On the birthday of lawyer, blogger, and human rights activist Shohida Salomova, International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR), Association for Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA) and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee call for her immediate and unconditional release from forced psychiatric detention. Her case raises serious concerns about the abuse of psychiatric measures to silence dissent, violations of fair trial guarantees, and risks to her health. We urge the authorities of Uzbekistan to end her arbitrary detention, ensure access to independent medical care, and uphold their international human rights obligations.
On 18 December 2022, Salomova posted a comment on social media about a high-ranking official. Later that same day, officials searched her home and detained her. A criminal case was opened against her for defamation and insult (Articles 139, 140 and 244.1 of the Criminal Code). According to information available to the undersigning organizations, officials attempted to coerce Salomova to incriminate herself during initial interrogations, which she refused to do.
On 22 December 2022, Salmova was forcibly committed to a psychiatric facility. Since January 2024, she has been held in the Republican Psychiatric Hospital in Tashkent under constant supervision. Her forced detention has effectively become indefinite as it has been repeatedly extended without independent medical evaluation or effective judicial oversight. As a result, she has effectively been denied justice for more than three years.
Salomova is a well-known outspoken blogger and government critic in Uzbekistan. She has often criticized Uzbek officials through her now-deleted Telegram channel “Panatonomy of the Land of Uz” and her YouTube Channel Shakhina Salomova. Through her blogging and online activities, she has drawn attention to the widespread practice of forced evictions and demolitions in the country as well as other issues.
According to information available to the undersigned organisations, 64-year-old Salomova, who suffers from chronic illnesses including diabetes and asthma, is not receiving adequate medical care which creates serious risks to her health.
All available information points to
a clear and consistent pattern of serious human rights violations against
Salomova, including arbitrary deprivation of liberty, violation of fair trial
standards, undue restrictions on her right to freedom of expression, and the
abuse of psychiatric institutions by state and medical institutions, measures
which are consistent with cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.
Salomova’s case bears all the hallmarks of politically motivated persecution aimed at silencing critical expression and appears to represent a disturbing continuation of Soviet-era practices. The practice of forced psychiatric measures as a tool of repression and form of retaliation against critics originated in the Soviet Union – confining dissidents to forced psychiatric treatment enables authorities to effectively discredit and punish opponents while avoiding the scrutiny attracted by political trials. Alarmingly, Salomova’s case is just the latest in a series of other documented cases which.
We, the undersigning organizations, call on the authorities of Uzbekistan to immediately and unconditionally release Shokhida Salomova; cease the use of coercive psychiatric measures against her; and ensure her access to independent and adequate medical care. We urge authorities to conduct an independent, effective, and transparent investigation into all violations committed, and ensure Salomova is compensated for all the injustices she has endured.
We call on the international partners of Uzbekistan and UN human rights mechanisms to pay attention to this case and take appropriate measures. The case of Shohida Salomova is a problematic example of the use of punitive psychiatry to silence critical voices and merits a strong international response.
