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12 August, 2020 / uzbekistan
UZBEK JOURNALIST BOBOMUROD ABDULLAEV AT RISK OF EXTRADITION FROM KYRGYZSTAN ON POLITICAL CHARGES

UZBEK JOURNALIST BOBOMUROD ABDULLAEV AT RISK OF EXTRADITION FROM KYRGYZSTAN ON POLITICAL CHARGES

On August 10, Bishkek’s Pervomaysk District Court ordered that Uzbek journalist Bobomurod Abdullaev remain in custody until September 8. In the meantime, the General Prosecutor’s Office of Kyrgyzstan is to decide on the request of the Uzbek authorities to extradite the opposition journalist to Uzbekistan. Abdullaev was detained in Kyrgyzstan on August 9 upon the request of officials in Tashkent. He is being held in the Kyrgyz State Committee for National Security (GKNB) detention facility while Uzbek law enforcement agencies are investigating him for a “number of crimes”, according to UKMK.
18 July, 2020 / uzbekistan
CHRONICLE OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN UZBEKISTAN: RIOTS, ILL TREATMENT AND SUICIDES IN QUARANTINE FACILITIES AMID APPLAUSE FROM INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

CHRONICLE OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN UZBEKISTAN: RIOTS, ILL TREATMENT AND SUICIDES IN QUARANTINE FACILITIES AMID APPLAUSE FROM INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

The Special Commission on Combating Covid-19 has strengthened quarantine measures throughout Uzbekistan from July 10 to August 1. The government has restricted traffic, banned events and weddings, closed parks, markets, large shops and gyms, and prohibited people over 65 from going out.
15 July, 2020 / uzbekistan
Challenges NGOs in Uzbekistan are still facing

Challenges NGOs in Uzbekistan are still facing

Проблемы, с которыми все еще сталкиваются низовые активисты и самоинициативные НПО в Узбекистане несмотря на сильную политическую волю президента Мирзиёева к усилению роли гражданского общества в процессе демократического развития страны. Отдавая кредит там, где должен быть кредит, в отличие от государственных НПО, снизу-вверх группы пытаются зарегистрироваться, и весь процесс административных процедур направлен на то, чтобы разочаровать и унывать. Помимо бюрократических лент, зарегистрированные НПО задыхаются из-за обременительной отчетности и спроса на предварительное утверждение для повседневной деятельности. Помимо ограниченных местных финансовых ресурсов и слабых организационных возможностей, узбекские НПО ограничены иностранным финансированием. Практические рекомендации, как позволить третьему сектору свободно дышать путем стирания стереотипов, предубеждений и негативного отношения к НПО в Узбекистане.
02 July, 2020 / uzbekistan
OUT OF THE CAULDRON, INTO THE FIRE? RISK AND THE PRIVATISATION OF UZBEKISTAN’S COTTON SECTOR

OUT OF THE CAULDRON, INTO THE FIRE? RISK AND THE PRIVATISATION OF UZBEKISTAN’S COTTON SECTOR

Ulster University and the Uzbek Forum for Human Rights has released the first sector wide study on corporate integrity in Uzbekistan. The report and associated policy brief focus on the cotton cluster system, a landmark privatisation initiative designed to improve agro-industrial productivity, and address the structural drivers of systematic forced labour in Uzbekistan. State-organised forced labour regimes in Uzbekistan’s cotton sector have attracted significant domestic and international criticism over the past decade.
24 June, 2020 / uzbekistan
UZBEKISTAN: FAIR RECRUITMENT, EFFECTIVE ACCOUNTABILITY NEEDED TO END FORCED LABOR AS INDEPENDENT LABOR MONITORS HARASSED, ARBITRARILY DETAINED

UZBEKISTAN: FAIR RECRUITMENT, EFFECTIVE ACCOUNTABILITY NEEDED TO END FORCED LABOR AS INDEPENDENT LABOR MONITORS HARASSED, ARBITRARILY DETAINED

A new report released today by Uzbek Forum for Human Rights (formerly Uzbek-German Forum / UGF) on the 2019 cotton harvest in Uzbekistan documents both meaningful progress toward ending forced labor and the persistence of government-organized forced labor, said the Cotton Campaign. The report finds that the state-imposed cotton quota, structural labor shortages, the lack of fair and independent recruitment channels, and weak accountability systems contributed to significant ongoing forced labor, including in the newly privatized cotton textile cluster system. Lagging progress on civil society freedoms is also limiting the success of broader reform efforts.
12 June, 2020 / uzbekistan
HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS ISOLATED FOR 14 DAYS AFTER MONITORING COTTON FIELDS

HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS ISOLATED FOR 14 DAYS AFTER MONITORING COTTON FIELDS

Tashkent human rights activists Elena Urlaeva and Solmaz Akhmedova, and activists Karimjon Madazimov and Bekzod Norboev, who live in the Pop district of Namangan region, have been placed under a 14-day compulsory quarantine in their homes since June 8 on suspicion of having Coronavirus. They were given an administrative warning and, in the event of violating quarantine, risk criminal prosecution for failure to observe compulsory isolation.
05 May, 2020 / uzbekistan
SARDOBA DAM COLLAPSE – ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF UZBEKISTAN’S ‘OLD WAYS’?

SARDOBA DAM COLLAPSE – ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF UZBEKISTAN’S ‘OLD WAYS’?

Approximately 70,000 people have been evacuated leaving flooded homes and fields behind, with many livelihoods now in ruins. The reservoir, which was built from 2010 to 2017, contained 922 million cubic meters of water intended for irrigation in the Syrdarya and Jizzakh regions. There are now serious questions to be asked as to why a dam that was completed a mere three years ago could have been so seriously defective.
18 April, 2020 / uzbekistan
Uzbekistan Calls For End Of Cotton Boycott Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Uzbekistan Calls For End Of Cotton Boycott Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Uzbekistan has called on a global human rights coalition, the Cotton Campaign, to lift an international boycott of Uzbek cotton and textiles, citing progress in eliminating forced labor and the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
17 April, 2020 / uzbekistan
Brands Need Assurances on Forced Labor and Civil Society in Uzbekistan

Brands Need Assurances on Forced Labor and Civil Society in Uzbekistan

The Cotton Campaign is taking the initiative to develop a framework to encourage responsible sourcing, while providing brands with assurances that forced labor is addressed and civil society is empowered.
06 April, 2020 / uzbekistan
FAILURE TO REGISTER – PLEASE SUBMIT AGAIN: UZBEK HUMAN RIGHTS NGO REJECTED ONCE MORE

FAILURE TO REGISTER – PLEASE SUBMIT AGAIN: UZBEK HUMAN RIGHTS NGO REJECTED ONCE MORE

The latest refusal by the Uzbek authorities to register Chiroq, an independent human rights organization, was not only disappointing but anticipated. Human rights activist and founder of Chiroq, Azimbay Ataniyazov, received confirmation from the Ministry of Justice in Karakalpakstan on 31 March that his organization had failed to comply with several laws pertaining to NGOs and provided a list of amendments to be made for the next submission – the third in three months. The first application was rejected in January 2020.