US condemns Uzbek revolt trial

Bloomberg November 15 The U.S. condemned as unfair the convictions of alleged leaders of a revolt in Uzbekistan in May as the European Union banned arms sales and imposed travel restrictions over the Uzbek government's response to the uprising. Uzbekistan's Supreme Court yesterday convicted 15 people of attempting to overthrow the constitution and create an Islamic state, Agence France-Presse cited Chief Justice Bakhtiyor Zhamolov as saying in the capital, Tashkent. ``These convictions are based on evidence that isn't credible and trial that isn't fair,'' State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said yesterday in Washington, according to an e-mailed transcript. ``We and the Europeans have been very outspoken in calling for an independent investigation.'' Uzbekistan's government said in May 187 people were killed when the uprising in the eastern city of Andijan was put down by security forces. Human rights groups said several hundred people, most of them civilians, may have died and the U.S., EU and United Nations led calls for an international probe into the killings. The Council of the EU yesterday banned travel to EU countries by 12 Uzbek officials, including Interior Minister Zakirjan Almatov and Defense Minister Kadir Gulamov. Five defendants were sentenced to 20 years in prison and the others to jail terms ranging from 14 years to 17 years, AFP said. The verdicts and sentences cannot be appealed, it said. ``You've got convictions based on a less than transparent process and less than credible evidence,'' Ereli said. The U.S. will maintain its calls on the Uzbek government to ``act consistent with international standards.'' EU Embargo The EU embargo will apply to exports of arms, military equipment and other equipment that might be used for ``internal repression,'' the Council said in a statement on its Web site. ``The Council decided to adopt these measures in the light of the excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force by the Uzbek security forces during the Andijan events in May and following the refusal of Uzbek authorities to allow an independent international inquiry into these events,'' it said. The incident in Andijan began when fighting broke out after armed men protesting a trial of Islamic extremists broke into a jail and freed prisoners. A clampdown followed as police and soldiers in Andijan and nearby towns fired on protesters, most of them civilians opposed to the regime of President Islam Karimov. The Uzbek government blamed Islamic extremists for the violence. Demanding Investigation The North Atlantic Treaty Organization in May called for a UN investigation of the incident and said the military alliance would reassess its relationship with Uzbekistan. Karimov's government rejected demands for an independent probe. Uzbekistan, a landlocked nation of 26 million people, was the first Central Asian country to allow the U.S. to use a military base in the anti-terrorism war that began in 2001. The U.S. uses the Karshi-Khanabad airfield in the south of the country in support of operations in Afghanistan. The Uzbek government in July told the U.S. to withdraw its forces from the base by the end of the year. Karimov yesterday signed a defense treaty with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The accord grants each country the right to use military sites located on their territories ``should it prove necessary,'' Russia's Interfax news agency reported yesterday, citing a clause in the treaty it obtained. The U.S. has increasingly faulted the human rights practices of the Karimov government. The U.S. withheld $10.5 million in aid, including $6.87 million in military aid, in the fiscal year 2004 because the State Department couldn't certify that Uzbekistan was moving toward multiparty democracy. As much as $22 million, including $11.7 million in military aid, is in danger of being withheld this year for the same reason, department spokeswoman Joanne Moore said in June. The country received $87.4 million in aid from the U.S. in 2003, according to U.S. government data. The former Soviet republic, slightly larger than the U.S. state of California, is the world's second-biggest exporter of cotton and an oil and gold producer. Karimov has led the country since 1991.