It’s cotton-picking time in Uzbekistan. Each fall, hundreds of thousands of students (from grade school to university) are press-ganged into leaving the classroom and heading to the cotton fields. The government denies it, of course, but it’s basically state policy and has been well documented. Human rights activists have long drawn attention to the situation, urging clothing companies to boycott Uzbek cotton.
Radio Free Europe has an upsetting – though not particularly surprising – related story today. In Uzbekistan’s southern Shahrisabz district, it appears police may have beaten a teenager to death for not picking cotton. The full story:
An Uzbek official says several people have been detained over the death of a teenager who was allegedly beaten by police officers last week.
An official in Uzbekistan's southern Shahrisabz district told RFE/RL's Uzbek Service on condition of anonymity on October 10 that a total of 24 people, including several police officers, have been questioned in connection to the case.
The official said some of them have been detained.
The official also said that authorities haven't yet received forensic examination results to establish the cause of the death of 18-year-old Navruz Islomov, who reportedly died of his injuries in hospital on October 6.
Local residents say police officers beat Islomov after he decided to leave early from the field where he was picking cotton because he was feeling unwell.
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