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Category: Uzbekistan

  • Majlis Podcast: How Central Asia Dealt With COVID In 2020 And What’s Coming In 2021

    The year 2020 will always be remembered as the year the coronavirus appeared and spread across the globe.

    The virus exposed weaknesses in every country, particularly in health-care systems, but it also affected trade and tested alliances.

    The responses from the five Central Asian countries differed.

    This was most evident in their official reporting on registered cases and deaths, where countries such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, even though their figures were often questionable, released statistics that showed the countries were facing a serious health crisis, while countries like Tajikistan and Uzbekistan carefully manipulated figures to ensure an outward appearance of controlling the situation. And then there was Turkmenistan, which chose complete denial and continues its farcical claims that the country has somehow been immune to the coronavirus.

    How did the five countries fare in 2020 and, with various vaccines being developed and gradually being made available internationally, how does 2021 look for Central Asia?

    On this week’s Majlis Podcast, RFE/RL’s media-relations manager for South and Central Asia, Muhammad Tahir, moderates a discussion that looks at these questions.

    This week’s guests are: from Kazakhstan, Gaukhar Mergenova, a public-health specialist; from Kyrgyzstan, Ermek Ismailov, a surgeon at the Clinical Hospital Office of the President and Government of the Kyrgyz Republic; and originally from Uzbekistan but currently a senior journalist for RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service, known locally as Ozodlik, and based in Prague, Barno Anvar; 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.

  • Human Rights Watch Denounces ‘Burdensome’ Uzbek NGO Rules

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) says Uzbekistan has carried out “some” human rights reforms in recent years, but continues to “severely” hinder the work of independent nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) with “excessive and burdensome” registration requirements.

    The government of President Shavkat Mirziyoev should amend the legislation and allow independent groups to register NGOs that seek to work on sensitive issues, including human rights and forced labor, the New York-based human rights watchdog said in a statement on January 7.

    HRW said the Uzbek government has taken “some important steps” to ease the registration process since Mirziyoev took over Central Asia’s most populous nation of 32 million in 2016, including reducing the registration fee, cutting the time period for government review of registration documents, and opening a portal that allows submission of applications by independent groups online.

    However, “vague and burdensome” rules remain in place despite a commitment made by the president in 2018 to sweep away restrictions on NGOs, according to HRW.

    It quoted representatives of six independent groups that have sought registration in Uzbekistan in recent years as saying that their registration applications had been rejected, often “for minor alleged mistakes, including grammar or even minor punctuation mistakes, missing information, or the language used in application documents.”

    The legislation includes “excessive requirements for registration and an extensive list of reasons for rejection, making decision-making by authorities appear arbitrary,” according to the representatives.

    One of the NGOs was finally allowed to register on its third attempt, HRW said.

    Vladislav Lobanov, assistant Europe and Central Asia researcher at HRW, said the Uzbek government needs to respond to international calls for civil society be allowed to act freely.

    Last year, the United Nations Human Rights Committee expressed concern that “current legislation continues to impose restrictions on the right to freedom of association” and over “the small number of independent self-initiated NGOs registered [in the country, and] the high number of rejections for registration.”

    The European Union and the United States have also expressed concern over registration barriers for NGOs.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • COVID-19 Crackdowns, Expanded Authoritarianism, And The Post-Pandemic World

    The approval of COVID-19 vaccines has raised hopes that the “new normal” of a post-pandemic world will start to emerge in 2021.

    But international rights groups say civil society must be able to return to its “normal” pre-pandemic role to prevent a permanent expansion of overreaching government power.

    They argue that civil society must provide checks and balances to ensure the rollback of temporary, emergency public-health measures imposed — and sometimes misused — during 2020.

    Transparency International has long warned about “worrying signs that the pandemic will leave in its wake increased authoritarianism and weakened rule of law.”

    “The COVID-19 crisis has offered corrupt and authoritarian leaders a dangerous combination of public distraction and reduced oversight,” the global anti-corruption group says.

    “Corruption thrives when democratic institutions such as a free press and an independent judiciary are undermined; when citizens’ right to protest, join associations, or engage in initiatives to monitor government spending is limited,” Transparency International says.

    Protesters clash with police in front of Serbia's National Assembly building in Belgrade on July 8 during a demonstration against a weekend curfew announced to combat a resurgence of COVID-19 infections.

    Protesters clash with police in front of Serbia’s National Assembly building in Belgrade on July 8 during a demonstration against a weekend curfew announced to combat a resurgence of COVID-19 infections.

    says authoritarianism in theory, as well as authoritarian regimes in practice, were “already gaining ground” before the pandemic.

    Hamid says some aspects of the post-pandemic era — such as COVID-19 tracing schemes and increased surveillance — can create “authoritarian temptations” for those in charge of governments.

    “During — and after — the pandemic, governments are likely to use long, protracted crises to undermine domestic opposition and curtail civil liberties,” Hamid concludes in a Brookings report called Reopening The World.

    The intent to suppress on the part of the government can provoke an unusually intense desire to expose its mistakes on the part of the press, the legislative branch, and civil society.”

    But despite those dangers, Hamid remains cautiously optimistic about political freedoms recovering in a post-pandemic world.

    In due time, he says, the removal of emergency restrictions will help “political parties, protesters, and grassroots movements to communicate their platforms and grievances to larger audiences.”

    “Democratic governments may try to suppress information and spin or downplay crises as well — as the Trump administration did — but they rarely get away with it,” Hamid concludes.

    “If anything, the intent to suppress on the part of the government can provoke an unusually intense desire to expose its mistakes on the part of the press, the legislative branch, and civil society,” he says.

    In countries from Russia to Turkmenistan, authoritarian tendencies under the guise of pandemic control have included the use of emergency health measures to crack down on political opposition figures and to limit the freedom of the press.

    They also have included attempts by authorities to restrict the ability of civic organizations to scrutinize and constrain the expansion of executive power.

    Crackdown In Baku

    Actions taken by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s government are a case in point.

    In March, Baku imposed tough new punishments for those convicted of “violating anti-epidemic, sanitary-hygienic, or lockdown” rules.

    The new criminal law imposed a fine of about $3,000 and up to three years in prison for violations such as failing to wear a mask in public.

    Those convicted of spreading the virus face up to five years in prison.

    A police officer inspects a woman's documents under the gaze of an Azerbaijani soldier in Baku in July during the coronavirus pandemic. Azerbaijan deployed troops to help police ensure a tight coronavirus lockdown in the capital and several major cities.

    A police officer inspects a woman’s documents under the gaze of an Azerbaijani soldier in Baku in July during the coronavirus pandemic. Azerbaijan deployed troops to help police ensure a tight coronavirus lockdown in the capital and several major cities.

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned that Baku’s criminal punishments for spreading COVID are “not a legitimate or proportionate response to the threat posed by the virus.”

