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One of the 15 men accused of staging the May revolt in Andijan testifies from a defendant's cage during a trial in Tashkent September 27 (ŠAP/WWP)
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15 November 2005
U.S. Says Convictions in Uzbekistan Based on Unfair Trial, November 14, 2005 (State Department's Ereli cites U.S. concerns over Andijan trials)
Washington -- The United States believes the conviction of 15 men by an Uzbek court for alleged involvement in anti-government demonstrations in Andijan is “based on evidence that isn't credible and a trial that isn't fair,” said State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli November 14.
He said the United States has “doubts about the convictions, doubts about the evidence, doubts about the process and concerns about the overall way this issue has been handled by the Uzbek government, and I think we will continue to call upon them to act consistent with international standards.”
According to news reports, all 15 defendants accused of leading the demonstrations in the eastern city of Andijan in May have pleaded guilty to multiple charges including terrorism. But human-rights groups allege that the confessions were coerced.
The United States, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the European Union (EU) and numerous human rights organizations repeatedly have called on Uzbekistan to cooperate in an independent international investigation into the events surrounding the demonstrations, when government forces massacred an unknown number of unarmed civilians. Estimates of those killed generally run in the hundreds.
“We and the Europeans through the OSCE and others, have been very outspoken in calling for an independent investigation,” Ereli said.
Asked about the EU’s announcement of sanctions on Uzbekistan -- including visa bans on 12 senior Uzbek officials and an arms sales embargo -- Ereli said the United States has frozen military assistance to Uzbekistan for a year and a half and that he was not prepared to outline what additional measures the United States might take.
“We have been at the forefront of calling attention to the dismal human rights record in Uzbekistan and in taking, I think, meaningful action in response to it,” Ereli said.
“We follow very closely what's going on in Uzbekistan,” he said, adding that Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried “delivered a very clear message when he was in Uzbekistan” in September.
Fried held a three-hour meeting with Uzbek President Islam Karimov in Tashkent on September 27. In describing that meeting, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Fried reaffirmed to Karimov “our call for an independent international investigation into Andijan. And I would just note also that there is currently $20 million-plus in potential aid that we are withholding pending Uzbekistan's compliance with its previous agreement with us.”
The assistant secretary “also underscored the fact that we view our strategic interests as well as our interests in promoting democracy and human rights in the region as one and the same in the case of Uzbekistan,” McCormack added. (See related article.)
Asked about a mutual defense treaty signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Karimov in Moscow, Ereli said, “Uzbekistan's relations with other states are the business of Uzbekistan and those other states.”
He added that the United States is following closely “the actions and policies of the government of Uzbekistan, vis-à-vis human rights, civil rights and protection of the rights of its citizens and whether that deals with demonstrations or freedom of speech or freedom of assembly and the rule of law. So anything dealing with those sorts of fundamental freedoms is something that we take very seriously.”
Congress requires the secretary of state to certify annually that Uzbekistan has made sufficient progress on political and economic reform before the United States can provide certain military and economic assistance to the Uzbek government. Certification was denied in 2004 and a decision has not yet been announced for 2005.
The EU’s embargo will apply to exports of arms, military equipment and other equipment that might be used for “internal repression,” an EU statement said.
The list of officials banned from entering the EU includes Interior Minister Zakirdzhon Almatov, Defense Minister Kadyr Gulyamov, and the head of the National Security Service, Rustam Inoyatov.
