Global Voices » Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan: Independent modern art theatre awarded for culture

Adil Nurmakov — Tue, 01 May 2012 21:53:47 +0000

Tomyris reports that Uzbekistan’s Ilkhom Theatre (“Inspiration” in Uzbek) was given the 2011 Prince Claus Award, from the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development, for its cultural achievements. The Theatre is Uzbekistan’s only independent theatre, and today it also functions as a school of dramatic art.

Uzbekistan: Presidential elections postponed until 2015

Adil Nurmakov — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:22:56 +0000

Nathan Hamm writes that Uzbekistan’s parliament decided to delay the next presidential election from December 2014 to March 2015, a move that experts see as president Karimov's preparation for a future in which he is no longer the President of Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan: President rejuvenated on photos

Adil Nurmakov — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:16:03 +0000

Nathan Hamm takes a critical view on recent pictures of Uzbekistan president Islam Karimov, who has been rumored to be on the verge of death from cancer for about the last decade. The latest photographs show a shiny happy person, “but it is somewhat striking how obviously fake these photos look”.

Uzbekistan: Government's Media Friend in Seoul

Adil Nurmakov — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 05:52:44 +0000

Nathan Hamm says the Seoul-based publication Korea Times has had a long history of praiseful coverage of Uzbekistan, and wonders why.

Uzbekistan: Why Did Uzbekistan Ban Wikipedia?

Adil Nurmakov — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 08:30:50 +0000

Sarah Kendzior reports that Uzbekistan’s ban on Wikipedia, enacted late last month, blocks all articles written in Uzbek while leaving articles in other languages accessible.

Uzbekistan: Well-Known Uzbek Cleric Shot in Sweden

Adil Nurmakov — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 08:24:20 +0000

Nathan Hamm informs that a well-known imam from Uzbekistan who has been living as a refugee in Sweden, was shot outside his home, and that police rules out Swedish nationalists and investigates the crime internationally.

Uzbekistan: Security Service Threatens Jizzakh Youth Activists

Adil Nurmakov — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:29:16 +0000

Nathan Hamm reports that two young natives of Uzbekistan residing in the United States and working as officers at Awareness Projects International (a non-profit engaging in human rights education work in Uzbekistan and elsewhere) were summoned to the police for interrogation, when they returned to their hometown of Jizzakh in late December 2011 to visit family.

Kazakhstan: Uzbek labor migrants survival

Adil Nurmakov — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:18:29 +0000

Camilla tells the story of Uzbek labor migrants in Kazakhstan, who were illegally trafficked - apparently, via channels, supervised by the officials - to work as slaves.

Uzbekistan: U.S. military support not to include weapons

Adil Nurmakov — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:55:24 +0000

Joshua Foust tells his readers about the details of the “military aid” the U.S. will provide Uzbekistan, which is part of a vital supply line to Afghanistan. The supplies wouldn’t include weapons and ammunition, and would be limited to items meant to bolster the country’s border and transportation security.

Uzbekistan: Playing Politics on Facebook

Ekaterina — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 08:57:05 +0000

Facebook seems to have started playing an important role in Uzbek politics. However, so far it is more a tool for playing games with fake accounts, rather than an instrument of civil protests.

Planted suicide story?

On 6 December, 2011, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported on a suicide committed by a young woman in the western Uzbek city of Andijan. After coming home on vacation, Gulsumoi Abdujalilova, a 32-year-old university student in Germany, was allegedly interrogated by police for four days.

According to the Uzbek NGO Human Rights Alliance, Abdujalilova was beaten at the police station and forced to write statements against Muhammad Salih, the self-exiled leader of the opposition People's Movement of Uzbekistan (PMU). The movement was formed in May 2011 from a number of foreign-based Uzbek opposition movements and rights organizations and stated its goal as being the downfall of President Islam Karimov's regime.

Facebook profile picture of Gulsumoy Abdujalilova, which is actually a photo of turkish model Armine Eşarpları

According to her Facebook account, Abdujalilova was a supporter of this movement, and a person with the name Muhammad Salih was among her Facebook friends. That was the reason, some netizens believe, that the young woman came to attention of the Uzbek authorities. However, the PMU website has stated [uz] that Abdujalilova was never a member of the opposition movement.