    The U.S.-based rights group says it is all too easy for such laws to be misused to “target marginalized populations, minorities, or dissidents.”

    During the summer — amid public dissatisfaction about the lack of a resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with neighboring Armenia — Aliyev also faced dissent over rampant corruption, economic mismanagement, and his handling of the pandemic.

    Aliyev’s response was to launch a crackdown in July widely seen as an attempt to eliminate his political rivals and pro-democracy advocates once and for all.

    A Washington Post editorial said Aliyev had “blown a gasket” with a “tantrum” that threatened to “obliterate what remains of independent political forces in Azerbaijan.”

    More than 120 opposition figures and supporters were rounded up in July by Aliyev’s security forces — mostly from the opposition Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (AXFP).

    Two opposition figures among those arrested were charged with violating Azerbaijan’s emergency COVID measures — Mehdi Ibrahimov, the son of AXFP Deputy Chairman Mammad Ibrahim, and AXFP member Mahammad Imanli.

    HRW says its own review of pretrial court documents concluded that Imanli was “falsely accused” of spreading COVID-19 and endangering lives by not wearing a mask in public.

    Ibrahimov’s arrest was based on a claim by police that he took part in an unauthorized street demonstration while infected with the coronavirus.

    But Ibrahimov’s lawyer says COVID tests taken after his arrest in July show he was not infected.

    In fact, he said, the charges of violating public-health rules were only filed against Ibrahimov after he was detained and authorities discovered he was the son of a prominent opposition leader.

    Belarusian Borders

    Critics accuse Belarus’s authoritarian ruler, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, of using COVID-19 restrictions to suppress mass demonstrations against his regime.

    To be sure, the use of politically related COVID-19 measures is seen as just one tool in Minsk’s broader strategy of intensified police crackdowns.

    The rights group Vyasna said in December that more than 900 politically motivated criminal cases were opened in 2020 against Belarusian opposition candidates and their teams, activists, and protesters.

    The ongoing, daily demonstrations pose the biggest threat to Lukashenka’s 26-year grasp on power — fueled by allegations of electoral fraud after he was declared the landslide winner of a sixth term in a highly disputed August 9 presidential election.

    While Minsk downplayed the threat posed by COVID-19 for months, Lukashenka has repeatedly accused the opposition and hundreds of thousands of protesters on the streets of being foreign-backed puppets.

    A Belarusian border guard wears a face mask and gloves to protect herself from the coronavirus early in the pandemic. Belarus closed off its borders to foreigners on November 1.

    A Belarusian border guard wears a face mask and gloves to protect herself from the coronavirus early in the pandemic. Belarus closed off its borders to foreigners on November 1.

    On November 1, after months of brutal police crackdowns failed to halt the anti-government demonstrations, Belarus closed off its borders to foreigners.

    The State Border Committee said the restrictions were necessary to “prevent the spread of infection caused by COVID-19.”

    In December, authorities expanded the border ban to prevent Belarusians and permanent residents from leaving the country — ostensibly because of the pandemic.

    Lukashenka’s own behavior on COVID-19 bolstered allegations the border closures are a politically motivated attempt to restrain the domestic opposition.

    In late November, Lukashenka completely disregarded safety protocols during a visit to a COVID-19 hospital ward — wearing neither gloves nor a mask when he shook hands with a medic in full protective gear.

    Opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who left Belarus under pressure after she tried to file a formal complaint about the official election tally, says the border restrictions show Lukashenka is “in a panic.”

    Russia’s Surveillance State

    In Moscow, experts say the pandemic has tested the limitations of Russia’s surveillance state.

    Russia’s State Duma in late March approved legislation allowing Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to declare a state of emergency across the country and establish mandatory public health rules.

    It also approved a penalty of up to five years in prison for those who “knowingly” disseminate false information during “natural and man-made emergencies.”

    The legislation called for those breaking COVID-19 measures to be imprisoned for up to seven years.

    In April, President Vladimir Putin tasked local governments with the responsibility of adopting COVID-19 restrictions.

    Experts say that turned some Russian regions into testing grounds for how much increased surveillance and control Russians will stand for.

    It also protected the Kremlin from political backlash over concerns that expanded government powers to control COVID-19 could become permanent in post-pandemic Russia.

    Meanwhile, Moscow took steps to control the free flow of information about Russia’s response to the pandemic.

    “It is staggering that the Russian authorities appear to fear criticism more than the deadly COVID-19 pandemic,” Amnesty International’s Russia director, Natalia Zviagina, said.

    “They justify the arrest and detention of Anastasia Vasilyeva on the pretext that she and her fellow medics violated travel restrictions,” Zviagina said. “In fact, they were attempting to deliver vital protective equipment to medics at a local hospital.”

    Anastasia Vasilyeva, a Russian doctor who heads a medical workers union, was arrested in April after she exposed shortcomings in the health system’s preparations to fight COVID-19.

    Anastasia Vasilyeva, a Russian doctor who heads a medical workers union, was arrested in April after she exposed shortcomings in the health system’s preparations to fight COVID-19.

    Zviagina concludes that by putting Vasilyeva in jail, Russian authorities exposed “their true motive.”

    “They are willing to punish health professionals who dare contradict the official Russian narrative and expose flaws in the public health system,” she said.

    The State Duma also launched reviews and crackdowns in 2020 on reporting by foreign media organizations — including RFE/RL — about the way Russia has handled COVID.

    Human Rights Watch said police “falsely claimed” protesters violated COVID-19 measures — “yet kept most of the detained protesters in overcrowded, poorly ventilated police vehicles.”

    In July, police in Moscow detained dozens of journalists during a protest against Russia’s growing restrictions on media and freedom of expression.

    In several cases, Human Rights Watch said police “falsely claimed” protesters violated COVID-19 public health measures — “yet kept most of the detained protesters in overcrowded, poorly ventilated police vehicles where they could not practice social distancing.”

    HRW Russia researcher Damelya Aitkozhina says those cases “have taken the repression to a new level.”

    Aitkhozhina says authorities in Moscow “detained peaceful protesters under the abusive and restrictive rules on public assembly and under the guise of protecting public health, while exposing them to risk of infection in custody.”

    Rights activists say local authorities in some Russian regions also used COVID-19 measures as an excuse to crack down on protesters.

    In late April, authorities in North Ossetia detained dozens of demonstrators from a crowd of about 2,000 people who’d gathered in Vladikavkaz to demand the resignation of regional leader Vyacheslav Bitarov.

    Thirteen were charged with defying Russia’s COVID-19 measures and spreading “fake information” about the pandemic.

    In Russia’s Far East city of Khabarovsk, authorities used COVID-19 measures to try to discourage mass protests against the arrest of a popular regional governor on decades-old charges of complicity in murder.

