Uzbekistan: Rights Group Assails Security Chief's Visit to Germany

Human Rights Watch is assailing the German government for hosting a visit by Uzbekistan state security chief Rustam Inoyatov - a man who, according to the rights group, played a central role in the 2005 massacre of mostly unarmed civilians in Andijan.

Inoyatov is believed to have arrived in Germany on October 23, according to a report posted on Uzmetronom, an Uzbek opposition website that, on occasion, has supported President Islam Karimov's administration on selected issues. One such issue was Karimov's own reelection in 2007, in which the president, in apparent defiance of the Constitution, sought and secured a third term. Both the official Uzbek press and German media have been largely silent on Inoyatov's trip. It is not known whether he is still in the country.

The visit occurred just days after the European Union lifted a visa ban on top members of Uzbekistan's government - a ban imposed in the aftermath of the Andijan massacre and that was designed to punish Uzbek leaders for human rights violations. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

"It's a disgrace that the German government allowed him to visit so quickly," Rachel Denber, a director at Human Rights Watch, is quoted as saying in the organization's statement, issued October 27. "It's particularly appalling that Inoyatov arrived in Germany just as the Uzbeks were throwing another brave dissident into prison."

The case Denber referred to involved Akzam Turgunov, a human rights defender and opposition activist, who received a 10-year sentence on October 23 following a brief trial in the western Uzbek region of Karakalpakstan. Technically, Turgunov was found guilty of extortion, but HRW asserted that the charge was politically motivated. The 56-year-old Turgunov is the chairman of the Tashkent-based human rights organization Mazlum ("The Oppressed"). The group is affiliated with the independent political party Erk.

In lifting the travel ban on October 13, EU officials said that Uzbekistan had made progress in improving its human rights practices. HRW and other rights group dispute the notion that Karimov's administration has embraced substantive reforms since the Andijan events. "To say that the Uzbek government has made human rights progress is patently absurd," said Denber. "The German government led the efforts within the EU to lift the visa ban, and it should be ashamed today for having done so."

"German officials should insist that the Uzbeks release Turgunov and other activists who are now in prison," Denber continued. "Under these bitter circumstances, it's the least they can do."