring Kazakhstan were also flooded in the accident.

    The Sardoba Reservoir was completed in 2017 after seven years of construction work.

    Kazakh officials said after the dam burst that flooding caused crop damage worth more than $400,000 — mostly to cotton, which is grown in the southern Turkistan region.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Watchdogs Blast Uzbek Blogger’s Prison Sentence On ‘Trumped-Up’ Charges

    International media-freedom watchdogs are urging an Uzbek court to overturn the conviction of a blogger who was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison on “trumped-up” extortion and slander charges.

    A court in the southern Surxondaryo region handed down the sentence against Otabek Sattoriy on May 10 in a case denounced by rights defenders as retaliation by the authorities for his critical reporting.

    The 40-year-old Sattoriy has insisted that the case against him was “based on lies.”

    Sattoriy’s lawyer said he intended to appeal the conviction.

    The authorities should “immediately release Otabek Sattoriy, not contest his appeal, and allow all journalists to work freely and without fear of reprisal,” according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

    Sattoriy’s conviction “is a clear attempt to frighten the press away from covering sensitive issues” ahead of a presidential election in October, Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, said in a statement.

    Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said the “fabricated” accusations against the blogger “testify to a desire to quell local corruption scandals and intimidate critical voices.”

    The Paris-based group noted that since his arrest in late January, Sattoriy had been ordered to pay a fine of 9.8 million soms ($931) for “slander” and “insult” in a separate case.

    The Prosecutor-General’s Office has rejected criticism by human rights organizations, saying that Sattoriy’s arrest was lawful.

    The blogger is known to be a harsh critic of the regional governor, Tora Bobolov. In one post on his Halq Fikiri (People’s Opinion) video blog, Sattoriy openly accused the local government of launching fabricated criminal cases against bloggers and vowed to continue to raise the issue of corruption among officials despite the “crackdown.”

    RSF said criminal proceedings were also brought against two journalists from the independent Effect.uz website in early April after they approached the judge to attend the blogger’s trial. Elyor Tojiboev and Aqbar Nurumbetov were charged with “resisting a representative of the authorities” and “interfering with the investigation.”

    Another blogger, Behruz Nematov, was kidnapped in broad daylight on April 2 by unknown individuals who kept him for four hours and beat him with a baton, demanding that he stop covering the trial.

    Uzbekistan is ranked 157th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2020 World Press Freedom Index.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Uzbek Blogger Critical Of Government Gets Lengthy Prison Term

    XALQOBOD, Uzbekistan — A court in Uzbekistan’s southern Surxondaryo region has sentenced blogger Otabek Sattoriy to 6 1/2 years in prison in a high-profile extortion and slander case that has sparked harsh criticism of the country by domestic and international human rights groups.

    The Muzrabot district court pronounced the ruling on May 10. Last week, a prosecutor asked the court to sentence the blogger to 11 years in prison.

    The 40-year-old blogger faced a number of charges, including extortion and slander, which his supporters and rights defenders have characterized as retaliation by the authorities for his critical reporting.

    Sattoriy, whose trial started in March, has insisted that the case against him was “based on lies.”

    Sattoriy is known to be a harsh critic of the regional governor, Tora Bobolov. In one post on his Halq Fikiri (People’s Opinion) video blog, Sattoriy openly accused the local government of launching fabricated criminal cases against bloggers and vowed to continue to raise the issue of corruption among officials despite the “crackdown.”

    Since his arrest in late-January, Sattoriy has been tried in a separate case and found guilty of defamation and distributing false information. According to the Prosecutor-General’s Office, the blogger was ordered to pay a fine for the offenses.

    The Prosecutor-General’s Office has also rejected criticism by human rights organizations, saying that Sattoriy’s arrest was lawful.

    Uzbekistan is ranked 156th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders organization’s 2020 World Press Freedom Index.

    Last month, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urged Uzbekistan to repeal recent legal amendments that the group says “deepen restrictions” on online speech ahead of a planned presidential election in October.

    The changes introduce prison sentences for crimes such as insulting or defaming the president online and making online calls for “mass disturbances.” They also make it an offense to publish statements online calling on people to violate the law and threaten public order, or show “disrespect” to the state.

    President Shavkat Mirziyoev took over as the head of Central Asia’s most-populous state after authoritarian leader Islam Karimov’s death was announced in September 2016.

    Mirziyoev has since positioned himself as a reformer, releasing political prisoners and opening his country to its neighbors and the outside world, although many activists say the changes have not gone nearly far enough.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Only One-Quarter Of Kazakhs Would Take A COVID-19 Vaccine

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Uzbek Prosecutor Seeks 11 Years In Prison For Blogger Critical Of Government

    XALQOBOD, Uzbekistan — A prosecutor in Uzbekistan’s southern Surxondaryo region has asked a court to sentence blogger Otabek Sattoriy to 11 years in prison in a high-profile extortion and slander case that has drawn harsh criticism from domestic and international human rights groups.

    The prosecutor said in a statement at the Muzrabot district court during closing arguments on May 4 that Sattoriy “does not deserve a mitigated punishment,” since he has refused to accept blame and has not paid compensation to his alleged victims.

    Sattoriy, whose trial started in March, has said that the case against him was fabricated and “based on lies.”

    The 40-year-old blogger was charged with extortion, slander and insult, which his supporters and rights defenders have characterized as retaliation by the authorities for his critical reporting.

    Sattoriy is known to be a harsh critic of the regional governor, Tora Bobolov. In one post on his Halq Fikiri (People’s Opinion) video blog, Sattoriy openly accused the local government of launching fabricated criminal cases against bloggers and vowed to continue to raise the issue of corruption among officials despite the “crackdown.”

    Since his arrest in late January, Sattoriy has been tried in a separate case and found guilty of defamation and spreading false information. According to the Prosecutor-General’s Office, the blogger was ordered to pay a fine for the offenses.

    The Prosecutor-General’s Office also rejected criticism by human rights organizations, saying that Sattoriy’s arrest was lawful.

    Uzbekistan is ranked 156th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ 2020 World Press Freedom Index.

    Last month, the Committee to Protect Journalists urged Uzbekistan to repeal recent legal amendments that the group said “deepen restrictions” on online speech ahead of a planned presidential election in October.

    The changes introduce prison sentences for crimes such as insulting or defaming the president online and making online calls for “mass disturbances.” They also make it an offense to publish statements online calling on people to violate the law and threaten public order, or show “disrespect” to the state.

    President Shavkat Mirziyoev took over as head of Central Asia’s most-populous state after authoritarian leader Islam Karimov’s death was announced in September 2016.

    Mirziyoev has since positioned himself as a reformer, releasing political prisoners and opening his country to its neighbors and the outside world, although many activists say the changes have not gone nearly far enough.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • ‘Uzbek Banksy’ Gives First Interview, Says He’d Never Heard Of The Actual Banksy

    When spray-painted pictures began appearing on the streets of Tashkent about a year ago, they prompted a wave of photos on social media and excited talk of the “Uzbek Banksy.” Now, in his first-ever interview, he told RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service that when he started, he had never previously heard of the famous English-based street artist he was compared to.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Severely Beaten Uzbek Blogger Under House Arrest After Release From Hospital

    TASHKENT — Uzbek blogger and rights activist Miraziz Bazarov, who was severely beaten by unknown attackers in March, has been put under house arrest after being released from the hospital.

