Uzbekistan: Authorities pay for positive human rights publications
The publication of an article in the Kuwaiti newspaper “Q8-Press” concerning the Development Strategy for 2022-2026 of the so-called New Uzbekistan caused a negative assessment in the activist community. The author of the publication is Akmal Saidov, First Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis [Senate]. He also holds the post of Director of the National Center for Human Rights.
“Today, the country has a stable political system that meets modern criteria for democracy and human rights; and legislative, executive and judicial authorities at all levels are actively working to strengthen respect for human rights and popularize human rights education throughout the country,” Saidov writes.
This publication caused an ambiguous reaction in Uzbekistan. The issue is being actively discussed in all social networks.
“Oh, really? That’s how it’s! And we thought that we had a legal lawlessness,” blogger Shakhina Salomova sarcastically reacted. She noted on her Telegram channel “Pathanatomy of the country Uz.” inconsistency between laudatory statements and the international ratings of Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan ranked 140th place in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index. In 2021, the country has risen by 6 positions. “This is clearly not enough to be proud of, taking into account 178 countries on the list,” the ACCA expert notes.
According to the WJP Rule of Law Index®, the overall rule of law in Uzbekistan has increased by 4.1% compared to 2020. This is 85th place out of 139 countries and jurisdictions of the world, which also doesn’t give cause for great joy of the government and the President (compared with Georgia at 49th place). Uzbekistan ranks 10th out of 14 countries in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region and 11th out of 35 lower-middle-income countries.
In the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index, Uzbekistan ranks 150th out of 165 countries. The researchers rated the quality of the electoral process and pluralism – 0.08 out of 10, government performance – 1.86, political participation – 2.78, political culture – 5, and civil liberties – 0.88. Uzbekistan had the same indicators in 2020.
Worse results are only in Tajikistan (157) and Turkmenistan (162). Kazakhstan has 128th position in the global ranking, Kyrgyzstan – 115th.
The International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR, Belgium) and the Association for Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA, France) once again recorded the fact that the authorities of Uzbekistan don’t fulfill their obligations to form a civil society in the country.
According to the international non-governmental organization “Reporters without borders” (Reporters sans frontières, RSF), the annual press freedom rating for Uzbekistan has worsened since 2018 (2020 World Press Freedom Index). The country has dropped one place in the global index and ranks 157th out of 180 countries on the list. Numerous ACCA publications suggest that the situation is only getting worse. The latest evidence of persecution of the press is the show trial of Anastasia Pavlenko, accused of slander. She turned out to be guilty for her sincere desire to save the house of the founder of easel painting in Uzbekistan, Pavel Benkov (the cultural heritage of the country) from demolition. The court didn’t even demand to remove publications in the newspaper and on the Internet, the evidence of the journalist from Samarkand was so convincing.
Official Uzbekistan is constantly trying to promote positive publications in foreign media about the reforms and the leadership of the country. Earlier, ACCA wrote about Uzbekistan funding the services of Western politicians and lobbying firms. The country’s authorities hired two U.S. liaison firms to turn “their own page in the recent history of repression”.
The lobbyists were first hired in November 2019 to support a three-day press tour for Western journalists “to promote Uzbekistan as an attractive destination for investment and tourism, as well as publicize the current economic situation in Uzbekistan and the political reform agenda”. The services were paid for by Frontier Consulting in New Jersey.
The Public Fund for the Support and Development of National Mass Media also resorted to the services of lobbyists. In March 2020, Washington DC-based firm Bridgeway Advocacy was hired to inform the public and private sector in the US about progress made, promoting free speech and gender equality.
A Carnegie Moscow Center publication noted that over the five years of Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s reforms, everyone has become accustomed to seeing laudatory articles in the world media about the reformist successes of the new Uzbek leadership. The Economist even announced Uzbekistan as the country of the year, and Mirziyoyev was compared to Deng Xiaoping.
