Global Voices » Uzbekistan

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.

Uzbekistan: How to Be Outraged Effectively

Adil Nurmakov — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 15:53:55 +0000

Joshua Foust shares his view on the popular debate over whether the U.S. government should work with the abusive government in Uzbekistan or not.

Uzbekistan: New Law Forbids Alcohol Consumption in Streets and Parks

Siân Sinnott — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 05:30:05 +0000

As reported [ru] by gazeta.uz on 5 October, 2011, the president of Uzbekistan approved a law regarding “the distribution and consumption of alcohol and tobacco products” which will come into force in April 2012.

The law states that the consumption of alcohol in streets, parks and other public places is banned. This regards any product for consumption which contains more than 1.5% of alcohol and means that it could be possible that even beer will have to be consumed either at home or in cafés and bars. At the same time, an interesting question is whether establishments will observe the ban on smoking in public places or adapt them into special alternatives for the consumption of tobacco products?

Furthermore, the law refers to the marketing of tobacco and alcohol products; medical warnings in the form of text or drawings must be visible on at least 40% of the main surface of the label which, according to current law, is only required at 5%.

Photo from the website profi-forex.org

It's also worth noting that a full ban on the sale of tobacco and alcohol products is being introduced for those under the age of 20. The reason for this age is not clear given that, according to Uzbek law, the age of majority and full legal capacity for citizens is 18 years.

Up to the present day a phenomenon has existed in Uzebekistan whereby cigarettes are sold as individual units. On the whole they are sold by babushkas (older women) who sit on stools in the streets and sell bits and bobs from similar stools - chewing gum, seeds and single cigarettes. Their main customers are school pupils and other students who sneak out to smoke cigarettes during break time. The lawmakers didn't forget about them - now it is forbidden to sell tobacco products without a packet, or in other words, as individual units.

Advertising alcohol and tobacco products and promoting their consumption is also prohibited. By way of example, in the current version of the law “On advertising”, advertising of the former and the latter is allowed, except in the case of strong alcohol which cannot be advertised during the daytime.

On the whole internet users have reacted to the new law with approval. For example, i-power comments [ru]:

Вот и еще один шаг вперед. Хоть маленькими шагами, но двигаемся вперед. Прогресс есть, отрицать не надо. Спасибо за это правительству.

This is yet another step forward. Although they are little steps, we are moving forward and this progress shouldn't be denied. Thanks to the government for this.

Кыргызстанец (Kyrgyzstanets) agrees [ru]:

Очень хороший и полезный закон…хотя я сам из представителей курящих но рад всегда такому закону…

This is a very good, beneficial law…although I myself am a smoker but I am happy about this law…

Svet suggests [ru], that during the passing of this law on the restriction of the distribution of alcohol and tobacco products, the government was guided first and foremost by their own interests, not concern for the health of their citizens:

1) это получит одобрения народа, чего ему [государству] так не хватает. 2) Народ по трезвянье не начнет бастовать, потому что смелости не хватит.

1) This will gain the people's approval which it (the government) is lacking. 2) The citizens will not start striking about this sobering up because they lack the courage.

However, not everyone is optimistic. Several users are convinced that the law will remain on paper not just because many laws in Uzbekistan are not observed but also because the producers will look for other ways of getting around the law. Octopus writes [ru] on this topic:

Насколько я знаю, в Узбекистане много замечательных законов,начиная с Конституции и заканчивая запрещающими детский труд, а также о свободе СМИ, запрете цензуры и прочие. (…) И что, все они рьяно соблюдаются и выполняются? Почему вы думаете, что именно этот будет соблюдаться от А до Я? Готовы владельцы (ликёро-водочных заводов, пивоваренных компаний и УзБАТ) к ограничению реализации их продукции?

