International organizations criticize Czech president Miloš Zeman for inviting the president of Uzbekistan to Prague
Published: Feb 11, 2014 Reading time: 3 minutes
Prague, 11th February, 2014 – 30 international and Czech human rights NGOs criticize the planned visit of Islam Karimov, president of Uzbekistan, in Prague. According to them, the human rights record in Uzbekistan is continuously worsening under his 25 years long rule. Political prisoners are tortured, both children and adults are forced to pick cotton for little or no wage and the government has not allowed independent investigation of the massacre of hundreds of protesters killed by security forces in Anidjan in 2005.
The organizations have expressed their views by public letter to Czech president Miloš Zeman. The signatories have called on president to ask Mr. Karimov to explain the serious violations of human rights in Uzbekistan. The letter was initiated by dissidents and former political prisoner from Uzbekistan along with international NGO Human Rights Watch, which is continuously monitoring the human rights situation in the country. People in Need and other Czech NGOs also joined the action.
“Our colleagues from Human Rights Watch and the dissidents have asked us, if we can help them to protest against Karimov’s visit in Prague. We are interested in human rights situation in Uzbekistan, because we monitor the entire post-soviet region and we work in many countries in the area. We share the opinion that such visits of authoritarian leaders are supporting the legitimacy of their oppressive regimes. We specifically focus on Azebaijan and Belarus in this context,” says Rostislav Valvoda, director of East-European programmes of People in Need.
Karimov has visited the EU only twice in the last five years. He visited Latvia in fall 2013 and Brussels in 2011. During his visit in Brussels, many high representatives of EU refused to meet him, among them the president of European Council Herman Van Rompuy or the High representative for foreign affairs and security policy Catherine Ashton. Many of the organizations signed under the letter protested against his meeting with the chairman of European Commission José Manuel Barroso, and many of them also criticize the insufficient concern of US government with the human rights situation in Uzbekistan (see the link below).
In his response to the public letter, president Zeman said that Karimov was invited by his predecessor Václav Klaus and he only took his commitments. However, there is a clear reason for diplomatic discontinuity – Klaus visited Uzbekistan in 2004, before the massacre in Anijan that profoundly changed the international approach and particularly the EU policy on Uzbekistan.
Open letter to president Miloš Zeman concerning the visit of Islam Karimov.
Open response of president Miloš Zeman.
Background
Democracy rating in Uzbekistan according to the Freedom House:
Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have the rating of 6,93 (out of 7). Even Belarus and Azerbaijan have better results (6,71 and 6,64). For example, the state of democracy in Georgia has improved to the rating of 4,75 (See http://www.freedomhouse.org/report-types/nations-transit#.UvovULSi3YF).
Examples of the protests against Karimov’s visit in Brussels:
• RSF protests: http://en.rsf.org/uzbekistan-rights-and-freedoms-left-off-20-01-2011,39369.html
• CPJ protests: http://cpj.org/2011/01/cpj-asks-eu-to-press-uzbekistan-on-its-press-freed.php
• Or here: http://cpj.org/blog/2011/01/eu-has-contradictory-message-on-karimov-lukashenko.php
• HRW protests: http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/01/19/letter-european-commission-president-barroso-uzbek-president-islam-karimov-s-visit-b
• AHRCA protests: http://nadejda-atayeva-en.blogspot.fr/2011/01/free-europe-embraces-uzbek-dictator.html or here: http://nadejda-atayeva-en.blogspot.fr/2011/01/karimov-will-visit-brussels-january-24.html
• Open letter: http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2011/january/congratulations-mr-karimov/69949.aspx
The controversial alliance of USA and Uzbekistan in the “war against terrorism”:
• Human Rights Watch (HRW) in Foreign Policy in 2011: http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/11/16/kisses-karimov
• HRW 2003: http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/03/25/name-counter-terrorism-human-rights-abuses-worldwide
• Freedom House: http://www.freedomhouse.org/blog/courting-uzbekistan-united-states-stoops-too-low-0#.Uvj3B_ldVg0
• CPJ: http://cpj.org/blog/2012/01/what-us-cant-accept-in-belarus-it-supports-in-uzbe.php
• FIDH: http://www.fidh.org/en/americas/usa/As-Hunger-Strike-Enters-Third-Month-25-Prominent-Human-Rights-13142
For more information, do not hesitate to contact:
Rostislav Valvoda, Centre for Democracy and Human Rights, People in Need, tel.: +420 608 527 312
Adéla Pospíchalová, Centre for Democracy and Human Rights, People in Need, tel.: +420 777 787 968