U.S. Human Rights Report Chides Uzbek Government For Poor Rights Record

Secretary Clinton delivers remarks to the press on the release of the 2010 Country Reports on Human Rights 
State Department photo by Michael Gross

This year the United States Department of State issued its annual Human Rights Report later than expected on April 8. The section devoted to Uzbekistan has been as usually filled with criticisms over its human rights abuses, persecution of media workers and religious followers. Explicitly, the opening statement outlines as follows:

“Human rights problems included citizens' inability to change their government peacefully; tightly controlled electoral processes with limited opportunities for choice; instances of torture and mistreatment of detainees by security forces; incommunicado and prolonged detention; occasional life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; denial of due process and fair trial; restrictions on freedom of speech, press, assembly, and association; governmental control of civil society activity; restrictions on religious freedom including harassment and imprisonment of religious minority group members; restrictions on freedom of movement for citizens; violence against women; and government-compelled forced labor in cotton harvesting. Human rights activists and journalists who criticized the government were subject to physical attack, harassment, arbitrary arrest, and politically motivated prosecution and detention.”

The report specifically notes that the freedom of expression was strictly limited in the country as the law enforcement (police and security services) increasingly harassed journalists through arrests, intimidation, and imposing bureaucratic restrictions on their activities. The following statement clearly notes of how the pressure is being practiced:

“The Uzbek government’s criminal and administrative codes impose significant fines for libel and defamation and charges of libel, slander, and defamation were used to punish journalists, human rights activists, and others who criticized the president or the government.”

Additionally, government authorities continued to arrest persons arbitrarily on charges of extremist sentiments or activities and association with banned religious groups. Police and security service officers often detained and mistreated family members and close associates of suspected members of religious extremist groups and used force to get confessions and testimonies.

Specifically, report states that “authorities reportedly meted out harsher than typical treatment to individuals suspected of Islamist extremism throughout the year, especially to pretrial detainees who were allegedly members of banned religious extremist political organizations or to the Nur group. Local human rights workers reported that authorities often offered payment or other inducements to inmates to beat other inmates suspected of religious extremism.”

Although, the Uzbek law provides criminal penalties for corruption, the government did not implement the law effectively and government officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.

However, the Uzbek government in some way was praised for allowing over 100,000 Uzbek refugees fleeing Kyrgyzstan over ethnic tensions in June 2010 to stay in its territory for a certain period of time and providing food and shelter to them.

The full text of the U.S. Department of State 2010 Human Rights Report on Uzbekistan can be found at: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/sca/154489.htm