    Bazarov’s lawyer, Sergei Mayorov, told RFE/RL that his client was immediately taken to the Tashkent City Main Directorate of Interior Affairs after he was released from hospital on April 29.

    According to Mayorov, Bazarov is under house arrest on charges of libel and public insult. The case against Bazarov was launched last week after teachers at Tashkent school No. 110 filed a lawsuit against him over a video placed by the blogger on the Internet last October.

    “In the video, Bazarov says ‘school is a place where slaves and losers teach children to become slaves and losers’ and that became the basis of the lawsuit,” Mayorov said.

    Representatives from the school’s administration were not available for immediate comment.

    The school was renovated by a well-known Russian tycoon of Uzbek origin, Alisher Usmanov. Earlier in April, it was at the center of a scandal after Shahnoza Soatova, an adviser to the justice minister, said that the school administration measured the height of students’ socks as part of the “struggle against LGBT ideas.”

    Bazarov. 29, was hospitalized in late March after he was severely attacked by unknown men hours after a public event he organized was disrupted by dozens of aggressive men in the Uzbek capital.

    Bazarov is known for his criticism of the Uzbek government on his Telegram channel.

    Among other issues, Bazarov has also publicly urged the government to decriminalize same-sex sexual conduct, which is still legally considered a crime in Uzbekistan.

    Bazarov has openly said he is not an LGBT activist, but believes that being gay is a personal issue and therefore there should be no laws against it.

    Bazarov has also criticized President Shavkat Mirziyoev for insufficient anti-corruption efforts, and has questioned the efficiency of ongoing restrictions to battle the coronavirus pandemic.

    Last summer, Bazarov was questioned by State Security Service investigators after he called on the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank on Facebook not to provide loans to Uzbekistan without strict control over how the funds are used.

    Bazarov had told RFE/RL that he had received many online threats before the attack. He said had informed the police of this, but law enforcement did not take any action.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • The Steepest Declines In Democracy

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Uzbek, Tajik, And Kyrgyz Governors Hold Landmark Forum In Ferghana Valley

    A meeting occurred in Central Asia on April 23 that hasn’t ever happened before.

    The governor of Uzbekistan’s eastern Ferghana Province met with the Tajik and Kyrgyz governors of the adjoining provinces for talks on economic cooperation.

    Hosted in the city of Ferghana by Hayrullo Bozorov, the meeting was attended by the governor of Tajikistan’s Sughd Province, Rajabboi Ahmadzoda, and the governor of Kyrgyzstan’s Batken Province, Omurbek Suvanaliev.

    Nearly 30 years after the three countries became independent, the meeting marked the first time the heads of the three neighboring provinces had ever gathered for such a meeting.

    The three provinces are all in the populous Ferghana Valley, an agriculturally rich area that has also become a major smuggling route and, since independence, has seen more deadly violence along its borders than any other area in Central Asia.

    And one of the interesting aspects of the business forum, officially called Integration Of Borders – The Key To Development, is that it was purely about trade and cultural relations, not border demarcation.

    Batken Province Governor Omurbek Suvanaliev (file photo)


    Batken Province Governor Omurbek Suvanaliev (file photo)

    Suvanaliev told RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service, known locally as Azattyk, that although “the matter of defining the borders is being decided, it is necessary for us also to strengthen economic ties.”

    And he made clear that the vital demarcation of the three countries’ borders “is the work of intergovernmental delegations.”

    All three governors were accompanied by delegations from local industrial and agricultural businesses and there was also an exhibit of their products.

    The only document reportedly signed was a memorandum of cooperation between the Ferghana and Sughd provinces.

    It was ironic that the venue for the landmark business forum was the Islam Karimov Theater.

    Late Uzbek President Islam Karimov


    Late Uzbek President Islam Karimov

    While Karimov was Uzbekistan’s first president, his country set up long barbed-wire fences and dug ditches along extensive stretches of its borders with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. During incursions by Islamic militants in the summer of 2000, Uzbekistan even put land mines at places along its borders with its two eastern neighbors.

    When Karimov died late in the summer of 2016, Uzbek troops were occupying some areas of Kyrgyzstan.

    His successor, Shavkat Mirziyoev, removed those troops as one of his first moves after becoming Uzbekistan’s leader.

    Mirziyoev also reversed Karimov’s policies toward Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and visits by Uzbek officials and business delegations to the neighboring countries are a common occurrence now.

    Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev visiting Ferghana Valley last year.


    Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev visiting Ferghana Valley last year.

    Those meetings have gone a long way towards improving Uzbekistan’s relations with its two neighbors.

    The business forum in Ferghana took this new spirit of cooperation a step further by bringing together the representatives of the three countries that share the fertile Ferghana Valley region.

    Though the forum did not result in the signing of large amounts of contracts, the big achievement was the meeting itself.

    Though there has been some progress in demarcating and marking the borders in the region despite difficult negotiations, the process is likely to continue to be problematic in the years to come as territory is exchanged and people’s property affected.

    While border negotiations continue, there is no reason why three of the areas involved in these talks should not move forward by improving economic ties.

    The Ferghana business forum was the first step.

    And a better economic situation locally should make all three parties more amenable to compromises in their future border negotiations.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Majlis Podcast: The Threat To Religious Freedom In Central Asia

    The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) just released its annual report that named Tajikistan and Turkmenistan as “countries of particular concern” and recommended Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan be placed on the U.S. State Department’s Special Watch List, a list Uzbekistan was removed from in December 2020.

    Governments in Central Asia have worked since independence to increase control over religion in their countries and many groups and members of different faiths have been persecuted and denied registration. Some believers have been imprisoned, particularly Muslims, whom the governments of these countries seem to fear the most.

    On this week’s Majlis podcast, RFE/RL Media-Relations Manager Muhammad Tahir moderates a discussion about religious freedom and the lack thereof in Central Asia.

    This week’s guests are: from Washington, Nury Turkel, commissioner at the USCIRF and also a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute; from Oslo, Norway, Felix Corley, the editor of the Forum 18 News Service, an agency monitoring religious freedom in the former Soviet republics and Eastern Europe; from Warsaw, Poland, Muhamadjon Kabirov, the president of the Foundation for Intercultural Integration, the chief editor at Azda TV, and formerly the personal assistant of the chairman of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikstan; and Bruce Pannier, the author of RFE/RL’s Qishloq Ovozi blog.

    Listen to the podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes or on Google Podcasts.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Majlis Podcast: The Threat To Religious Freedom In Central Asia

    The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) just released its annual report that named Tajikistan and Turkmenistan as “countries of particular concern” and recommended Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan be placed on the U.S. State Department’s Special Watch List, a list Uzbekistan was removed from in December 2020.

    Governments in Central Asia have worked since independence to increase control over religion in their countries and many groups and members of different faiths have been persecuted and denied registration. Some believers have been imprisoned, particularly Muslims, whom the governments of these countries seem to fear the most.

