…orders and the latter implicitly obey them.

Uznews.net – Authorities in Jizak Region have adopted new cotton-harvesting measures that from now on force brides and grooms and their guests to collect 10 kg of cotton each before the party.

Autumn is not just a season to harvest crops in Uzbekistan but it is also a season of weddings, so the Jizak Region authorities found a way of combining these two events.

The regional administration issued orders that ahead of wedding grooms and brides and party goers collect 10 kg of cotton each and supply it to the nearest cotton-purchasing entity where they should receive papers certifying their efforts.

Another measure, enforced by the Jizak Region authorities from 30 September, is a ban on trading in local markets before six o’clock in the evening.

Abdujalil Boymatov, the president of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, says that there is nothing new in repressive measures adopted by the Uzbek authorities to raise profits from cotton trade; the only nuance is that these measures are becoming incredibly disgraceful.

“I am ashamed to learn about measures adopted by the Uzbek authorities to force the country’s citizens to earn money from cotton for them,” Boymatov said.

Hundreds and thousands of reports have been made to uncover the problem of the Uzbek cotton industry which is devouring natural and human resources in the country on an unprecedented scale.

Human rights organisations point to the large-scale use of forced child labour, environmentalists to catastrophic consequences for the environment in Uzbekistan, political analysts and experts to corruption that surrounds the Uzbek cotton industry.

“Nothing has changed,” Boymatov said. “Both the Uzbek government and society are degrading as the former issue disgraceful orders and the latter implicitly obey them.”

“If brides and grooms cannot resist orders to pick cotton on their wedding day, they may well be forced into the field on the day of the birth of their first child,” the activist added.

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