Authorities Face Growing Discontent in Uzbekistan’s Ferghana Valley

Authorities in Uzbekistan adopted conciliatory tactics to ease discontent among restive farmers in Jizzakh Province. But while the immediate threat to the government's authority in Jizzakh appears to be receding, signs are evident that popular frustration is reaching a tipping point in the Ferghana Valley.

Hundreds of farmers rioted in the Dustlik District of Jizzakh Province on April 1, protesting the disappearance of a local opposition political activist. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The activist, Egamnazar Shaimanov, reportedly escaped from government custody and is currently in hiding in the capital Tashkent, according to colleagues in Ozod Dekhkonlar (Free Peasants) party, an unregistered opposition political movement.

No arrests have been made in connection with Shaimanov's reported abduction and beating. Dilshod Pirmatov, an officer at the Dustlik District police station, indicated that authorities were not investigating the incident because Shaimanov had not submitted a formal complaint. Meanwhile, local farmers say that persecution by local officials extends far beyond the Shaimanov incident. Residents who have agitated for better living standards and more responsive government have been harassed. "They [police officers] thoroughly searched my house," said local farmer Mukhiddin Kurbanov. "They scattered everything around and tossed many things out of the house."

Since January, tension had been steadily on the rise in Jizzakh, with regional Governor Ubaidullah Yamankulov reportedly organizing gangs of toughs, dubbed "black hundreds," to repress and intimidate protesting farmers. However, when confronted with the explosion of farmers' anger on April 1, Yamankulov adopted a conciliatory course, hastily organizing a festival featuring the Uzbek national dish, plov, the Ferghana.ru website reported.

Despite the reduction in Jizzakh's political temperature, Ozod Dekhkonlar activists predict that the unrest there is a harbinger of broader popular resistance to the Uzbek government's effort to suppress freedom of speech and religious worship, as well as to initiatives designed to increase official control over economic activity. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

There is evidence that residents of the Ferghana Valley, Uzbekistan's main agricultural region and a bastion of Islamic conservatism, are growing increasingly restive. Recently, human rights activists in the Ferghana Valley contacted foreign organizations and mass media outlets, informing them about plans to stage protests in front of government buildings in several cities and districts throughout the valley.

Authorities found out about the plans and took immediate steps to disrupt the protests, said Mutabar Tajibayeva, who heads a rights group named Flaming Hearts. "That morning, a law enforcement agent called me up and summoned me to the district police department for a meeting with a high-ranking officer," Tajibayeva said. "They kept me at the department until 6 pm and then let me go."

Although that protest failed to materialize, on April 1 an anti-government demonstration erupted in the Markhamat District of Andizhan Province. Blocking streets, protesters called on local authorities to ease up on a "crackdown on business" and an end to arbitrary taxation. Starting in April, excise taxes and customs duties jumped again after experiencing substantial increases in 2004. Regional officials met with representatives of the protesters and succeeded in convincing the crowd to disperse without violence. Many protesters complained that authorities did not address their complaints, adding that they dispersed only out of a desire to avert bloodshed.

A debate is developing in Uzbekistan over the impact of the Kyrgyz revolution on domestic Uzbek developments. There is no disputing that the Askar Akayev's ouster in Bishkek has been a hot topic of conversation among Uzbeks. In addition, Ozod Dekhkonlar supporters and other anti-government activists have expressed hope that Kyrgyzstan's experience will serve as a catalyst for a broad popular effort to force Uzbek President Islam Karimov to step down. However, some Uzbek political analysts contend that recent disturbances in Uzbekistan have only a limited connection to Kyrgyz developments.