Watchdog

The Uzbek-German Forum For Human Rights (UGF) has criticized Uzbek authorities for forcing "more than 1 million" Uzbeks to pick cotton in 2014.

In its report issued on April 13, the Germany-based group said that Uzbek officials continued "to extort individuals and businesses, including multinational companies, at a larger scale as part of the annual Uzbek cotton harvest."

According to the report, at least 17 people died and many were injured during the harvest season last year.

Workers toiled in the fields for 10 hours a day with little rest and no days off, and their living quarters were often unheated, overcrowded, and lacking clean water and washing facilities.

Meanwhile, the Cotton Campaign, a U.S.-based international coalition of human rights, labor, business and investor organizations which aims to end forced labor in Uzbekistan's cotton sector, voiced suport for the UGF report’s recommendations to the Uzbek government: to permit unfettered access to international organizations, journalists, and independent civil society, and to undertake fundamental reforms of the cotton sector that would eliminate forced labor.

With reporting by uzbekgermanforum.org

An associate of Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny has been sentenced to 240 hours of community service after being convicted of stealing an artwork.

A court in the city of Vladimir found Georgy Alburov guilty of "premeditated theft" on April 14 and sentenced him the same day.

Alburov pleaded not guilty and said he will appeal the ruling, part of what Kremlin critics say is a campaign of pressure on Navalny and his allies.

In June, Alburov and another Navalny associate, Nikita Kulachenkov, were charged with stealing the picture, which was painted on plywood and affixed to a fence in Vladimir, about 170 kilometers northeast of Moscow.

Investigators found the picture in Navalny's home last year, and Navalny said it was a gift from friends.

Navalny, a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin and a driving force behind street protests in 2011-2012, has received two suspended sentences on theft convictions.

He denies wrongdoing, saying the cases against him are the Kremlin's revenge for his opposition activities.

With reporting by Interfax and TASS