On July 20, 2009 independent human rights activists held a meeting in Uzbekistan to discuss the situation of Farhodhon Mukhtarov. It has been five days since the activist’s arrest in Tashkent. It appears he was taken into custody after attempting to file a formal complaint against the police department.

Translation of Bahadir Namazov’s post.

Recently I wrote about Tashkent rights activist Farhodhon Mukhtarov in my “The Black Clouds” Above Human Rights Activist Farhodhon Mukhtarov” article. Almost a month passed but “the black clouds” haven’t dissipated; …

In the third part of Musafirbek Ozod’s special post series for the CyberChaikhana project, the young blogger reflects upon his reasons and recalls a haunting encounter with an editor in which the very notion of Truth — and what it would take to be a journalist seeking after it — is exploded.

neweurasia’s Musafirbek explores the obstacles with which young journalists are faced in Uzbekistan’s media industry. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, they find themselves trapped in a self-perpetuating system undermining not only their careers, but their very ideals.

Translation of Bahadir Namazov’s post
There are lots of materials by independent journalists on Tashkent rehabilitation center, also known as “Panelny”. For example, on October 10, 2008, Ferghana.ru published its article about this center entitled “Uzbekistan: …

neweurasia’s Musafirbek Ozod goes beyond statistics and formal reports to write about what it’s actually like to live and work as a journalist in Uzbekistan, revealing the hellish conditions behind the headlines. This is the first part of a series, and part of the ongoing CyberChaikhana project.

On June 23 President Karimov signed the decree on introduction of biometric data passports in the country as of January 1, 2010.
The biometric data passports are introduced with the purpose of raising their security level, …

Tukmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov has ordered to intensify control over А/Н1N1 prevention. Country’s sanitary and epidemiologic agency possesses every means to do it, state media reported.
Berdimuhammedov stressed importance of cooperation with international organization including World …

Released on June 3 2009, the “Worst of the Worst. The World’s Most Repressive Societies 2009″ report by Freedom House lists two Central Asian states – Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan – as worst of the worst. What does this mean? The worst out of how many countries? Why again Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and why not Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan? Let’s try to find answers to these questions.

Written by Saodat Mahbatsho for Eurasianet
Despite official denials that civil war-era opposition leaders still pose a national security threat, a rash of arrests of both alleged Islamist militants and former opposition figures in Tajikistan suggests …