It’s worth mentioning that Interior Ministry officials in Andijan gave no comment. Abdujalilova’s relatives (according to her Facebook profile she is married, and Human Rights Alliance mentioned Abdujalilova’s sister who allegedly found her suicide note) have also kept silent.

The story became more perplexing when two days later, on 8 December, the opposition site Uzmetronom.com published [ru] an article with the results of a journalistic investigation, carried out by the website. The author of the article, who remained anonymous, concluded that the entire story is provocation prepared by Muhammad Salih to destabilize Uzbek society and gain international attention.

The story has attracted the attention of netizens. One of them comments on the idea that it may have been planted by members of the Uzbek opposition in order to smear the Uzbek government. Other suggest that it was made up by the national security services to show people the dangers of supporting the opposition movement.

It still remains unclear who could benefit from the made-up story and probably this will not be known. Sarah Kendzior from Registan.net sums up:

[…] it reveals a great deal of how rumor operates on the Uzbek political internet. The assumption that all information is unreliable, and all sources biased, has had the perverse effect of ensuring that all rumor is taken seriously.

Prime Minister’s fake Facebook account

Another topic that has sparked controversy among Uzbek bloggers was the Facebook account of Uzbekistan’s Prime-Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev. His Facebook page, created early in May this year, has about 2,000 friends and identifies him as a 100% Muslim with conservative political views, interested in women and married.

Catherine A. Fitzpatrick from Eurasianet.org comments:

[…] you can see that Mirziyoyev is inspired by Nicolas Sarkozy, Lee Myung-bak, Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin and […] Islam Karimov.

His gmail address is provided, so write and ask any questions! Don't expect any cat or dog photos, however.

Others wonder why the Prime Minister doesn’t have a personal page on Uzbekistan’s local social network Muloqot.uz and speculate that the main goal of his Facebook page is to attract a Western audience.

However, after a semi-official statement from the Prime Minister's “offline office” about contacting the Facebook administration with a request to delete the page, it became clear that the account is not authentic.

Dangers of being too public

This is not the first time that high-ranking Uzbek public figures’ names have been used for suspicious accounts in social networks. Early this May the blogosphere discussed two Twitter accounts which were affiliated with President Karimov’s daughter Gulnara Karimova. The first one, @GuliKarimova, does not exist anymore. However the second one, @GulnaraKarimova [ru], is active and has over 1,800 followers

As we see, social networks in Uzbekistan are getting used in some games with political background. Therefore Hugh Raiser from Eurasianet.org warns:

[…] arguments about the dangers of being too public with one's affiliations on public social networking sites remain in force.

Uzbekistan: President decides to cut his term

Adil Nurmakov — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:50:02 +0000

Mansurhon says that the Uzbek Parliament’s decision to pass a constitutional amendment reducing the length of presidential term from current seven to five years, sparked a lot of controversy in the country.

Uzbekistan: Prime-minister's page on Facebook is also fake

Adil Nurmakov — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:46:03 +0000

Tomyris writes about a fuss around Facebook account of the Prime Minister of Uzbekistan that gave rise to political speculations among the observers. The page has proved to be not authentic though.

Uzbekistan: Forged Facebook story about post-interrogation suicide

Adil Nurmakov — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:28:58 +0000

Sarah Kendzior reports about the story of Gulsumoy Abdujalilova, an invented person with fake Facebook profile, who allegedly committed suicide after being interrogated by the Uzbek police.

Russia: Nationalist slogans get spread

Ekaterina — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 08:48:35 +0000

Fergananews writes [ru] on popularity of Russian nationalist slogans against immigrants from Central Asia amidst the looming parliamentary elections: “25 percent of high school students approve of nationalist actions of their classmates.”

Uzbekistan: Independent newspaper is shutting down

Adil Nurmakov — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:13:36 +0000

Tomyris reports that the decade-plus-old independent newspaper “Zerkalo XXI” has been barred from publication in Uzbekistan.