    Demonstrators say the charges were fabricated by the governor’s local political opponents with help from the Kremlin.

    While municipal authorities in Khabarovsk warned about the risks of COVID-19 at the protests, police taped off gathering places for the demonstrations — claiming the move was necessary for COVID-19 disinfection.

    But the crowds gathered anyway — reflecting discontent with Putin’s rule and public anger at what residents say is disrespect from Moscow about their choice for a governor.

    Demo Restrictions In Kazakhstan

    Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev signed legislation in late May that tightened government control over the right of citizens to gather for protests.

    Going into effect during the first wave of the global COVID-19 outbreak, the new law defines how many people can attend a demonstration and where protests can take place.

    Critics say the new restrictions and bureaucratic hurdles include the need for “permission” from authorities before protests can legally take place in Kazakhstan — with officials being given many reasons to refuse permission.

    RFE/RL also has reported on how authorities in Kazakhstan used the coronavirus as an excuse to clamp down on civil rights activists who criticized the new public protest law.

    Kazakh and international human rights activists say the legislation contradicts international standards and contains numerous obstacles to free assembly.

    Information Control In Uzbekistan

    Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev has been praised by international rights groups since he came to power in late 2016 for his slight easing of authoritarian restrictions imposed by his predecessor, the late Islam Karimov.

    But the COVID-19 crisis has spawned a battle between emerging independent media outlets and the state body that oversees the press in Uzbekistan — the Agency for Information and Mass Communications (AIMC).

    Officials in Tashkent initially claimed Uzbekistan was doing well in combating COVID-19. But by the summer, some media outlets were questioning that government narrative.

    They began to delve deeply into details about the spread of the pandemic and its human costs within the country.

    AIMC Director Asadjon Khodjaev in late November threatened “serious legal consequences” about such reporting — raising concerns that COVID-19 could be pushing Uzbekistan back toward more authoritarian press controls, much like the conditions that existed under Karimov.

    Kyrgyz Upheaval

    Before the pandemic, Kyrgyzstan was considered by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders as Central Asia’s most open country for the media. But Kyrgyzstan’s relative openness has been eroded by lockdowns and curfews imposed since a state of emergency was declared on March 22.

    Most independent media outlets have had difficulty getting accreditation or permits allowing their journalists to move freely in Bishkek or other areas restricted under the public health emergency.

    Violent political protests erupted after Kyrgyzstan’s controversial parliamentary elections on October 4 — which were carried out despite the complications posed by the COVID-19 control measures.

    The political tensions led to the downfall of President Sooronbai Jeenbekov’s government, plans to hold new elections, and the declaration of a state of emergency in Bishkek that included a ban on public demonstrations.

    Pascaline della Faille, an analyst for the Credendo group of European credit insurance companies, concludes that social tensions contributing to the political upheaval were heightened by the pandemic.

    She says those tensions included complaints about the country’s poor health system, an economy hit hard by COVID-19 containment measures, and a sharp drop in remittances from Kyrgyz citizens who work abroad.

    Turkmenistan Is Ridiculed

    One of the world’s most tightly controlled authoritarian states, Turkmenistan has never had a good record on press freedom or transparency.

    Not surprisingly, then, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov’s claim that he has prevented a single COVID-19 infection from happening in his country has been the target of global ridicule rather than admiration.

    Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov

    Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov

    Ashgabat’s continued insistence that the coronavirus does not exist in Turkmenistan is seen as a sign of Berdymukhammedov’s authoritarian dominance rather than any credible public health policies.

    In early August, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that Berdymukhammedov had agreed to give WHO experts access to try to verify his claim about the absence of COVID-19 in his country.

    Hans Kluge, WHO’s regional director for Europe and Central Asia, said Berdymukhammedov had “agreed” for a WHO team “to sample independently COVID-19 tests in country” and take them to WHO reference laboratories in other countries.

    But after more than four months, Berdymukhammedov has still not kept his promise.

    Meanwhile, Turkmenistan’s state television broadcasts perpetuate Berdymukhammedov’s cult of personality by showing him opening new “state-of the-art” medical facilities in Ashgabat and other big cities.

    Privately, Turkmen citizens tell RFE/RL that they don’t believe the hype.

    They say they avoid hospitals when they become ill because facilities are too expensive for impoverished ordinary citizens and state facilities often have little to offer them.

    Patients at several regional hospitals in Turkmenistan told RFE/RL they’ve had to provide their own food, medicine, and even firewood to heat their hospital rooms.

    Still, in a former Soviet republic known for brutal crackdowns on critics and dissent, nobody openly criticizes Turkmenistan’s health officials about the dire situation in hospitals out of fear of reprisals.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Analysis: Jailed Ex-Diplomat’s Uzbek Family Turns To UN Over His Treason Conviction

    Last week, Kadyr Yusupov marked his third straight birthday in jail.

    A 69-year-old career diplomat for Uzbekistan, Yusupov was detained shortly after a reported suicide attempt in December 2018, interrogated by security officials while hospitalized, and convicted of treason and sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison in January on the basis of a confession he purportedly made from his hospital bed.

    Yusupov is said to suffer from schizophrenia, and there were questions from the start over his fitness for questioning and whether anything he said while recovering should be used as evidence.

    The case has been shrouded in secrecy.

    A lawyer hired by Yusupov’s family was forced to sign a nondisclosure agreement and was rarely allowed to meet with him.

    Yusupov’s family has been unable to see him since he was taken into custody shortly after jumping in front of a subway train in Tashkent two years ago.

    So Yusupov’s family sought help outside Uzbekistan.

    Geoffrey Robertson, a founding head of the U.K.-based Doughty Street Chambers, a private legal defense firm that focuses on human rights and civil liberties, has been brought in as legal counsel for the Yusupov family. He has said he is preparing applications on Yusupov’s behalf to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions.

    At a December 10 press conference, Robertson alleged a long list of procedural violations under Uzbek and international law in Yusupov’s case.

    Yusupov is one of several people who worked many years for the Uzbek government before reports suddenly emerged saying they had been accused of spying and charged with treason.

    A recent Majlis podcast explored Yusupov’s case along with those of former Defense Ministry reporter Vladimir Kaloshin and a former director of the presidential Institute for Strategic and Interregional Research, Rafik Saifulin.

    Spying cases by nature involve matters of state security that many governments try to keep away from the public record.

    But in Yusupov’s and other cases, public information has mostly been limited to the facts that they were arrested, confessed, and were tried and convicted.

    Even details like on whose behalf they might have been spying has been unavailable.

    Yusupov’s family and rights groups have repeatedly called for him to be freed on compassionate grounds, since the coronavirus is reportedly spreading within Uzbekistan’s prison system.

