Uzbekistan: special forces participated in the arrest of 70-year-old activist
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor General’s Office didn’t comment on the detention of an elderly woman Karomat Ashirova in Angren (Tashkent region) for 12 days. On June 21, at least 40 armed special forces officers took part in a military operation against a 70-year-old activist. Her alleged guilt lies in defending the rights of citizens in the face of numerous violations of the law. She is the author of numerous letters to the President about the arbitrariness of local authorities.
The journalists of the online edition “Effect.uz” unsuccessfully tried to appeal to the law enforcement agencies after a conducted video investigation of the incident. Residents, in communication with journalists, told about Karomat’s disinterested aid to those in need over the years.
“I told her about my situation, that for 19 years now I have been living in an abandoned factory building, because I have no home. There are 250 people like me. Seeing how we suffer with this problem, and sympathizing with us, Karomat-opa [respectful form of address to an older woman], together with us, even reached the administration of the regional hokimiyat,” one of the women is indignant. “Before that, I addressed to our hokim every week, in total 13 times. There is no need to talk about futile visits to the mahalla. None of them helped us. Then I came to ask our sister for help. When I was on a hunger strike [with my family], Karomat brought us bags of flour. In those days, when I was ill, she inquired after me. She just wanted to help homeless people.”
“Neither the virtual reception room nor other official organizations were able to help us. Our situation is just critical. We are not close people to Karomat-opa, but she is not a criminal, she [on the contrary] defended the interests of the people. As soon as we learned about yesterday’s bad news (arbitrariness with the detention of an elderly activist – ed.), we have come here now to express solidarity in such a difficult situation for her,” the women, who gathered in Karomat Ashirova’s house the day after her arrest, tell each other.
“I am very proud of my sister. She is a woman who made the Hajj [pilgrimage], saying namaz [Muslim prayer] and wishing well for everyone,” says another woman. “She is 70 years old. She worked as a doctor for 38 years. Until now, people thank her for her professional work. And she was detained as a terrorist… The ranks of “civilians” dressed in all black and wearing masks stretched from the beginning of the street to the end, we were not even allowed to move, as if my sister had killed or robbed someone! Even my house was searched. Why? What for? What were they looking for? I am an ordinary pensioner. I live on a pension of 570,000 sums (more than $ 50). The officials themselves are real bandits and thieves. They must be shot. They destroyed the whole city.”
The ACCA expert suggests, that the detention of the woman of such age is unprecedented even for Uzbekistan. It’s “an indicator of fear of large-scale unrest and protest actions, which are still local in nature”. “It’s unlikely that this is the arbitrariness of city officials, the action is probably sanctioned at the very top and is fully consistent with the lawmaking of the Parliament’s members.”
Citizens of the country periodically express dissatisfaction with the demolition of houses, lack of access to drinking water and power outages.
Parliamentarians intend to strengthen criminal responsibility for opposing government officials performing their official duties. “Servants of the people” suggest increasing the fine for resistance to almost $ 2,500. The punishment is imprisonment up to three years, previously it was one year.
