Germany accepts Uzbek official for care

The New York Times November 16 European officials confirmed Tuesday that an official from Uzbekistan who had been banned from travel to the 25 countries of the European Union was now in Germany, where he received medical treatment for cancer. The official, the Uzbek interior minister, Col. Gen. Zakirdzhon Almatov, has been accused of ordering troops to fire on demonstrators in the Uzbek city of Andijon on May 13, an episode in which several hundred people, most of them unarmed civilians, were reported killed. Survivors of the killings have identified Mr. Almatov as a leader of the crackdown. The travel ban against 12 Uzbeks, including Mr. Almatov, was announced Monday. It was one of several measures, including an arms embargo, taken by the European Union to press the Uzbek government to allow an independent investigation of what happened in Andijon. European Union officials said Germany had granted the visa in accordance with a European Union practice that allows travel ban exceptions for medical emergencies and other urgent needs. General Almatov was granted a visa by Germany before the European Union's list was formally announced. Even so, according to E.U. officials, Germany knew about the likelihood that General Almatov's name would be on the list, but granted the visa in accordance with European Union practice that allows exceptions to the travel ban in cases of humanitarian need. "Visas can be issued in humanitarian cases even to those persons who are banned by the conclusions of the E.U. Council," an official said. Officials said that before granting the visa, Germany carried out an investigation of General Almatov's medical condition, and only granted it when it determined that he was indeed gravely ill and needed advanced treatment he could not get at home. The presence on German soil of a figure believed by independent organizations to have played a central role in the Andijon matter seemed likely to stir some opposition here. But a European Union official said that it was commonly accepted - even in cases where travel bans are imposed against people suspected of massive human rights violations - for waivers to be issued in cases of serious illness. "We don't see a problem," Cristina Gallach, the spokeswoman for Javier Solana, the E.U.'s foreign policy chief, said in a telephone interview, referring to Germany's decision to give a visa to General Almatov. "This person has cancer and treatment should be given," Ms. Gallach added.