Entries by Aziz Nur

First-Year College Students Forcibly Mobilized to Harvest Cotton

First-year college students in the Ferghana region are being forced to pick cotton. On September 30, first-year college students in the Ferghana region were mobilized to the cotton fields. Second and third-year college students in the Ferghana region were also sent out to pick cotton just a week before.   “Only second and third-year students from […]

Head Doctor of Chinaz’s (Tashkent region) Polyclinic Fired for Failing to Mobilize Sufficient Number of Employees for Cotton Harvest

According to witnesses, the Khokim (local governor) of Chinaz district, Makhmud Eshonov, forced the head doctor of the polyclinic Bakhtiyor Dovurboev to resign during a meeting regarding the cotton harvest. Bakhtiyor Dovurboev was insulted by the Khokim and forced to sign a resignation letter due to “failing to fulfill the requirements of the cotton program”. […]

“We are Forced to Pick Cotton and Pay for Renovating a Hospital”

“The deputy director of the Central Hospital in the city of Samarkand, Rustam Abduhalikov, makes the heads of all departments pay 500,000 Uzbek Som for the renovation of the hospital building. Where will they get that money from? Of course, they will extort them from regular employees. In addition, doctors are being forced to go […]

“We are Forced to Pick Cotton in Bushes full of Thorns”

Some people mobilized to pick cotton in the Chinaz district of Tashkent region are being forced to do so among bushes full of thorns. The following complaint illustrates the situation: “Employees of public institutions were brought to one of these cotton fields yesterday. It was full of bushes with thorns. Some refused to pick cotton […]

Teachers and Employees of Educational Institutions in the city of Gulistan in the Syrdarya Region Mobilised to Harvest Cotton on a Daily Basis

Everyday at 6am employees of educational institutions gather and call the roll next to Regional Drama Theatre. The roll call is read out by their school principals or a member of the city educational authority. They are then mobilised to work in the cotton fields. According to teachers, school principals call and insult teachers who […]