Human rights organizations urge US and EU to reconsider relations ...

CA-NEWS (UZ) - Human rights urge thed U.S. and the EU to reconsider their relations with Uzbekistan, reported ?Voice of America? Russian service.

?The European Union and the United States should re-examine their relationships with the Uzbek government in light of its atrocious rights record,? Human Rights Watch said today on the eve of the seventh anniversary of the government massacre at Andijan, Uzbekistan. Both the EU and the US have been enhancing their relationships with the Uzbek government.

On May 13, 2005, hundreds of armed men attacked police officers and military unit, then they broke into local prison and released entrepreneurs who were arrested for alleged associations with illegal religious organization. After that hundreds of largely peaceful protesters gathered at the central square of the city, where they were killed by Uzbek government forces indiscriminately and without warning. Official data says that 187 people died, other sources report higher numbers of victims.

No one has been held accountable for the killings, nor has the Uzbek government ceased its relentless persecution of those it suspects of having ties to the protest and of human rights activists and others critical of the government, reminds Human Rights Watch.

The massacre, the Uzbek government?s refusal to allow an international investigation, and the ensuing crackdown led the EU to impose sanctions in October 2005 and to establish human rights criteria for the Uzbek government. The Uzbek government has not met those criteria, Human Rights Watch said. But the EU gradually eased the sanctions and in 2009 lifted them completely.

According to Human Rights Watch, the U.S. and the EU are trying to improve relations with Uzbekistan and for this reason they ignore massive violations of human rights inside the country.

?The EU?s readiness to deepen its relationship with Uzbekistan without requiring human rights improvements contrasts with its recent rethinking of its relationships with autocratic governments in the Middle East,? Human Rights Watch said. ?The United States is also pursuing a policy of re-engagement with Uzbekistan. But in a controversial move in September, the Obama administration sought to re-start assistance and to provide direct military aid, also known as Foreign Military Financing (FMF), to Uzbekistan in 2012. News media reports following the move quoted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as saying that Uzbekistan was ?showing signs of improving its human rights record and expanding political freedoms.?

however, Human Rights Watch affirm that the claims are not credible. ?From continuing prosecutions of journalists to religious persecution to the practice of forced child labor in the cotton sector, the Uzbek government has seemingly hardened its resolve to violate basic rights. Undue praise from the West will not encourage better behavior; only meaningful policy consequences will.?

Washington, Brussels, and Berlin should not allow Uzbekistan?s standing as a strategic partner to distort reality about the government?s deplorable record,? said Hugh Williamson, Director of Human Rights Watch Program for Europe and Central Asia. ?The seventh anniversary of the Andijan massacre is an opportunity for them to set the record straight and underscore Tashkent?s urgent need to end rights violations.?

Another human rights organization, Amnesty International notes that modern Uzbekistan practices illegal arrests, beatings, torture, unfair trials against opponents of the regime. During last year, the situation with freedom of speech has considerably worsened. Several thousand people are imprisoned for alleged membership in banned Islamic organizations and opposition to the regime.

While relations between Uzbekistan and its Western partners have essentially normalized, there is no evidence of improvements in Uzbekistan?s human rights record or any sign of political will to address the rampant human rights abuses in Uzbekistan.

?We are concerned that EU ignores human rights abuses in Uzbekistan,? stated Director of Amnesty international European Department, Nicolas Beger.

According to Freedom House rating, Uzbekistan is one of seven states where human rights situation and political freedoms are the worst in the world.

ravi leigh espn greg oden st patricks day st. bonaventure ira glass