As far as I know, in Uzbekistan, there are many noteworthy laws, beginning from the constitution and ending with the outlawing of child labour as well as, amongst others, those concerning freedom of the mass media, and prohibiting of censorship (…) And so, are all of these vigorously observed and put into practice?! Why do you think that this particular one will be applied to the letter. Are the owners of the liquor and spirit factories ready for restrictions on the making of their products.

It should be noted that tobacco products in the Uzebek market are made by the company УзБАТ (UzBAT) - a division of British American Tobacco. In 2010 the profit of the company grew by almost 50% compared to 2009.

It will be interesting to see how the passing of the law will affect the sale of naswar (a type of dipping tobacco), which is also related to tobacco products. However, it's sold in a simple cellophane packet and prepackaged into small portions, often by hand. Will the producers of naswar now write about it being harmful to their health? Soon this question will remain open.

Музаффар (Muzaffar) encourages [ru] citizens to take part in social enforcement of the law, in the hope that the law will begin to be applied with the help of such means:

Лично я думаю о детях и подростках. Теперь я спокойно смогу сдать ментам продавцов, отпускающих подросткам пиво, и опушек [женщин - GV], торгующих штучными сигаретами. Раньше с продавцами ругался, но поделать ничего не мог. Законодательной базы не было.

Personally I'm thinking about children and teenagers. Now, I will be able to peacefully report salespeople who sell beer to teenagers and women who sell individual cigarettes. Earlier, I cursed the salespeople but couldn't do anything. There was no legal basis.

Global Voices Russian Partners With Neweurasia.net

Ekaterina — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 09:12:03 +0000

We are pleased to announce partnership of Global Voices in Russian with Neweurasia.net, one of the most prominent citizen media platforms in Central Asia and about Central Asia, which has a large Russian and English speaking audience.

Neweurasia focuses on news and analysis generated by young people from the ground. The site casts light upon under-reported issues and provides a space for young, bright minds to make themselves heard. It was created back in 2005, when several online activists joined forces to develop a platform for blogs with low editing needs and quick, direct publishing.

It is worth mentioning of course, that one of the platform founders was also Global Voices author Ben Paarman. Today, the site has an extensive network of bloggers from five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), who all share amazing stories of lives, achievements and challenges in their countries.

Taking all this into account, the partnership of Global Voices and Neweurasia.net is a logical step, given the activities of the two communities and their similar goals. We are very excited to start our cooperation with one of the most amazing and popular citizen media platforms about Central Asian region.

We started with exchanging our logos. You might have already seen the Neweurasia logo on the Global Voices Russian site and our logo is placed on the Russian version of Neweurasia, which means that Global Voices will be more accessible for a Russian speaking audience. Both sides are open-minded and do not exclude other forms of partnership in the future.

We are grateful to the people who worked hard to make the cooperation possible. So, we owe a big “thank you” to Oliver Dams, project manager and technical manager of Neweurasia.net and one of the founders of the site, and Yelena Jetpyspaeva, social media officer of Neweurasia.net, for being receptive and open to new ideas.

Also, we would like to thank the team of Global Voices in Russian, authors and translators alike, for producing content and making the site interesting for Russian speakers.

Uzbekistan: Making some cash on pilgrims

Adil Nurmakov — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 03:47:24 +0000

Abulfazal writes that Uzbek black currency market has raised the USD per Uzbek soum exchange rate while Uzbek pilgrims are planning their trips to Saudi Arabia.

Uzbekistan: The Unicorn Principle and Regional Strategy

Adil Nurmakov — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 03:28:48 +0000

Joshua Foust analyzes the ongoing discussions on whether the U.S.’s decision to re-engage with the Karimov regime in Uzbekistan represents a least-bad option for the region.

Uzbekistan: Uzbeks extradited from Kazakhstan get long prison terms

Adil Nurmakov — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 12:45:59 +0000

Avicenna reports that three of the 28 ethnic Uzbeks who were extradited from Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan in June, were sentenced to different prison terms, with the longest being 15 years.