A scandal involving regional government officials convicted of sexually abusing girls at a foster home in Uzbekistan has caused embarrassment for the government, which in recent years has disbanded Soviet-era children's homes in favor of placing orphans or vulnerable children into family-run homes.
According to Uzbekistan's Supreme Court, prosecutors in the western province of Khorazm have recently secured a retrial of the former head of the regional justice department and the former chief of a local emergency situations agency, who both avoided jail in September 2022 despite being convicted of "sexual contact with minors."
Khorazm prosecutors then appealed the sentences, saying they were too lenient, but an appeals court in December 2022 upheld the ruling.
The details of the abuse were kept out of Uzbekistan's tightly controlled media until a comprehensive report at the end of March by Nemolchi (Don't Be Silent), an independent NGO that combats gender-based violence and promotes sexual equality. The group also provides a platform for survivors of gender-based violence to share their stories and seek help and advice.
As of April 16, the link to the report online was no longer accessible.
According to the Nemolchi report, which was widely picked up by Uzbek media, the abuse took place in the home of a foster parent in May 2021 in the western Uzbek city of Urgench. The foster mother forced three girls in her care -- aged between 15 and 17 -- to have sexual contact with the two officials, according to the Nemolchi report. In return, the officials reportedly provided furniture and food to the home.
The report claims the abuse continued for at least 10 months, with the two officials having sexual relations with the minors inside the foster home as well as in an apartment rented by the regional justice department for official business purposes. When they protested, the girls were reportedly beaten, starved, and isolated from other children.
At their first trial, the regional officials admitted having sexual contact with the girls but said it was consensual.
The abuse was eventually uncovered by provincial authorities but not made public at the time. In a trial behind closed doors in September 2022, the foster mother was handed a prison sentence of 5 1/2 years, according to the Uzbek Prosecutor-General's Office.
The two officials were sentenced to 18 months of "restricted freedom," a punishment that means they aren't allowed to leave their homes during the night hours and can't leave their home region without permission.
With the story generating widespread media coverage in Uzbekistan, prominent public officials -- including Senate chairwoman Tanzila Narbaeva and the Uzbek president's eldest daughter, Saida Mirziyoeva -- spoke out, calling for a thorough probe and suitable punishments for the perpetrators.
Sexual abuse of children is not unprecedented in Uzbekistan's children's homes. In 2018, an orphanage in the eastern Uzbek city of Marghelon was shut down after it was revealed that children there were being sexually and physically abused by staff members.
At least 10 people, including the orphanage's chairman and his deputy, were imprisoned for beating and raping the children under their care, forcing minors to have abortions, and stealing the funds provided by the government and donors.
In Uzbekistan, Soviet-era orphanages, often housing dozens of children, have often been associated with neglect and abuse. In recent years, the Uzbek government has begun trying to place children in state care into foster and adoptive families.
Families who wish to open their homes to foster children must undergo a special training course. According to a presidential decree, foster homes should house a minimum of three and a maximum of five children, while the number of the family's own children must not exceed eight.
The government provides regular financial support to foster and adoptive families, and regional officials are tasked with checking on the children's welfare.
In recent years, old orphanages in several Uzbek provinces, including Farghona, Namangon, Navoiy, and Khorazm, as well as the Karakalpakstan autonomous region, have been closed down.
Some of the children from shuttered institutions have reportedly been adopted by local entrepreneurs and government officials, including law-enforcement officers.
In 2021, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev issued a decree ordering the government to provide free apartments for older orphans, aged between 18 and 30, if they didn't have anywhere else to live.