    On this week’s Majlis podcast, RFE/RL Media-Relations Manager Muhammad Tahir moderates a discussion about religious freedom and the lack thereof in Central Asia.

    This week’s guests are: from Washington, Nury Turkel, commissioner at the USCIRF and also a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute; from Oslo, Norway, Felix Corley, the editor of the Forum 18 News Service, an agency monitoring religious freedom in the former Soviet republics and Eastern Europe; from Warsaw, Poland, Muhamadjon Kabirov, the president of the Foundation for Intercultural Integration, the chief editor at Azda TV, and formerly the personal assistant of the chairman of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikstan; and Bruce Pannier, the author of RFE/RL’s Qishloq Ovozi blog.

    Listen to the podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes or on Google Podcasts.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Unable To Get To Russia, Thousands Of Uzbeks Look To Kyrgyzstan For Jobs

    OSH, Kyrgyzstan — Hundreds of Uzbek migrant workers, including many women from the country’s densely populated Ferghana Valley, cross into neighboring Kyrgyzstan every day looking for jobs.

    Large crowds of Uzbek migrants gather near the Dostuk border crossing in the southern Kara-Suu district of the Osh region early every morning.

    It’s where many of the migrants get hired for short-term, informal jobs. Others travel deeper into the country in search of employment.

    Those who arrive early usually find work by midday, says Oibek, a laborer from the eastern Uzbek province of Andijon.

    “On average we make about $10 to $20 a day in Kyrgyzstan. It’s quite good,” Oibek says. In Uzbekistan the median salary is about $130 per month.

    “Of course, there are some days that we can’t find any work and go back home empty-handed,” he adds.

    Oibek says most of the Uzbek migrants in Kyrgyzstan are those who were not able to go to Russia due to the pandemic-related travel restrictions and high ticket prices.

    There is a reasonably good demand for Uzbek laborers in Kyrgyzstan, says one Kyrgyz employer. Sultan Aibashev, a Kara-Suu resident, was in Dostuk to hire a carpenter.

    “Migrants from Uzbekistan agree to do the work for much lower money than our local workers,” Aibashev said. “Besides, they do their work efficiently. There are many skilled workers among them.”

    But not everybody is happy.

    Some Kyrgyz officials say the cheaper Uzbek workforce is putting increasing pressure on the local job market, squeezing out Kyrgyz workers.

    Kyrgyzstan itself faces an unemployment crisis that has worsened during the pandemic.

    A recent survey by the U.S.-based International Republican Institute showed that nearly 60 percent of the respondents in Kyrgyzstan consider unemployment the most serious problem facing the country.

    “We need to provide jobs for our own citizens first,” says Oroz Sheripbaeva, the head of the Osh regional Employment and Social Development Department.

    “People from the most vulnerable segments of the population come to us saying they are unable for find work. Meanwhile, there are so many people from Uzbekistan who are working at our construction sites,” Sheripbaeva told RFE/RL.

    According to government statistics, nearly 157,000 people in Kyrgyzstan were registered as unemployed in 2020. The real number, however, is estimated to be about 500,000 in a country of some 6.5 million people.

    Let Them Pay Taxes

    Officials at the Dostuk checkpoint say some 300 Uzbek nationals, mostly residents of Andijon, cross into Kara-Suu every day.

    Only a handful of them are thought to be entering Kyrgyzstan for a family visit or to go sightseeing. The majority come for black market work.

    It’s not known how many migrants from Uzbekistan currently work in Kyrgyzstan because most of them are hired informally by private employers to build or renovate houses, demolish old buildings, and do other manual jobs. Women are often hired for housework and both men and women work on farms.

    The jobs are short-term, lasting from several hours, such as cutting down trees or spring cleaning, to a few weeks working in construction or agriculture.

    The workers usually stay in accommodation provided by the employer. Those who come from the border villages return home in the evening.

    The jobs are offered informally, with a verbal agreement between the worker and the employer. Salaries are only paid in cash.

    Uzbeks looking for work gather daily at Kyrgyz border crossings.


    Uzbeks looking for work gather daily at Kyrgyz border crossings.

    It’s highly uncommon for either the worker or the employer to register with authorities and pay taxes.

    There are calls among some Kyrgyz officials and others to regulate the illegal labor sector, introducing a mandatory work permit and income tax for migrant workers.

    Migrants from Uzbekistan began coming to Kyrgyzstan — on a smaller scale — in September 2017, when the two countries reopened checkpoints and simplified border-crossing procedures.

    Just a year later, Kyrgyz lawmaker Kenjebek Bokoev said Uzbek migrants working informally bring no benefit to Kyrgyzstan.

    Bokoev said the migrants, who force “thousands of Kyrgyz out of jobs,” must work legally and pay Kyrgyz taxes.

    Until Russia Reopens

    The number of Uzbek workers in Kyrgyzstan is not expected to drop until Russia removes pandemic-related travel restrictions.

    Russia — the top destination for Central Asian migrant workers — reopened its doors to Uzbek citizens on April 1. But they’re only allowed to enter Russia by flying.

    With just two flights a week scheduled for migrant workers, all of the plane tickets for the summer were quickly sold out.

    Central Asia’s most-populous country, with some 35 million inhabitants, Uzbekistan depends heavily on remittances from migrant workers.

    The official unemployment rate in 2020 was 13 percent. But even top government officials acknowledge that the jobless rate is actually much higher.

    An estimated 6 million Uzbeks traveled abroad — mostly to Russia — for seasonal jobs every year before the COVID-19 pandemic struck early last year.

    According to the Transport Ministry, Uzbekistan Airways made 87 flights per week from Uzbekistan to Russia before the pandemic.

    There were also 97 flights a week operated by various Russian airlines at the height of the migrant labor season.

    The most popular and affordable option for migrant workers was to travel by land, with 12 buses and 13 trains a week connecting Tashkent and Andijon to various Russian cities.

    Talks are reportedly under way to reopen the train service, which was suspended in March 2020. But no exact date for a resumption of service has been announced.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Newlywed’s Death Puts Spotlight On Domestic Violence In Uzbekistan

    Nineteen-year-old Mukhlisa Kadambaeva was found dead after what her parents said was brutal abuse by her husband’s family. The in-laws of the victim said she had hanged herself. The case has called attention to domestic violence in Uzbekistan, where such crimes are often seen as private matters and are rarely prosecuted.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • U.S. Report Says Russia Among ‘Worst Violators’ Of Religious Freedom

    An independent, bipartisan advisory body has reiterated its call for the U.S. State Department to add Russia to its register of the world’s “worst violators” of religious freedom, a blacklist that already includes Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and six other countries.

    The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), created by Congress to make recommendations about global religious freedom, proposes in its annual report released on April 21 that Russia, India, Syria, and Vietnam be put on the “countries of particular concern” list, a category reserved for those that carry out “systematic, ongoing, and egregious” violations of religious freedoms.

    The blacklisting paves the way for sanctions if the countries included do not improve their records.

    Countries recommended for the State Department’s special watch list, meaning there are still “severe” violations of religious freedom there, include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.

