Notes

In other contexts, spanning from Lebanon to Afghanistan, the authorities had been less demanding.

Mirziyoyev swiftly fired the head of Uzkomnazorat for his “unilateral and erroneous” decision. Just months ago, however, the president had signed a new data localization policy into law, demanding that online service providers physically store the personal data of Uzbek citizens in the country.

While the restored access to social media was hailed as a “victory” by some observers, the incident looks more like a power move by Mirziyoyev, a way of letting the public know that he is in control of the country's communication networks and access to popular social media apps.

Sattoriy and other citizen journalists were emboldened by assurances from President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who, after taking power in 2016 was undertaking reforms unthinkable under his predecessor, an infamous rights abuser in Central Asia.

"Otabek took his lead from the president who said 'expose all shortcomings, don't be afraid, criticise. I Shavkat Miromonovich Mirziyoyev stand behind you,'" his father recalled in an interview with AFP.

"Everyone began to phone him. He tried to solve their problems -- wherever there was no gas, wherever the roads weren't paved, wherever there was no running water," 69-year-old Abdumannon Sattoriy said, crossed-legged on the floor of the modest family home in southern Uzbekistan.

It also contradicted changes in the media landscape under Mirziyoyev after his predecessor tolerated no independent media and bad news was ignored completely.

It rendered him the first media worker to be jailed since the passing of the guard between Islam Karimov and his former prime minister of 13 years, 64-year-old Mirziyoyev.

The president, who is facing off against four token candidates Sunday, has been credited with bringing the country out of deep isolation, loosening tight controls over Islam and the media and ending forced labour in the Central Asian country's cotton fields.

In the years before the case, authorities had released several journalists jailed under Karimov, including an editor and a reporter -- Muhammad Bekjanov and Yusuf Ruzimuradov -- who

everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers were the two longest-imprisoned media workers in the world.

The resolution reaffirms that the right to freedom of expression constitutes one of the essential foundations of democratic societies and development and recognises that it is an important indicator of the level of protection of other human rights and freedoms. It moreover reaffirms that the same right to freedom of expression that people have offline must also be protected online. The resolution contains positive language on specific issues related to the right to freedom of expression, including the right to information, internet shutdowns, responses to misinformation, counterterrorism and violent extremism, encryption and anonymity tools, and the safety of journalists.

Furthermore, UNHCR as the highest position protecting human rights has an important role in regulating protection laws and regulations on online and offline freedom of expression. As explained, the terms of among the other articles that contain guarantees for freedom of opinion and/or expression, are articles 18, 17, 25 and 27. The freedoms of opinion and expression form a basis for the full enjoyment of a wide range of other human rights. For instance, freedom of expression is integral to the enjoyment of the rights to freedom of assembly and association, and the exercise of the right to vote.

set of norms governing the treatment of individuals and groups by states and non-state actors on the basis of ethical principles regarding what society considers fundamental to a decent life

Termez. (2021, October 22). Freedom of speech on the line in 'New Uzbekistan'. France 24. https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20211022-freedom-of-speech-on-the-line-in-new-uzbekistan

Assembly, O. R. (2001). See the Committee’s general comment No. 29 (2001) on derogation during a state of emergency. Official Records of the General Assembly.

Rittmann, M. (2021, February 17). Free Speech Under Threat in Uzbekistan. Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/02/17/free-speech-under-threat-uzbekistan
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