PROTESTS REPORTED IN FERGHANA VALLEY AND TASHKENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TASHKENT 001596

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/07/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON SOCI UZ
SUBJECT: PROTESTS REPORTED IN FERGHANA VALLEY AND TASHKENT

REF: TASHKENT 1479

Classified By: CDA BRAD HANSON FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D).


1. (C) Summary: Independent websites and Embassy contacts
have reported scattered demonstrations in the Ferghana Valley
and in Tashkent this past week. The demonstrations
reportedly have been caused by rising food prices and
scarcities. Officials in the city of Margilan also
reportedly have paid merchants to lower prices during a
planned visit on September 7-8 by President Karimov. At
first glance, these reports appear credible. End summary.

PRESS REPORTS OF PROTESTS IN FERGHANA VALLEY
--------------


2. (U) Several independent websites reported demonstrations
on September 3 in the Ferghana Valley cities of Andijon,
Namangan and Ferghana. Radio Free Europe (RFE) reported on
September 3 that dozens of residents, upset with rising
prices for basic staples such as meat, flour and oil, marched
from the Yangi-arab village to the Oltiaryq district
administration building before proceeding to the Ferghana
province administration building in Ferghana City. Before
dispersing, the protesters were met by officials of the
Ferghana City administration, who agreed to investigate their
complaints. RFE also quoted independent journalist and
Uzmetronom operator Sergey Ezhkov, who said that people
across Uzbekistan are unhappy about rising prices for staple
goods and low wages and that security forces have been put on
high alert in the Ferghana Valley. The article also noted
unconfirmed rumors of serious clashes between the local
population and security forces in Andijon.


3. (C) Poloff spoke on September 6 with human rights
activist Abdusalom Ergashev, who was quoted by RFE. Ergashev
told poloff that the protest over rising food prices began at
10:00 on September 3 when a group of about 100 persons from
Yangi-arab village marched out to the Oltiaryq district
administration building, where they were met by local
officials. Several of the protestors were then invited to
Ferghana City to meet with officials from the provincial
administration, where they delivered their complaints about
rising food prices before dispersing. Ergashev also told
poloff about a separate demonstration a few days earlier by a
group of women at the Huvaydo mausoleum in the Chimion region
of Ferghana province. The protest started when well-known
poet Abdul Aripov, a close associate of President Karimov and
member of Uzbekistan's Senate, was observed visiting the
shrine. A group of approximately 40 women then quickly
formed, demanding an explanation from Aripov and President
Karimov about a decision by local authorities to prevent the
export of fruit to Russia, which is a major source of income
in the region.


4. (C) A German Embassy officer told poloff that he heard of
an additional small protest over rising food prices in
Namangan. The demonstration involved 30 to 40 protestors,
mostly elderly, who disbanded after Namangan city officials
agreed to investigate their complaints. According to the
German officer, the demonstrators were observed by police,
who did not interfere with the protest.

PRICES FOR STAPLES GOING UP
--------------


5. (U) The RFE and independent website reports cited rising
prices for staple goods as the principle cause of the
protests. Uzmetronom reported on September 3 that the
average price for a kilogram of flour in Uzbekistan has
increased to one dollar and a kilogram of meat has increased
from 3.75 dollars to 5.70 dollars (Note: one dollar is equal
to approximately 1,275 soum End Note.) According to
Ferghana.ru, bread now costs between 200 to 1,500 soum (.16
to 1.17 dollars) in a country where the minimum monthly wage
is only 12 dollars. Ferghana.ru also reported on September 3
that the price of bread in Ferghana City has recently doubled
and that lines have formed at the Mirobad Bazaar in Tashkent
for vegetable oil. Prices for many basic consumer goods and
services have surged since the beginning of August, when a
presidential decree raised the minimum salary (reftel).

REPORTED CURFEW IN MARGILAN AHEAD OF PRESIDENTIAL VISIT

TASHKENT 00001596 002 OF 003


-------------- --------------


6. (U) Ferghana.ru reported on September 4 that a curfew
would be declared in Margilan in Ferghana province on
September 5 after a series of disturbances in recent weeks.
Uzmetronom reported that a September 7-8 visit by President
Karimov to celebrate Margilan's 2000 year anniversary was the
reason behind the increased security measures. The website
also noted increased sightings of military personnel
movements throughout the Ferghana Valley, which it speculated
also was tied to the upcoming presidential visit. In
addition, Uzmetronom reported that city officials have
offered 8 dollars to residents who live on the presidential
city tour route to vacate their homes, 40 dollars to produce
vendors who lower their prices and have required all
Soviet-era cars to be hidden from sight.


