oday marks the 64th birthday of lawyer, blogger, and human rights activist Shohida Salomova. Instead of celebrating her life and work, she remains deprived of her liberty under coercive psychiatric measures.
On the birthday of lawyer, blogger, and human rights activist Shohida Salomova, International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR), Association for Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA) and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) call for her immediate and unconditional release from forced psychiatric detention. Her case raises serious concerns about the abuse of psychiatric measures to silence dissent, violations of fair trial guarantees, and risks to her health. We urge the authorities of Uzbekistan to end her arbitrary detention, ensure access to independent medical care, and uphold their international human rights obligations.
On 18 December 2022, Salomova posted a comment on social media about a high-ranking official. Later that same day, officials searched her home and detained her. A criminal case was opened against her for defamation and insult (Articles 139, 140 and 244.1 of the Criminal Code). According to information available to the undersigning organizations, officials attempted to coerce Salomova to incriminate herself during initial interrogations, which she refused to do.
On 22 December 2022, Salomova was forcibly committed to a psychiatric facility. Since January 2024, she has been held in the Republican Psychiatric Hospital in Tashkent under constant supervision. Her forced detention has effectively become indefinite as it has been repeatedly extended without independent medical evaluation or effective judicial oversight. As a result, she has effectively been denied justice for more than three years.
Salomova is a well-known outspoken blogger and government critic in Uzbekistan. She has often criticized Uzbek officials through her now-deleted Telegram channel “Panatonomy of the Land of Uz” and her YouTube Channel Shahina Salomova. Through her blogging and online activities, she has drawn attention to the widespread practice of forced evictions and demolitions in the country as well as other issues.
According to information available to the undersigned organisations, 64-year-old Salomova, who suffers from chronic illnesses including diabetes and asthma, is not receiving adequate medical care which creates serious risks to her health.
All available information points to a clear and consistent pattern of serious human rights violations against Salomova, including arbitrary deprivation of liberty, violation of fair trial standards, undue restrictions on her right to freedom of expression, and the abuse of psychiatric institutions by state and medical institutions, measures which are consistent with cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.
Uzbekistan: End the Punitive Psychiatric Detention of Lawyer Shohida Salomova
