Islam Karimov

Islam Karimov Origin: Uzbekistan Occupation: President of Uzbekistan Goals: Remains in power Crimes: Human rights abuses Torture Censorship Abuse of power Election fraud Type of Villain: Dictator

Islam Karimov (January 30th, 1938 - September 2nd, 2016) was the first president of Uzbekistan. He started his evil power in 1991. He is known for committing arson on his own people and other possible terrorist actions, such as backing the terrorist organization Akromiya. He is also known for boiling 2 prisoners to death and his administration is responsible for murder, rape, abduction, corruption, censorship and religious intolerance.

In addition, he masterminded the 2005 Andijan Massacre, in which authorities intentionally trapped hundreds of protestors in a closed street before killing them. Karimov's elections were also likely rigged.

He died on September 2nd, 2016 from organ failures, shortly after his 25th anniversary of taking office.

In 1996, Karimov's term was extended until 2000 through a referendum. Results showed 99.6 percent of voters favoured extending Karimov's term. The United States criticised the referendum for its "lack of public debate" and instances of one person casting the vote for his entire family. At the time, Karimov publicly stated that he considered the referendum to be a re-election to a second term, which under the Constitution would have required him to leave office in 2000. However, the legislature passed a resolution opposing the decision, leading Karimov to announce he would run for reelection in 2000.

He was reelected with 91.9% of the vote in the Uzbek presidential election, on 9 January 2000. The United States said that this election "was neither free nor fair and offered Uzbekistan's voters no true choice". The sole opposition candidate, Abdulhafiz Jalalov, implicitly admitted that he entered the race only to make it seem democratic and publicly stated that he voted for Karimov. Following this election in 1996, restrictions on opposition were further tightened through the Law on Political Parties. This law ensured the right to meetings, publications and elections of opposition parties, but only to those who had registered with the Ministry of Justice. This policy allowed for government blockage of unapproved parties. Political parties based on ethnic, religious, military or subversive ideas were prohibited. According to dissident writer Alisher Ilkhamov from the Open Society Foundations, 99.6% had elected to keep Karimov in office after his term had expired, but ballots had been created such that it was much easier for voters to cast a "yes" vote than a "no" vote. Unmarked ballots, as well as ballots of those who did not vote, were automatically counted as "yes" votes, while a full black mark, under the supervision of authorities, was necessary to count as a "no" vote