Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 - Uzbekistan
| Publisher | Child Soldiers International |
| Publication Date | 2001 |
| Cite as | Child Soldiers International, Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 - Uzbekistan, 2001, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/498805c025.html [accessed 27 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN
Mainly covers the period June 1998 to April 2001 as well as including some earlier information.
- Population:
– total: 23,942,000
– under-18s: 10,674,000 - Government armed forces:
– active: 59,100
– paramilitary: 18,000-20,000 - Compulsory recruitment age: 18
- Voluntary recruitment age: unknown
- Child soldiers: unknown in government forces; indicated in armed opposition groups
- CRC-OP-CAC: not signed
- Other treaties ratified: CRC; GC/API+II
- It is not known if there are under-18s in government armed forces due to lack of information on voluntary recruitment age. Recruitment of boys under 18 by armed opposition groups has been reported.
CONTEXT
Uzbekistan faces armed opposition groups seeking to establish an Islamic state,2098 allegedly with links to neighbouring conflicts in Chechnya, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Xinjiang.2099 Opposition activities have affected other countries in the region with incursions into Kyrgyzstan and operations from bases in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. In January 2001, the governments of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan agreed to cooperate against these movements.2100
GOVERNMENT
National Recruitment Legislation and Practice
Article 52 of the 1992 Constitution states that: "Defence of the Republic of Uzbekistan is the duty of every citizen of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Citizens will be obliged to perform military service or alternative service in accordance with the procedure prescribed by law."2101 The legal basis of conscription is the 1992 Law on Defence. All men between 18 and 27 years of age are liable for military service, the length of which is 18 months, or 12 months in the case of university and college graduates.2102 Uzbekistan is said to have launched a restructuring of its armed forces in a bid to create a professional army. The proposed reforms include cuts in personnel and improved training of reservists.2103
Child Recruitment
According to UNICEF, there is a very large standing army of regular soldiers and conscripts in Uzbekistan but no children are serving as soldiers in the armed forces.2104 It has been reported that a large number of youths study annually at the Samarkand Higher Military School,2105 but their ages or the conditions under which they join are not known.
OPPOSITION
The Islamic Revival Party of Uzbekistan, otherwise known as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), was established in 1996 with the aim of creating an Islamic state in the country. It is reported to include mercenaries from Egypt, Jordan, Sudan and Pakistan, some of them allegedly trained in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Kazakhstan.2106 Its forces are reported to be concentrated in areas of neighbouring Tajikistan and Afghanistan close to the Uzbek border. Some reports suggest that the IMU has 3,000 heavily armed fighters based in Afghanistan.2107 Two other Islamist movements are said to be operating including the Hizb-ut-Tahir (Party of Liberation) and the Hizbollah (Party of God) funded by Saudi groups and established in the Ferghana Valley.2108
Child Recruitment and Deployment
There are allegedly more than 1,000 fighters in the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan "accompanied by several hundred family members – women and children"2109 There are reportedly boys under 18 in their ranks. The recruitment of boys is not considered as a problem by those who participate or their families and on the contrary, it can be seen as an "honour" to give a son to the cause.2110 It is generally difficult to investigate recruitment by opposition groups as the government discourages foreign monitoring in the Ferghana Valley area where opposition is strong.2111
2098 www.rb.se quoting Far Eastern Economic Review. 9/11/00 (?).
2099 "Uzbekistan voices security concerns", BBC Monitoring Service, 19/11/99. See also www.rb.se quoting Far Eastern Economic Review, 14/9/00.
2100 The Economist, 7/1/01.
2101 Blaustein and Flanz op. cit.
2102 Horeman and Stolwijk op. cit.
2103 "Uzbek President's speech at Parliamentary session, full version", BBC Monitoring Service, 16/4/99; Copenhagen Peace Research Institute, "Special issue on NATO and European Security", NOD & Conversion, International Research Newsletter, No. 48, 6/99.
2104 Information provided by UNICEF, 25/6/99.
2105 "New artillery department opens at Uzbek High Military College", BBC Monitoring Service, 21/9/99.
2106 "Central Asian Islamic militants training at secret camps in Pakistan", BBC Monitoring Service, 18/2/00; "Uzbek-Kazakh border tensions flare: Iranian radio., BBC Monitoring Service, 20/1/00.
2107 www.rb.se quoting Far Eastern Economic Review, 9/11/00 (?)
2108 Ibid.
2109 BBC monitoring reports, 1/3/00; Jamestown Foundation, "Political and military update", Monitor: a daily briefing on the Post-Soviet States, Vol. 5, No. 206, 5 November 1999.
2110 Information supplied by a reliable source that requests confidentiality, 3/00.
2111 Ibid.
