CENTRAL ASIA

‘Civil society realises the importance of joint actions to protect rights and freedoms’

‘The risks posed by Taliban rule are too grave for the international community to ignore’

‘True freedom cannot be granted by external forces; it needs to be claimed by people’

Uzbekistan: a president for life?

Constitutional referendum allows president to stay put until 2040 while paying lip service to human rights

‘Open-source monitoring reveals both the clampdown on women’s rights and the impact on their lives’

A ‘New Kazakhstan’, or more of the same?

President positions as a reformer – but his latest implausible landslide election win is straight out of the old playbook

Uzbekistan: protests further show need for democracy

State’s failure to spot the warning signs of anger leads to rare protests and avoidable violence

Civil society campaigning achieves forced labour victory in Uzbekistan

Seventeen years of advocacy and activism leads to the end of state-imposed forced and child labour in country’s cotton industry

ECONOMY | ENVIRONMENT

‘Advocacy for labour and human rights is a marathon, not a sprint’

ECONOMY | ENVIRONMENT

Turkmenistan: tyranny mutates into dynasty

Ritualistic election enthrones president’s son – but his father retains power behind the throne