    The USCIRF report says that “religious freedom conditions in Russia deteriorated” last year, with the government targeting religious minorities deemed to be “nontraditional” with fines, detentions, and criminal charges.

    A total of 188 criminal cases alone were brought against the banned Jehovah’s Witnesses, while there were 477 searches of members’ homes, with raids and interrogations including “instances of torture that continue to go uninvestigated and unpunished.”

    For decades, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have been viewed with suspicion in Russia, where the dominant Orthodox Church is championed by President Vladimir Putin.

    In 2017, Russia outlawed the religious group and labeled it “extremist,” a designation the State Department has called “wrongful.”

    ‘Made-Up Charges’

    Russia’s anti-extremism law was also used to “persecute religious minorities, particularly Muslims,” the report added.

    In Russia’s region of the North Caucasus, “security forces acted with impunity, arresting or kidnapping persons suspected of even tangential links to Islamist militancy as well as for secular political opposition,” it said.

    In occupied Crimea, the enforcement of Russia’s “repressive” laws and policies on religion resulted in the prosecution of peaceful religious activity and bans on groups that were legal in the peninsula under Ukrainian law. At least 16 Crimean Muslims were sentenced to prison terms on “made-up charges of extremism and terrorism,” the report said.

    In Iran, the government escalated its “severe repression”” of religious minorities and continued to “export religious extremism and intolerance abroad,” according to the report, which cites “scores” of Christians being “arrested, assaulted, and unjustly sentenced to years in prison.”

    The government also continued to arrest Baha’is and impose lengthy prison sentences on them, with between 50 and 100 followers of the Baha’i sect reported to be in prisons in Iran during the past year.

    The USCIRF says religious freedom conditions also worsened in Pakistan, with the government “systematically” enforcing blasphemy laws and failing to protect religious minorities from “abuses by nonstate actors.”

    It cites a “sharp rise in targeted killings, blasphemy cases, forced conversions, and hate speech targeting religious minorities” including Ahmadis, Shi’a, Hindus, Christians, and Sikhs.

    Abduction, forced conversion to Islam, rape, and forced marriage “remained an imminent threat for religious minority women and children,” particularly among the Hindu and Christian faiths.

    In Turkmenistan, religious freedom conditions “remained among the worst in the world and showed no signs of improvement,” according to the report.

    The government continued to “treat all independent religious activity with suspicion, maintaining a large surveillance apparatus that monitors believers at home and abroad.”

    “Restrictive state policies have ‘virtually extinguished’ the free practice of religion in the country, where the government appoints Muslim clerics, surveils and dictates religious practice, and punishes nonconformity through imprisonment, torture, and administrative harassment,” the report said.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Kazakh Victim Of Attempted ‘Bride Kidnapping’ Fights For Justice

    A 27-year-old Kazakh woman is fighting traditional attitudes in seeking justice against five men she accuses of trying to kidnap and force her into marriage.

    Bride kidnapping is a common practice in Kyrgyzstan and parts of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, even though the long-standing practice is prohibited by law.

    Among the men that Aruzhan — who asked that her real name not be used to protect her privacy — accuses of trying to abduct her in July 2020 is a co-worker at a military unit in the southeastern Almaty Province.

    “I got a phone call from my colleague who asked me to make a cake for his brother’s birthday,” says Aruzhan, who supplements her income as a civilian contractor by baking cakes. “I didn’t have time as I was going to visit a friend, but my colleague insisted that he would give me a lift to my friend’s house if I made the cake.”

    Aruzhan’s colleague picked her up at a village bus stop near her home. As they drove to an intersection near the Kulzhin highway, four other men got into the car.

    The colleague said they were friends of his “who happened to be hitchhiking.” Aruzhan says she became suspicious when the car “took a wrong turn.”

    She immediately demanded the man stop the vehicle. “He pulled over to the side of the road and said, ‘We’re going to snatch you.’”

    “Snatching a bride” — or bride kidnapping — is a banned but widespread custom in some parts of southern Kazakhstan in which a man, usually with the help of a few friends, captures a woman of his choice for marriage.

    Aruzhan says she was left traumatized by the incident and is disappointed in the authorities' attitude toward her case.


    Aruzhan says she was left traumatized by the incident and is disappointed in the authorities’ attitude toward her case.

    In some cases, it’s just a pre-wedding ritual performed by the groom and his friends after getting the woman’s consent. But many cases involve nonconsensual kidnappings, with the victims targeted and forced into marriage against their will.

    Most bride-kidnapping cases in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan go unreported. The victims often stay in these marriages because returning home would bring shame to the woman and her family in the conservative societies in which they live.

    Dreading such an outcome, Aruzhan says she tried to fight back. “I jumped out of the car but the men tried to force me back into it.” She says she resisted their attempts by holding tight onto some racks atop the car, crying, and pleading with the men to let her go.

    Hundreds of vehicles passed by on a busy highway leading to Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, but no one “stopped to help me,” Aruzhan says. “I was begging them for help, but people just recorded me on their mobile phones as they drove by.”

    Finally, Aruzhan’s colleague got a phone call from the police, who demanded the men report to the nearest police station. “We found out later that someone called the police and gave the license plate number of my colleague’s car, and police found his name and phone number,” Aruzhan says.

    The men took Aruzhan to the Talgar district police station. Despite the bruises and scratches on Aruzhan’s arms, police let the men go free.

    Aruzhan filed a formal complaint against the men.

    Police Inaction

    Aruzhan was summoned to the police station two days later. An investigator assigned to the case advised her to withdraw the complaint to avoid “being summoned thousands of more times.” She rejected his advice — but the case was still closed.

    According to documents obtained by RFE/RL, the district police concluded that the suspects in the kidnapping case were not “subject to criminal liability” because they “voluntarily decided to abandon their intended act [of kidnapping].”

    RFE/RL contacted the Almaty regional police office about Aruzhan’s case. The regional police said they supported the Talgar officials’ decision to close the case.

    In September, Aruzhan submitted a complaint to the district prosecutor’s office, accusing police of mishandling her case. A new probe was launched in November. But in March she found out that the authorities had again decided to close it without pressing charges. She was again told the men had not committed a crime.

    The victims often stay in these marriages because returning home would bring shame to the woman and her family in the conservative societies in which they live.


    The victims often stay in these marriages because returning home would bring shame to the woman and her family in the conservative societies in which they live.

    Aruzhan says she was left traumatized by the incident and is disappointed in the authorities’ attitude toward her case. She fears her kidnappers might come back for revenge after her multiple complaints. Since the death of her father three years ago, Aruzhan lives with her mother.

    Many people in that small rural community are aware of the kidnapping attempt and Aruzhan believes police inaction toward her abductors sets a bad precedent. She says it emboldens other potential bride kidnappers who see that men can get away with trying to snatch a woman for marriage.

    Despite her fears and failure thus far, Aruzhan is determined to continue her fight until the perpetrators face trial. In Kazakhstan, nonconsensual bride-kidnapping is a criminal offense punishable by up to seven years in prison.

    “What happened to me can happen to any other young woman here,” she says. “The offenders must be punished for their actions so they don’t try the same thing with other women in the future.”

