Human rights in Uzbekistan
Amnesty International stated that freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly continue to be restricted, and that relations between gay men are illegal.
[3] According to reports, the most widespread violations of human rights are torture, arbitrary arrests, and various restrictions of freedoms of religion, of speech and press, of free association and assembly.
Craig Murray, British ambassador 2002–2004, investigated human rights abuses, and, when his bosses at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office ignored his reports, he went public, bringing international attention to the situation.
Murray was removed from his post in October 2004, shortly after a leaked report in the Financial Times quoted him as claiming that MI6 used intelligence provided by Uzbek authorities that was acquired through torture.
[12] The 2005 civil unrest in Uzbekistan, which resulted in several hundred people being killed is viewed by many as a landmark event in the history of human rights abuse in Uzbekistan,[13][14][15] A concern has been expressed and a request for an independent investigation of the events has been made by the United States, European Union, the UN, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
Authoritarian President Islam Karimov, who entered his 25th year in power, continued to employ a widespread security apparatus to monitor and crack down on activities of real and perceived opponents.
Those who attempt to assert rights, or act in ways deemed contrary to state interests, face arbitrary detention, lack of due process, and torture.
[18] Forum 18, a human rights organisation based in Norway, has documented raids by Uzbek police in which participants in unregistered religious services were beaten, fined, threatened and intimidated.
[1] It is reported that Uzbekistan has been pursuing a policy of forced sterilizations, hysterectomies and IUD insertions since the late 1990s in order to impose population control.
[32] Uzbekistan prevents access to websites regarding banned Islamic movements, independent media, NGOs, and material critical of the government's human rights violations.
[35] The principal intelligence agency in Uzbekistan, the National Security Service (SNB), monitors the Uzbek segment of the Internet and works with the main regulatory body to impose censorship.
As all ISPs must rent channels from the state monopoly provider, available evidence strongly suggests that Internet traffic is recorded and monitored by means of a centralized system.
[36] In 2014, the entire country's internet and mobile messaging networks were stopped over a three- to four-hour window for 'urgent repairs' coinciding almost precisely with national university entry exams.
United States Senators Bill Frist and Richard Lugar introduced a resolution calling on the Uzbek government to make sure Umarov "is accorded the full measure of his rights under the Uzbekistan constitution to defend himself against all charges that may be brought against him in a fair and transparent process, so that individual justice may be done".
In October a Tashkent court ordered Urlayeva to undergo psychiatric treatment in a mental health facility in a legal preceding in which neither she nor her lawyer were present.
[40] The Immigration Service and Border Guards of the Government of Uzbekistan detained Igor Rotar, a human rights activist who works for Forum 18 and Radio Free Europe, on 11 August.
Amnesty International condemned the incident, saying his "detention is part of a wave of intimidation and harassment of journalists and human rights defenders by the Uzbek authorities that escalated following the events in Andijan in May this year".
[44] On 29 April 2006, human rights workers Azam Farmonov and Alisher Karamatov were arrested and allegedly tortured by state security forces.
[45] They are currently serving prison terms on charges of extortion that Amnesty International,[45] Human Rights Watch,[46] and Front Line[47] have condemned as politically motivated.
Begzot Kadyrov, specialist of the State's Religious Affairs Committee, commenting on the program, said, "Turning away from the religion of one's ancestors is not only one's own mistake but could also lead to very bad situations between brothers, sisters and between parents and their children".
Aaron Rhodes, executive director of the International Helsinki Federation, criticized the suggestion, saying, "What that would really imply would be that the United Nations would reward the Uzbek government for its repressive policies and its refusal to cooperate with the Council.
[53] On May 1, 2007, an Uzbek court convicted Niazova and sentenced her to seven years in prison, on charges of "preparing or disseminating material containing a threat to security and order".
