Uzbekistan’s cotton harvest is a yearly event in which human rights groups report that forced labor is used on a massive scale.
According to the Cotton Campaign, on May 31, head of the Human Rights Alliance of Uzbekistan Elena Urlaeva was working the eastern region of Tashkent, interviewing doctors and teachers who had been ordered to work in the cotton fields during this year’s harvest.
Urlaeva claims she was arrested, injected with a sedative, and brought to the local police department for questioning.
According to Urlaeva, she was held for 18 hours, during which the police physically and sexually abused her. She said she was subjected to forced cavity searches until she bled, struck on the head, and denied access to a bathroom.
She reports that the police also photographed her naked and threatened to post the images to the internet.
Urlaeva told the Cotton Campaign: “The police were laughing and enjoying humiliating me.”
Speaking to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Urlaeva claims she was also taken to a local hospital where she was x-rayed, after the police accused her of swallowing a flash drive.
After they returned to the police station, she reports that the police made threats against her, her family, and fellow activists.
Urlaeva said she would continue her work undimmed.
“I will hold on to the end. […] I will withstand everything and do it for all the people who have been abused by the authorities,” she said.
Human Rights Watch has condemned the incident, calling on the European Union and United States to demand accountability from the Uzbek government.
Steven Swerdlow, the organization’s Central Asia researcher, said: “This vicious assault on one of the country’s bravest human rights defenders can’t by any stretch of the imagination be construed as legitimate law enforcement and needs immediate, unequivocal condemnation.”
Uzbekistan’s annual cotton harvest is known for reportedly widescale use of forced labor. According to the Uzbek-German Forum for Human Rights, last year’s harvest saw more than a million people forced to work in the fields. The organization reported poor labor conditions and “astounding” levels of corruption.
Reuters reports that Uzbek officials could not be reached for comment. Uzbekistan’s administration has previously denied allegations of forced labor within the country.
