A global human rights coalition has urged Uzbek authorities to thoroughly investigate an attempt to intimidate noted activist Umida Niyazova and her associate.
In a May 2 statement, the Cotton Campaign said Niyazova, the founder and director of the Uzbek Forum for Human Rights, and journalist Sharifa Madrahimova had to cut short a planned tour around the Ferghana region to meet with cotton-producing farmers and companies after two men intimidated them on April 18 near Madrahimova's house, accusing Niyazova of "organizing information attacks against Uzbekistan."
"Niyazova and Madrahimova got in their car to avoid further interaction and one of the men held the door to prevent them from closing it and driving away... Fearing for their own safety and that of the farmers and local human rights activists they were planning to meet, Niyazova cut her trip short," the statement said.
One of the men was later identified as a Ferghana resident, Shuhrat Esanov, and it remains unclear how he knew Madrahimova's home address and that Niyazova would be there that morning.
Allison Gill, legal director at Global Labor Justice, which hosts the Cotton Campaign, said that as an independent monitor the forum plays a critical role in ending the systemic state-imposed forced labor of children and adults in the Uzbek cotton sector, a vital sector in the country that accounts for around 17 percent of its total economy.
"Their work is vital to further Uzbekistan's progress toward meeting international standards in its cotton and textile industry," Gill said.
"If Uzbekistan wants to demonstrate its readiness to participate in global supply chains that pay increasing attention to labor rights, it is essential that labor rights monitors and workers can monitor and report on conditions without fear of intimidation, harassment, or surveillance," Gill added.
The Cotton Campaign and the Uzbek Forum for Human Rights ended their campaign to boycott Uzbek cotton and textiles in March 2022, citing progress in eliminating forced labor during crop harvesting in 2021.
The boycott, launched in 2006, was followed by more than 260 apparel manufacturers and retailers globally.
For many years rights groups called on Uzbekistan to eradicate a long-running state-controlled system forcing millions of citizens, including children, to pick cotton to meet harvest quotas.