CORI Country Report Uzbekistan, November 2010
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CORI country of origin research and information CORI Country Report Uzbekistan, November 2010 Commissioned by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Any views expressed in this paper are those of the author and are not necessarily those of UNHCR. Preface Country of Origin Information (COI) is required within Refugee Status Determination (RSD) to provide objective evidence on conditions in refugee producing countries to support decision making. Quality information about human rights, legal provisions, politics, culture, society, religion and healthcare in countries of origin is essential in establishing whether or not a person’s fear of persecution is well founded. CORI Country Reports are designed to aid decision making within RSD. They are not intended to be general reports on human rights conditions. They serve a specific purpose, collating legally relevant information on conditions in countries of origin, pertinent to the assessment of claims for asylum. Categories of COI included within this report are based on the most common issues arising from asylum applications made by Uzbekistan nationals. This report covers events up to 30 November 2010. COI is a specific discipline distinct from academic, journalistic or policy writing, with its own conventions and protocols of professional standards as outlined in international guidance such as The Common EU Guidelines on Processing Country of Origin Information, 2008 and UNHCR, Country of Origin Information: Towards Enhanced International Cooperation, 2004. CORI provides information impartially and objectively, the inclusion of source material in this report does not equate to CORI agreeing with its content or reflect CORI’s position on conditions in a country. It is acknowledged that all sources have a bias, it is for decision makers to place a weight on sources, assessing relevance to each individual application. CORI Country Reports are prepared on the basis of publicly available information, studies and commentaries within a specified time frame. All sources are cited and fully referenced. Every effort has been taken to ensure accuracy and comprehensive coverage of the research issues, however as COI is reliant on publicly available documentation there may be instances where the required information is not available. The reports are not, and do not purport to be, either exhaustive with regard to conditions in the country surveyed, or conclusive as to the merits of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Every effort has been made to compile information from reliable sources; users should assess the credibility, relevance and timeliness of source material with reference to the specific research concerns arising from individual applications. CORI is an independent centre providing specialist research resources to support Refugee Status Determination. CORI works internationally with all parties to RSD, including governments, legal representatives and NGOs, producing commissioned research reports and providing knowledge management services. CORI works to improve standards of COI production through capacity building and training. Country of Origin Research and Information (CORI) www.cori.org.uk [email protected] November 2010 2 Table of Contents PREFACE...............................................................................................................................................2 A. BACKGROUND AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS ......................................................................4 1. POPULATION DEMOGRAPHY AND ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS COMPOSITION.........................................4 2. POLITICAL ACTORS AND SYSTEM IN UZBEKISTAN ...........................................................................5 3. FOREIGN AND DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES UNDER DIFFERENT AGREEMENTS .............................................................................................................................10 3.1. Shanghai Cooperation Agreement...................................................................................10 3.2 Minsk Agreement .............................................................................................................11 3.3 Cooperation on Judicial Matters.......................................................................................13 3.3.1 Counter -Terrorism...............................................................................................14 3.3.2 Extradition ............................................................................................................18 4. NON-STATE ACTORS, INCLUDING ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALIST AND TERRORIST GROUPS: AIM, STRUCTURE, OPERATIONAL CAPACITIES......................................................................................22 4.1 Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan .....................................................................................22 4.2 Islamic Jihad Union..........................................................................................................24 5. POLICE AND SECURITY FORCES; STRUCTURES, FUNCTIONS AND OPERATIONAL CAPACITIES.........26 5.1 Military..............................................................................................................................26 5.2 Police ...............................................................................................................................27 6. THE JUDICIARY: STRUCTURES AND FUNCTIONS............................................................................33 B. HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION......................................................................................................37 1. POLITICAL FREEDOM...................................................................................................................37 2. PROTECTION OF ETHNIC MINORITIES IN UZBEKISTAN ...................................................................43 3. FREEDOM OF RELIGION IN UZBEKISTAN .......................................................................................45 4. PROTECTION OF REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS IN UZBEKISTAN .............................................56 5. DUE PROCESS AND FAIR TRIAL IN UZBEKISTAN: PROSECUTION/PERSECUTION .............................65 C. UZBEK FUNDAMENTALIST GROUPS .......................................................................................72 1. RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC EXTREMISM IN UZBEKISTAN AND TRANSBORDER TIES WITH NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES ........................................................................................................72 2. EFFECTIVENESS AND OPERABILITY OF UZBEK RADICAL GROUPS IN UZBEKISTAN ..........................76 3. UZBEK GOVERNMENT CRACKDOWN ON ISLAMISTS AND POLITICAL SPILL-OVER IN KYRGYZSTAN ...80 3 A. Background and Recent Developments 1. Population Demography and Ethnic and Religious Composition According to a September 2010 report by the World Bank, Uzbekistan had a population of 27.31m in 2008.1 The organisation further notes with regard to the country’s demographics, “An estimated 37% of the Uzbekistan population lives in urban areas, with about three million inhabitants in the capital Tashkent, the largest city. The country has a very young and rapidly growing population and is facing a serious employment generation challenge, especially in rural areas where two-thirds of Uzbekistan’s populations live.”2 The NGO Minority Rights Group International reports in 2010 that the principal languages of Uzbekistan are Uzbek, Russian, Tajik, Kazakh and Tatar.3 The group further reports, “Minority groups include Russians (6%), Tajiks (4.8%), Kazakhs (4%), Tatars (1.6%); other minorities include Karakalpaks, Koreans, Meskhetian Turks and Jews (National Census, estimate for 1998). Uzbekistan is made up of a number of traditional populations of Turkic (Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Karakalpaks), Semitic (Bukhara Jews), and Iranian origins (Tajiks), as well as more recent minorities which arrived in the country during the Russian and Soviet domination (Russians, Crimean Tatars, Meskhetian Turks, Koreans and some Jews).”4 The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office reports in May 2010 that the country’s main religious groups are Sunni Muslim (88%), Eastern Orthodox (9%), and other (3%).5 Minority Rights Group International provides the following information as of 2010 with regard to Uzbekistan's minority groups in its ethnic composition, “Most Meskhetian Turks are Sunni Muslims who speak an East Anatolian variety of Turkish. Uzbekistan had one of the largest communities of Meskhetian Turks in the Soviet Union, but a pogrom [sic] which started in the Ferghana Valley in 1989 led to most of these [ ] fleeing the country, so that it is widely believed there are less than 15,000 (European Centre for Minority Issues, 2004) of them remaining in the country, mainly in Bukhara, Navoi and Samarkand. While many are involved in agriculture, they still constitute a rather urbanised, entrepreneurial and affluent segment of society.”6 “The Karakalpaks' language belongs to the Kipchak family of Turkic languages, and they are closely related linguistically and culturally to the Kazakhs. They are mainly Sunni Muslims and about half a million of them live on the southern shore of the Aral Sea in the Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan (Government of Karakalpakstan, 2006). There are also Karakalpak villages in the Ferghana Valley.”7 “Unofficial figures from 2005 suggest that about two-thirds of all the country's Slavic minorities have emigrated. [ ] The Slavic minorities are almost exclusively