No Meeting of Minds on Human Rights
No Meeting of Minds on Human Rights
Although Tashkent is now ready to start talking to the European Union about the human rights situation, and the EU is reciprocating by considering an end to sanctions, NBCentralAsia observers say the dialogue could be derailed by the continued pressure on human rights groups.
On May 14, the EU is due to consider lifting the sanctions first imposed on Uzbekistan when it refused to allow an international investigation into the violence in Andijan in 2005.
On May 13 that year, government troops opened fire on a peaceful demonstration in the eastern city killing hundreds of protesters. According to the official version of events, most of the dead were members of an extremist Islamic group, but independent sources insist they were local residents who had gathered to demand the release a group of local businessmen, who they claim had been unlawfully arrested.
Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU commissioner for external relations, said this month that Uzbekistan’s leadership was undergoing a “change of mind” in that it was increasingly prepared to show understanding for the EU’s concern over human rights.
During a visit to Tashkent on April 12, OSCE chairman Miguel Angel Moratinos indicated that the sanctions would probably be lifted soon.
But despite the West’s softened tones, recent developments in Uzbekistan may set talks back.
The trial of Umida Niazova, a journalist and human rights activist who was arrested by the authorities in December, begins on April 19. She is accused of crossing the border illegally and of using foreign funding to distribute anti-constitutional material that contributes to instability. She could receive a ten-year sentence if found guilty.
On April 13, the Uzbek justice ministry refused to extend the accreditation of the director of Human Rights Watch’s office in Tashkent.
According to said Rachel Denber, deputy director of the Europe and Central Asia Division at Human Rights Watch, the trial of Niazova and the refusal to grant Human Rights Watch accreditation is surprising. “At this particular moment, the EU is supposed to be scrutinising Uzbekistan’s human rights record and announcing a decision on sanctions in May. You’d think because of the eyes on Uzbekistan now the government would not do something like this,” she said.
Denber said the Uzbek justice ministry had not provided a clear explanation as why it was refusing accreditation - it merely said Human Rights Watch had gone beyond the mandate of its official charter.
She predicted that Human Rights Watch, the only international human rights organisation left in Uzbekistan, would now face serious obstacles to its work, and said a dialogue between Tashkent and the EU would be hampered by the absence of substantive improvements on human rights.
“So far the EU has noted progress in the government’s willingness to have a conversation about Andijan and a structured dialogue on human rights, but we don’t think the promise of dialogue is progress. Progress is releasing human rights defenders, registering human rights organisations and ending torture,” said Denber.
Orozbek Moldaliev, president of the Kyrgyz Politics, Religion and Security Foundation and a former diplomat in Tashkent, also says that the current human rights situation could sway the EU’s decision towards maintaining sanctions.
“This situation won’t give Uzbekistan any brownie points. It is now doubtful whether the EU will try to lift the Andijan sanctions. The Human Rights Watch issue may get in the way,” said Moldaliev.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
On May 14, the EU is due to consider lifting the sanctions first imposed on Uzbekistan when it refused to allow an international investigation into the violence in Andijan in 2005.
On May 13 that year, government troops opened fire on a peaceful demonstration in the eastern city killing hundreds of protesters. According to the official version of events, most of the dead were members of an extremist Islamic group, but independent sources insist they were local residents who had gathered to demand the release a group of local businessmen, who they claim had been unlawfully arrested.
Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU commissioner for external relations, said this month that Uzbekistan’s leadership was undergoing a “change of mind” in that it was increasingly prepared to show understanding for the EU’s concern over human rights.
During a visit to Tashkent on April 12, OSCE chairman Miguel Angel Moratinos indicated that the sanctions would probably be lifted soon.
But despite the West’s softened tones, recent developments in Uzbekistan may set talks back.
The trial of Umida Niazova, a journalist and human rights activist who was arrested by the authorities in December, begins on April 19. She is accused of crossing the border illegally and of using foreign funding to distribute anti-constitutional material that contributes to instability. She could receive a ten-year sentence if found guilty.
On April 13, the Uzbek justice ministry refused to extend the accreditation of the director of Human Rights Watch’s office in Tashkent.
According to said Rachel Denber, deputy director of the Europe and Central Asia Division at Human Rights Watch, the trial of Niazova and the refusal to grant Human Rights Watch accreditation is surprising. “At this particular moment, the EU is supposed to be scrutinising Uzbekistan’s human rights record and announcing a decision on sanctions in May. You’d think because of the eyes on Uzbekistan now the government would not do something like this,” she said.
Denber said the Uzbek justice ministry had not provided a clear explanation as why it was refusing accreditation - it merely said Human Rights Watch had gone beyond the mandate of its official charter.
She predicted that Human Rights Watch, the only international human rights organisation left in Uzbekistan, would now face serious obstacles to its work, and said a dialogue between Tashkent and the EU would be hampered by the absence of substantive improvements on human rights.
“So far the EU has noted progress in the government’s willingness to have a conversation about Andijan and a structured dialogue on human rights, but we don’t think the promise of dialogue is progress. Progress is releasing human rights defenders, registering human rights organisations and ending torture,” said Denber.
Orozbek Moldaliev, president of the Kyrgyz Politics, Religion and Security Foundation and a former diplomat in Tashkent, also says that the current human rights situation could sway the EU’s decision towards maintaining sanctions.
“This situation won’t give Uzbekistan any brownie points. It is now doubtful whether the EU will try to lift the Andijan sanctions. The Human Rights Watch issue may get in the way,” said Moldaliev.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
