"There is no freedom for farmers": The government of Uzbekistan is called upon to grant freedom to farmers.

On February 17, the international non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch and the Uzbek Forum for Human Rights published a report titled "No Freedom for Farmers." It is nearly 120 pages long and highlights the pressure and exploitation observed against farmers growing cotton and grain in Uzbekistan.

 

In preparing the report, human rights groups conducted interviews with 75 farmers from six regions of Uzbekistan and the Republic of Karakalpakstan. Additionally, court documents, legislation and other official documents, articles in mass media and social networks, and statements by government officials from the period between October 2023 and December 2025 were studied.

 

"In recent years, the government of Uzbekistan has ended state-imposed forced labor in the cotton harvest and has carried out comprehensive reforms in the agricultural sector.

 

Despite a number of positive achievements in the sector, the government continues to exercise serious and coercive state control over cotton and grain production, and moreover, is failing to ensure that the labor and human rights of cotton and grain farmers are respected," the report states.

 

It is emphasized that farmers must grow state-mandated types of crops in state-mandated quantities on land leased from the state and sell them at state-mandated prices, placing them at significant financial risk regardless of their ability or inability to fulfill the plan, and regardless of whether fulfilling the plan is within their control or not.

 

"Authorities can threaten and use violence against farmers who fail to meet quotas and seize their land as a penalty. Farmers face delayed or non-payment by cotton-textile and wheat enterprises, and authorities are failing to enforce court rulings that compel enterprises to make payments," the report says.

 

"The government of Uzbekistan must end the practice of coercing and exploiting working farmers to grow cotton and wheat. Authorities need to implement agricultural reforms that genuinely protect farmers and listen to their feedback on the necessary changes they themselves are proposing," said Umida Niyazova, Director of the Uzbek Forum for Human Rights.