Renewed efforts to improve the country’s image saw the President prioritize a reform agenda. However, freedoms of association, expression and peaceful assembly remained tightly regulated. Human rights defenders continued to face targeted surveillance. Progress in the eradication of forced labour in...

Reacting to Uzbekistan’s upper house of Parliament passing legislation that criminalizes domestic violence, Heather McGill, Amnesty International’s Central Asia Researcher, said: “Women rights activists and human rights defenders in Uzbekistan have been campaigning for years for better protection...

The Covid-19 pandemic, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and a pervasive focus on ‘traditional values’ have contributed to a deterioration in human rights and rising levels of domestic violence and other forms of gender-based violence in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Amnesty International said...

Responding to reports of use of unlawful force in Nukus, which left at least 18 protesters dead following a demonstration against a proposed amendment to the Constitution that would strip away Karakalpakstan’s autonomy within Uzbekistan, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and...

Governments in Eastern European and Central Asian countries are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic with repressive and abusive measures which fall far short of their human rights obligations, Amnesty International said today. The organization has released a new briefing Eastern Europe and Central...

A Uzbekistani court’s decision to release journalist Bobomurod Abdullayev is a glimmer of hope for the country’s beleaguered journalists, and must be followed by concrete reforms to respect, protect and promote the right to freedom of expression, Amnesty International said today. Tashkent City...

Working on human rights in Uzbekistan has always been a challenge as there is never a shortage of flagrant human rights violations. On 3 February journalist and human rights activist Dilmurod Saidov (Sayyid) was released from prison early – for many this is yet another sign that things are changing...

In response to Moscow City Court’s decision to suspend the deportation to Uzbekistan of openly gay journalist Khudoberdi Nurmatov (better known by his journalist alias Ali Feruz) but to keep him in detention while his case is reviewed by the European Court of Human Rights, Amnesty International’s...

The Russian authorities must immediately overturn their decision to deport asylum seeker Khudoberdi Nurmatov, better known under his journalist alias Ali Feruz, to Uzbekistan, Amnesty International said today. “Ali Feruz is openly gay, a human rights activist and a correspondent for the independent...

The Uzbekistani government is conducting unlawful surveillance of its citizens and fostering a climate of fear and uncertainty for Uzbekistani people in Europe, said Amnesty International in a new report and film launched today. ‘We Will Find You, Anywhere’ looks at the impact of unlawful...

Mirsobir Khamidkariev, an Uzbekistani film producer and businessman, was forcibly returned from Russia, tortured and sent to a prison camp Hundreds of asylum-seekers, refugees and migrant workers have been deported and even abducted in forced returns from Russia to Uzbekistan, where they have been...

People who speak out against leaders face increasing risk of punishment or prosecution, Amnesty International said today as it launched the world’s biggest human rights campaign. During the annual Write for Rights campaign, from 4-17 December, hundreds of thousands of Amnesty International...

In May 2005, in the city of Andijan in eastern Uzbekistan, 23 local businessmen were on trial, accused of being Islamic extremists. There had been a peaceful protest outside the court building for the duration of the trial, but on 12 May the verdict was postponed. In the early hours of the...