Phone Lines Cut, Voices Blocked: How Uzbekistan Silenced Critics During the UNESCO Conference

The 43rd session of the UNESCO General Conference is currently taking place in Samarkand. As local media enthusiastically report, this is the first time in 40 years that the conference is being held outside UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris. Indeed, the Uzbek government worked hard to host the conference at its showcase heritage site. But behind the celebrations, authorities are increasing its repression of activists and bloggers.

Speaking at the conference, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed the creation of a UNESCO Academy for Women’s Leadership and a Platform for Inclusive Education. He also called for a resolution on the preservation of cultural heritage in the context of globalization and climate change.

Despite the progressive rhetoric and amid enthusiastic praise from local media and UNESCO representatives, the government has been heavily criticized for its handling of UNESCO’s protected heritage sites in Samarkand that has resulted in dozens of forced evictions and demolitions, something that has not escaped the attention of the UN in a recently issued press release.

The government is now responding in its usual heavy-handed manner by enlisting Uzbekistan’s security services