CENTRAL ASIA

Uzbekistan: a president for life?

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

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

Turkmenistan: tyranny mutates into dynasty

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

Kazakhstan: demands for radical change met with lethal response

President puts himself firmly in Putin’s pocket to deny democracy