UN: Uzbekistan Violated Gulnara Karimova’s Rights
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has classified the 2014 arrest of Gulnara Karimova, daughter of Uzbekistan’s first president, as unlawful and arbitrary. The conclusion appears in a document published on the website of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
According to the report, authorities detained Karimova without a warrant and placed her under house arrest for 18 months along with her child. One court hearing reportedly took place in her kitchen on 21 August 2015.
«The judgment itself did not attempt to conceal that the hearing occurred in entirely inappropriate conditions,» the report states. «It explicitly noted that the session was held ‘outside the court building’ and gave Ms Karimova’s residence—her home address—as the venue.»
The Working Group concluded that Uzbekistan had violated Karimova’s fundamental rights, including the right to liberty, a fair trial and the presumption of innocence. The group clarified that it had not assessed her guilt or innocence.
Moreover, the document references an ongoing money laundering case in Switzerland, in which Karimova stands accused. In 2023, Swiss prosecutors charged her with accepting multi-million-dollar bribes from international telecom firms in exchange for facilitating contracts in Uzbekistan. Authorities froze assets worth around $985 mln as part of the case.
Lombard Odier Bank had reported suspicious transactions linked to Karimova and a former employee in 2012, triggering a wider international investigation.
As Kursiv Uzbekistan previously reported, part of the assets unlawfully appropriated by Gulnara Karimova has since been returned to Uzbekistan.
