With the passing of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, the outlines of his legacy can begin to take shape. While Karimov can retain credit for leading Uzbekistan through its first quarter-century of independent statehood, the predominance of Karimov's most notable achievements dovetail directly from the human rights restrictions — and, in certain cases, horrors — rampant under his stewardship. Moreover, his regime and family have managed to not only establish mechanisms of autocracy other post-Soviet autocracies have mimicked, but they've managed, over the past few years, to lead a parallel, record-setting campaign of kleptocracy.
To be sure, some of the domestic realities Karimov left behind weren't necessarily the most appalling internationally, based on available metrics. Rather, they're merely indicative of the domestic repression brought to bear under Karimov.
For instance, while not the worst globally, Uzbekistan under Karimov had both a lower score than Saudi Arabia in Reporters Without Borders' Press Freedom Index and a worse score in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index than Zimbabwe.