LOCAL ACTIVIST FIGHTS AGAINST IMMINENT FORCED EVICTIONS

The Coalition for Human Rights in Development came out in defense of Dilmurod Mirusmanov : (https://rightsindevelopment.org/news/dilmurod-mirusmanov-forced-evictions-tashkent-uzbekistan/)
Jan 8, 2024

Protest sign in front of Dilmurod Mirusmanov’s house in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Since 2016, Dilmurod Mirusmanov and his family have been living in a two-storey house in the bustling neighborhood of Mirobod Avenue, in the Uzbek capital Tashkent. When they bought it, they would have never thought that a private company – with the support of a corrupt judiciary and political system – could suddenly take it away. But in the morning of January 11, Dilmurod and his 14 family members – including nine children and his elderly mother – risk being forcibly evicted and forever lose their home.

Dilmurod started his legal battle in 2019, when the private firm Golden House first started threatening seizing the property to build a new housing project. Golden House is a subsidiary of Orient Group, one of the biggest business holdings of Uzbekistan, and its funding sources are quite opaque. According to some sources, it receives Russian capital.

To defend his right to keep his house or to at least receive fair compensations, Dilmurod has been actively engaged in advocacy campaigns and legal battles. The company, though, has been ignoring his plea. Even worse, they have been threatening him that they wouldn’t give him any compensation if he wouldn’t accept their conditions. But the conditions proposed are simply inacceptable. In a public appeal to the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Dilmurod writes that the company has proposed to move them from the current place – a 300 square meters and modern house in the city center – to cheaper and smaller buildings (two apartments, of around 67 square meters each), located in a very polluted, industrial area.

“We are forcibly evicted from our own house,” writes Dilmurod in the letter. “Not for state or public needs (such as the construction of bridges, roads, etc.), but only because someone wants to build a multi-story building on the site of our home, just for the purpose of making a profit. It feels like it’s back to the serfdom age: they want to decide for us where we should live and where not.”

Protest sign in front of Dilmurod Mirusmanov’s house in Tashkent, Uzbekistanh1–

House of Dilmurod, near the constructed building of Mirabad avenue

Dilmurod’s case is not an isolated one. In recent years, Tashkent has attracted significant foreign investments as it has been undergoing a massive urban renovation scheme. Over ten thousand people have already been forced to leave their homes, and thousands more are under threat of eviction.

In the Facebook page “Tashkent Snos”  , which counts around 29000 members, hundreds of people complain about this mass campaign of forced evictions, which are depriving people of their private properties and demolishing buildings that have historical or cultural value. ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/328799110874813/?ref=share_group_link)

In 2018 and 2019 there was a wave of public protests and, as a result, a ministerial decree froze seizures. However, several private companies have managed to infiltrate the political and judiciary system to keep obtaining building permits and to force evictions through court decisions. According to several sources, corruption is playing a big role in this. Local journalists have also identified direct links between developers and local or central authorities.

Defying this system is an uphill battle. Dilmurod has witnessed first hand how even the law can be twisted or broken, to protect the interests of private companies instead of the rights of ordinary citizens. Yet, he is determined to keep demanding justice and defending his family’s rights.

The letter addressed to the Uzbek president in January 2024

Dear Shavkat Miromonovich,

I am addressing you as the guarantor of the Constitution.

Why do the courts and local authorities ignore the laws and decrees you have adopted and violate the Constitution?

On April 30, 2023, we voted with great hope for the new Constitution, with the hope that now that it will be directly applicable, its articles on the inviolability of private property will protect our home from greedy developers. 2024 year start, but the Constitution does not work. Private property has been and remains defenseless in the face of developers and judges.

You have talked so many times about the topic of “DEMOLITION”, about the inadmissibility of destroying people’s houses without their consent, and you have given instructions to local officials about respecting citizens’ rights to property. But the situation has not changed.

Today, our family is in a situation that is unthinkable in a modern rule of law state, which I still hope Uzbekistan is.

