Amnesty International Report 2017/18

392

Amnesty International Report 2017/18

people were regularly subjected to violence, 

arbitrary arrests, detention and discrimination 

by state and non-state actors.

FORCED LABOUR AND SLAVERY

In August, a presidential decree formally 

banned the forcible recruitment of children, 

students, medical personnel and teaching 

staff to work in the cotton fields. During his 

speech to the UN General Assembly in 

September, President Mirzioiev 

acknowledged the use of forced labour in the 

cotton industry in Uzbekistan and pledged to 

end it.

Nevertheless, human rights defenders and 

independent monitors detailed cases of 

hundreds of medical personnel and teaching 

staff being forced to work in the cotton fields, 

in poor working conditions. In some regions, 

they documented children harvesting cotton, 

despite the August ban. The authorities 

threatened those who refused to work in the 

cotton fields with large fines, dismissal or the 

loss of social benefits.

Police and local authorities tried to stop 

human rights activists from monitoring the 

work in the cotton fields, in some cases using 

intimidation, force, and arbitrary detention.

In March, police detained human rights 

defender Elena Urlaeva and forcibly confined 

her in a psychiatric hospital for a month. This 

was to prevent her from attending a 

scheduled meeting with visiting delegations 

from the World Bank and the ILO in Tashkent 

to discuss her findings of the common 

practice of forced labour in the cotton 

industry. Between August and November, 

police repeatedly detained her for brief 

periods of time to stop her talking to medical 

and teaching staff in the cotton fields.

FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND BELIEF

In August, the President publicly called for a 

review of the charges against people detained 

on suspicion of possessing banned religious 

or “extremist” materials. He also called for 

people who regretted joining unregistered 

Islamic movements, to be “rehabilitated”. 

The authorities also announced that they had 

removed more than 15,000 names from a 

“blacklist” of up to 18,000 people suspected 

of membership of banned or unregistered 

religious movements and groups.

However, security forces continued to detain 

dozens of people accused of being members 

of banned “extremist” groups, including 

labour migrants returning from abroad. 

Relatives and human rights activists reported 

that police and NSS officers tortured many of 

the people accused of illegal membership to 

“confess” to fabricated charges, and that 

judges continued to ignore credible 

allegations, even when confronted with 

physical signs of torture in the court room, 

and admitted them as evidence.

In October, the UN Special Rapporteur on 

freedom of religion or belief visited 

Uzbekistan at the invitation of the authorities. 

He was the first representative of the UN 

Special Procedures to be granted access to 

Uzbekistan since 2002. In his preliminary 

findings he noted that religious practice was 

“subject to excessive regulations that 

prioritize security over freedom”.

COUNTER-TERROR AND SECURITY

The authorities continued to secure forcible 

returns, including through extradition 

proceedings, of Uzbekistani nationals they 

identified as threats to the “constitutional 

order” or national security.

NSS officers continued to abduct wanted 

individuals (so-called renditions) from 

abroad.

Those abducted or otherwise forcibly 

returned were placed in incommunicado 

detention, often in undisclosed locations, and 

tortured or otherwise ill-treated to force them 

to confess or incriminate others. In many 

cases, security forces pressured relatives not 

to seek support from human rights 

organizations, and not to file complaints 

about alleged human rights violations.

1. “We will find you, anywhere”: The global shadow of Uzbekistani 

surveillance ( 

EUR 62/5974/2017

)

---

Amnesty International Report 2017/18

393

VENEZUELA

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Head of state and government: Nicolás Maduro Moros

Venezuela remained in a state of 

emergency, repeatedly extended since 

January 2016. A National Constituent 

Assembly was elected without the 

participation of the opposition. The Attorney 

General was dismissed under irregular 

circumstances. Security forces continued to 

use excessive and undue force to disperse 

protests. Hundreds of people were 

arbitrarily detained. There were many 

reports of torture and other ill-treatment, 

including sexual violence against 

demonstrators. The judicial system 

continued to be used to silence dissidents, 

including using military jurisdiction to 

prosecute civilians. Human rights defenders 

were harassed, intimidated and subject to 

raids. Conditions of detention were 

extremely harsh. The food and health crises 

continued to worsen, especially affecting 

children, people with chronic illness and 

pregnant women. The number of 

Venezuelans seeking asylum in other 

countries increased.

BACKGROUND

The year was marked by growing public 

protests due to rising inflation and shortages 

of food and medical supplies. The state of 

emergency declared in January 2016 

remained in force, providing the government 

with special powers to attend the economic 

situation. Despite the political dialogue 

processes initiated between the government 

and the opposition during the year, there was 

no concrete progress in advancing human 

rights issues.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

The Office of the Special Rapporteur for 

freedom of expression of the Inter-American 

Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) 

expressed concern about the closure of 50 

radio stations by the National 

Telecommunications Commission. Other 

media outlets also faced the threat of closure, 

despite a 2015 ruling by the Inter-American 

Court of Human Rights declaring that such 

closures violated freedom of expression.

Anti-government protesters and some 

opposition leaders were accused by the 

government of being a threat to national 

security.

The government ordered the removal of 

some foreign news channels including CNN, 

RCN and CARACOL from national television 

cable operators. In September, journalists 

from the online news and research portal 

Armando.Info were threatened by 

unidentified actors for their investigations into 

cases of administrative corruption.

FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY

Between April and July in particular, there 

were mass protests for and against the 

government in various parts of the country. 

The right to peaceful assembly was not 

guaranteed. According to official data, at 

least 120 people were killed and more than 

1,177 wounded – including demonstrators, 

members of the security forces and 

bystanders – during these mass 

demonstrations.

There were also reports from the Attorney 

General’s Office that groups of armed people 

with the support or acquiescence of the 

government carried out violent actions 

against demonstrators.

According to the local NGO Venezuelan 

Penal Forum, 5,341 people were arrested in 

the context of the protests, of which 822 were 

tried. Of these, 726 civilians were subjected 

to military justice and charged with military 

crimes for demonstrating against the 

government. At the end of the year, 216 

people remained in pre-trial detention.

EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE

In January the government relaunched its 

public security programme, previously 

named Operation Liberation of the People, 

under the new name Operation Humanist 

Liberation of the People. Reports continued 

of excessive use of force by security agents.

---