Watchdog

TASHKENT -- Uzbek security officials have come under fire after allegedly detaining dozens of males at a local market in Tashkent and shaving their beards before releasing them.

A vendor at the Malika market in the Uzbek capital, who asked not to be named, told RFE/RL that he was among dozens of men detained by police on August 23 and brought to a police station, where they were forced to shave their beards off.

Another man, Jamoliddin Muhammadjon, wrote on Facebook that he was also among the men who were detained at the market and forced to shave at a police station.

Since coming to power in 2016, President Shavkat Mirziyoev has taken modest steps to relax restrictions on religious freedom in the predominantly Muslim country. But religion in Uzbekistan remains strictly regulated by authorities.

The government reportedly continues to bar the wearing of the Islamic hijab in schools and offices. A 1998 law prohibits the wearing of religious clothing in public by anyone except religious figures.

There have also been frequent reports of police singling out men with long beards, a campaign presented by officials as an effort to combat radical Islam in Central Asia's most populous nation of 30 million with deep Islamic roots and traditions.

Many Internet users were critical of the latest police action and have demanded explanations from the city police department, which refused to comment when contacted by RFE/RL.

Last week, RFE/RL correspondents reported from the western city of Ferghana that a bearded person with investment proposals was not allowed to see the city mayor.

TALGHAR, Kazakhstan -- A civil rights activist in southern Kazakhstan says she was shot as she headed to the local governor's office to discuss government plans to sell local parkland.

Galina Arzamasova told RFE/RL's Kazakh Service that she was shot on August 26 from a distance as she was approaching the local governor's office.

Arzamasova said a small projectile -- possibly shot from an air rifle from a vehicle -- hit her in the pelvis.

An ambulance arrived at the site and provided her with medical assistance, though she said she refused hospitalization.

"The police also arrived, but they did not create any protocol. They just asked me what happened and then left ," Arzamasova said, adding that she plans to officially request a police investigation into the shooting.

Arzamasova also said she plans to obtain all video records from security cameras that might have recorded the incident.

Tolqyn Sametova, a spokeswoman for the Talghar city department for interior policies, told RFE/RL that investigations have been launched into the attack and that all video recordings are being studied.

Arzamasova says the attack could be politically motivated and organized to prevent her from meeting with the local governor.

The activist -- well-known for her campaign demanding more transparency in local politics -- has said she was attacked twice by unknown assailants in 2017. She also says her house was once burglarized and the target of an attempted arson attack.