News

Uzbekistan’s new leader fails his first test

One year after the death of Islam Karimov, the continued use of forced labour in Uzbekistan’s cotton fields shows how slow the pace of change really is.

Uzbekistan: school directors speak out about regular physical abuse by local government official

A video shot in secret and posted online shows a district official in Uzbekistan beating and humiliating several principals of local schools. The district chief was reportedly punishing the principals for their failure to send teachers to an Independence Day celebration in late August. (Current Time TV)

Uzbekistan Reducing Cotton Fields But Forced Labor Remains

Uzbekistan is cutting back on its cotton cultivation to make way for fruit and vegetable fields. While that happens, however, the custom of forcing state workers to pick cotton is proving hard to abandon.

Turkmenistan kicks off mobilization of civil servants for cotton season

Reports from the Turkmen regions of Mary and Lebap said that the authorities have started summoning civil servants for the cotton picking season since August 15. The roll call started with middle school support staff, janitors and guards, while teachers are likely to be called up from the start of the school year. Their participation will be discussed at the upcoming teachers’ meetings ahead of September 1st.

Conviction of trade union leaders: “Another nail in the coffin of the independent trade union movement in Kazakhstan”

The global trade union movement is calling on the government of Kazakhstan to review the conviction of a prominent labour leader in a case that has been described as a “blatant violation of human and trade union rights in Kazakhstan.”

Justice for Larisa Kharkova, Nurbek Kushakbaev and Amin Eleusinov

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has written to the President of Kazakhstan and the EU’s Foreign Affairs Representative demanding justice for Larisa Kharkova, a leader of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Kazakhstan, who was sentenced in late July to 100 hours of forced labour, four years restriction on her freedom of movement and a five-year ban on holding any position in a public or non-governmental organization.

IndustriALL condemns mock trials of union activists in Kazakhstan

IndustriALL addressed to the leadership of Kazakhstan demanding to influence the situation and review the unjustified court sentencing of Larisa Kharkova, Nurbek Kushakbayev and Amin Yeleusinov.

A Peek Behind the World Bank’s Mask

On June 27 we released a joint report documenting forced and child labor linked to the World Bank’s agriculture projects in Uzbekistan. We hoped it would cause bank officials to rethink their approach. But then the bank’s country team inadvertently left an internal conversation on our voicemail. Oops! It revealed their ultimate goal: to protect the bank from external pressure and get new agriculture projects through their executive board “unscathed,” as one of the voices on the phone said. He went on: “We want to avoid any more stuff that goes out that says ‘oh and look [a board member is] really taking this seriously, now they’re going to call for a full board hearing.”

RFE/RL Correspondent Achilova Threatened With Death In Turkmenistan

WASHINGTON -- RFE/RL Turkmen correspondent Soltan Achilova reports (in Turkmen) she was threatened with death on July 29, while en route to take photos documenting Turkmenistan’s “Day of Bicycles.” Achilova further reports that today (July 31), the man who made the July 29 threat identified himself to her as a police officer tasked to watch her wherever she goes, and again warned her against taking photos, or she will be “finished.” The threats follow an assault last week when a man tried to steal her cellphone as she was about to take a picture.

Document of Evidence: Public Sector Employees in Samarkand Massively Mobilized to Carry out Reconstruction Works

On July 29, the popular Uzbek news website www.kun.uz  published an article written by the journalist Tura Murod, who had recently been fired for criticizing the massive mobilization of teachers for mandatory “public” works and such as cleaning the streets, weeding and picking cotton, as well as repairing and constructing public buildings.