News

Uzbekistan Must Now Live Up to “Country of the Year” Honor

The government, which is still highly authoritarian, needs to make good on its many promises of reforms that include creating an independent judiciary, allowing non-governmental human rights groups to operate, ending forced labour, allowing opposition parties to contest elections, and stopping censorship. At present these are distant dreams for ordinary Uzbeks.

“We’re sick of it!” Turkmenistan’s Cotton Harvest Drags on to the End of the Year

The president of Turkmenistan has instructed the heads of three regions – Ahal, Balkan, and Lebap – to gather in the remains of the cotton harvest by December 25. He gave the order at a working meeting on December 16.

Kyrgyzstan: Path towards peace and prosperity is best assured by respecting rights of minorities, UN expert says

Despite some progress, Kyrgyzstan needs further measures to guarantee the human rights of minorities, strengthen its democratic institutions and ensure a more inclusive society, if it is to deliver peace and prosperity, said a UN human rights expert on minorities after visiting the country.

Recommendations to Kazakhstan as part of the UPR: special attention devoted to migrant rights

In anticipation of International Migrants Day on December 18, ADC Memorial, Bir Duino Kyrgyzstan, and the International Legal Initiative welcome recommendations to improve implementation of international treaties and realize fundamental human rights that Kazakhstan received as part of the Universal Periodic Review. Members of international delegations devoted special attention to the spheres of employment and migration, which are both important for the country since, as a receiving country, Kazakhstan has almost one million migrants (approximately seven percent of the population) who regularly face violation of their rights in various areas of life and have fallen victim to various forms of exploitation and human trafficking.

Uzbek Farmers Get 'Cluster' Bombed By Reforms

After 17 long years of growing cotton and vegetables on his farm in Uzbekistan, Abbas has decided to give up farming.
He says President Shavkat Mirziyoev's latest decree for Uzbekistan's tightly controlled agricultural sector will force him to become a subservient contract employee of a new private "cluster" firm.

Court Orders Continued Detention of Blogger Nafosat Ollashukurova in Psychiatric Hospital

On November 28, the Khorezm Regional Civil Court rejected the request of Nafosat Ollashukurova’s lawyer to release her from forcible detention in a psychiatric clinic where she will now remain for another month.

We stand for decent work without violence, discrimination and harassment!

This year, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, celebrated on 25 November, and 16 days of activism within the framework of the UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign are dedicated to strategies of ending violence against women and girls.

What Is the Reason for the Continued Practice of Forced Cotton Picking in Uzbekistan?

A content of the document suggests that a super-centralized management system based on command-and-control methods, forcing farmers to grow and harvest cotton, as well as compulsory quotas for raw cotton delivery to the state, will continue. The issued decree and its annexes – the Strategy for the Development of Agriculture and the Roadmap for its implementation – do not validate the government’s serious intention to reform the industry.

UN CEDAW calls on Kyrgyz and Kazakh authorities to abolish discriminatory lists of professions prohibited for women

United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (UN CEDAW) adopted recommendations to Kazakhstan and formed a list of issues for the Kyrgyzstan authorities during the Committee’s 74th session and 76th pre-session.

The Monitoring Mission developed recommendations to the Governments of the Central Asia Republics

The participants of the Third Coordination Meeting of the International Labour Rights Monitoring Mission for Central Asia convened in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) on November 14 through 16, 2019, representing independent trade union and human rights organisations of Belarus, France, Germany, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, the USA, and Uzbekistan, exchanged opinions and information concerning the developments in the region in 2019 and pointed out the persistently grave situation in the Central Asian countries in terms of respect for the labour rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the core Conventions of the International Labour Organisation, along with the widely spread use of forced and child labour in the region, discrimination, particularly, against women and migrant workers, and restrictions imposed on the activities of independent trade unions and efforts to defend labour rights.