"Toughening punishment is not a complete solution": Activists on the incident of a child being raped in a Namangan kindergarten
In Namangan, a crime committed against a 5-year-old girl has once again brought a painful question to the public agenda: what kind of punishment is needed to protect children from sexual violence? Human rights activists and lawyers state that the root of the problem lies much deeper than just punishment.
"Stiffening the punishment is not a complete solution": Activists on the incident of a child being raped in a Namangan kindergarten
The sexual violence committed against a five-year-old girl has caused a major public outcry in Uzbekistan.
The suspect has been detained, and it was announced that the case has been taken under the control of the Prosecutor General's Office. The National Agency for Social Protection announced that the child and her family will be relocated to another region and the family will be provided with employment.
At the same time, the issue of further strengthening the punishment for sexual violence against children, including life imprisonment in extremely severe cases, is being discussed in society.
Human rights activist Abdurahmon Tashanov, however, emphasizes that Uzbekistan is quite late on this issue.
"For some reason, the parliament and deputies did not pay enough attention to this issue"
According to Abdurahmon Tashanov, the topic of sexual violence against children has not been openly discussed in society for many years.
"If we study the characteristics of pedophilia crimes in Uzbekistan, this has historically been a taboo subject for us. These crimes were not openly discussed during the Soviet era or in other periods. Despite this, such crimes have always been committed. From this point of view, the historical roots of these crimes must also be studied. Especially in 2023, the events related to violence against girls in an orphanage in Khorezm caused a major outcry on social networks. After that, in April 2023, Part 4 was introduced to Article 118 of the Criminal Code. According to it, liability for committing a sexual crime against a person under the age of 14 was set from 15 to 20 years.
Now, the legal reform proposed by Saida Mirziyoyeva - the proposal to establish life imprisonment for pedophilia crimes - can also be legally discussed. Because in our criminal legislation, there is a punishment of life imprisonment for extremely grave crimes such as terrorism and murder.
We are a bit late on this issue. Because there is information about such crimes being committed in orphanages and children's homes. Such cases have also been recorded in Margilan, Kokand, Chinaz, and some private children's homes. As a human rights organization, we have always submitted proposals on developing specific legal norms regarding sexual violence against children and introducing them into criminal legislation. But, for some reason, the parliament and deputies did not pay enough attention to this issue."