The United States has imposed personal sanctions on three former officials from Uzbekistan.
The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), in a statement, said that these individuals were involved in human trafficking and gender-based violence, including physical and sexual abuse of children at an orphanage in Urgench, Uzbekistan.
During their work as civil servants, Yulduz Khudaiberganova, Anvar Kuryazov, and Aibek Masharipov repeatedly committed physical violence, sexual assault, and trafficking of orphaned children, according to the US. At the time, Khudaiberganova was the director of the orphanage, Masharipova was the head of the Khorezm regional department of justice, and Kuryasov was the head of district emergency management.
For at least 10 months, Khudaiberganova forced three underage girls to have sexual relations with at least six different men in exchange for money. Masharipov and Kuryazov demanded sexual access to orphans as compensation for the “gifts” they provided to the orphanage.
The Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country located in Central Asia. More than 36 million people live in the republic.
