Eurasia Insight:
EU SLIGHTLY SOFTENS ITS STANCE TOWARD UZBEKISTAN
Anna Skalova 5/14/07

The European Union is slightly softening its stance on Uzbekistan, despite Tashkent’s continuing reluctance to make substantive improvements on its human rights record. EU officials lifted a visa ban May 14 for several top Uzbek officials, while keeping an arms embargo and other sanctions in place for another year.

The EU’s slight retreat on Uzbekistan chagrined international human rights groups, which maintain that Uzbek leaders have done little to merit any loosening of sanctions, which were imposed in the aftermath of the Andijan massacre in May 2005. [For background see the Eurasia insight archive]. Some activists now worry that the EU is looking for a way to normalize relations with Uzbekistan, regardless of whether Tashkent makes rights improvements or not.

“We urge all human rights and press freedom organizations to remain vigilant. Uzbekistan must now give evidence of a firm commitment to improve human rights. The time for statements of good intentions is over,” said a statement issued by the international press freedom organization Reporters Without Frontiers (RWF).

“To maintain its credibility, Europe must be ready to reinforce the sanctions if the Uzbek authorities do not adopt any measures designed to improve the human rights situation,” the RWF statement added.

In a formal conclusion issued by the EU’s External Relations Council, the EU stated that it remained “seriously concerned about the human rights situation in Uzbekistan.” Nevertheless, the council decided to reduce the number of Uzbek officials prohibited from visiting EU states from 12 to eight.

The four formerly on the list who are now free to travel to Europe are; Ruslan Mirzayev, a former national security advisor who is currently serving as minister of defense; Saidullo Begaliyev, Andijan’s former governor; Ismail Ergashev, a former top Defense Ministry official; and Kossimali Akhmedov, the former defense boss of the Eastern Military District, which encompassed Andijan.

Germany reportedly pushed to ease the visa ban, especially for Mirzayev. Berlin has solid military ties with Uzbekistan, revolving mainly around the German base near the Uzbek city of Termez. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The base provides logistical support for ongoing NATO and US military operations in Afghanistan.

In the days leading up to the EU meeting, Uzbek officials took steps designed to entice the lifting of EU sanctions. The highest profile move was the release from custody of Umida Niyazova, a human rights activist, after a Tashkent court suspended her seven-year prison sentence.

Niyazova, a 32-year-old independent activist and translator for the New York-based Human Rights Watch, first ran afoul of authorities in December. Uzbek authorities arrested her January 22 when she returned to her country from neighboring Kyrgyzstan. Following a two-day trial, she was convicted on May 1 on a variety of charges, including illegal border crossing, smuggling subversive literature, and distributing materials that threaten national security with the use of foreign financial aid.

On May 8, the day a Tashkent appellate court suspended her prison sentence, Niyazova issued a confession and apology, specifically criticizing several human rights organizations. "The work that you and I did was tendentious and potentially damaging to my country," she said, turning to Human Rights Watch representatives present in the court.

In her confession, Niyazova also denounced "color revolutions" — a term applied to popular movements advocating democracy, liberalism and national independence in post-communist countries – and stated that she did not want a color revolution to take place in Uzbekistan.

Niyazova’s comments upset many of her erstwhile human rights colleagues, many of whom believe that she was coerced into recanting past views. Vasila Inoyatova, Uzbekistan Human Rights Society Ezgulik’s chairperson, said the confession was “a forced step she (Niyazova) had to take” to be freed.

“Of course, I am very glad – it is a great happiness to find freedom,” Niyazova told EurasiaNet immediately after her release.

An informed observer in Tashkent said Niyazova’s release was the product of “an agreement” between Uzbekistan and Germany, under which Tashkent would make a human rights gesture in return for a sign that Brussels might adopt a more flexible approach toward Uzbek President Islam Karimov’s regime.

Karimov remains as defiant as ever in rejecting foreign criticism over Andijan. In comments broadcast on Uzbek television May 9, Karimov again dismissed the findings of international fact-finders, who assert that Uzbek security forces opened fire on unarmed demonstrators without warning in Andijan, describing them as “fabrications.” He also claimed that Uzbekistan was the target of a Western disinformation campaign.

Many Uzbeks remain pessimistic that the rights climate in Uzbekistan will improve any time soon. “The release of Umida (Niyazova) does not give a guarantee that others will be released,” says Inoyatova, the rights activist. “We do not have a guarantee that human rights activists or journalists will not be arrested or that the Andijan events will not recur.”