US freeze on aid welcomed by rights groups and opposition

The US announcement on Tuesday to freeze US $18 million of aid to its key Central Asian ally - because Uzbekistan has failed to make progress in the areas of human rights, freedom and economic reforms under the 2002 "Strategic Partnership Framework" - was welcomed a day later by Uzbek rights groups and opposition members. "We hope the US decision will force the Uzbek government to rethink and change its current policy," Atanazar Oripov, leader of the Erk party, told IRIN, although he indicated that he is not sure that it will have any practical results. "A halt to helping the repressive Uzbek government means helping the Uzbek people who are suffering under this repressive regime", he continued. The US has been giving tens of millions of dollars in aid to Uzbekistan annually since the country became a partner after the 11 September 2001 attacks and allowed the US to use an airbase near the Afghan border. Last year US Congress-approved aid delivered to Uzbekistan came to about US $86 million. Rights campaigners have alleged that the Uzbek government used the money mainly to enhance the ability of law enforcement bodies to suppress any dissent and crack down on Muslims who worship and gather outside state-sanctioned Islam. "The Uzbek government merely increased its repression after receiving US aid. And now the step taken by the US might not bring the expected results because the current government has committed so many crimes against its own people in its 13 years of existence that any significant political reforms would make their crimes public," said Oripov, asserting that for that very reason the Uzbek government is unable to carry out any political reforms except small imitative movements towards democracy. The Uzbek foreign ministry reacted calmly to the news from Washington. "Despite this decision, we are willing to continue cooperation with the US, there are many sectors where we are still interested in collaboration," Ilkom Zakirov, a ministry spokesman, told IRIN. Surat Ikramov, head of the Initiative group of independent human rights defenders of Uzbekistan, whose organisation monitors human rights violations in the country, also welcomed the US decision. His group sent a letter to the US State Department and Congress in May 2004 calling for a halt to support for the repressive Uzbek government and its law enforcement agencies. "In our letter we described the appalling human rights situation in the country and asked them not to support the Uzbek government, which had increased the repression of Muslims," Ikramov told IRIN, adding that Uzbek security forces were using anti-terror campaign as cover for such activity. In 2002 a United Nations Special rapporteur on torture found that torture by Uzbekistan's security forces was "systematic." While rights groups say some 6,000 people are thought to be imprisoned on political and religious grounds. Uzbek officials say that the actual number of religious prisoners is about 2,500.