    Written by Farangis Najibullah based on an interview conducted by Ayan Kalmurat of RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Majlis Podcast: Why Can’t Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan Effectively Combat Gender Violence?

    On April 5, a 27-year-old Kyrgyz woman named Aizada Kanatbekova was kidnapped in broad daylight by three men in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek.

    The kidnapping was caught on CCTV. Kanatbekova’s family quickly phoned police. And yet almost nothing was done to find her. Two days later, Kanatbekova and her abductor were found dead: she from strangulation and he from suicide, in a car outside of Bishkek.

    Days later, a group of women in Bishkek demonstrated against gender violence, only to have their rally broken up by a group of violent men.

    A few days earlier, on April 1, the body of 19-year-old Muhlisa Adambaeva was found in Uzbekistan’s western Khorezm Province. She had hanged herself after being beaten by her husband and mistreated by her husband’s family.

    Kanatbekova’s attacker had a history of violence that was known to police. And many people knew what Adambaeva had been going through, but local traditions prevented anyone, including her’s immediate family, from intervening.

    On this week’s Majlis podcast, RFE/RL media-relations manager Muhammad Tahir moderates a discussion about gender violence in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and why officials in those two countries seem unable to effectively combat it.

    This week’s guests are: from Kyrgyzstan, Kamila Eshaliyeva, a Bishkek-based journalist and author of a recent report about violence against women in Kyrgyzstan; from Uzbekistan, Samrin Mamedova of the NeMolchi.uz organization, which works to end violence against women in Uzbekistan; and Bruce Pannier, the author of the Qishloq Ovozi blog.

    Listen to the podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes or on Google Podcasts.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Kyrgyzstan’s Hydropower Problems Causing Concern In Neighboring Nations

    Any farmer can explain the problems that come with being dependent on generous rain clouds to water the crops.

    It seems there is often either too little or too much.

    Many people in Kyrgyzstan are about to face the consequences of too little water. In a country where 90 percent of the electricity is generated by hydropower facilities, the problems caused by a long drought do not end in the farmers’ fields but could extend to neighboring countries.

    Kyrgyzstan’s Toktogul hydropower plant (HPP) was opened in 1975, during the Soviet era. It took some 15 years to prepare the massive reservoir and fill it before the four 300 megawatt (MW) units could start producing energy.

    It was one of the earliest attempts to tap into Kyrgyzstan’s hydropower potential, which even today is only being used at 10 percent of its capability.

    The plant has suffered several problems in recent years associated with its aging equipment.

    In December 2015, one of the turbines shut down and, in less than a week, three of the four units had stopped functioning, forcing authorities to ration electricity during the coldest part of winter. The HPP is currently undergoing renovation work that aims to replace or rehabilitate the old equipment and bring the total output up to 1440 MW.

    While the Toktogul reservoir is a source of domestic power for Kyrgyzstan, its water is needed in two other countries.


    While the Toktogul reservoir is a source of domestic power for Kyrgyzstan, its water is needed in two other countries.

    The Toktogul reservoir is in the western Kementub Valley, along the Naryn River that eventually flows into Uzbekistan and merges into one of the two great rivers of Central Asia, the Syr Darya (the other is the Amu Darya), before snaking into Kazakhstan.

    The Toktogul HPP provides some 40 percent of Kyrgyzstan’s electricity, but the water level at the reservoir has been falling in recent years, which will soon result in the reduction and maybe the suspension of operations.

    In August 2017, the reservoir was filled to the maximum, with 19.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of water. But on March 30, 2021, Kyrgyz Energy Minister Kubanychbek Turdubaev said the level had dropped to 8.7 bcm.

    The new leadership in Kyrgyzstan has been promising to decrease the country’s debt and any additional financial burden is especially unwelcome at the moment.

    Turdubaev called 8.5 bcm the “critical level” where the operation of the Toktagul HPP would be affected. The water level might reach this critical level very soon, judging by the rate it is falling.

    On March 22, Kyrgyzstan’s main electricity provider, Elektricheskiye Stantsii, said the water level at Toktogul was 8.83 bcm.

    Turdubaev noted that the amount of water spilling out of the reservoir has exceeded the amount coming into it for several years and “every year the volume of water is decreasing by 1.5-1.8 bcm.”

    The simplest way to correct the problem would be to close the spillways out of the reservoir for brief periods and allow water to accumulate. But while Toktogul is a source of domestic power for Kyrgyzstan, its water is needed in two other countries.

    Some 80 percent of the water that leaves the Toktogul reservoir goes into Uzbekistan, where it joins the Syr Darya.

    This water is desperately needed for agriculture in both of the downstream countries. Kazakhstan has promised to send up to 1 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity exports, with Uzbekistan offering 750 million kWh to help Kyrgyzstan with its power problem.

    The idea is that this will allow Kyrgyzstan to cut back on the water used for the Toktogul HPP. All three parties seem to be counting on melting snow and spring rain to raise the water level at Toktogul, though there is no guarantee this will happen.

    Toktogul

    Toktogul

    In the meantime, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan also want to ensure sufficient water from the reservoir for this year’s crops.

    As for electricity imports, there was reportedly a deal with Uzbekistan for a swap, whereby Uzbekistan will export electricity to Kyrgyzstan from March to October and again in March and April next year.

    In return, Kyrgyzstan has pledged to send electricity to Uzbekistan during the June-August period for 2021-2023. But Turdubaev indicated Kyrgyzstan will have to pay both countries for electricity imports and said his cash-strapped country cannot immediately make those payments.

    “We explained the situation to them and asked for [electricity supplies] on credit,” Turdubaev said.

    Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have pledged to charge low rates for the electricity, but the new leadership in Kyrgyzstan has been promising to decrease the country’s debt and any additional financial burden is especially unwelcome at the moment.

    Besides that, electricity imports from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will not be enough to cover the shortfall from the low water level at the Toktogul HPP.

    Turdubaev said other power plants that normally reduce their output during the warm months when HPPs operate will have to keep operating at or near winter capacity, and he specifically named the Bishkek thermal power plant (TPP).

    The coal-burning Bishkek TPP is thought to be a major contributor to air pollution in the Kyrgyz capital, which at times during this winter had some of the worst air pollution of any major city in the world.

    This year, the summer skies above Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek, might be even browner than usual.


    This year, the summer skies above Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek, might be even browner than usual.

    The clean electricity produced by Toktogul helps ease pollution problems in Bishkek and other areas of Kyrgyzstan during the warmer months of the year, but this year the summer skies above Kyrgyzstan’s capital might be even browner than usual.

    Longer term, the current drought is something Kyrgyzstan needs to consider in its grand plans to become an electricity exporter. Kyrgyzstan has exported electricity to its immediate neighbors during years when there was sufficient water for all of the country’s HPPs.

    But the country has much bigger plans.

    President Sadyr Japarov attended a ceremony in Kyrgyzstan’s southern village of Kara-Bulak on April 3 to launch construction of the first high-voltage power transmission line for the Central Asia-South Asia project, better known as CASA-1000.

    CASA-1000 aims to bring some 1,300 MW of surplus electricity generated during the summer months from HPPs in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan (300 MW) and Pakistan (1000 MW). The project is tentatively due to launch in 2023.