    Robertson said at his press conference that he and Yusupov’s family had been hoping the former diplomat would be released under a recent amnesty to mark Uzbek Constitution Day on December 8, but he was not among those released.

    The family has released a video on Yusupov’s case, in the hope of getting broader support for his release.

    Family, friends, and rights defenders now hope the United Nations might pressure the Uzbek government to act, since Uzbek courts and prosecutors seemingly appear to have no intention of freeing Yusupov.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Contractors Face Court For Uzbekistan Dam Disaster

    The Supreme Court of Uzbekistan on December 25 began to consider a criminal case against eight people accused of negligence and safety violations in a major dam burst earlier this year.

    The earth-filled dam at Sardoba Reservoir in eastern Uzbekistan collapsed in May, causing flooding in both Uzbekistan and neighboring Kazakhstan that killed six people and forced the evacuation of 70,000 residents.

    The Sardoba Reservoir was completed in 2017, after seven years of construction work that began under the supervision of current President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who was prime minister at the time.

    The case before the Supreme Court involves eight contractors, including the head of the Tupalang canals, Bakhshullo Asadov. He and contractors from Uzbekistan’s national rail company are accused of forgery, negligence, and violating construction laws.

    RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service reported that for unclear reasons the trial is being held behind closed doors. Under the law, all criminal proceedings must be open to the public unless the case involves state secrets or a sexual crime.

    The trial against the contractors, which began on December 21, was separated from another part of the criminal procedure.

    In October, the head of the Anti-Corruption Agency said that 17 people are accused of crimes related to the dam burst.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Contractors Face Court For Uzbekistan Dam Disaster

    The Supreme Court of Uzbekistan on December 25 began to consider a criminal case against eight people accused of negligence and safety violations in a major dam burst earlier this year.

    The earth-filled dam at Sardoba Reservoir in eastern Uzbekistan collapsed in May, causing flooding in both Uzbekistan and neighboring Kazakhstan that killed six people and forced the evacuation of 70,000 residents.

    The Sardoba Reservoir was completed in 2017, after seven years of construction work that began under the supervision of current President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who was prime minister at the time.

    The case before the Supreme Court involves eight contractors, including the head of the Tupalang canals, Bakhshullo Asadov. He and contractors from Uzbekistan’s national rail company are accused of forgery, negligence, and violating construction laws.

    RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service reported that for unclear reasons the trial is being held behind closed doors. Under the law, all criminal proceedings must be open to the public unless the case involves state secrets or a sexual crime.

    The trial against the contractors, which began on December 21, was separated from another part of the criminal procedure.

    In October, the head of the Anti-Corruption Agency said that 17 people are accused of crimes related to the dam burst.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Uzbekistan Suspends Entrance For Travelers From Eight Nations Over New COVID-19 Strain

    TASHKENT — Tashkent has barred travelers from eight nations from entering the country amid reports about a new coronavirus strain and an increase of COVID-19 cases in those countries.

    The government’s special commission on anti-coronavirus efforts said on December 22 that citizens of Australia, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, South Africa, and the United Kingdom will not be able to enter Central Asia’s most populous nation of 32 million until January 10.

    Uzbek citizens returning from the named countries will be quarantined for 14 days upon their return.

    “These restrictions will be gradually lifted as the epidemiological situation in these countries stabilizes,” a commission statement said, adding that starting December 25 express tests for COVID-19 antibodies will be mandatory for everyone arriving to Uzbekistan.

    As of December 22, the number of registered coronavirus cases in Uzbekistan was 76,180, including 612 deaths.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Uzbek President Orders Cut In Gas Exports As Winter Shortage Threatens

    TASHKENT — Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev has ordered his government to cut natural-gas exports to ensure the availability of gas at home in Central Asia’s most populous nation this winter.

    Mirziyoev publicly laid into the government during an online government session on December 16 for what he called “failure to properly prepare for winter season” and said there was currently a domestic shortfall of 20 million cubic meters of gas a day.

    “We all know that problems with natural gas are not just happening today but have been bothering us for 30 years now,” Mirziyoev said. “But no one has the right to make excuses. Our people need gas, and many of them are paying for it honestly and on time.”

    The move could reportedly translate into 7-8 million cubic meters of natural gas for Uzbek citizens this winter.

    Officials were also tasked with transferring into investors’ control some 25 natural-gas fields in the country and buying an additional 217,000 tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

    This year has been unusually cold in Uzbekistan, and power outages have been reported across the country.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Hearing Postponed Into Lawsuit Against Tashkent Decision Giving Land To Firm Controlled By President’s Son-in-Law

    TASHKENT — A court in Tashkent has postponed a hearing into a lawsuit filed by dozens of entrepreneurs against a decision by the Uzbek capital’s mayor, Jahongir Ortiqhojaev, which will hand city land to a company affiliated with the president’s son-in-law.

    The Chilonzor district court on December 14 put back the hearing to December 22 after the plaintiffs’ motion to remove Judge Dostmurod Toshev from the process was rejected.

    The case concerns a December 2019 decision by Ortiqhojaev that would give more than six hectares of land in Yunusobod, one of Tashkent’s most-expensive districts, to the Urban Developers construction company.

    Urban Developers, which plans to develop a trade and entertainment complex in Yunusobod, appears to be associated with Oibek Tursunov, the husband of President Shavkat Mirziyoev’s elder daughter Saida. The company was established a month before the mayor announced his decision.

    Ansor Naberaev, who is officially listed as the owner of Urban Developers, has rejected any connection between his company and Tursunov.

    According to some 100 business-owners and entrepreneurs in Yunusobod, the plan to develop the area will harm their business, while many regulations and laws have been violated since the land, worth at least $11.5 million, was placed under the control of the investor.

    According to official registration and taxation documents, 97 percent of Urban Developers’ shares are owned by a company called Odoratus Business LLP registered in the United Kingdom and operated by B2B Consultants Limited, a company in Belize.

    The company’s assets are officially shown as having a value of 100 British pounds ($130).

    According to the documents obtained by RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service, Odoratus Business LLP also co-owns shares in several other companies operating in Uzbekistan, including more than 60 percent of shares in the Milk House company, which is co-owned by a firm called Pro Milk Technology.

    More than 95 percent of Pro Milk Technology’s shares are controlled by Promadik Invest, which is owned by Mirziyoev’s son-in-law Tursunov.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Majlis Podcast: How Far Has Tashkent Gone In Greater Respect For Religious Rights?

    Under President Shavkat Mirziyoev, who was elected on December 4, 2016, Uzbekistan has made some progress addressing the long list of rights violations that came to characterize the Uzbek government under Mirziyoev’s predecessor, Islam Karimov. But how much?

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • CIS Foreign Ministers Approve Draft On Closer Military, COVID-19 Cooperation

    Foreign Ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have approved a draft concept on further developing cooperation in several areas, including the coronavirus pandemic.

