Please speak out today to demand the Uzbek government immediately release Elena Urlaeva!

To Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev:

I write to you today to demand the immediate release of human rights activist Elena Urlaeva, who was detained by Uzbek police on March 1, 2017, and is still being held against her will, undergoing forced treatment at a psychiatric institution. This is not the first time your government has attempted to silence Ms. Urlaeva for documenting forced labor in Uzbekistan’s annual cotton harvest. The timing of this most recent attack against her is transparently aimed at preventing her from presenting evidence to international observers from the International Trade Union Confederation and World Bank Group. Rather than attempting to hide evidence of your human rights violations, it is time you admitted them and worked with civil society actors like Ms. Urlaeva to improve your country’s adherence to its own laws and international standards. She must be released immediately and allowed to carry on her work.