Uzbekistan: Urbanization must not trample on the Constitution and human rights

TASHKENT/GENEVA  – The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopal today warned that there was a huge gap between the legal protection for the right to housing and its actual protection in everyday life in Uzbekistan.

In a statement at the conclusion of an official visit to the country, Rajagopal welcomed the adoption in recent years of several new laws including a new constitution that aim to improve legal protections against arbitrary expropriations and home demolitions and to ensure participation in urban planning.

“But these laws are often not respected in everyday practice, due to a lack of awareness, failures in implementation and lack of effective remedies for non-compliance, especially against the construction sector,” the Special Rapporteur said.

Uzbekistan is witnessing unprecedented large-scale urban renewal projects in which sometimes entire neigbourhoods are demolished and uprooted to make space for new cities. Much of this has been happening without sufficient basis in law and urban planning. Urban planning and urban renewal decisions involve no meaningful participation of the public, including those affected.

“Judicial independence remains a challenge. An overwhelming majority of court cases involving developers and residents seem to be decided in favour of developers” the expert said. Non-judicial complaints mechanisms frequently fail to ensure effective and timely relief, he said.

The expert warned that compensation for expropriated housing is often insufficient, received with delay or not at all. Some demolitions and evictions are carried out with unnecessary force, and home-owners have been forced out of their homes by dangerous construction close to their homes, and cutting of water and gas supply. When evicted residents are offered new housing, it is often located in newly erected apartment blocks in the periphery of cities.

“Housing demolitions and forced evictions have even taken place in protected areas of cultural heritage, such as in Samarkand and Bukhara,” Rajagopal said. He called upon UNESCO to exercise due diligence to ensure that the right to adequate housing is fully respected, while preparations for the 2025 UNESCO General Assembly in Samarkand are underway.

The Special Rapporteur also expressed concern that victims of forced evictions, housing rights defenders, lawyers, bloggers and journalists reporting about arbitrary housing demolitions are subject to intimidation, prosecuted or detained on dubious grounds, including at least in one case in a closed mental health institution.

“I am inspired by reforms undertaken and the commitment of so many in leadership to protect human rights including the right to adequate housing. There are often clear good intentions to address housing problems. But it is time to go beyond good intentions; we must see results, not just laws and plans on paper,” the Special Rapporteur said.

Rajagopal will present a detailed report on his visit to the Human Rights Council in March 2025.