Leader of Uzbekistan Government Parliamentary election Family Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov (Uzbek: Islom Abdugʻaniyevich Karimov / Ислом Абдуғаниевич Каримов; Russian: Ислам Абдуганиевич Каримов; 30 January 1938 – 2 September 2016) was an Uzbek politician who served as the first president of Uzbekistan, from the country's independence in 1991 until his death in 2016.

In 1989, he became first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Uzbek SSR, after his predecessor Rafiq Nishonov failed to quell inter-ethnic clashes and instability in the Fergana Region.

[15] The United States criticised the referendum for its "lack of public debate," and noted several instances where one person cast the votes of an entire family.

[16] At the time, Karimov publicly stated that he considered the referendum to be a re-election to a second term, which under the Constitution would have required him to leave office in 2000.

[18] The sole opposition candidate, Abdulhafiz Jalalov, implicitly admitted that he entered the race only to make it seem democratic and publicly stated that he voted for Karimov.

[20] Under the Karimov government, a heavy regulation policy of NGOs led to the creation of paradoxically named GONGOs, or Government-Organised Non-Governmental Organisations.

[23] After the September 11 attacks in 2001, Uzbekistan was considered a strategic ally in the United States' "War on Terror" campaign because of a mutual opposition to the Taliban.

[25] Karimov mobilized against the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and Hizb ut-Tahrir, two Islamist organizations which have been designated as terrorist by his government.

[28] From 1991 to 2004, the government imprisoned over 7,000 Uzbeks for "Islamist extremism", and silenced Imams like Muhammad Rajab, who advocated for more open democracy in the early 1990s.

The government of Uzbekistan retains fears of "large-scale all-encompassing anti-state conspiracies" and "echoes of Basmachi"[29] Among Karimov's anti-Islamist policies was the purge of Muslim leaders.

[35] Following the election on 23 December 2007, preliminary official results showed Karimov winning with 88.1% of the vote, on a turnout rate that was placed at 90.6%.

Observers from groups allied to the Karimov administration such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Commonwealth of Independent States gave the election a positive assessment.

Karimov was courted by the big powers for geopolitical leverage and Uzbekistan's gas supplies, but he kept all at arms' length, suspicious of Russia's post-colonial aims and the US-led "democratization" agenda.

"As long as war continues in Afghanistan, the threat to peace, security and democratic reforms in the neighbouring states of Central Asia will remain, and the source of international terrorism and its expansion well beyond the region's boundaries will be preserved.

[44] In particular, Craig Murray, the British Ambassador from 2002 to 2004, described widespread torture, kidnapping, murder, rape by the police, financial corruption, religious persecution, censorship and other human rights abuses.

This included the case of Karimov's security forces executing prisoners Muzafar Avazov and Khuzniddin Alimov by boiling them alive in 2002.

[45] Murray became noted within the British government for memos disagreeing with official UK and US policy, which was at the time to back up Karimov as part of the global war on terror.

[47] For several years, Parade magazine selected Karimov as one of the world's worst dictators, citing his tactics of torture, media censorship and fake elections.

Because of a poor human rights and democratization record, the Karimov administration worked to improve its image by allowing broadcasts from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

[49] According to the Uzbek Constitution freedom of expression in the media is nominally guaranteed; Article 67 explicitly states, "Censorship is not permitted."

[55] According to detailed accounts, on 13 May 2005, some 400 of the 500 protesters staging an anti-government demonstration were killed after being driven deliberately into a trap – authorities had blocked all the exits from Bobur Square with armoured personnel carriers, preventing people from dispersing home.

These scenes of deliberate killings prompted eyewitnesses to allege that troops not only shot to disperse the demonstration, but to summarily execute anyone who took part in it.

[66][67] Karimov's second daughter, Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva, is known in Uzbekistan for her role in promoting education and sports, as well as championing the rights of children.

[74] At approximately 9 a.m. on 27 August 2016, an unconscious Karimov was taken to the Central Clinical Hospital, according to the official medical report by the government of Uzbekistan.

[82] According to the government report, Karimov was in stable neurological condition in a coma, but progressively began to experience multiple organ failure.

[75] After the death of Karimov, the prime minister, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, was appointed the head of the committee organizing the funeral of the president.

[83] A large number of world leaders, including the Presidents of the United States, China, Russia, and India immediately expressed their condolences.

[84][85][86][87] On 3 September, thousands of people lined the streets of Tashkent for Karimov's funeral procession, throwing flowers at the cortege,[88] as he was taken to the airport to be flown to his native Samarkand, where he was buried.

[89][90][91] The State Council of Cuba declared 5 September as an official day of mourning due to the death of the President of Uzbekistan.

[103] On 7 March 2017, Presidents of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow opened the first monument of Islam Karimov in the Turkmen city of Türkmenabat.