    The Kazakh Foreign Ministry said in a statement that ministers approved a number of documents at the December 10 meeting, including a concept of military cooperation between CIS member states to 2025.

    It added that the Council of the CIS leaders will be held online on December 18.

    “The participants discussed a wide range of integration cooperation issues within the CIS, with a special emphasis on joint actions to overcome the negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said after the meeting.

    CIS members are former Soviet republics — Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan has an associate status in the grouping.

    Ukraine quit the grouping in 2018, four years after Russia forcibly annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region in March 2014 and started backing separatists in Ukraine’s east in a conflict that has killed more than 13,200 people since April 2014.

    Ukraine was an associate member of the CIS since the grouping was established following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

    Earlier, in 2009, another former Soviet republic, Georgia, quit the CIS following a five-day Russian-Georgian war in August 2008, after which Russia has maintained troops in Georgia’s breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and recognized their independence from Tbilisi.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Uzbek President Marks Constitution Day With Pardons, Easing Sentences Of Dozens Of Convicts

    TASHKENT — Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev has pardoned or eased the sentences of 104 convicts as part of the commemorations of Constitution Day, the national holiday marked on December 8.

    According to a decree from the president, those individuals who were convicted of crimes but since have expressed “deep remorse” while serving their terms and shown that they have “chosen the path of rehabilitation” have been pardoned.

    Six of the pardoned individuals were released immediately, while 50 other inmates had their prison terms replaced by suspended sentences. In addition, 17 convicts will see their prison terms changed to sentences with parole-like restrictions, while the prison terms of another 41 convicts were reduced.

    The pardoned individuals include, among other convicts, one woman, 13 foreign nationals, nine people older than 60, and 21 inmates convicted for being members of banned groups and organizations.

    Mirziyoev’s decree was timed to coincide with the 28th anniversary of the constitution Uzbekistan adopted on December 8, 1992, months after it gained independence in the collapse of the Soviet Union.

    Pardons have become a regular part of marking Uzbek holidays.

    Last year, Mirziyoev pardoned 92 convicts on Constitution Day.

    Earlier this year, he pardoned more than 500 people due to various important state and religious holidays.

    Since taking over Central Asia’s most populous nation of 32 million following the death of the first Uzbek President Islam Karimov in 2016, Mirziyoev, unlike his predecessor, has pardoned hundreds of people and released several jailed journalists, politicians, and others seen by rights groups as political prisoners.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Uzbek President Marks Constitution Day With Pardons, Easing Sentences Of Dozens Of Convicts

    TASHKENT — Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev has pardoned or eased the sentences of 104 convicts as part of the commemorations of Constitution Day, the national holiday marked on December 8.

    According to a decree from the president, those individuals who were convicted of crimes but since have expressed “deep remorse” while serving their terms and shown that they have “chosen the path of rehabilitation” have been pardoned.

    Six of the pardoned individuals were released immediately, while 50 other inmates had their prison terms replaced by suspended sentences. In addition, 17 convicts will see their prison terms changed to sentences with parole-like restrictions, while the prison terms of another 41 convicts were reduced.

    The pardoned individuals include, among other convicts, one woman, 13 foreign nationals, nine people older than 60, and 21 inmates convicted for being members of banned groups and organizations.

    Mirziyoev’s decree was timed to coincide with the 28th anniversary of the constitution Uzbekistan adopted on December 8, 1992, months after it gained independence in the collapse of the Soviet Union.

    Pardons have become a regular part of marking Uzbek holidays.

    Last year, Mirziyoev pardoned 92 convicts on Constitution Day.

    Earlier this year, he pardoned more than 500 people due to various important state and religious holidays.

    Since taking over Central Asia’s most populous nation of 32 million following the death of the first Uzbek President Islam Karimov in 2016, Mirziyoev, unlike his predecessor, has pardoned hundreds of people and released several jailed journalists, politicians, and others seen by rights groups as political prisoners.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Iran, Tajikistan Among 10 Countries Designated By U.S. Over Violations Of Religious Freedom

    The United States has included Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan on a list of 10 countries designated for “particular concern” over religious freedom.

    The designation was issued under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 “for engaging in or tolerating systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a news release.

    The United States also placed Russia and three other countries on a “special watch list” for governments that have engaged in or tolerated “severe violations of religious freedom.”

    The United States “once again took action to defend those who simply want to exercise this essential freedom,” Pompeo said.

    “The U.S. is unwavering in its commitment to religious freedom,” Pompeo added on Twitter. “No country or entity should be allowed to persecute people with impunity because of their beliefs. These annual designations show that when religious freedom is attacked, we will act.”

    The countries designated for “particular concern” are Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.

    The countries placed on the special watch list are the Comoros, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Russia.

    Pompeo also said Al-Qaeda, Islamic State, and the Taliban were among several militant extremist groups designated as “entities of particular concern.”

    The announcement also said Uzbekistan and Sudan have been removed from the special watch list based on “significant, concrete progress” by their governments over the past year.

    “Their courageous reforms of their laws and practices stand as models for other nations to follow,” Pompeo said.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Majlis Podcast: Fighting To Stop Violence Against Women

    November 25 was the International Day For The Elimination Of Violence Against Women and it started 16 days of activism that concludes on December 10.

    Violence against women is a problem in Central Asia, and while the issue is receiving somewhat more attention, progress in combating abuse has been slow — and efforts by authorities have often been no more than superficial.

    On this week’s Majlis podcast, RFE/RL’s Media-Relations Manager Muhammad Tahir moderates a discussion about what changes have and are taking place in Central Asia to address the scourge of gender violence, and some of the challenges that still lie ahead.

    This week’s guests are: from Kazakhstan, Khalida Azhigulova, the director of the Research Center for Human Rights, Inclusion, and Civil Society and an associate professor at the Eurasian Technology University; from Uzbekistan, Irina Matvienko, a feminist activist and founder of Nemolchi.uz, which loosely translates as “don’t remain silent” and is an organization dedicated to the prevention of violence against women and helping victims; 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.

  • Majlis Podcast: Fighting To Stop Violence Against Women

    November 25 was the International Day For The Elimination Of Violence Against Women and it started 16 days of activism that concludes on December 10.

    Violence against women is a problem in Central Asia, and while the issue is receiving somewhat more attention, progress in combating abuse has been slow — and efforts by authorities have often been no more than superficial.

    On this week’s Majlis podcast, RFE/RL’s Media-Relations Manager Muhammad Tahir moderates a discussion about what changes have and are taking place in Central Asia to address the scourge of gender violence, and some of the challenges that still lie ahead.

    This week’s guests are: from Kazakhstan, Khalida Azhigulova, the director of the Research Center for Human Rights, Inclusion, and Civil Society and an associate professor at the Eurasian Technology University; from Uzbekistan, Irina Matvienko, a feminist activist and founder of Nemolchi.uz, which loosely translates as “don’t remain silent” and is an organization dedicated to the prevention of violence against women and helping victims; 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.

