Tashkent Ignores Murders of Uzbeks in Russia
Tashkent Ignores Murders of Uzbeks in Russia
Despite attempts by Uzbek activists to draw their government’s attention to the victimisation of labour migrants in Russia, Tashkent remains tight-lipped on the issue – perhaps because it does not want to admit that so many people are forced to go abroad to find work.
At the end of March, the Uyghon, Uzbekiston (Awake, Uzbekistan) Democratic Youth Movement declared March 31 to be Memorial Day for Uzbeks murdered in Russia. Activists from the movement announced that it would stage protests outside Russian embassies in various countries.
The statement said about 100 migrant workers were killed by Russian skinheads last year, and accused the Kremlin of failing to act to prevent racist crime.
It said that as skinhead attacks on Central Asians increased, Russian police often recorded racist crimes under less serious headings, and created bureaucracy difficulties that impede investigations. Of these 100 cases of murder, only 25 resulted in individuals being taken to court – and even then they were only accused of disorderly conduct and the like.
According to the Sova Human Rights Center based in Moscow, more than 30 race-based crimes, leading in the deaths of at least ten Central Asians, took place in Russia in March 2008 alone.
The authorities in Uzbekistan’s neighbours - Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan - have already issued formal statements of concern.
Yet the Uzbek government has so far remained silent.
Abbos is a young man from Bukhara in western Uzbekistan who has experienced the lack of official concern. When his brother was assaulted by skinheads in Russia last year, the family found it impossible to interest anyone in the case.
“After my brother was beaten up by skinheads, we went to our [Uzbek] embassy in Moscow. They told us straight out they weren’t going to spoil relations with the Russian authorities by taking action on my brother’s behalf,” said Abbos.
After numerous trips to Moscow, the family has all but given up hope of getting judicial redress.
“The case always appeared to have been closed for some reason,” explained Abbos. “The last time, despite persistent efforts by my uncle, it was reclassified as hooliganism.”
NBCentralAsia analysts are pessimistic about the prospects for Tashkent taking action to improve matters for Uzbek nationals in Russia, or even making its concerns public.
“Our government does not want to acknowledge the existence of a large proportion of Uzbek labour migrants abroad, let alone defend their rights. It is trying to persuade everyone that Uzbekistan is enjoying development just like any other member of the Commonwealth of Independent States,” said Tashpulat Yoldashev, a political analyst in Tashkent.
Yoldashev noted that unlike other former Soviet states which lobby for better rights for their nationals working in Russia and set quotas for the number of people going there legally, Uzbekistan has done nothing for its citizens.
A human rights activist in Tashkent, who did not want to be named, said one reason why the government would not accuse Moscow of failing to act on racial crime was that the Russians were now a major commercial investor and political partner.
“The government has done nothing to protect human rights inside the country, [so] it is not going to say a word in defence of Uzbeks’ rights in future,” said the activist.
Human rights groups estimate that between three and five million of Uzbekistan’s 28 million people work as labour migrants in Russia and Kazakstan.
(NBCentralAsia is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service is resuming, covering only Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan for the moment.)
At the end of March, the Uyghon, Uzbekiston (Awake, Uzbekistan) Democratic Youth Movement declared March 31 to be Memorial Day for Uzbeks murdered in Russia. Activists from the movement announced that it would stage protests outside Russian embassies in various countries.
The statement said about 100 migrant workers were killed by Russian skinheads last year, and accused the Kremlin of failing to act to prevent racist crime.
It said that as skinhead attacks on Central Asians increased, Russian police often recorded racist crimes under less serious headings, and created bureaucracy difficulties that impede investigations. Of these 100 cases of murder, only 25 resulted in individuals being taken to court – and even then they were only accused of disorderly conduct and the like.
According to the Sova Human Rights Center based in Moscow, more than 30 race-based crimes, leading in the deaths of at least ten Central Asians, took place in Russia in March 2008 alone.
The authorities in Uzbekistan’s neighbours - Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan - have already issued formal statements of concern.
Yet the Uzbek government has so far remained silent.
Abbos is a young man from Bukhara in western Uzbekistan who has experienced the lack of official concern. When his brother was assaulted by skinheads in Russia last year, the family found it impossible to interest anyone in the case.
“After my brother was beaten up by skinheads, we went to our [Uzbek] embassy in Moscow. They told us straight out they weren’t going to spoil relations with the Russian authorities by taking action on my brother’s behalf,” said Abbos.
After numerous trips to Moscow, the family has all but given up hope of getting judicial redress.
“The case always appeared to have been closed for some reason,” explained Abbos. “The last time, despite persistent efforts by my uncle, it was reclassified as hooliganism.”
NBCentralAsia analysts are pessimistic about the prospects for Tashkent taking action to improve matters for Uzbek nationals in Russia, or even making its concerns public.
“Our government does not want to acknowledge the existence of a large proportion of Uzbek labour migrants abroad, let alone defend their rights. It is trying to persuade everyone that Uzbekistan is enjoying development just like any other member of the Commonwealth of Independent States,” said Tashpulat Yoldashev, a political analyst in Tashkent.
Yoldashev noted that unlike other former Soviet states which lobby for better rights for their nationals working in Russia and set quotas for the number of people going there legally, Uzbekistan has done nothing for its citizens.
A human rights activist in Tashkent, who did not want to be named, said one reason why the government would not accuse Moscow of failing to act on racial crime was that the Russians were now a major commercial investor and political partner.
“The government has done nothing to protect human rights inside the country, [so] it is not going to say a word in defence of Uzbeks’ rights in future,” said the activist.
Human rights groups estimate that between three and five million of Uzbekistan’s 28 million people work as labour migrants in Russia and Kazakstan.
(NBCentralAsia is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service is resuming, covering only Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan for the moment.)
