Central Asian countries have a rigid vertical of power, where the main role is given to the head of state. The people who took these places after the collapse of the USSR left their posts, they were replaced by new faces.
Among them, the president of Uzbekistan stands out, having begun reforms in many areas of the life of the state.
Features of the activities of the leader of the country
Having replaced Islam Karimov, the current president decided to carry out reforms. One of the first actions in this area was the release of political prisoners. With this step, Shavkat Mirziyoyev sought to show Uzbek society and international observers that he does not support the practice of political repression and strive for greater pluralism of opinions.
However, there are human rights activists in the West who left the country under the previous regime and who doubt the sincerity of the intentions of the current head of state to carry out complete democratization.
There remain examples of torture, violent acts and disappearances of people in opposition to the authorities. Among the stories, the story about the fate of Murad Dzhuraev stands out. He was a member of parliament, denounced the execution of students under the Karimov regime, fell into disgrace and spent a total of 21 years in prison.
When the government changed, Juraev was not allowed to leave the country; he died of a heart attack. His son was fired from his job three years ago with the wording that his father was an “enemy of the people.” This suggests that there are blacklists of dissatisfied people in the country, whose activities are already being limited by the current president.
Human rights organizations face limitations in these matters. Shavkat Mirziyoyev ignores their appeals.
However, it should be noted that Uzbekistan is visited by UN missions, delegations from the EU, the USA, and international organizations involved in human rights activities. A number of laws were passed limiting or prohibiting prosecution for opinions and their expression. The president adopted several decrees to clear the procuratorates of people who worked under Karimov, and banned forced labor, including children. An important decision was freedom in the field of religion.
However, opposition political parties and movements are not registered for formal reasons, and the activities of human rights activists are kept silent. The ability of political emigrants to return to their homeland is hampered. All these facts leave a contradictory impression of the activities of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.