In an interview with the Russian business newspaper Kommersant today, Ambassador George Krol, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, mentioned the 2005 Andijan massacre in a discussion about U.S. policy in the region, but stopped short of calling for an independent investigation of the tragedy.
Krol, who is currently visiting Moscow, recently traveled to Bishkek and Osh. Kommersant Online correspondent Aleksandr Gabuyev asked the American diplomat if the "reset" of relations with Russia and Central Asia and the warming of relations with Uzbekistan had caused the U.S. to forget about the 2005 Andijan massacre.
"Andijan is a tragedy that must not be repeated," said Krol.
"An understanding of the reasons for this conflict is very important for the people and government of Uzbekistan, in order to understand how to work with similar incidents, for example attempts at a rebellion," the diplomat said, in an oblique allusion to the April revolution in nearby Kyrgyzstan. In 2005, it was the tumultous events of the "Tulip Revolution," culminating in the toppling of the Kyrgyz government at that time, that preceded the brutal suppression of the Andijan demonstrations by the Uzbek government, fearful of a similar fate.
"These are all very sensitive internal issues for Uzbekistan," Krol told Kommersant. "The U.S. has always been open in its wish to help sort out what in fact happened. The emotions of that period have already died down."
In keeping with a new more nuanced Obama Administration human rights policy that seeks to avoid "lecturing" of authoritarian governments that violate human rights, Ambassador Krol avoided calling directly for an independent international investigation of the Andijan massacre, a request that had been a staple of past U.S. discussions with Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov, and a demand that is still referenced in a statement dated October 16, 2009 on Uzbekistan on the State Department's website.
"The U.S. has always strove for mutual understanding and mutually profitable cooperation with Uzbekistan," Krol explained to Kommersant. "Tashkent also wants to have strong economic and and political contacts with us. It plays a very important and constructive role in Afghanistan; electricity for Kabul is delivered from Uzbekistan; it is providing humanitarian aid. The U.S. respects that. So recently we began annual consultations with Uzbekistan, the first round of which took place in November this year. We are looking for ways to work together," he said.
Uzbek analysts such as Tashpulat Yoldashev have speculated that the U.S. may be quietly raising human rights issues in anticipation of solving a few high-profile cases of imprisoned activists before consenting to a possible visit to Tashkent this summer by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for signing of cooperation agreements with Uzbekistan, largely concerning the Northern Distribution Network providing supplies to NATO troops in Afghanistan.
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