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Uzbekistan will mark 30 years of independence since the collapse of the Soviet Union in September and in that time the country has watched its fortunes and its hopes for a free and democratic society rise and fall.
One person whose legacy is inextricably tied to those hopes and to cataloguing Uzbekistan’s darkest moments is Surat Ikramov chairman of the Initiative Group of Independent Human Rights Defenders who died in Tashkent on March 3 at age 77.
Human rights work in authoritarian contexts, and certainly in Uzbekistan, is a thankless and grueling slog. It is often more about bearing witness to continuous, mundane abuses and horrors than it is about dramatic speeches or courtroom drama. It is fundamentally about showing up, on a consistent basis about making sure that victims and survivors know you are there and will have their back.