The President
of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev will visit Paris on October 8-9
This is the
first summit that the two leaders will hold after the EU sanctions against
Uzbekistan, which lasted from 2005 to 2009. As is well known, the previous
President and dictator Islam Karimov became a de facto persona non grata in Europe, after the Uzbekistani
authorities refused to conduct an independent international investigation into the
Andijan tragedy in May 2005, when thousands of peaceful demonstrators were shot
by government forces. In subsequent years, distrust of Karimov intensified,
also because his daughter Gulnara Karimova turned out to be a defendant in
criminal proceedings in twelve countries of the world facing charges of corruption
and money laundering.
In September
2016, after the death of Islam Karimov, Shavkat Mirziyoyev came to power in
Uzbekistan. After his election as president in December 2016, he referred to himself
as the son of Islam Karimov and began to perpetuate his memory.
In the first
two years of his presidency, several processes can be noted. On the one hand:
— 29
activists were released;
— The
country began to accept visits by international human rights organizations;
— During
their speeches, representatives of the authorities began to more often criticize
systemic state abuses.
However
— The trials
of officials involved in torture and corruption are closed;
— None of
the released prisoners of conscience has received full rehabilitation and
compensation for the years spent in prison cells and damaged health;
— Rustam
Inoyatov - the former head of the National Security Service of Uzbekistan and
the executioner of Andijan remains among the closest state advisers to the President;
— the
executive branch still controls all branches of government, and parliament and
the justice system are deprived of independence from administrative bodies;
— the
government has not made significant progress and transparency for society in
the creation of anti-corruption mechanisms;
— mass
violations of the rights to housing of citizens who are illegally evicted from
their homes under the pretext of building projects, which are carried out
without open tenders;
— Many political
refugees who were forced to leave their homeland because of repression were
deprived of Uzbek citizenship and some of their property has been illegally
confiscated.
We, citizens
of Uzbekistan, living in different countries, will demonstrate on 9 October
2018, on the streets of Paris with banners and political posters, along the
route on which the French President Emanuel Macron will pass. We will be
wearing masks of people from his inner circle who influence his policies as we
protest against human rights violations and large-scale corruption in
Uzbekistan.
We intend to
draw the attention of President Emanuel Macron to significant shortcomings in
the domestic policy of the Uzbek President. We hope President Macron will call
on his Uzbek counterpart for real and consistent reforms.