7. (U) The Ferghana.ru article also stated that city
authorities have angered local residents by demanding that
they stop driving Soviet-era cars, ostensibly for safety
reasons. According to the article, residents believe
(correctly or not) that the authorities are pressuring them
into purchasing new Daewoo cars produced in Uzbekistan.

ANDIJON MARKET STALLS BURNED IN JULY
--------------


8. (C) Protests reportedly occurred in Andijon this July, as
well. In late July, several market stalls were burned down
at a bazaar in Andijon. In a press release from August 15,
Human Rights Alliance activist Abdillo Tojiboy-ugli said that
the several market stalls were burned in late July by
individuals upset by the city's lack of cottonseed oil, which
is heavily relied upon by rural Uzbeks for cooking. On
August 23, however, Free Farmers opposition party leader
Nigora Khidoyatova provided poloff with a different account
of the incident. She said that the fire occurred after
several hundred women traders were evicted from the bazaar to
make way for the construction of the stalls. She speculated
that some of the women then burned down the stalls in
protest. In addition, Khidoyatova said that a guard at the
market also was lynched.

PROTESTS OVER RISING PRICES IN TASHKENT
--------------


9. (C) Reports of protests have not been confined to the
Ferghana Valley. On September 4, an ex-deputy hokim (mayor)
of Tashkent's Uch-Tepe region and reliable Embassy contact,
Adolat Nasirova (strictly protect),told poloff that
demonstrations were organized in August by residents of
Uch-Tepe's 13th, 21st, and 23rd blocs. The residents, she
said, were upset by rising prices and threatened to take
their complaints directly to Tashkent's Hokim (mayor),
Abdukahhor Tukhtaev, and the Presidential Apparatus.
Representatives from Tashkent's Hokimiyat (city hall) met the
protestors, and convinced them to disperse after promising to
investigate their complaints. After the meetings were
dispersed, Tukhtaev reportedly threatened to fire any mahalla
(neighborhood) chairman who allowed such meetings to take
place in their neighborhoods again. Nasirova said that
rumors have circulated that Tukhtaev himself will be fired as
part of a continuing Government shakeup ahead of the expected
presidential election in December. She added that Tukhtaev
is not seen as a serious powerbroker, and that Prime Minister
Shavkat Mirziyaev is viewed as the true "mayor" of Tashkent.
Furthermore, Nasirova said that she had heard of similar
neighborhood protests occurring recently in Chilanzar, which
like Uch-Tepe, is one of Tashkent's poorer areas.

WOMEN THREATEN SELF-IMMOLATION AT TASHKENT BAZAAR
-------------- --------------


10. (C) Nasirova also told poloff about a confrontation last
week between several women traders and police at the
Chilanzar Bazaar in Tashkent. The police reportedly raided
the bazaar to confiscate smuggled goods, which according to
the contact, constitute a majority of the items available at
the market. After seizing the wares of 23 traders from
Tashkent, the police approached a group of women traders from
Samarkand and Bukhara, who put up a struggle and then doused
their goods and bodies with lighter fluid, threatening to
light themselves on fire if the police tried to seize their

TASHKENT 00001596 003.2 OF 003


goods. The contact speculated that the women from the
regions were more aggressive than the other traders because
they probably had their life savings invested in the goods
and may have felt they had nothing left to lose. After a
tense standoff, the police were ordered by superiors to stand
down and leave the bazaar, and the women and remaining
traders were able to keep their goods.

INCREASED NUMBER OF WOMEN OBSERVED AT MARDIKORS
-------------- --


11. (C) In addition, Nasirova said that a friend who works
at the Business Women's Association in Tashkent reported
seeing a five-fold increase around the country in the number
of women offering their services at "mardikors," labor
markets traditionally for unemployed men, but increasingly
also including some unemployed women. The friend also
reportedly told Nasirova that mardikors are appearing in new
locations, including in the town of Chirchik in Tashkent
province. Women are usually hired at mardikors to serve as
maids or cleaning ladies.

COMMENT
--------------


12. (C) Spontaneous demonstrations over economic conditions
are not unusual in Uzbekistan and are often handled by
authorities promising to investigate protesters' complaints.
The reported demonstrations July thru September seem to have
been handled in the normal way. However, with the continuing
rise in prices, and the possibility of elections in December,
protests may prove a bit more challenging for authorities.
HANSON