    But the current situation at the Toktogul reservoir is a reminder that the water needed to operate HPPs is not guaranteed to be constant. Some in Kyrgyzstan have also noted domestic demand for power is growing in the country and that that should be satisfied before any electricity is exported.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan Break Ground On Trade Hub

    Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have broken ground for a giant trade and economic-cooperation hub, the largest of its kind in Central Asia, along the border of the two neighbors.

    The Uzbek government’s press service said a groundbreaking ceremony with the prime ministers of the two countries was held on April 10 at the Gishtkoprik-Zhibek Zholy border checkpoint.

    “This unique project in the Central Asian region will be profitable for the two nations and contribute to the development of trade and economic ties in the region as a whole,” the Uzbek government said.

    Kazakh Prime Minister Asqar Mamin told the ceremony that Kazakh and Uzbek officials have a goal of tripling trade between the two biggest economies in the region to $10 billion.

    The Kazakh prime minister’s press service said the new hub will cover a territory of 400 hectares and allow some 35,000 people and up to 5,000 trucks to cross the border from both sides each day after it becomes fully operational.

    Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev has taken steps to improve Uzbekistan’s ties with its neighbors since he took office after the death of autocrat Islam Karimov in 2016.

    During Karimov’s 27-year rule in Central Asia’s most-populous nation, its relations with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan were strained by disputes over transit routes, border security, water resources, and other issues.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Majlis Podcast: Uzbekistan In The Spotlight For The Wrong Reasons

    Since 2016, when Uzbekistan’s first president, Islam Karimov, died, the authorities have been working to change the image the country inherited from Karimov as a chronic rights abuser.

    There have been some signs of progress but starting in late February, things began to fall apart.

    A group trying to register as an opposition party was harassed and some of its members attacked; activists trying to form the country’s first independent labor union came under pressure; calls for changing laws against the LGBT community were flatly rejected and met with violence; and a new law was introduced making it a crime for bloggers and others to insult the honor of President Shavkat Mirziyoev on the Internet, less than half a year before he is due to run for reelection.

    On this week’s Majlis Podcast, RFE/RL media-relations manager Muhammad Tahir moderates a discussion on the regression in Uzbekistan’s declared domestic reforms.

    This week’s guests are: from Uzbekistan, Dilfuza Kurolova, human rights lawyer and founding curator of Global Shapers’ Tashkent Hub; also from Uzbekistan, Dilmira Matyakubowa, co-director of Uzinvestigations and a fellow at the London-based Foreign Policy Center; veteran Central Asia watcher Steve Swerdlow, who is a rights lawyer and currently associate professor of the practice of human rights at the University of Southern California; and Bruce Pannier, the author of the Qishloq Ovozi blog.

    Listen to the podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes or on Google Podcasts.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • ‘Kill the bill’ and trans visibility: human rights this fortnight in pictures

    A round-up of the coverage on struggles for human rights and freedoms, from Mexico to China

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Uzbek President Lambasts Regional Governors For ‘Lack Of Leadership’

    TASHKENT — Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev has criticized regional governors for what he calls a “lack of leadership” and a “failure” to coordinate efforts to support small- and medium-sized businesses in recent years.

    At an online meeting with the regional governors on April 8, Mirziyoev warned governors that if the situation does not improve within the next three months, they will be fired.

    “The governors are not self-confident, they hesitate to fire those who do not work. Well, if one is not fired, I will fire him. A leader who does not support small and medium businesses is not a leader,” Mirziyoev stated.

    Mirziyoev emphasized at the meeting that problems with infrastructure in many regions led to the failure of 320 private businesses to put some $220 million worth of imported equipment into service over the last two years.

    According to him, lack of electricity only led to numerous private businesses’ closure, loss of dozens of millions of dollars, and an increase of unemployment each year.

    “If we do not support private businesses, if we fail to create proper conditions for them, if we do not increase the number of private businesses, there will be no additional money for our cities and districts,” Mirziyoev said, adding that by the end of 2021, tens of millions of dollars will be earmarked for improvement of infrastructure for the operations of small- and medium-sized businesses across the country.

    At the meeting, Mirziyoev sacked several deputy governors and officially reprimanded governors of southeastern regions of Qashqadaryo and Navoiy, where the situation faced by private business is reportedly the worst.

    Mirziyoev’s public criticism of regional governors comes less than seven months before a presidential election scheduled for October 24.

    Mirziyoev took over the most-populous nation of the Central Asian region of 32 million after his authoritarian predecessor Islam Karimov’s death was announced on September 1, 2016.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Governments In Europe, Central Asia Used Pandemic To Clamp Down On Human Rights, Amnesty International Report Says

    Amnesty International says some measures to tackle the coronavirus pandemic have aggravated existing patterns of abuses and inequalities in Europe and Central Asia, where a number of governments used the crisis “as a smokescreen for power grabs, clampdowns on freedoms, and a pretext to ignore human rights obligations.”

    Government responses to COVID-19 “exposed the human cost of social exclusion, inequality, and state overreach,” the London-based watchdog said in its annual report released on April 7.

    According to the report, The State of the World’s Human Rights, close to half of all countries in the region have imposed states of emergency related to COVID-19, with governments restricting rights such as freedom of movement, expression, and peaceful assembly.

    The enforcement of lockdowns and other public health measures “disproportionately” hit marginalized individuals and groups who were targeted with violence, identity checks, quarantines, and fines.

    Roma and people on the move, including refugees and asylum seekers, were placed under discriminatory “forced quarantines” in Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece, Hungary, Russia, Serbia, and Slovakia.

    Law enforcement officials unlawfully used force along with other violations in Belgium, France, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Romania, and Spain.

    In Azerbaijan, arrests on politically motivated charges intensified “under the pretext” of containing the pandemic.

    In countries where freedoms were already severely circumscribed, last year saw further restrictions.

    Russian authorities “moved beyond organizations, stigmatizing individuals also as ‘foreign agents’ and clamped down further on single person pickets.”

    Meanwhile, authorities in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan adopted or proposed new restrictive laws on assembly.

    Belarusian police responded to mass protests triggered by allegations of election fraud with “massive and unprecedented violence, torture and other ill-treatment.”

    “Independent voices were brutally suppressed as arbitrary arrests, politically motivated prosecutions and other reprisals escalated against opposition candidates and their supporters, political and civil society activists and independent media,” the report said.

    Across the region, governments in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, France, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan “misused existing and new legislation to curtail freedom of expression.”

    Governments also took insufficient measures to protect journalists and whistle-blowers, including health workers, and sometimes targeted those who criticized government responses to the pandemic. This was the case in Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

    In Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, medical workers “did not dare speak out against already egregious freedom of expression restrictions.”

    Erosion Of Judicial Independence

    Amnesty International said that governments in Poland, Hungary, Turkey, and elsewhere continued to take steps in 2020 that eroded the independence of the judiciary. This included disciplining judges or interfering with their appointment for demonstrating independence, criticizing the authorities, or passing judgments that went against the wishes of the government.

    In Russia and in “much” of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, violations of the right to a fair trial remained “widespread” and the authorities cited the pandemic to deny detainees meetings with lawyers and prohibit public observation of trials.

