‘This country does not exist for me as homeland anymore. It is just a place for living for the moment
until I find a place somewhere abroad. The only thing I am worried about now is my apartment rent
payment, which is due on Monday. I am worried about my children’s fate. I want to help them to
stand on their feet… I am waiting for magic to happen. I know that I cannot expect anything from the
government.’
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Davron tried to approach local government for help with his case, but he did not receive any. He is
not the only person who remains homeless due to the demolitions. During the swift preparation of
the territory for ‘Tashkent City’, in neighbouring mahalla O’qchi 521 houses owned by 2165 families
were demolished. According to a legal expert at the directorate of ‘Tashkent City’, out of 2165, only
1138 families lived in the area before demolition started. This means that the other 1027 families
have not received compensation in any form for not residing in the de facto area.
349
Meaning there
are people like Davron who remain without a home. The expert also claimed that the residents of
the mahalla expressed a desire to move to multi-storey apartments instead of receiving land plots in
a similar size. The interviews in the past however, evidenced the opposite; many asked for a house
to accommodate the whole family, in the same or nearby territory, they were unhappy with
replacements offered.
350
The state failed to understand the difference in lifestyles and cultures
between those living in traditional settlements and those in multi-story contemporary apartments.
In traditional settlements, families are large and extended family often sharing the same dwelling.
They were offered smaller distributed residences based on the legal owner. Those who were sharing
had rights, which were ignored, and they ended up homeless, stressed and distressed.
The unfinished part of the Boulevard. Photo: by author
There is a clear violation of the legislation in this regard, as according to the regulations ‘on the
Procedure for Compensation of Damages to Citizens and Legal Entities due to Seizure of Land for
348
Interview with Davron Halikov, former resident of Olmazor mahalla. March 2020.
349
«Было много сомнений, но мы сделали это…» – интервью с представителем Дирекции Tashkent City (‘There were many doubts
but we did it’…interview with a representative of Tashkent City Directorate), Podrobno.uz, December 2019,
https://podrobno.uz/cat/obchestvo/-bylo-mnogo-somneniy-no-my-sdelali-eto-intervyu-s-predstavitelem-direktsii-tashkent-city/
350
Matyakubova. Who is Tashkent City For? Nation branding and Public Dialogue in Uzbekistan
Spotlight on Uzbekistan
88
State or Public Needs’, all residents who are registered in the properties are guaranteed to receive a
compensation.
351
In addition to this, the forced eviction occurred as most families were forced to
leave the area rapidly as the demolition started before the resettlement of all the residents. This
happened through extortion in the form of creating an untenable environments for the residents;
they were cut off from utilities such as electricity and gas, which is an obvious sign of forced eviction
according to international law.
352
The new Decree of Cabinet of Ministers, ‘on the on the procedure for compensation of losses to
citizens and legal entities in connection with the seizure of land for state and public needs’,
known
by local people as ‘Fascistic PKM 911’, has been an exploitable tool for developers to pursue their
profitmaking activities as building business centres, real estate, amusement parks, etc.
353
This
decree, unlike the previous one, has amended the deadlines for notification and demolition giving
more licence to the investors and construction companies to carry out their actions. It states notice
periods of three to five days or simply ‘as necessary’. This means that these deadlines are very
flexible to the extent that investors can use them in their favour. It allows the decision on demolition
of a housing block if 75 per cent of the residents have given their consent. The investor can gain the
rest through court as laid out in the legislation. In principle, an investor or contractor must go
through a set of legal steps that includes a number of procedures to gain permission for action.
However, in practice, only the final phase of the application is applied (gaining consent of the 75 per
cent of the residents) resulting in a higher number of permissions for demolitions.
Besides, the decree uses the phrase ‘compulsory purchase’ of a property in cases when the residents
disagree, which grants the state and developers even more authority. Judicial tools are important in
local enforcement of the regulations and obligations stated in the right to adequate housing (United
Nations Habitat) or by direct reference to International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights. Thus, the legislation should include an aspect on forced evictions, aligning it with
international norms and agreements to ensure the right of an individual to security and the right to
protection from forced evictions. The new decree does not meet international norms, as it does not
incorporate the fundamental rights and protection against forced evictions enshrined in
international law on socio-economic and cultural rights. Nonetheless, Uzbekistan signed those
agreements, thus it carries obligations to comply with norms specified as ensuring protection from
unlawful and forced evictions and safeguarding adequate housing.
354
It seems like the government
of Uzbekistan has no intention to comply with those agreements it signed thus failing to fulfil its
obligations as a member state.
The new Tashkenters attempt to ‘sell’ the city as something it is not by creating facsimiles of world
icons and popular metropolises, yielding gruesome results. The irony is that whilst the population of
the demolished mahallas remain homeless, the real estate agency ‘Dream City Development’ who is
responsible for selling the new properties is constantly advertising sales of new apartments. The
real-estate agency is devoting a large resource pool towards selling apartments and commercial
buildings in ‘iconic’ locations such as Boulevard and Gardens Residence in the territory of ‘Tashkent
351
Положение о порядке возмещения убытков гражданам и юридическим лицам в связи с изъятием
земельных участков для государственных и общественных нужд - Regulation on the procedure for compensation of losses to citizens
and legal entities in connection with the seizure land for state and public needs, May 2006,
https://nrm.uz/contentf?doc=105171_polojenie_o_poryadke_vozmeshcheniya_ubytkov_grajdanam_i_yuridicheskim_licam_v_svyazi_s_iz
yatiem_zemelnyh_uchastkov_dlya_gosudarstvennyh_i_obshchestvennyh_nujd_(prilojenie_k_postanovleniyu_km_ruz_ot_29_05_2006_g_
n_97)&produ
352
Matyakubova. Who is Tashkent City For? Nation branding and Public Dialogue in Uzbekistan; The Right to Adequate Housing, UN
Habitat, Fact Sheet No. 21/Rev.1, https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/FS21_rev_1_Housing_ru.pdf
353
Ўзбекистон республикаси вазирлар маҳкамасининг қарори, жисмоний ва юридик шахсларнинг мулк ҳуқуқлари кафолатларини
таъминлаш ҳамда ер участкаларини олиб қўйиш ва компенсация бериш тартибини такомиллаштиришга доир қўшимча чора-
тадбирлар тўғрисида - Regulation on the procedure for compensation of losses to citizens and legal entities in connection with the
seizure land for state and public needs, November 2019, https://lex.uz/ru/docs/4597630
354
The Right to Adequate Housing, UN Habitat. Fact Sheet No. 21/Rev.1.
Spotlight on Uzbekistan
89
City’, now called Dream City. Dream City is being developed in eight lots; each lot has its own
investors who have opaque roots but who seem to be connected to newly appeared bureaucrats in
government. The original sources for investment for the lots are unknown and unavailable in the
public domain. There is strong evidence however, which suggests these investors are using offshore
entities and surrogate shareholders to conceal their engagements in these lots. The investigations by
the Open Democracy society identified foreign investors who may be acting as covers for local
businesspersons. The chains of companies that are in the frontline of the project closely linked to
Jaxongir Artikxodjaev, the mayor of Tashkent were exposed.
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About the ambiguity of the true
beneficiaries of the lots in the Tashkent City, anti-corruption campaigner, Thomas Mayne, reports
that:
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