Farmers say their rights being violated

Tamara Ismailova is a farmer in the Zarbdor district of the central Uzbek province of Jizzak. It has been 10 years since she started her business, but things haven't been easy for her and her eight-member family in this largely agrarian Central Asian state. "We sell [vegetable] oil to an extraction plant and cotton seeds to cotton plants," she told IRIN in Jizzak. "But each time we are not paid what we are due. Moreover, the tax authorities transfer money from farmers' accounts to other accounts [without permission]". Farmers couldn't operate independently and were exposed to various abuses and pressure from local authorities, she claimed, adding that in 2002, a third of her 15 hectares of land were illegally sold to another farmer, Jumabai Safarov, while in 2003 she was again deprived of eight hectares to the same farmer, with very little remaining to sustain her livelihood. "Agro-services and heads of cooperatives have a strong influence over farmers. You cannot imagine how many people give orders to them," another farmer from the Zarbdor district who didn't want to give his name, told IRIN. "In December 2001, I was deprived of my land plot, too. Since then I haven't had a job". Such is the problem in Uzbekistan. Although, according to Uzbek farming law, a farmer can lease a plot of land from 10 to 50 years, both local farmers and rights activists claim that their rights and provisions of the law are being violated. "Local authorities put pressure on farmers. They do not give them a chance to work freely, as is stated in the law on farming activities," Bakhtiyar Khamraev, head of the Jizzak department of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU), a local rights group, told IRIN. "Nearly all the rights of farmers are violated. They do not get the money they are entitled to, they are deprived of their land or it is illegally resold," the rights activist maintained. Also, the authorities were specifying their pre-set prices while signing contracts with farmers, subsequently resulting in their bankruptcy. Echoing that view, his colleague Muidinjon Kurbanov, head of the HRSU's Zarbdor district organisation, told IRIN that farmers' rights were violated everywhere in this predominantly rural country. "Usually, a district state administration head appeals to the court with a request to take a land plot away from a farmer," Kurbanov said. "The farmer is the last one to know about it, and he has nowhere to appeal to. It is not a secret that there is no justice in Uzbekistan. Laws are violated everywhere," he maintained. Kurbanov, who is also the head of the Uzbek Birlik (Unity) opposition party in Jizzak province, was arrested earlier this year in the village of Bouston, in Zarbdor district, on charges of keeping arms and narcotics, only to be released later on condition he didn't leave his home province of Jizzak. "When I was arrested, they found approximately 20 grams of narcotics, a hunting rifle, four bullets, and literature of the illegal religious Hizbut Tahrir organisation in my shed, where I have things I temporarily don't use. The shed is about 100 metres from my house and it is not protected," Kurbanov explained. The investigation was based on a statement submitted by the Bouston village council head, Kuvondik Abdurazakov. "He accused me of inciting hostility against the president of the country among citizens and establishing non-registered organisations," the rights activist said. But according to Abdurazakov, Kurbanov was indeed involved in illegal activities and should be punished accordingly. "Here I am the head of the local administration," he told IRIN. "It means that everything must be done under my supervision. He [Kurbanov] conducted a seminar with the participation of the OSCE [Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe] representatives. He established a non-registered organisation. He is an enemy of the people, of our motherland and must be punished," Abdurazakov said, with anger in his voice. Meanwhile, leaders of the Birlik opposition party defended Kurbanov, saying that such allegations stemmed from his work as a rights activist. "His arrest was connected to his rights protection activities," Vasilya Inoyatova, Birlik party central committee secretary, told IRIN from the capital, Tashkent. "He protected human rights in his region. Perhaps some senior officials did not like that." Concurring, farmer Tamara said: "Muidinjon [Kurbanov] protected my rights and explained my rights to me. When I worked, I made over US $600 a year. We had 30 head of cattle. Now we have none." According to the local rights activists, there are more than 1,000 farms in the Zarbdor district alone suffering various abuses. In 2003, Kurbanov participated in about 10 suits and managed to change court decisions, while there were many cases which were resolved verbally without going to court. And while Kurbanov is now awaiting trial to decide his fate, his colleague Khamraev remained sceptical, saying that there were few precedents in Uzbek law that suggested a positive outcome for him.