    In Belarus, “all semblance of adherence to the right to a fair trial and accountability was eroded.”

    “Not only were killings and torture of peaceful protesters not investigated, but authorities made every effort to halt or obstruct attempts by victims of violations to file complaints against perpetrators,” the report said.

    Human Rights In Conflict Zones

    According to Amnesty International, conflicts in countries that made up the former Soviet Union continued to “hold back” human development and regional cooperation.

    In Georgia, Russia and the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia continued to restrict freedom of movement with the rest of the county, including through the further installation of physical barriers.

    The de facto authorities in Moldova’s breakaway Transdniester region introduced restrictions on travel from government-controlled territory, which affected medical provisions to the local population.

    And in eastern Ukraine, both Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists also imposed restrictions on travel across the contact line, with scores of people suffering lack of access to health care, pensions, and workplaces.

    Last fall’s armed conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan resulted in more than 5,000 deaths and saw all sides using cluster munitions banned under international humanitarian law, as well as heavy explosive weapons with wide-area effects in densely populated civilian areas.

    Both Azerbaijani and Armenian forces also “committed war crimes including extrajudicial execution, torture of captives and desecration of corpses of opposing forces.”

    Shrinking of Human Rights Defenders’ Space

    Amnesty International’s report said some governments in Europe and Central Asia further limited the space for human rights defenders and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) through “restrictive laws and policies, and stigmatizing rhetoric.”

    This “thinned the ranks of civil society through financial attrition, as funding streams from individuals, foundations, businesses and governments dried up as a consequence of COVID-19-related economic hardship.”

    The Kazakh and Russian governments continued moves to silence NGOs through smear campaigns.

    Authorities in Kazakhstan threatened over a dozen human rights NGOs with suspension based on alleged reporting violations around foreign income.

    Peaceful protesters, human rights defenders, and civic and political activists in Russia faced arrests and prosecution.

    In Kyrgyzstan, proposed amendments to NGO legislation created “onerous” financial reporting requirements, while “restrictive new NGO legislation was mooted” in Bulgaria, Greece, Poland, and Serbia.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Erk, Uzbekistan’s First Opposition Party, Says It Will Attempt To Field A Presidential Candidate

    TASHKENT — Uzbekistan’s Erk (Freedom) Party, which was banned in the 1990s and its leader forced out of the country and his associates jailed, says it plans to try to field a candidate for president in the election later this year.

    According to a party statement on April 5, two members of the party, Salovat Umrzoqov and Jahongir Otajonov, have officially expressed their intentions to try to become the party’s candidate for the vote.

    It added that the party’s Central Committee will decide later which of the candidates will be officially nominated for the poll that is scheduled for October 24.

    “The Erk democratic party, which for 30 years has been conducting its activities under pressure and persecutions since it became Uzbekistan’s first-ever independent political party to be officially registered with the Justice Ministry in 1991, has decided to nominate its candidate for the upcoming presidential election,” the party said in the online statement.

    In January 2020, the Uzbek Justice Ministry refused to officially reregister the party, with Justice Minister Ruslanbek Davletov saying at the time that Erk “has remained in the past” and cannot relaunch its activities. It is highly unlikely that Erk will be allowed to officially run a candidate in the October vote.

    Well-known Uzbek poet Muhammad Solih, who founded the party, was the only challenger to President Islam Karimov in the Central Asian nation’s first post-Soviet vote in 1991.

    Independent observers said at the time that about 50 percent of voters supported Solih, but official results said he obtained only 12 percent of the vote.

    Election officials proclaimed Karimov the winner, sparking a student demonstration that was brutally dispersed. The number of students killed in the action is still unknown. In the aftermath of the crackdown, all opposition newspapers were shut down and probes were launched against opposition leaders, who had to flee the country.

    Solih fled Uzbekistan for Azerbaijan in 1993 and later settled in Turkey, where he has since resided.

    Karimov died in 2016 and his successor, President Shavkat Mirziyoev, has been releasing political prisoners as part of a policy of gradually reducing authoritarian control in the county.

    Mirziyoev has since positioned himself as a reformer, opening his country to its neighbors and the outside world, although many activists say the changes have not gone nearly far enough.

    Although Mirziyoev has said he is not against having opposition political groups in Uzbekistan, it has been nearly impossible for genuine opposition parties to get registered since the country gained independence in late 1991.

    Last week, six months ahead of the election and with physical attacks on government critics mounting, the government criminalized the “insult and slander” of the president in digital and online form.

    Critics say the move is aimed at muzzling bloggers and others ahead of the election.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Uzbek Officials Scramble To Spruce Up Neighborhoods, Fearing A Surprise Presidential Visit

    Preparations are in full swing for a presidential visit in the Uzbek city of Jizzakh and its suburbs, where roads are being repaired and walls are being repainted.

    The Jizzakh provincial government has ordered all neighborhood committees to prepare for a “possible” visit by President Shavkat Mirziyoev. “The governor’s office said, ‘The president can arrive at any moment, so be ready,’” one neighborhood committee member told RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service on condition of anonymity.

    Similar preparations for presidential visits have been under way since late March in several other provinces, with the authorities paying particular attention to renovation work in less prosperous residential neighborhoods.

    The work is going on even though there have not been any imminent visits announced by Mirziyoev to Jizzakh or other regions in the days ahead.

    Regional officials have been scrambling to spruce up neighborhoods after Mirziyoev made several unannounced trips to residential neighborhoods — known as “mahallas” — in recent weeks. Some trips resulted in local officials being fired over problems the president reportedly discovered during his visits.

    Mirziyoev has absolute and unchecked power in Uzbekistan, controlling all spheres from politics to business. He can fire local officials or appoint new ones as he pleases.

    During an unannounced visit to a working-class neighborhood in the town of Chirchiq on March 18, video posted online by the president’s office showed Mirziyoev speaking to several residents who were surprised to see him walking through the area.

    Some complained about problems they have in their daily lives such as an aging central heating system, inadequate public transport, and problems with the resident-registration office.

    During an official visit to Ferghana in February, Mirziyoev randomly turned his entourage to the Shodiyona mahalla in a less affluent part of the city, disappointing local officials who had elaborately prepared another area for the president to see.

    His surprise visit to Shodiyona included meetings with residents there and a firsthand inspection of the area’s shoddy infrastructure and dilapidated roads. What Mirziyoev learned from that visit reportedly contributed to his decision to fire the local governor, the chief of police, and the head of the tax office.

    Mirziyoev has said he wants to break from the notorious tradition of excessive preparations ahead of his official visits to regions, where host governors create a facade of prosperity to hide the reality of ordinary residents’ lives.

    Extensive preparations often include refurbishing buildings where the president is scheduled to hold meetings. Trees and flowers are often planted along sidewalks, even during the middle of the winter. Local authorities also mobilize teachers, students, and others to sweep the roads where the president’s motorcade is expected to pass.

    Officials fear being fired by the president if he sees the real state of affairs.


    Officials fear being fired by the president if he sees the real state of affairs.

    Residents of neighborhoods where a presidential visit has been announced are also told to dress appropriately and say all the right words to flatter the guest. Criticism is out of question.

