West presses for Uzbek reform
A European development bank announced Tuesday that it would scale back its involvement in Uzbekistan.
When pro- democracy protesters stormed Georgia's parliament and triumphed in their "Rose Revolution" last November, it sent shockwaves of popular hope and government paranoia across Central Asia.
In Uzbekistan, US-government funded groups working closely with the nascent opposition - some of the same groups that played a key role in Georgia, and in the 2000 toppling of Yugoslav strongman Slobodan Milosevic - were immediately targets of suspicion.
The repressive nature of the Uzbek regime has been thrust into the international spotlight after violence last week left 47 dead. The US, which has troops deployed at an Uzbek base, has been stepping up pressure on Tashkent to allow greater political freedoms.
"It's obvious the [Uzbek] government felt a fear of the 'Georgia Syndrome' happening here," says Kamoliddin Rabbimov, a former government researcher, who today advises Western pro-democracy groups. "The government became suspicious of these pro-democracy organizations, while ordinary people started to think: 'It might be possible [here].'"
While experts say the two cases are different, some US-funded groups were told flat out by Uzbek officials last December that the Georgia example - where the US spent $1.3 billion over 10 years on building civil society - would not be repeated here. The groups were also ordered to comply with more stringent controls, and re-register with the Ministry of Justice.
Their fate is likely to turn this week, as the authoritarian regime of President Islam Karimov decides whether the groups can stay, and whether to uphold past agreements with Washington for new openness and democratic moves.
Most groups expect to be approved - to work under greater scrutiny - though one or two may be shut down.
Visiting US congressmen on Monday pressed for change. Rep. David Dreier (R) of California said that "from this tragedy, moving toward the goal of bringing about greater political freedoms and economic freedoms is the natural and correct step."
Citing "very limited progress" on a series of reform benchmarks, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development announced Tuesday that it would scale back its involvement in the country. Meanwhile, $50 million in new direct US aid depends on a State Department decision later this month on whether Tashkent is cleaning up human rights abuses. Amid a welter of critical Western rights reports - including the US State Department's own annual survey in February - the Brussels-based International Crisis Group stated last month that "there are no grounds" for State Department certification.
The US and Uzbekistan signed a strategic partnership framework in March 2002, not long after President Karimov permitted the US military to begin using an airbase as a key logistics hub for the 2001 Afghanistan war. The deal requires Uzbekistan to "intensify the democratic transformation of society," and obligates the US provide "advice, aid, and assistance" to boost democratic institutions.
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