Forced evictions constitute a direct or indirect violation of the full range of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights enshrined in international treaties
We are forcibly evicted from our OWN HOUSE. Not for government or public needs (such as the construction of bridges, roads, etc.), but only because someone wanted to build a multi-story building on the site of our premises for the purpose of making a profit.
And he doesn’t care about our consent, whether we want to move or not. The main thing is that HE (the developer – GOLDEN HOUSE project – MIRABAD AVENUE) decided so. He also decides where to evict us. (Our family of 15 people is being evicted from the very center of the city, to budget houses built on the site of a textile mill, where the environmental situation is very bad, because nearby there are industries that emit chemical waste. They are evicted from a house with an area of 300 square meters into 2 apartments of 67 sq. m. each).
It feels like we have serfdom – they decide for us where we should live and where not. At the trial, I categorically refused these two apartments, which are not suitable for us even according to the social norm (for 15 people, 16 sq.m. should be 240 sq.m.), and also much smaller in area than our own home. Our house is 300 sq.m., they are moving out to 135 sq.m. And what is very important, the environment there is bad, and this will negatively affect our children and elderly mother. We agreed to apartments that were being built here as foundation pits, so that our children would not move anywhere, change schools, etc.

Or they asked us not to destroy our house. Our house does not bother anyone, because… There is a synagogue nearby and the developer lost in court against the synagogue, so they remain. According to the project, the developer’s multi-story building should be on the site of our house and synagogue. And even if my house is destroyed, they still won’t be able to build a house according to the project. Therefore, the ideal option for everyone is to leave our premises in tact.
But for the court, our arguments and desires are absolutely irrelevant; they only hear the developer’s side. Audio-video recording is not allowed in courts, otherwise I would provide even more facts of ignoring our arguments. But those who have faced the courts, I am sure, can confirm the veracity of my words.

Even the issue of compensation for our site was resolved only with the consent of the developer. Taught by the experience of previous courts, where the courts considered only the issue of compensation and asked whether I had an appraisal of the house, I provided the judicial panel of the Supreme Court with a report on the market value of my house, the accuracy of which was confirmed by the Suleymanova Forensic Expert Center. But since the developer was not satisfied with this amount, he demanded that the Suleymanova Center itself evaluate my house and give an opinion. (according to the law, the market value of a house is determined by appraisal companies, and not by the Suleymanova center, and I had such a report).
The judge, despite my objections, asked Suleymanova’s experts to evaluate my house using a costly and comparative method. The experts gave their opinion by valuing my house only using the cost method, and without even conducting an identification and visual inspection of the house, as a result of which the value of my house was greatly underestimated and did not reflect the true market value of the house. And besides, the date was a year ago. But because this amount suited the developer, he brought a letter that he was ready to pay this compensation, minus the cost of the apartments provided. And the court decided to evict our family with payment of this compensation.
The task of the court is to ensure social justice. What kind of justice can we talk about when even compensation for my house is determined on the old date and without inspecting my house, groundlessly ignoring the report I provided.
In making the decision to evict, the court violated the law. According to the law, the decision to evict could only be made 6 months after I received compensation. This is written in the LAW and the court is obliged to make a decision based on the laws.
How can we protect our rights enshrined in the Constitution and laws if judges make decisions ignoring the provisions of the law on the inviolability of private property?

For several years now we have been unsuccessfully trying to defend our property. Appeals to all government bodies are reduced to formal replies; no one even tries to delve into and solve the problem.
In 2017 By decision of the khokim of Tashkent, a land plot of 6 hectares was allocated to the private enterprise “ABSOLUTE BUSINESS TRADE” for the construction of multi-storey buildings (project – MIRABAD AVENUE).

The allocation of the land plot itself occurred in violation of the law. The khokim did not have the right to allocate a land plot owned by other persons, but could only allocate a land plot located in the reserve fund of the Khokimiyat. Articles 23 and 37 of the Land Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan were violated. Also at that time, the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan, dated February 25, 2013 No. 54, was in force, the provision of which in paragraph 12 reads:
… In cases of receipt from legal entities and individuals of an application for the provision of land plots occupied by buildings and structures, the rights to which are registered for other individuals and legal entities in the manner prescribed by law, the applicant is sent a notice of the impossibility of providing the requested land plot, with an offer to independently purchase real estate from the owners or other options for choosing vacant land plots.