  • Is Uzbekistan Returning To The ‘Bad Old Days’ Of Reporting Only Good News?

    There is a very public battle under way in Uzbekistan between several media outlets and the agency tasked with overseeing the press in the country.

    The outlets say they have the right — and a duty — to report on current and pervasive energy shortages and the true scale of the spread and human cost of the coronavirus pandemic in Uzbekistan.

    But the Agency for Information and Mass Communications (AIMC) objects to the sources and “negativity” of some reports and what it calls “one-sided” information.

    AIMC Director Asadjon Khodjaev has warned the offending outlets and said there could be “serious legal consequences” if they do not rein in their reporting.

    Ever since Shavkat Mirziyoev became president in late 2016, Uzbek authorities have promised to ease restrictions put in place by his predecessor, longtime authoritarian leader Islam Karimov, that earned the government a reputation as a chronic abuser of rights.

    There have been some positive changes, though the media has been kept on a short leash the past four years.

    Uzbek President Shavkhat Mirziyoev (file photo)

    Uzbek President Shavkhat Mirziyoev (file photo)

    The AIMC and Uzbekistan’s Supreme Court have warned media outlets about “objectivity” in their reporting, and the AIMC has made it clear that the authorities will hold not only media outlets — but also bloggers and people posting material on social networks — responsible for their comments and content.

    Uzbek media outlets reported on an Energy Ministry announcement at the start of November that there would be limits on the use of gas and electricity in homes and businesses.

    Some small- and medium-sized businesses in Tashkent said they were cut-off entirely from gas supplies while others faced rationing.

    Many people around Uzbekistan looked for substitutes for heating and cooking – including using gas canisters, coal, wood, and pressed manure (kizyak).

    ‘Serious Legal Consequences’

    Gazeta.uz, one of the media outlets that recently got a warning from the AIMC, reported on November 10 that Deputy Energy Minister Behzot Normatov gave assurances there was no need to resort to burning wood, coal, or “kizyak” since there were ample supplies of gas canisters that could be used to cook.

    But one week later, RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service, known locally as Ozodlik, reported that people were waiting in line to buy coal in some parts of Uzbekistan and unscrupulous merchants were jacking up the prices.

    Uzbeks line up for coal in the Andijon region. (file photo)

    Uzbeks line up for coal in the Andijon region. (file photo)

    Media outlets such as Daryo started reporting on the deaths of thousands of chickens at poultry farms after their electricity had been turned off.

    Many other businesses were left without gas or electricity and now face financial ruin while an ever-increasing number of people are huddled together in their dark, cold homes.

    Kun.uz was one of the outlets reporting on the energy shortages, including a November 22 story, Give The People Electricity And Gas! An old and painful topic on social media, it reported what problems people were posting about due to the electricity and gas shortages.

    The next day, Kun.uz received a letter from AIMC Director Khodjaev that claimed the “[Kun.uz] material highlights the problems in the supply of electricity and natural gas to the population in a one-sided way.”

    The letter warned Kun.uz that if it “does not take the necessary measures to prevent the recurrence of such a situation in the future, it will have serious legal consequences.”

    The management at Kun.uz was sufficiently incensed at the letter that they wrote and published a response, including an English version, to AIMC and Khodjaev.

    Lack Of Transparency?

    The other story of major significance for Uzbekistan in November was the continued debilitating effects of the coronavirus and some doubts that officials are providing accurate information about the number of people infected and those who have died from COVID-19.

    A lack of transparency on the part of the state regarding those numbers has long been suspected.

    As of December 1, the number of registered coronavirus cases in Uzbekistan was 73,145 with about 610 deaths in a country of more than 34 million.

    Many have cast doubt on Uzbekistan's official coronavirus infection rates, which are considerably lower than those recorded in some neighboring countries. (file photo)

    Many have cast doubt on Uzbekistan’s official coronavirus infection rates, which are considerably lower than those recorded in some neighboring countries. (file photo)

    In neighboring Kazakhstan, with a population of about 18.7 million, the number of registered cases as of December 1 was 132,348 with 1,990 deaths. And in neighboring Kyrgyzstan, with a population of some 6.5 million, the number of registered cases was about 73,200 with 1,275 deaths.

    Gazeta.uz, for one, reported on the discrepancies in the figures between state agencies and in one of the reports.

    It noted in a November 17 statement from the prime minister’s press service that 17,500 beds had been made available for COVID-19 patients around the country and currently some 6,570 infected people were being treated.

    Gazeta.uz noted in its report that on the same day, the Health Ministry had reported that 2,123 patients were being treated for COVID-19. The news site had inquired with the Health Ministry about the lower figure but had not yet received a response.

    Khodjaev sent a letter on November 20 warning Gazeta.uz of “serious legal consequences” for, according to Gazeta.uz, publishing news that “compared statistics of patients at COVID-19 hospitals with data from the Health Ministry.

    Gazeta.uz’s management wrote on November 25 that it considered “the warning letter an overreaction [and] an attempt to force the publication to stop asking the government ‘unpleasant’ questions.”

    On November 27, Gazeta.uz said the AIMC had warned Gazeta.uz, Daryo.uz, Kun.uz, Podrobno.uz, and Repost.uz about publishing “commentary and insults” and for “expressing doubts about coronavirus statistics and a failure to provide an official clarification.”

    Concerning Khodjaev’s complaint about reports on electricity and gas shortages, Kun.uz wrote that Khodjaev’s letter claimed “the government of Uzbekistan was accused of committing crimes against the population in the material.”

    But Kun.uz countered: “the material was about how people reacted to problems in the power supply system [and] was not focusing on criticizing the government.”

    Kun.uz continued that “it is a fact that electricity is cut off for hours all over the country. This can be seen from the complaints on social networks and the thousands of appeals addressed to our editorial office.”

    In its November 25 post, Gazeta.uz responded to the AIMC complaints by saying: “There are many cases when state bodies provide the public with incomplete information on issues of interest to citizens or do not issue it at all.” It continued: “Often the AIMC in such situations remains on the sidelines and the public, not receiving important information, loses.”

    Western diplomats in Uzbekistan have certainly taken note of the dispute between the media outlets and the AIMC.

    On November 26, British Ambassador to Uzbekistan Tim Torlot posted on Twitter: “I am surprised and sad to see how AIMC’s approach [in] support of [the] development of [the] mass media seems to have changed recently. A democratic society cannot be built without a robust, free media.”

    ‘Smells Like Old Uzbekistan’

    On November 28, U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan Daniel Rosenblum tweeted that he was “Disappointed by recent actions taken by the Agency for Information and Mass Communications to pressure [independent] media outlets. To succeed, Uzbekistan’s ambitious reforms require a free & open press. AIMC pressure [is] not consistent with this.”

