Right group denounces 'vicious assault' on Uzbek activist
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 4 June 2015 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Right group denounces 'vicious assault' on Uzbek activist, 4 June 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/558bc4de32.html [accessed 2 June 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. |
June 04, 2015
By RFE/RL
Uzbek rights activist Elena Urlaeva
An international rights group has condemned a "vicious assault" on one of Uzbekistan's "bravest human rights defenders."
Elena Urlaeva, head of the Uzbek Human Rights Defenders' Alliance, says she was detained by police on May 31 and subjected to violence and sexual humiliation after she gathered evidence of forced labor in the Central Asian state's cotton sector.
In a statement on June 4, Steve Swerdlow, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the attack "shows how far the government is willing to go to cover up evidence of forced labor and to retaliate against those who expose it."
The New York-based group says Uzbekistan uses "one of the largest state-sponsored forced-labor systems in the world" to produce cotton.
"It forces millions of its citizens into the fields every year to plant, weed, and harvest the cotton," it adds.
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