We tried to appeal this decision of the mayor in the administrative court, but to no avail. All authorities decided to refuse to satisfy the claims. Although at the same time our neighbors, the synagogue, filed a similar lawsuit. And their demands were satisfied, and the mayor’s decision was canceled in part of the synagogue.
How is it that in one case the laws work, but in our case the laws do not work? Similar arguments were given, the same articles of laws that were violated when the mayor made the decision. What needs to be done to make the laws work in our case?
If the administrative courts did not see a violation of our rights when allocating the site where our houses are located to the developer, then the civil courts went even further. According to the developer’s claim, we are forcibly evicted from our OWN home.
There is not a single rule in the laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan that allows the owner and members of his family to be evicted from their own home. We have no debts or obligations to anyone.
The court decides to evict our family from our own home, according to Articles 27 and 71 of the Housing Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which determine the procedure for eviction of citizens in cases of seizure of land plots for public needs from municipal houses. Our house is not municipal housing and the construction of multi-storey buildings is not a public need, therefore our house cannot be taken away from us and we cannot be evicted under these articles. The Ministry of Justice gave an official explanation on this issue, but this does not matter to the court.
What should we do? How to fight and defend your right to private property if developers have developed an ideal scheme for taking property away from citizens. To begin with, they send you a letter offering compensation, which does not even meet the minimum standards that must be met according to the law. Then, after waiting a certain time, a lawsuit is filed against you for forced eviction. And that’s it, the owner can’t do anything. The answers to all appeals to the mayor office, the prosecutor’s office and other government bodies boil down to one thing – once the case is considered in court, then no one has the right to interfere, our judges are independent and will make a fair decision. It turns out to be a vicious circle – even if a court decision clearly contradicts the law, only a higher court can overturn it, which basically leaves the decision of the first instance unchanged. The Prosecutor General’s Office can also lodge a protest, but appeals to the Prosecutor General’s Office go down to the district level, from where the answer comes that there are no violations.

Over the past few years, we have published many articles on the Internet and contacted the president’s virtual reception, but to no avail. Everyone pretends that nothing is happening, no one comes to investigate. But the problem will not go away on its own. A week later, on January 11 at 10.30 am, employees of the MIB (Compulsory Enforcement Bureau) will come to forcibly evict us. They are not interested in our arguments about the illegality of the decisions; they have a court decision that they must comply with. We have already seen how IIB employees act in such a situation: they break down gates, forcibly take things out, make threats, etc.
Even a stranger on the street feels uneasy about what is happening, what can we say about those who are directly affected by this, who are forcibly deprived of their home, and it makes no difference whether they are children or elderly people. Many cannot stand this and therefore an ambulance must be present. Unfortunately, death is also a possibility in such a stressful situation. There are examples of this on social networks.

Is it true that developers’ thirst for profit is so strong that they are ready to neglect all moral principles? Don’t they understand that by taking our home away from us, they will be cursed for the rest of their lives. That by exposing my mother, who last year underwent cancer surgery, and nine children, three of whom are orphans, to suffering, developers are dooming themselves and their families to constant curses. Each of us will pray every day, asking Allah to punish everyone, not only the developers, but also those who contributed to them. So that the evil they caused us spreads to their children and loved ones
Now they laugh at our suffering, enjoying their greatness. But the day will come and they will answer for every second of our suffering, for every drop of tears shed by innocent children.

FURTHER READINGS
The limits of reform in Uzbekistan, By Margaret Hanson, Eurasia Net, 2022  https://rightsindevelopment.org/news/dilmurod-mirusmanov-forced-evictions-tashkent-uzbekistan/
Evicted without warning: sudden Tashkent demolitions spark anger, by Marc Bennetts, The Guardian, 2019 : https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/apr/02/evicted-without-warning-demolitions-spark-activism-in-tashkent-uzbekistan
Dispossession and urban development in the new Tashkent, by Atkhan Akhmedov, Open Democracy, 2018 : https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/dispossession-and-urban-development-in-the-new-tashkent/

MEDIA CONTACTS
Dilmurod Mirusmanov | +998 90 982 27 94 | dili2025@gmail.com (Uzbek, Russian, English)
Lorena Cotza (Communications Lead – Coalition for Human Rights in Development) – lcotza@rightsindevelopment.org (English)
Further contacts of local activists can be provided upon request.

The Coalition for Human Rights in Development