Status of Soros Foundation remains bleak

Despite criticism by Washington over Tashkent's decision not to re-register the Soros Foundation, the largest private donor to Uzbekistan, the future of the foundation's Open Society Institute (OSI), looks increasingly bleak, with questions remaining as to what impact - if any - its closure will have on future international assistance to the country. "There are not many new developments to report," Sarah Miller-Davenport, programme coordinator for communications for the Soros Foundation, told IRIN from New York. "We are currently in the process of shutting down the office and are looking into appealing the government's decision." On 14 April, Tashkent confirmed it would seek the OSI's closure following its failure to reregister itself in accordance to a 1999 parliamentary ruling requiring all international NGOs, their representative offices, and branches operating in the country, to register with the Justice Ministry. Previously, registration was with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And while Uzbek authorities told IRIN that an initial 1 March deadline had been extended to 1 April to "help" those organisations experiencing "technical difficulties" in complying with the law, the ruling has been strongly criticised by international organizations working inside the country for providing the government with effective veto power over their activities. According to an OSI statement on 18 April, new banking restrictions creating a government committee to review all grant transactions had already prevented international organisations from making payments to many local grantees. But it is the possible repercussions of an OSI closure on future donor assistance to the former Soviet republic that is now being debated. On Friday, the US voiced its disapproval over Tashkent's decision not to renew the registration of the OSI, a non-governmental organization active in democratization programmes to continue US-funded and other work in Central Asia's most populous nation. The OSI receives funding from Washington and has spent close to US $22 million in Uzbekistan. This jeopardizes valuable assistance programs: a $16.7 million Drug Demand Reduction Programme and a $12 million Basic Education Programme, the US State Department said. In the 2002 Strategic Partnership Framework, Tashkent and Washington pledged to work together to strengthen democratic institutions in Uzbekistan. The work of the OSI in Uzbekistan supports these goals. Meanwhile, how hard Washington is prepared to criticise a country that has proven a staunch ally in the US-led war against terror remains to be seen. Ilkhom Zakirov, the Uzbek foreign minister's press secretary declined to comment on Washington's announcement.