World>Terrorism & Security
posted October 28, 2005 at 11:30 a.m.

US undecided on sanctions against Uzbekistan for human rights abuses

Meanwhile, the UN worries about the uprising trial, an opposition leader is imprisoned, and the BBC closes its offices.

By Arthur Bright | csmonitor.com

The US government remains undecided whether to impose sanctions on Uzbekistan for its history of human rights abuses, most recently highlighted by reports of the violent suppression of an uprising in the city of Andijon, Reuters reports. Human rights groups say that hundreds of unarmed civilians in Andijon were killed by government forces in May. Uzbek authorities say only 187 people were killed, all of whom were Islamic terrorists.

[Daniel Fried, assistant secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia] told lawmakers he went to Uzbekistan four weeks ago in the first high level meeting since the May uprising. "My message was we want to have better relations with you but there is a serious problem." He said the Bush administration was waiting to see how Uzbek President Islam Karimov responded.

After the House of Representatives International Relations subcommittee hearing, Fried said his response "doesn't mean we are, it doesn't mean we're not" weighing sanctions. "I don't want to go further right now."


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The government's response drew charges of hypocrisy from Rep. William Delahunt (D) of Massachusetts, who pointed out that the US has condemned other nations for similar abuses.

Delahunt blamed [US indecision] on the Pentagon's use of the Karshi-Khanabad Air Base, called K-2, for U.S. operations in Afghanistan. Uzbekistan in July gave the United States 180 days to leave the Soviet-era base after Washington criticized its violent suppression of the uprising.

"If we're going to preach about democracy we're going to have to make difficult decisions. We're not going to sell our values out for basing rights, particularly when (Defense) Secretary (Donald) Rumsfeld himself noted that there were options to the base in Uzbekistan," said Delahunt.

The US may not need to be concerned about K-2 for long, as pressure is building for an American withdrawal. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a six-nation Central Asian security bloc that includes Uzbekistan, Russia, and China, today reiterated the call for the US to leave K-2, and has requested a timetable for the withdrawal, UPI reports.

But while K-2 may cease to be a consideration for the US, the Andijon massacre remains a human rights concern. IRIN, a humanitarian news agency affiliated with the UN, reports that the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has expressed concern "over the fairness of the trial of 15 men in Uzbekistan charged with terrorism after the uprising" in Andijon.

The special rapporteurs expressed concern over some irregularities in the preparation of the trial and of defence procedures that failed to ensure a fair trial. They also fear that the crime of terrorism is not defined in national law in a manner compatible with the requirements of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in relation to crimes subject to capital punishment.

Moreover, as little evidence has been presented during the trial, apart from confessions, and in light of the fact that they were not cross-examined by independent lawyers, the special rapporteurs have expressed concern that the defendants' confessions may have been obtained by means of torture.

There are suspicisions that torture may also have been used against Sanjar Umarov, the leader of an Uzbek opposition party who was recently arrested on charges of embezzlement. When visiting him in his cell on Wednesday, his lawyer found Umarov naked and incoherent, reports The New York Times.

[Umarov's lawyer Vitaly Krasilovsky] said that when he was given permission Tuesday to visit Umarov for the first time, his client could be seen only through a small feeding slot in his cell's metal door.

Behind the door, Umarov stood without clothes, shielding his face with his hands, he said. During five or six minutes of trying to communicate with Umarov, Krasilovsky said, he was unable to get a coherent reply.

Prison officials told Krasilovsky that Umarov had removed his own clothes and thrown them out the feeding slot, he said.

Umarov's son, Gulam Umarov, belives that his father must have been drugged. "My father never acted this way," he said. Prior to his arrest, Umarov had been a vocal critic of President Karimov's regime and called for economic and political reform. The Uzbek government has a "history of systematic use of torture," the Times notes.

Hostile conditions within Uzbekistan have not been limited to its own citizens. The BBC has also encountered opposition in its efforts to report on the country, and have suspended their Uzbek operations due to security concerns.

All local staff are being withdrawn and the office in the capital Tashkent will close for at least six months pending a decision on its long term future. ...

"Over the past four months since the unrest in Andijan, BBC staff in Uzbekistan have been subjected to a campaign of harassment and intimidation which has made it very difficult for them to report on events in the country," [BBC Regional Head Behrouz] Afagh said.

The BBC's withdrawal from Uzbekistan is not the first time the news organization has encountered problems there. In June, the government forced BBC reporter Monica Whitlock to leave the capital city of Tashkent, while two local BBC staffers were granted refugee status by the UN. The BBC said it "remained committed to covering events in Uzbekistan."