    As mentioned, the AIMC and Uzbekistan’s Supreme Court have previously warned media outlets about their reporting and the prime minister and mayor of Tashkent have also had some very harsh words and even threats for journalists.

    But there are mixed signals coming from Uzbek officials.

    On November 30, 2019, the chairwoman of the Uzbek Senate, Tanzila Narbaeva, addressed parliament, saying, “The head of our state rightly stressed that the media play a special role in the implementation of reforms” and that “we [officials] need to accept media criticism the right way.”

    On February 3, Saida Mirziyoeva, the president’s daughter, presented a new social fund for the development of the country’s mass media by saying, “We believe in freedom of speech and its power.”

    The media outlets mentioned have all reported on certain successes the government has claimed in the fight against the spread of the coronavirus. They have also covered efforts to improve the gas-distribution system, the discovery of new gas fields, increases in production, and other positive stories associated with efforts to improve Uzbekistan’s horribly inadequate power grid.

    But it is difficult to put a positive spin on severe power shortages in winter and people becoming ill from a virus that worldwide has affected nearly 64 million people and killed about 1.5 million.

    Uzbek officials, including President Mirziyoev, have emphasized that the media is essential for reporting the problems and opinions of Uzbeks so that the authorities are aware of the problems.

    Yet when reporting bad news, several media outlets have been threatened with “legal consequences” if they continue to do so.

    Kun.uz wrote, “It would not be wrong to say that this behavior [toward the media] smells like ‘Old Uzbekistan.’”

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Uzbekistan Reportedly Planning To Repatriate Citizens From Syrian Camps

    An unnamed Uzbek government source has said that Uzbekistan plans to repatriate another group of its citizens from a camp for families of Islamic State fighters in Syria, Reuters reported on November 29.

    An Uzbek delegation has visited two camps in the Kurdish-controlled part of Syria and spoken with about 100 Uzbek citizens – mostly women and children – about returning to Uzbekistan.

    The source told Reuters that the Uzbeks are living “in deplorable conditions and have difficulties with access to drinking water, food, and medical care.”

    The United Nations estimates there are about 65,000 people at the Al-Hol camp, including 28,000 Syrians, 30,000 Iraqis, and about 10,000 foreigners of other nationalities.

    Uzbekistan repatriated about 220 women and children from Syria last year as part of a rehabilitation program.

    Based on reporting by Reuters

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Big Brother in Practice: An Overview of Unlawful Surveillance

    By Thomas Rozanov 

    What George Orwell once fantasized in his novel ‘1984,’ is an actual threat today. Individuals are confronted with surveillance that interferes with private lives, and human rights. Big Brother tyranny is set into practice with modern widespread technology. “Telescreens” used by Oceania’s ruling party to constantly surveil citizens and prevent conspiracies and “thoughtcrimes” are now being replaced with unlawful access to online accounts, phone surveillance, cyberattacks, and hacking.

    What once seemed like a dystopian plot, is now a reality. I suspect this dimension will play out more in the future, as individuals are becoming more technologically integrated and dependent. We should be warned to not only protect our physical human rights, but also the privacy of our virtual spaces and communication via technology. I draw attention to recent cases of unlawful surveillance and cyberattacks by governments targeting individuals in Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Belarus.

    Two weeks ago Amnesty released a report ‘We Will Find You, Anywhere’, outlining the unlawful surveillance by Uzbekistan government, targeting citizens in the country itself and abroad. The report focuses on seven individuals whose human rights were tampered, through unlawful surveillance. Earlier, Amnesty International has documented serious human rights violations in Uzbekistan, including pervasive torture by security forces, and arbitrary detention.

    Dmitry Tikhonov, a human rights defender, was forced to flee Uzbekistan after his work on a project to document forced labor, including child labor, during the cotton harvest, resulted in: an E-mail hack, burning of his house, initiated administrative cases, and lastly, accusation of involvement in a terrorist group.

    Dmitry Tikhonov, image from ‘We Will Find You Anywhere’ report

    Many Uzbekistani asylum seekers and refugees are forced to cut off contact with family inside Uzbekistan, due to fear of government surveillance and consequential persecution.

    “In Uzbekistan everyone knows that the government is monitoring communications,” an undisclosed political activist seeking refuge in Sweden says. Landlines and mobile phones fall under surveillance, and families of refugees are visited regularly by security services.

    Nadejda Atayeva, the President of the Association for Human Rights in Central Asia has been cut off from her family for almost 17 years since she left the country. “My relatives’ phones have been under surveillance since we left the country, almost 17 years ago. And the other political immigrants are in the same situation,” she says. Her relatives were coerced to file a statement refusing to communicate and consider her as a bad dangerous person.

    Nadejda Atayeva, image from ‘We Will Find You Anywhere’ report

    Gulasal Kamolova a journalist who fled Uzbekistan in 2015 because of her work for an independent news website Uznews, says since residing in France for 11 months, she has avoided phone communications. She says the government attempted to find her number by questioning her close friends and relatives. But more importantly after being directly threatened upon departure, she does not feel safe anymore. She recalls as the Uzbek secret service officer said, “wherever you are, we will find you, anywhere.”

    Gulasal Kamolova, image from ‘We Will Find You Anywhere’ report

    Galima Burkharbaeva former editor of Uznews.net, and Kamolova’s colleague ran her website from abroad after fleeing Uzbekistan in 2005, most recently from Berlin, Germany. In November 2014 her e-mail account was hacked, later social media pages were created under her name with pornographic material.

    Galima Bukharbaeva, image from ‘We Will Find You Anywhere’ report

    Galima says one of her main struggles is facing constant anxiety and remote threats such as this cyberattack. As other Uznews.net journalists faced danger, after the government released a full list of names of journalists working for the site, she was forced to close Uznews.net in December 2014, even further reducing the small number of independent news sources on Uzbekistan.

    Amnesty International calls for the government of Uzbekistan to reform laws governing surveillance, cease all harassment or targeting of family members of criminal suspects or other detained individuals. Amnesty calls other governments to ensure that no licenses are granted for surveillance technology to Uzbekistan until surveillance laws and practice are reformed to conform to international human rights law and standards. Amnesty calls telecom companies to consider impacts of operations, and support human rights by preventing and mitigating adverse impacts.

    For more on the Uzbekistani government conducting unlawful surveillance, please view the film ‘The Global Shadow of Uzbekistani Surveillance’ produced by AI.

    In Azerbaijan, human rights activists, journalists, and political dissidents have been targeted using multiple cyberattacks compromising passwords, contacts, emails, and social media. AI conducted research presented in report ‘False Friends – how fake accounts and crude malware targeted dissidents in Azerbaijan’ published on March 9, 2017. It details how victims have been targeted using a practice know as ‘spear phising’, which involves an email with an attachment containing a virus – known as malware – being sent to a target from a fake address.

