“I call on the authorities of Kyrgyzstan to implement the UN Human Rights Committee decision and free Mr Askarov, in line with the country’s international human rights obligations.”
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As lockdowns are eased in some countries with partial re-openings of workplaces, government and employer preparations to protect workers from Covid-19 as they return to work are in the spotlight. Trade unions from just one in five (21%) countries would rate the measures that are in place to protect workers from the spread of the virus at work as good. Most (54% or 58 countries) would rate these protections as fair. Twenty-six countries (24%) would rate the protections as poor.
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Central Asia’s largest bazaar has been closed for a month now, causing hunger and poverty for some 50,000 people in Bishkek who worked there before COVID-19 struck. Some of these people live on-site in shipping containers, while others live at an informal shantytown on a garbage dump near the giant marketplace in the Kyrgyz capital.
Details“The conviction of Azimjan Askarov, an ethnic Uzbek wrongly imprisoned for his work documenting tragic ethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan in 2010, is a blatant example of the disproportionate prosecution of and unfair trials against Uzbeks after the violence. “Kyrgyzstan’s authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Azimjan Askarov. They must lift this long-standing stain on their human rights record.”
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Prior to the trial, the defense side was subjected to pressure and threats of aggressive groups both outside the building of the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic and in the courtroom. They insulted and threatened the lawyers, the wife of Askarov, Khadicha Askarova, and employees of Bir Duino-Kyrgyzstan, using hate speech and discrimination.
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Tajikistan’s doctors and nurses are in urgent need of your help. This week, Tajikistan was hit by the novel Coronavirus. On April 29, there were only 15 registered cases. Today, a week later, there are 461 people infected, with 12 fatalities. These are the official statistics. Tajikistan is a country of 9 million people, with an average wage of $40/month. A single kit of medical protective gear (suit, gloves, goggles) costs $30-50. Many doctors are quarantined inside the hospitals. They urgently need protective suits, antiseptics and medical equipment like ventilators, as cases increase 25% daily.
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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.
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Asia-Plus newspaper on April 27 cited the Health Ministry to report that 319 people had been diagnosed with pneumonia at one hospital alone, Dushanbe’s City Medical Center No. 1. Out of that overall number, 136 are health workers. Officials said at least 11 people had died, but they provided no timeframe.
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As the world is now discussing the possible impact of the novel Coronavirus crisis on economies, societies, and lifestyles of people in a post-pandemic world, many Central Asian labor migrants in Russia are trying to figure out if they can make it through the lockdown.
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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.
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