Three-minute judges

Uzbekistan: Instant guilty verdicts, aid group shutouts, and persecution mark 15-year President Islam Karimov’s power grab as the key U.S. ally heads toward a potenially rigged election. | Priya Abraham

As of Oct. 1 James Hall could officially mothball his CEO title. He headed a humanitarian group that has offered education and small business development in Uzbekistan for 15 years. But this summer the government shut down the Central Asian Free Exchange for operating said CAFÉ without a license to use the internet, teach, or print books—even though the group had used the government's own publishing house. When Hall offered his defense to a judges' panel, the judges returned a guilty verdict after deliberating just 3 1/2 minutes. So Hall had to close his group's 10 development centers, lay off 300 Uzbek workers and exit the country along with other foreign employees.

Hall's storyline is similar to that of several nonprofits working in Uzbekistan. In the last year alone, hundreds of local and Western organizations have been forced to close.