    In Belarus, the government is using phone networks run by some of the world’s biggest telecom companies to stifle free speech and dissent. Last year AI released a report ‘Belarus: “It’s enough for people to feel it exists”: Civil Society, Secrecy and Surveillance in Belarus’, which details how civil society operates under surveillance, international human rights law and surveillance, Belarus laws and practice, and the role of private companies.

    Belarusian authorities have unfettered access to communications. Amnesty International sent letters to the three largest mobile phone providers which are partly owned by foreign companies—Turkcell, Telekom Austria, and MTS, and did not receive any response.

    Amnesty International believes that the companies are violating well-established standards on business and human rights. Under the UN’s Guiding Principles for Business, national laws where a company operates cannot be used to justify human rights abuses.

    Lastly, on a slightly positive note, for the World Day Against Cyber Censorship held yearly on March 12, ProtonMail and Amnesty International joined forces to fight cyber censorship by showing how internet restrictions affect people around the world.

    As ProtonMail’s 2 million users from 150 countries logged into their inboxes they saw Amnesty International’s latest findings on cyber censorship.

    In 2016, Amnesty International documented 55 countries where people were people were arrested for peaceful expression online. Each year governments around the world continue to restrict internet freedom, for example, Turkey and Saudi Arabia block over 50,000 and 400,000 websites, respectively, including social media and news sites. China continues to restrict internet to over 800 million users via the Great Firewall.

    While widespread technology certainly provides numerous advantages to society and development, it also enables governments to gain more unlawful power and control over their citizens. Government security forces are no longer limited by physical barriers and the need to travel, now, information can be intercepted across states in a matter of minutes. How should human rights activists respond to threats in this arena? What are some ways to cope with the anxiety that this creates? Are you attentive to your communication and internet security?

    Personally, I underestimate the potential power and threat of tracking and persecution. By gaining access to my cloud storage, e-mail, and social media page, one is able to find all my activity, finances, personal information, and contacts. Who knows if webcams and microphones embedded in nearly all devices (computers, tablets, phones, and even TVs) are not monitoring you. Surely there is potential.

    Thomas Rozanov is a volunteer at Eurasia Coordination Group, Amnesty International USA.

    This post was originally published on Human Rights Now.

  • Abductions and Forcible Returns from Russia to Uzbekistan continue

    By Ella Shen

    A few weeks ago, Amnesty International, along with other international organizations, has expressed heavy concern over the possibility of danger, including torture amongst other human rights violations, to journalist Khudoberdi Nurmatov (also known as Ali Feruz), if forcibly returned to Uzbekistan.Nurmatov’s lawyer, Maria Kurakina, stated, “there has been no extradition request from Uzbekistan. There have been no charges against him on alleged involvement into extremist activities or justification of terrorism. His staying in Russia has been absolutely legitimate as he applied for asylum and the decision is still pending.” After Nurmatov’s Uzbek passport was stolen in 2012, under threat of arrest, he did not travel to Uzbekistan to retrieve a new one and instead applied for asylum in Russia, his mother’s homeland and his country of birth.

    On March 17, Dmitry Peskov, the press person of Vladimir Putin, announced that “the Kremlin is unaware of any asylum application submitted by Nurmatov.” These claims were refuted by Novaya Gazeta which had published the correspondence between the President’s Administration and Dmitry Muratov, the editor-in-chief, on Nurmatov’s asylum request.

    Ali Feruz’s story is not uncommon.

    Uzbekistan is ranked 166th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2016 World Press Freedom Index. There have been multiple documented reports on the widespread use of torture in Uzbek prisons. Several Uzbek citizens who had been seeking asylum or had been granted refugee status have gone missing in Moscow to reappear in Uzbek jails.

    In Amnesty International’s Fast-Track to Torture: Abductions and Forcible Returns from Russia to Uzbekistan, published in April 2016, research found that hundreds of asylum-seekers, refugees and labor migrants have been abducted or forcibly returned from Russia to Uzbekistan since 2014 in total violation of Russia’s international human rights obligations. Additionally, Russia frequently employs administrative means, such as deportations for administrative offences, to return individuals to Uzbekistan where they face precedented risk of torture. Furthermore, Russia does not conduct effective investigations into these abductions when raised.

    In at least three recent cases of abduction and forcible return from Russia to Uzbekistan since March 2015 (Davron Komoliddinov in March 2015, Sarvar Mardiev in March 2016 and Olim Ochilov in July 2016), the individuals were not apprised of their right to apply for State protection, even though they, their legal representatives and human rights organisations had expressed a “perceived risk of irregular removal.”

    In the case of asylum seeker Sarvar Mardiev, officers of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) apprehended him on March 4, 2016, but his whereabouts were undisclosed until October 2016, when the Uzbek authorities confirmed his detention in Kashkadaria. Olim Ochilov, a 27-year-old Uzbekistani asylum seeker, was forcibly returned from Russia to Uzbekistan despite interim measures issued by the European Court of Human Rights. Russian authorities ignored the European Court’s decision and proceeded with Ochilov’s forcible return in direct violation of legal obligations. Ochilov’s Russian lawyers have been unable to establish his whereabouts in Uzbekistan.

    In the case of forcible return of Davron Komoliddinov, human rights defender Nadezhda Atayeva of Association for Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA) told Forum 18 that he was indeed being tortured after an unfair trial.

    Amnesty Interational’s research has verified the continuing practice of co-operation and collusion between the Russian Federation and Uzbekistan, for the purpose of forcibly returning individuals to Uzbekistan where they are at real risk of torture or other ill-treatment. Amnesty International calls on the Russian Federation to:

    • Fully and systematically ensure that no one within the Russian Federation’s jurisdiction is forcibly returned, by means of extradition or otherwise, to any country, including Uzbekistan, where they would be at risk of torture or other ill-treatment as well as unfair trials or any other serious human rights violations, and set up transparent and effective monitoring mechanisms to ensure compliance with such measures;
    • Stop automatically detaining and deporting individuals, including asylum-seekers, who have been declared “undesirable aliens” to their country of origin, including Uzbekistan, without assessing in earnest the risk of torture upon return and refrain from their forcible return where the risk exists, and establish an effective mechanism whereby an individual declared an “undesirable alien” is granted the right to appeal the decision to deport;
    • Fully and systematically comply in practice with all Rule 39 interim measures and judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, in particular in relation to cases of return and extradition.

    Ella Shen is the Eurasia Regional Action Network coordinator at Amnesty International USA.

    ******************************************

    Ali Feruz, photo by Viktoria Odissonova, Novaya Gazeta.

    This post was originally published on Human Rights Now.