Human Rights Watch World Report 2021: Uzbekistan

During 2020, there were reports of torture and ill-treatment in prisons, most former prisoners were not rehabilitated, journalists and activists were persecuted, independent rights groups were denied registration, and forced labor was not eliminated...

Azimbay Ataniyazov, human rights activist and founder of Chiroq, an NGO that focuses on monitoring forced labor in the cotton sector, received at least two rejections from the Ministry of Justice in response to applications to register his [NGO]. Two founding members stepped back from the group after being harassed and threatened by Uzbek authorities in February 2020...

Uzbekistan has made significant efforts to address child and forced labor in its cotton sector, but forced labor remained widespread despite a public decree prohibiting forced mobilization. According to the International Labour Organization, in 2019, 102,000 cotton pickers “were subject to some form of coercion.”

Positive steps included the criminalization in January of the use of forced labor, and the elimination in March of the production quota system.

In October, the Uzbek Forum for Human Rights found that the government forced employees of public institutions and enterprises to pick cotton or pay for replacement pickers during the 2020 harvest which started on September 15. The Uzbek Forum also found “more cases of child labor than in recent years, when only sporadic cases were identified.” According the Uzbek Forum, it was “most likely due to the closure of schools because of the coronavirus pandemic, making children available to supplement their family’s income.”

Civil society groups fault the lack of fair recruitment and accountability systems for the continued reliance on forced labor...