United States Cuts Off Aid to Uzbekistan

The United States has announced that it will withhold millions of dollars in security and economic assistance to Uzbekistan, citing "disappointment" over Tashkent's human rights practices. Human rights advocates have praised the US decision, expressing hope that it increases the pressure on Tashkent to implement long-promised reforms to improve civil-society conditions in the country.

American law requires the US State Department to review the democratization performance of aid recipients. In Uzbekistan's case, Secretary of State Colin Powell decided that Tashkent is not fulfilling the terms of a 2002 Strategic Partnership Framework agreement that mandated "substantial and continuing progress" on democratization, a July 13 State Department statement said. As a result of Powell's decision to deny certification, Uzbekistan could lose up to $18 million in aid, the statement added.

In recent years, Uzbekistan has faced sharp criticism from human rights groups over the government's clampdown on freedom of speech and religious expression. Human Rights Watch has estimated that roughly 7,000 independent Muslims have been improperly imprisoned. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The crackdown intensified this spring after Tashkent was rocked in late March by clashes between Islamic radical insurgents and security forces. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive]. In addition to human rights transgressions, Uzbek authorities have frustrated US and European officials by failing to fulfill economic reform commitments. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The Uzbek government has made "encouraging progress over the past year" in the human rights sphere, the State Department statement noted. However, the country's overall performance could not justify certification, it added. In its country report on Uzbek human rights practices, released in early 2004, the State Department characterized the country as "an authoritarian state with limited civil rights. "

Since the September 11 terrorist tragedy, Uzbekistan has developed into a close strategic ally of the United States. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Some experts believed strategic considerations, including the fact that the US military maintains an air base in Uzbekistan, might override human rights concerns in the internal US government debate on the Uzbek certification question. Those beliefs proved to be unfounded, however.

Despite the decision to block assistance, the State Department statement stressed that Uzbekistan remained an "important partner" for the United States in the regional effort to contain terrorism. "This decision does not mean that either our interests in the region, or our desire for continued cooperation with Uzbekistan has changed," the statement said.

Human rights activists said the "egregious" human rights situation in Uzbekistan left the State Department's little room for maneuver. "It [the de-certification decision] was a long time in coming," said Acacia Shields, a senior researcher on Central Asian issues for Human Rights Watch. "The United States couldn't do anything but decertify given the Uzbek government's intransigence on implementing reforms."

Shields expressed hope that US and Uzbek officials would now start a process of "engagement" so that Uzbekistan could meet democratization standards and thus qualify for certification in the near future. "This [the State Department's decision] should be seen not as the end, but as the beginning," Shields said. "It's a challenge for the government of Uzbekistan."

Uzbekistan could take a number of "simple steps" to show it is committed to improving the country's democratization climate, including "opening up the political sphere and ceasing the harassment of non-governmental organizations and media," Shields said. She suggested that the US decision may increase pressure on the European Union to adopt a similar stance.

A Human Rights Watch statement issued July 14 "challenged the European Union to become more vocal on human rights in Uzbekistan," expressing disappointment that the EU has "proven reluctant to push for concrete progress in human rights by leveraging its Partnership and Cooperation Agreement" with Tashkent.

The State Department's decision comes as Uzbek President Islam Karimov's administration seems to be drifting away from close strategic cooperation with the United States, underscored by the signing of a strategic cooperation pact with Russia. The pact, signed in mid June, signals that Tashkent and Moscow "have officially slammed the books on the parade of mutual insults and critical invective addressed at each other" during much of the 1990s, said a commentary published June 18 in the Moskovskiye Novotsti newspaper.

Economics appears to serve as the basis for the Uzbek-Russian rapprochement. After completing an early July visit to Moscow, Karimov characterized Russia as a "priority partner," Uzbek state television reported. "A well-rounded political dialogue is being strengthened by mutually beneficial trade and economic contacts," according to July 3 state television commentary.

The oil-and-gas sector is a primary area of bilateral cooperation. In May, for example, the Russian conglomerate Gazprom signed a deal with Uzbekneftigaz (the state-run energy company) concerning gas extraction in the Ustyurt fields. Gazprom has expressed a desire to rapidly expand the volume of gas deliveries from Uzbekistan to Russia. In 2003, Uzbekistan reportedly shipped 2.5 billion cubic meters of gas to Russia. The target for this year is 7.7 billion cubic meters, according to the Itar-Tass news agency.