8 June 2005
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH URGES INTERNATIONAL INQUIRY INTO MASSACRE
A Human Rights Watch investigation has concluded that the crackdown on peaceful demonstrators by Uzbek authorities in the city of Andijan in May was a massacre. The IFEX member has released a new report, "Bullets Were Falling Like Rain: The Andijan Massacre", which documents the Uzbek government's indiscriminate use of force against unarmed people on 13 May 2005, and its efforts to silence witnesses. It provides the most extensive independent review thus far of the tragedy.
"The Uzbek authorities are trying to whitewash this massacre," says Human Rights Watch. The watchdog is calling for a comprehensive international investigation into the tragedy, saying the Uzbek government lacks any credibility to conduct an internal inquiry. "The Uzbek government has a long record of censorship, repression, and impunity for human rights abuses," says Human Rights Watch.
Witnesses and victims of the massacre told Human Rights Watch that on 13 May, government forces fired indiscriminately into crowds of mostly unarmed demonstrators. "No warning was given when shots were fired in most cases, and no other means of crowd control were attempted.
Thousands of people had gathered in Bobur Square, Andijan, to vent their frustration over growing poverty, corruption and government repression. Although some were armed, the government's use of force was neither proportionate nor appropriate to the danger they posed, says Human Rights Watch.
Uzbek authorities deny responsibility for the killings and claim that 173 people were killed, including "Islamic extremists" whom they accuse of provoking the shootings. Eyewitness accounts suggest the number of dead to be far higher than the government figure. Human Rights Watch says it found no evidence that any of the speakers at the protest promoted an Islamist agenda.
In the aftermath of the events, Uzbek authorities have virtually sealed off Andijan from the outside world. Journalists have been harassed and expelled from the city, and information about the massacre has been tightly controlled.
According to the International Press Institute (IPI), journalists who were invited to Andijan on 18 May to report on the violence were shown pre-selected areas and fed the government's version of the 13 May events. They were barred from interviewing local residents. IPI says many local journalists who work for foreign media and witnessed the violence are also fearful of reprisals.
Human Rights Watch is calling on the US government, an ally of Uzbekistan in its "war on terror", to suspend talks with President Islam Karimov over the future of its air base there until an international inquiry into the massacre is carried out.
Read Human Rights Watch's report: http://hrw.org/reports/2005/uzbekistan0605/
Visit:
- IPI: http://www.freemedia.at/Protests2005/pr_Uzbekistan06.06.05.htm
- Index on Censorship: http://tinyurl.com/bxoan
- Former British Ambassador Speaks Out on Uzbekistan's Poor Human Rights Record: http://tinyurl.com/7wbjv
- Committee to Protect Journalists: http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/Uzbek16may05na.html
- RSF Report on Uzbekistan: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=13459&Valider=OK
- International Crisis Group:
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=3469&l=1
- Central Asia News: http://enews.ferghana.ru/main.php
(Image of President Islam Karimov courtesy of Index on Censorship)
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