Uzbekistan: Update of UZB34545.E of 2 June 2000 on treatment of ethnic Russians (June 2000-July 2002)

Current information on the treatment of ethnic Russians is scarce among sources consulted for this Response. Nezavisimaya Gazeta estimated the population of Russians in Uzbekistan "at the beginning of 1999 [as] 1,150,00 people" (19 July 2001); the 2001 estimated population of the state was 25,155,064 (CIA World Factbook 6 Mar. 2002). The International Crisis Group (ICG) offers this assessment of the current population:

After IMU [Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan] incursions into Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan during the previous two years, the [February] 1999 bomb explosions in Tashkent and continued economic hardships, the migration of Russians and other ethnic minorities from Uzbekistan has again accelerated. The largest concentrations of Russians are in Tashkent and Samarqand, with much smaller populations in other cities (21 Aug. 2001, 21).

In addition, Associated Press reported that the "exodus had a destabilizing effect [on Central Asian] economies ... [and] locals started urging the remaining Russians to stay" (16 Jan. 2002).

In a report first produced in 1994, most recently updated in 2000, the Minorities at Risk assessment for Russian speakers in Uzbekistan noted that they were finding it difficult to adapt to their loss of privileged status within the state" (CIDCM 4 Feb. 2000). An Eurasianet Culture article from 2002 stated that there has been a

... promotion of the Uzbek language and the development of national culture [which aims] to remove Russian influence from Uzbeks' lives and thereby redistribute political and cultural power away from Russians to Uzbeks. ... The second law on state languages, adopted in December 1995, promotes Uzbek as compulsory in the state administration, justice system and the mass media. Russian is placed on a par with other national minority languages.

This zeal hints at a broader nationalist agenda. The language law makes Uzbekistan one of the most aggressive countries in the region in terms of stripping Russian language from the public discourse. ... The authorities have also been zealous in eliminating Russian from public view in typography and from school textbooks. In Central Asia, the shift to Uzbek away from Russian is the fastest of any Central Asian country. This has negatively affected relations with Russians in the country who had always lived separate lives from Uzbeks. Russians in Uzbekistan traditionally looked upon Uzbek culture as regressive and few had wanted to learn the Uzbek language. The promotion of the new language law has therefore solidified an Uzbek-Russian divide that already existed in the Soviet era (20 Apr. 2002).

The Research Directorate was unable to find reports that were dated within the years in question and mentioning specific occasions where Russian minorities were the target of discrimination by Uzbek state authorities or its population.

According to the US Department of State's International Religious Freedom Report, the Uzbek government "permits the existence of mainstream religions," including the Russian Orthodox Church (26 Oct. 2001). The report also noted that "Russians, Jews and foreigners generally enjoy greater religious freedom than traditionally Muslim ethnic groups, especially ethnic Uzbeks" (ibid.).

With respect to general conditions in Uzbekistan, the ICG stated in 2001 that "Uzbekistan has gained a reputation as one of the most authoritarian states in Central Asia" (21 Aug. 2001, 1). It also noted that the continuing efforts of the Karimov government to eliminate internal opposition have undercut democratic alternatives ... [and extra]-legal detentions and human rights abuses have become the norm" (ibid., 2). Human Rights Watch World Report 2002 described Uzbekistan's human rights record as "appalling" where:

The government retained tight control over all media and other forms of expression dealing harshly with dissidents and rights activists who sought to expose abuses. It did not tolerate independent political parties or social movements. State agents tortured those in custody... (2002, 370).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Associated Press. 16 January 2002. "Ethnic Russians in Central Asia Reshape Their Role in a New Era." (Hosted by Johnson's Russia List). [Accessed 16 July 2002]

Center for International Development and Conflict Management (CIDCM). Minorities at Risk. 24 April 2002. "Tracking Ethnopolitical Conflict Worldwide." [Accessed 17 July 2002]

_____. 4 February 2000. Mizan Khan, Jonathan Fox and Garth Olcese "Russians in Uzbekistan." (Google cached version) [Accessed 16 July 2002]

The Minorities at Risk Project "is an independent, university-based research project that monitors and analyzes the status and conflicts of politically active communal groups in countries with a population of at least 500,000. The project is designed to provide information in standardized form that will contribute to the understanding and peaceful accommodation of conflicts involving communal groups" (CIDCM 24 Apr. 2002).

Currently being updated, the Minority at Risk database including the "Russians in Uzbekistan" article is not available (ibid. 24 Apr. 2002) except in the cached version cited herein.

CIA World Factbook 2000. 6 March 2002. "Uzbekistan." [Accessed 17 July 2002]

Eurasianet.org. 20 April 2002. Culture. Taras Kuzio. "Soviet-Era Uzbek Elites Erase Russia from National Identity." [Accessed 17 July 2002]

Human Rights Watch. 2002. World Report 2002. "Uzbekistan." New York, Human Rights Watch.

International Crisis Group (ICG) [Brussels]. 21 August 2001. Uzbekistan at Ten. Repression and Instability. [Accessed 17 July 2002]

International Religious Freedom Report. 26 October 2001. "Uzbekistan." US Department of State. Washington DC. [Accessed 18 July 2002]

Nezavisimaya Gazeta [Moscow]. Mikhail Tulsky. "The True Face of the Demographic Catastrophe." (Hosted by Johnson's Russia List). [Accessed 16 July 2002]

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB Databases

NEXIS

Internet sites including:

Central Asian and Caucasus Analyst

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

Council of Europe. Directorate for Human Rights

Country Reports (2000-2002)

Ethnic and Racial Studies

Ethnologue

Eurasianet.org

European Country of Origin Information Network

International Crisis Group

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights

Johnson's Russia List

Nationalities Papers (1994-2001)

Open Society Institute

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

UNHCR

Uzbekistan Daily Digest