Freedom's cry is answered with bullets in Uzbekistan

Globe and Mail May 13 As protesters around the world gather to mark today's anniversary of the Andijan massacre, they face an uncomfortable reality: They're losing the fight for freedom in Uzbekistan. Islam Karimov, the autocrat who has ruled the former Soviet republic since 1989, sent troops to quell a civilian uprising in the city of Andijan on May 13, 2005. The soldiers fired into the crowd, killing hundreds of people, and then hunted the survivors as they tried to run away. In the aftermath of the massacre, opposition leaders talked about using the incident to spark a rebellion against Mr. Karimov. But one year later, Uzbekistan's ruler has only tightened his grip. Hundreds of people have been arrested on suspicion of helping the opposition, and nearly every international media outlet and non-government organization has been shut down. Many news websites are blocked from the local Internet. Mr. Karimov has outlawed gatherings of more than 10 people, reorganized his security forces, and re-landscaped sections of Tashkent to fortify the capital against mass revolt. "Uzbekistan's human-rights record, already poor, worsened considerably in 2005," a U.S. State Department report concluded. Bakhrom Khamroyev, organizer of today's rally in front of Uzbekistan's embassy in Moscow, said Mr. Karimov has enlisted allies such as Russia to arrest and deport opposition figures back to Uzbekistan. "The situation inside the country is getting worse and worse," he said. "Karimov is doing everything to strangle any political activity, and Russian authorities help him." "People have started using coded language in their e-mails, they're so worried about government spying," said Shahida Yakub, a freelance journalist who went to Andijan after the massacre. News of last year's massacre galvanized the Uzbek diaspora into organizing against the government. Dozens of marches, rallies, speeches, art exhibits and conferences are being held this week to honour Andijan's anniversary. Most of the Uzbek expatriates live in Russia and Central Asia, but the majority of the Andijan commemoration events were scheduled in Canada, the United States and Europe because agitating against Mr. Karimov in some countries has gotten activists arrested and, in some cases, sent back to face torture in Uzbekistan. "There is no opposition in Uzbekistan any more," said Shukhrat Tursunov, 34, an Uzbek member of the Erk (Freedom) Party, who now lives in Halifax. Only nine demonstrators reportedly showed up in Tashkent, placed red carnations and a stuffed toy bear on an old Soviet monument, unfurled banners that read, "Shame on Uzbekistan, shame on Islam Karimov," and called for an independent investigation into the Andijan massacre. Plainclothes security officers quickly grabbed the posters and broke up the gathering. Such isolation is most painful for survivors of the Andijan massacre, Mr. Tursunov said, because in the chaos of bullets, bodies and blood-soaked streets, they often lost track of their families. Hundreds of them fled into nearby Kyrgyzstan, and were later allowed to resettle in safe countries, including Canada. A spokeswoman for Citizenship and Immigration Canada said Ottawa accepted 43 Andijan refugees in total, but many of them remain in temporary homes in Romania for medical and security screening. Mr. Tursunov said 22 of them arrived this week in Halifax. "They're all alone," he said. "They're scared to call home, because agents could be listening." This week, two leading U.S. Republican legislators introduced two separate bills that would ban top Uzbek officials from travelling to the United States, freeze their assets and stop them from buying U.S. weapons. If adopted, the measures would copy the sanctions already enforced by the European Union. These tough measures have driven Uzbekistan into closer ties with Russia and China. "Karimov is trying to give the impression that he doesn't care about the West, because he has alliances with Russia and China," said Alisher Ilkhanov, a prominent Uzbek scholar at the University of London. "But he's still trying to improve his image. He's watching his neighbours getting more foreign investment, and he knows that right now, the prospects of that in Uzbekistan are bleak."