OSCE urges Uzbekistan to hold fair Andizhan trials

The Reuters April 25 A leading Western human rights watchdog has urged Uzbekistan to hold fresh, and fair, trials of people found guilty of taking part in a bloody uprising in the town of Andizhan last year. Since the government crackdown in Andizhan in May 2005, Uzbekistan has jailed more than 180 people accused of involvement in the unrest and put pressure on foreign-funded charities and the country's few independent news sources. In a report based on observing a group trial of 15 men, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe urged Uzbekistan to retry them and to "ensure that any retrial fully complies with international fair trial standards." "(We) urge that the government of Uzbekistan be prepared to set aside the verdicts of the other trials of persons charged in relation to the Andizhan events and hold retrials as appropriate..." said the report, issued late on Monday. The Uzbek authorities were not available to comment on the report, issued by the OSCE and its human rights arm, the ODIHR. Uzbekistan's highest court sentenced the 15 Uzbek men to up to 20 years in prison in November last year for their role in the unrest, in a trial condemned in the West as unfair. Human rights bodies have called the court proceedings a "show trial" and said they believed the confessions of the 15 were obtained under pressure. The Uzbek government says troops in Andizhan opened fire to put down an armed rebellion by extremists. Witnesses spoke of soldiers shooting hundreds of civilians, including women and children. Uzbek President Islam Karimov blamed the unrest on Islamist extremists who he says are plotting to overthrow his secularist government and establish a caliphate. The OSCE report said the trials fell short of international standards, but added that it was impossible to draw firm conclusions on them "due to the lack of access to defendants, to defence lawyers and to case materials." The report added "the Uzbek authorities may be unwilling to be transparent in their conduct of the trials because they are conscious that the trials do not meet international standards."