Largest private donor being forced to close

The Soros Foundation, the largest private donor to Uzbekistan, is placing its hopes on what could prove to be a lengthy appeals process after Tashkent forced the closure of the Open Society Institute's (OSI) operation in Uzbekistan by revoking the foundation's registration. "We would like to continue doing what we do. We do a lot of valuable things here," Yunus Kenter, acting executive director of the Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation - Uzbekistan (OSIAF-Uzbekistan) and the OSI's managing director of the Russian Foundation, told IRIN from the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, on Monday. "In the past we have had good relations with the ministries as well. Now all of a sudden we have become unpopular." "In the event that your accreditation is not approved, there is an appeals process spelled out and that is what we are planning to do," he said. "We are working out a plan of what to do next. Hopefully, we will ask them (the government) to reconsider this." His comments follow a statement by the OSI Chairman George Soros on Sunday condemning Tashkent's decision, noting: "The latest moves drives home how resistant the Uzbek government is to reform." The decision came after international organisations working in Central Asia's most populous state were told they would have to re-register. However, according to the OSI, the new registration procedures entailed draconian restrictions that gave the government effective veto power over all activities of international NGOs. Moreover, new banking restrictions creating a government committee that must review all grant transactions had already prevented international organisations from making payments to many local grantees, the OSI statement said - charges that have been flatly denied by Tashkent. Ilkhom Zakirov, the Uzbek foreign minister's press secretary, told IRIN earlier that the law was hardly new, but rather in full compliance with a 1999 parliament law requiring all international non-governmental, non-commercial organisations, their representative offices and branches operating in the country to be registered with the Justice Ministry. Previously they used to register with the Foreign Ministry. A March 1st compliance deadline was later extended by one month. "We applied for registration under the new rules, but it took much longer than we expected," Kenter explained, noting their accreditation ended on 1 April. But despite considerable pressure from Washington and other international players, the Ministry of Justice delivered its decision on 14 April, calling for the foundation to close its doors. "The ministry based its refusal on several unfounded claims, including that OSI material support to universities 'distort[ed] the essence and the content of socio-economic, public and political reforms conducted in Uzbekistan and discredit[ed] its government policies'." Since OSIAF-Uzbekistan was founded in 1996, the OSI network has spent over US $22 million to aid reform in Uzbekistan, including some $3.7 million in 2003 on education, public health, arts and culture, and economic and small business support, making it the largest private donor in the country. The government reportedly ordered all educational institutions to halt cooperation with the OSI in late 2003. The Soros Foundation also supports legal reform, including textbooks and legal education programmes from the secondary school to the post-graduate level. Additionally, it has worked with the Ministry of Justice, which received a grant of $123,000 to create a legal information database. The only other country that has forced the OSI to curtail its activities is the fomer Soviet republic of Belarus. According to Sunday's OSI statement, Tashkent's refusal to register OSI violates its commitments under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which it ratified in 1996. Additionally, it violates commitments under the US-Uzbekistan Bilateral Assistance Agreement, and promises made to Washington under a March 2002 agreement in which Tashkent undertook to promote the growth of civil society and simplify procedures for nongovernmental organisations. Meanwhile, Washington currently faces a decision on whether to certify that Uzbekistan, a staunch ally in its war against terrorism, is observing human rights norms, as Congress requires before providing financial aid to the Uzbek government. The Bush administration has budgeted over $48 million in aid to Uzbekistan in 2004, including $10.5 million in military and security assistance.