Asia Times
October 2

The government of Uzbekistan, a key ally in Washington's "war on terrorism", is stepping up its harassment of prominent dissidents and the political opposition, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Central Asia specialists.

In the latest move, the government of President Islam Karimov, who has ruled Uzbekistan with an iron hand since even before the collapse of the former Soviet Union, blocked a major opposition party from holding its congress in the capital, Tashkent.

It did so in essence by ignoring a September 4 request by the Freedom (Erk) Democratic Party to hold its national meeting on September 27, according to New York-based HRW. Without government authorization, the party could not find a hall that was willing to rent its space for the meeting.

"Uzbek officials use the rhetoric of rule of law and democracy," said Rachel Denber, deputy director of HRW's Europe and Central Asia division. "Yet they refuse to allow an opposition political party to hold a simple meeting."

Yet just last month, Karimov told reporters that he favored a parliamentary system similar to Great Britain's empowered to hold the ruler to account, just as the government of British Prime Minister Tony Blair was obliged to testify about the suicide of a prominent weapons expert who leaked embarrassing information about the government's use of intelligence before the Iraq war.

He said he wanted a system of "three branches of power that meet democratic requirements", including a judiciary that "must not care whether it is a president or anyone else".

But experts and human-rights groups insist that Karimov has promoted an authoritarian system, even while insisting that he has democratic aspirations. Torture remains "systematic", and is deployed particularly against suspected dissidents, most of whom are religious Muslims.

US and other Western officials are reported to be increasingly concerned that the harshness of Karimov's rule is resulting in the revival and renewed growth of a violent Islamist movement, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), which US President George W Bush publicly identified two years ago as a close affiliate of al-Qaeda. Indeed, dozens of Uzbek fighters were taken prisoner by the United States in Afghanistan.

The US struck up an effective alliance with Uzbekistan after September 11, 2001, using bases on its territory to ferry troops, intelligence agents, and equipment into northern Afghanistan. Washington retains a significant military presence in the country.

While the United States has been publicly critical of Karimov's repression, neither it nor other Western countries has reduced aid or other forms of assistance. Bush himself hosted Karimov - albeit discreetly - at the White House last year.

Karimov has implemented some cosmetic reforms, including the release of 900 Muslims from prison, the registration of several human-rights groups, and the creation of a National Human Rights Center. But most observers believe that repression is only getting worse. Last weekend, the Washington Post published a lengthy article from the densely populated Fergana Valley, considered a hotbed of Islamist militancy, describing the rapid spread of radical groups in the region.

"Rather than smother militancy," correspondent Peter Baker wrote, "Karimov's campaign threatens to radicalize some of those Muslims who previously eschewed violence, according to an array of Islamic activists, scholars, human-rights workers and foreign diplomats."

On Friday last week, HRW protested an appeals-court decision to uphold the conviction of a journalist and prominent human-rights activist, Ruslan Sharipov, for homosexual conduct. The charges are believed to have been trumped up in retaliation for his activities, particularly his reporting about government corruption.

Sharipov appeared at the courthouse with a swollen eye, an injury above his eye, and broken glasses. The authorities attributed the injuries to a minor vehicle accident on the way to court, but HRW said it suspected torture and ill treatment.

Sharipov had smuggled out letters since his arrest last May about threats of physical violence, including rape, and forced injections into his veins. Last month, masked men in camouflaged uniforms kidnapped and severely beat his lawyer.

In its most recent statement, HRW noted that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which held its annual meeting in Tashkent in May, had called on the government to permit "greater political openness" as one of three benchmarks, including ending torture, on which the bank, a major source of development capital for Uzbekistan, conditions its long-term lending there. Denber called on the EBRD to take action in light of the continuing use of torture and the government's prevention of Freedom's Congress.

It cited one case in August in which a Freedom activist, who helped write the party's platform, was beaten badly by two masked men who broken into his home. No follow-up investigation has taken place.

Also in August, tax police in Bukhara launched an investigation into the business dealings of the head of the party in that city two weeks before the party was to hold a regional conference.

Over the past several months, other Freedom members have been detained and tortured. "Brutal persecution of the political opposition is unfortunately routine," Denber said. "Although the government claims to be responding to calls to reduce torture and increase democratic participation, perceived opposition to the government is often met with violence."

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