In Uzbekistan, illegal houses demolitions begin again

With an ax in her hand and the portrait of the President Mirziyoev on her chest, on February 9, Holbibi Donaeva beat off the representatives of local authorities who planned to demolish constructions on her plot. In Saryasi district of Surkhandarya region on the territory of the rural gathering of citizens “Gulobod”, local officials intended to execute the decree of the Prosecutor’s office, in which the decision of the district head on the allocation of land to H. Donaeva was declared unlawful.

The mother of two minor children was not going to take into account the official mistakes, as her property rights, confirmed by the district administration in September last year, were violated. The desperate act is still explained by the fact that earlier the state had already taken away the plot from her, having destroyed her house. For the amount of compensation, the woman built a small one-room house.

In her appeal, she stated that she would not let anyone deceive her. An unknown user filmed her speech on video and posted it on the network. According to available information, he was interrogated by law enforcement officers.

The group’s administrator on the Tashkent-Demolition social network, Farida Sharif, reports that Holbibi is not the only victim of officials’ irresponsibility. The residents of the district prepare the appeal to the President, asking for protection from the district’s head. “It turns out that people bought plots at auction and started building houses for themselves. In the village, there are mainly women and children, because men earn money in Russia. What a care for emigrants!” Sharif notes. “They are attacked by the head of the district with police and prosecutors, he wants to take the land, because the auction, as it turns out, was illegal, and the documents are not executed. According to the residents, they are trying to play an interethnic card, because both Uzbeks and ethnic Tajiks live in the village.”

The Regional Prosecutor’s office does not comment on what happened, thereby making it clear that the decision is binding. Thanks to the activity of a fellow villager of Holbibi, her tragedy received a public outcry on the Internet, to which the authorities were forced to respond. The press service of the regional administration in its official statement hastened to note that there would be no demolition yet.

The Prosecutor General of Uzbekistan, Nigmatilla Yuldashev, at an expanded meeting of the Republican Commission for the Prevention of Illegal Use and Seizure of Land in early February, reported numerous violations in this area.

For 2018-2019, administrations of all regions of Uzbekistan illegally allocated 56 thousand hectares of land. Based on these data, there are much more injured Uzbek citizens, only certain facts of gross violation of laws become publicly known.