The Washington Post
January 11

The Bush administration signaled its frustration with Uzbekistan's human rights record by declaring that the authoritarian government of President Islam Karimov has failed to make progress toward international standards, State Department officials said Friday.

A human rights evaluation is required as part of the U.S.-funded Nunn-Lugar project to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons, material and technology in the former Soviet Union. Despite a history of poor performances, no former Soviet republic had ever formally failed the test, the officials said.

In Uzbekistan's case, money will continue to flow to ensure the security of weapons materials. President Bush waived the human rights certification requirement on the grounds that the U.S. national interest would be best served by continuing to work with Uzbekistan, the primary provider of uranium to the Soviet government.

While the move is symbolic, Human Rights Watch advocate Tom Malinowski said the decision made clear to a Central Asian ally for the first time "that its relationship with the United States may tangibly suffer because of political repression."

"The Uzbek government has sold itself to the United States as a partner against terror," Malinowski said. "I hope this decision reflects a growing recognition in the administration that real partners in that fight give people peaceful avenues for expressing themselves, rather than shutting them down."

Later this year, the State Department must review Uzbekistan's performance again to release U.S. foreign aid to Uzbekistan, primarily help to the military and law enforcement authorities. Unlike the Nunn-Lugar money, there is no provision for a presidential waiver, Malinowski said.

Uzbek authorities have been warned repeatedly about their human rights record, said a senior State Department official, who noted that the department's top human rights executive, Lorne Craner, had visited Uzbekistan more often than any other country during his tenure.

"We were looking for continued progress on a number of fronts, and we just weren't seeing it," the official said. Although the Uzbeks tried to refute the U.S. conclusions, he said, the response "didn't look like it amounted to progress."

Another official described a "mixed" human rights record in Uzbekistan, saying that "it's not a question of their backsliding. They haven't done anything to show that they're moving in the right direction."

The most recent State Department report, released in March, told of "serious abuses" and Karimov's "nearly complete control" over all branches of the government. Covering 2002, the report said the police and officers of the former KGB tortured and beat opponents and engaged in arbitrary arrests, particularly of Muslims suspected of extremist activities.

An estimated 6,500 people were behind bars for political or religious reasons, the report said, and "an atmosphere of repression stifled public criticism of the government." Opposition political parties were denied registration, the report said, and members of domestic human rights groups were harassed.

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