    Instead of trying to tackle problems and address people’s grievances, local authorities often choose the easier option of simply hiding problems.

    ‘I Feel Guilty’

    Mirziyoev first criticized such elaborate preparations in 2018 after a 23-year-old teacher in Samarkand Province was struck and killed by a truck while cleaning a road ahead of a presidential visit.

    The teacher, Diana Yenikeeva, and her colleagues had been ordered by the local government to clear rubbish alongside the highway in Samarkand’s Kattaqurghon district, where Mirziyoev’s motorcade was expected to pass.

    Mirziyoev said he “felt guilty” for the death of the young teacher, who left behind a 2-year-old child. He demanded that local officials put an end to the practice of using public-sector employees as a free labor force.

    Mirziyoev has also warned regional governments against trying to impress him with a Potemkin village, saying he does his homework before each trip. “I come fully informed about the situation on the ground,” Mirziyoev said during a visit to Syrdaryo Province. “But in many places, they create a false show. It makes me sick and very uncomfortable.”

    Central Asian Norm

    In fact, it’s a common practice across Central Asia for local authorities to try to impress a visiting president by concealing the true state of affairs.

    In Tajikistan, ahead of President Emomali Rahmon’s trip to the southern city of Bokhar in March, trees alongside the roads were wrapped with locally produced silk and cotton fabrics at a cost of $4.40 a meter. The average salary of a teacher in Tajikistan is about $100 a month.

    Two men known for criticizing local authorities in the town of Kulob say police keep them locked away whenever Rahmon visits to prevent them from speaking out.

    A Tajik neighborhood gets the presidential pre-treatment.


    A Tajik neighborhood gets the presidential pre-treatment.

    The practice was seen in Turkmenistan when President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov officially opened a newly constructed village called Berkarar Zaman.

    State TV showed hundreds of people, including many children, claiming they were happy residents of the village and greeting the president with a red carpet ceremony, a concert, and a displays of freshly harvested fruits and vegetables.

    But that turned out to be a fake show with participants bussed in from other regions.

    RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service reported that as soon as Berdymukhammedov left the village, participants in the charade were sent away along with the carpets, the fruit and vegetables, and even a sign containing the name of the village.

    Across Central Asia, similar performances are even put on when relatives of the president visit. In January, journalists in Uzbekistan’s southern city of Qarshi criticized what they described as a week of preparation for a one-day visit by Mirziyoev’s eldest daughter, Saida Mirziyoeva.

    Words Vs Reality

    Since coming to power in 2016, Mirziyoev has been credited with bringing some positive changes to an authoritarian country that had been strictly ruled for 27 years by his predecessor, Islam Karimov.

    Mirziyoev freed hundreds of people who’d been jailed by Karimov’s regime on trumped-up charges of religious extremism. He also removed thousands of people from a Karimov-era blacklist of potential extremists — including journalists, opposition figures, and government critics.

    However, Uzbekistan still doesn’t allow genuine political opposition and the press remains severely restricted.

    On March 31, the newly established Truth And Development opposition party said its activists were attacked by unidentified people as they tried to gather signatures required for the party’s official registration by the Justice Ministry.

    On March 27, Uzbek singer-turned-politician Jahongir Otajonov said he was threatened with bodily harm by three unidentified men after announcing plans to run for president in the October election.

    The Justice Ministry also recently made it a crime to “insult and slander” the president in digital form or online, saying offenders could face up to five years in prison.

    So although the Uzbek president has said he is “tired” of false flattery, Mirziyoev has yet to tolerate genuine criticism of his administration or real political competition.

    RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service contributed to this report

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Uzbekistan Starts Mass Vaccination Against COVID-19

    TASHKENT — Health authorities in Uzbekistan kicked off a mass vaccination campaign against COVID-19 on April 1 with the first residents of Tashkent and regional capitals getting their shots.

    The Health Ministry said on Telegram that people in district capitals and smaller settlements will start getting vaccinated on May 1, while vaccine doses will arrive in more remote areas in June.

    The ministry said the British-Swedish Vaxzevria (formerly known as AstraZeneca) and the Chinese-Uzbek ZF-UZ-VAC 2001 vaccines are initially being used to guard against COVID-19 among the country’s 32 million people.

    The initial rollout is for individuals older than 65, medical personnel, people with chronic diseases, teachers of schools and kindergartens, and law enforcement and military personnel.

    An official statement says that “3,138 vaccination centers and 862 mobile medical brigades have been set up across the country for the vaccination campaign…[and] more than 4,000 doctors and more than 11,000 nurses are involved in the vaccination program.”

    As of April 1, the number of officially registered coronavirus cases in Uzbekistan is 83,050, including 630 deaths.

    Neighboring Kyrgyzstan also started its mass vaccination program this week.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Ahead Of Vote And Amid Attacks On Critics, Uzbek President Criminalizes Online Insults

    Six months ahead of a planned presidential election and with physical attacks on government critics mounting, Uzbekistan has criminalized “insult and slander” of the president in digital and online form.

    The Uzbek Justice Ministry announced the immediate implementation of the defamation clauses via Telegram on March 31 and said offenders could face up to five years in prison.

    It cited amendments to that post-Soviet Central Asian republic’s Criminal Code and legislation signed the previous day by President Shavkat Mirziyoev, who took over in a disputed handover after the death of his long-serving predecessor in 2016.

    The changes also threaten up to five years in prison for public calls for mass disorder and violence and up to 10 years in prison for doing so in groups using media, telecommunication networks, or the Internet.

    Mirziyoev’s first term expires later this year, but he is expected to run for a second term.

    He took over as head of the Central Asia’s most populous state, with 32 citizens, after authoritarian leader Islam Karimov’s death was announced in September 2016.

    Mirziyoev has since positioned himself as a reformer, releasing political prisoners and opening his country to its neighbors and the outside world, although many activists say the changes have not gone nearly far enough.

    Although Mirziyoev has said he is not against having opposition political groups in Uzbekistan, it has been nearly impossible for genuine opposition parties to get registered since the country gained independence in late 1991.

    As if to underscore the problem as the new clampdown on defamation came into effect, unknown assailants attacked activists for a freshly created opposition group called Truth And Development on April 1 while supporters were gathering signatures in support of registration by the Justice Ministry.

    The attackers beat activists and destroyed tables and chairs set up outside the new party’s offices.

    Meanwhile, international watchdog group Human Rights Watch (HRW) on March 31 urged Uzbek authorities to find and punish those responsible for a “vicious attack” this week on a blogger and popular critic of the government, Miraziz Bazarov.

    Bazarov had recently spoken out for LGBT rights before he was attacked by a group of men outside his home in Tashkent on March 28.

    “The police should thoroughly and impartially investigate this violent assault on Miraziz Bazarov, examining all possible motivations,” HRW Europe and Central Asia Director Hugh Williamson said, adding, “At a time when homophobia is on the rise in Uzbekistan, it’s critical for the authorities to bring those responsible to justice.”

    The next presidential election in Uzbekistan will be held on October 24.

    With reporting by RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Uzbek Singer Warned Of Beating After Announcing Run For President

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.