Fighting for the safety of Kyrgyzstan’s healthcare heroes

How a union leader is championing the rights of health workers.

Uzbek Farmer Punished with Water Cutoff After Refusing to Surrender Extra Grain to the State

In his video appeal Bobur Pardaev, a farmer from the Oltinsoy district, addressed the district hokim, Bahrom Mahmatraemov, standing in the middle of his wilted cotton field. In the video, Pardaev said that the hokim had instructed local irrigation authorities to deny his field access to water. As a result, the farmer said that half of his cotton harvest has already been destroyed.

Uzbekistan: Obstacles to Registration of Human Rights NGO Akbaskur in Karakalpakstan

Akbaskur’s case highlights how inconsistent legislation, unnecessary bureaucracy, and politically motivated interference can create fertile grounds for blocking civil society initiatives, particularly those launched by grassroots activists. It demonstrates that, despite the existence of a legal framework, its procedures and implementation remain vulnerable to arbitrary interpretation and informal power structures.

Turkmenistan Cotton: New Reporting Reveals Systemic Forced Labor, Despite Some Steps By Government To Reduce Mobilization

The government of Turkmenistan should expand the preliminary measures it took in the 2024 harvest to reduce forced labor through reforms that address root causes, empower workers and farmers, and allow independent monitoring and reporting, the Cotton Campaign said. The call comes as today the Cotton Campaign's frontline partners Turkmen.News and Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights released their findings of independent civil society monitoring of the 2024 cotton harvest in Turkmenistan.

Aliaksandr Yarashuk from Belarus awarded the Arthur Svensson International Prize for 2025

Aliaksandr Yarashuk, president of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP), vice-president of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and a member of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Governing Body, is being honoured for his uncompromising defence of workers’ rights and democracy in Belarus.

JOINT STATEMENT: URGENT CALL ON THE IFC AND THE EBRD FOR REMEDY AND ACCOUNTABILITY AT INDORAMA AGRO, UZBEKISTAN

Indorama Agro has systematically eroded workers’ rights by exploiting their vulnerability created by insecure working conditions whereby employees have been misclassified as “service providers”, depriving some 400 workers of trade union membership and safeguards and benefits under employment law. Public monitors have documented multiple cases of workers being coerced to work without pay under the threat of non-renewal of their contracts—an indicator of forced labor.