HUMAN RIGHTS

Once described as ‘abysmal’, Uzbekistan’s record on human rights has seen moderate improvements. According to Human

Rights Watch, two years after assuming the presidency, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is continuing to take ‘some promising steps to reform the country’s awful human rights record’, in particular releasing some longserving political prisoners and clamping down on local corruption. At the same time, the government remains authoritarian, elections are far from free and fair, and promising reforms are yet to be implemented.

The country is well known as a hotspot for forced labour, particularly when it comes to cotton picking. In 2018, the government took measures to enforce a public decree prohibiting the forced mobilisation of public sector workers, including teachers and medical personnel. Nevertheless, reports of staff at state-owned companies being driven out to the countryside to pick cotton during the 2019 harvest were still widespread.