Uzbekistan needs law on peaceful assembly
The ACCA editorial office received an open letter from human rights defenders of Uzbekistan about the arbitrariness of state bodies and the possibility of citizens to freely express their protest. We publish the text of the letter in full.
A protest rally staged by residents of Urgench in connection with the non-payment of monetary compensations for the demolition of house, set fire by an entrepreneur to the Deputy Head of Yakkabag district of Kashkadarya region for demolition of his store, a picket in the city of Nukus organized by single mothers regarding the non-payment of children’s allowances, all this clearly indicates that it is time in Uzbekistan to pass a law on peaceful assembly.
The right to express openly one’s opinion, as well as discuss issues that are important for society as a whole or a small part of it, is one of the important indicators of the level of the democracy development in the state.
This right for citizens in our country is enshrined in the Article 33 of the Constitution of Uzbekistan, which guarantees that “citizens have the right to carry out their public activity in the form of rallies, meetings and demonstrations”.
At the same time, the proper provision of the right of peaceful assembly by the state will simultaneously affect other rights of citizens, for example, the right to fair justice, the equality of all before the law and the court (Article 18 of the Constitution of Uzbekistan).
Freedom of peaceful assembly is one of the fundamental human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states in the Article 20 that “everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association”.
Uzbekistan ratified the Declaration of Human Rights on September 30, 1991, but our officials work as before, like in Soviet time, ignoring the laws.
To our great regret, the initiators of most violations of the citizens’ rights in our country are government officials. Guided solely by the goal of personal gain (corruption !!!), they easily, often without any consequences for themselves, step over the legal acts of Uzbekistan, thereby causing irreparable damage not only to the authority and prestige of the law in the country, but also to the state in general, including position on the international stage.
State officials do not want to solve the problems of people in the manner prescribed by law, give endless replies, even to legitimate appeals of citizens, do not want to receive citizens on working days.
All this not only infringes upon the rights of citizens in our country, but also creates favorable conditions for corruption, encourages bureaucracy and formalism, inaction and irresponsibility of government officials.
The right to peaceful assembly should be without artificial barriers. The adoption of a law allowing freedom of peaceful assembly will return the faith of ordinary citizens to justice and the law. This will greatly help in the fight against corruption, will force officials to act and make decisions in strict accordance with the laws of Uzbekistan.
Do you remember how the events in Urgench and Kashkadarya region were personally controlled by the President of Uzbekistan, which ultimately helped people solve their problems? It was a shame for the President, and sadly for the whole nation, which became as a hostage in situation of bureaucratic indecency.
For each rally held, a thorough investigation should be conducted. The results should be published in the media. Alas, none of the above has been done. Well, so that officials do not interpret the law on peaceful assembly in their own way, we should not give them opportunities to create artificial barriers. For example, to allow holding rallies without tentative agreement from government agencies, without compiling lists of participants, and so on.
Human rights defenders
Murat Ubbiniyazov (Nukus), Tatyana Dovlatova (Tashkent)
