Some observers have spotted an unlikely rapprochement between two Central Asian rivals for regional supremacy: Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his Uzbek counterpart Islam Karimov, who have a longstanding tradition of prickly relations.
In the latest step that appears designed to curry favor with the notoriously repressive regime in Uzbekistan to promote a regional security agenda, Astana has disappointed the human rights community by extraditing an ethnic Uzbek Kyrgyz citizen to Uzbekistan to face terrorism and extremism charges.
Khurshid Kamilov was rounded up on June 9 – just as ethnic violence was breaking out in southern Kyrgyzstan, in an apparent coincidence – as part of what police billed as an operation to catch illegal immigrants. That sweep also led to the arrest in Almaty of 29 ethnic Uzbeks who are still in detention, fearing extradition to Uzbekistan on what their relatives say are trumped-up charges. At the time, one of their wives spoke to EurasiaNet of her fears that they could be extradited, tortured and “come out of jail as corpses.”
Relatives of the detained men – some of whom are reportedly on hunger strike – gathered at the Almaty Prosecutor’s Office on September 13 to demand their release, the independent Internet-based Stan TV station reported, adding that “in all human rights documents Uzbekistan takes a confident lead as a state which uses torture.” In 2007 the UN Committee against Torture expressed concern about “consistent allegations concerning routine use of torture” in Uzbekistan, which denies systematic abuse.
As a signatory to the UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, Kazakhstan is committed to the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits deportations to states where individuals may face torture. But human rights groups say that regional agreements often override international agreements designed to protect the rights of refugees. Last year the UN Committee against Torture urged Astana to prevent extraditions to countries where they may face torture.
Astana’s human rights record is in the spotlight this year as it chairs the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), but Stan TV was among those suspecting that realpolitik is a more important factor in its extradition policy than its international reputation.
“In the opinion of specialists, the only logical justification for the actions of the Kazakh side is the course adopted in spring of good neighborliness with Tashkent,” the news channel commented. “Uzbekistan is perhaps the only country in the region with which Kazakhstan has potentially conflict-ridden relations. And Astana’s non-observance of international agreements, political scientists believe, is a clear signal: both countries are engaged in an all-round rapprochement.”
Joanna Lillis is a journalist based in Almaty and author of Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan.
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