$118 million for human rights in Central Asia

First, let me thank the organizers of this conference for inviting me to speak. I applaud the co-sponsors for putting together this timely and sober gathering to mark the one-year anniversary of the Andijon events.

I won’t bother talking to this audience about the human rights situation in Central Asia. The State Department’s annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices routinely characterize the human rights observance in each country as “poor.” Some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) here today probably consider that too lenient, and I agree with them.

It’s not surprising that countries which emerged from 70 years of communism should have difficulties creating rule of law states. But after 15 years of independence we should be seeing some separation of powers and a strong civil society. Instead, we see “super-presidents,” who have overwhelmed legislatures and judicial systems. Several have been in power for about 20 years, after rigged or canceled elections. “Royal families” control the most lucrative sectors of the economy and the media. Of course, newspapers in Kazakhstan have more leeway than in Uzbekistan or Turkmenistan. But even in Kazakhstan, reports on presidential misdeeds are taboo.

Only in Kyrgyzstan do we see a freer media and hope of more in the future. And only in Kyrgyzstan is the president’s relationship with the other branches of power not yet set in a pattern of executive branch dominance. Yet a Tulip Revolution was necessary last year to bring about change in Kyrgyzstan, which raises serious questions about prospects for evolutionary development toward democracy in Central Asia.

This brings us to Uzbekistan. No Central Asian country worked harder during the last 15 years to develop good strategic relations with Washington and to counterbalance residual Russian influence. But the country’s terrible human rights record complicated the development of a closer relationship. President Islam Karimov allows no opposition, torture is pervasive, for years human rights groups were unregistered, and Tashkent has waged war against Muslims who wanted to practice their faith outside state-approved channels.

Now, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan is a terrorist group affiliated with al-Qaeda, and Hizb-ut-Tahrir is virulently anti-Western and anti-Semitic. But Karimov’s exclusive reliance on repression only exacerbates matters and has probably supplied cadres for radical and terrorist organizations.

After September 11, 2001, we needed Uzbekistan’s cooperation and Karimov was delighted to help. Uzbekistan gave us a military base and the March 2002 agreement on strategic cooperation was signed in Washington. We agreed to support Uzbekistan, and Uzbekistan pledged to move towards democracy. But Karimov only implemented the democratization commitments just enough for Tashkent and Washington to point to “progress.” Gradually, frustration grew on both sides. It was just a matter of time before the arrangement collapsed.

People often date the breakdown of U.S.-Uzbek relations to the events that happened in Andijon on May 12 and 13, 2005. We did not condone the violent takeover of government buildings in that city. But we condemned the indiscriminate shootings in the square that followed and when we called for an independent, international investigation, Karimov balked.

As we all know, he began to move against U.S. NGOs. Few remain in Uzbekistan today. Then we were unceremoniously booted out of the K-2 base. But ties had actually soured long before, because Karimov saw the Stars and Stripes behind the Georgian, Ukrainian and Kyrgyz revolutions. Most alarming for Tashkent was the Tulip Revolution which proved that “people power” was possible in Central Asia.

Like President Putin, Central Asian leaders insist that a sinister hand, based in Washington but using American NGOs working in the region, plotted the downfall of Eduard Shevardnadze, Leonid Kuchma and Askar Akaev -- and is now gunning for them. So a split has developed in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan, though plagued by criminality and sometimes seemingly chaotic, is better off than with the previous corrupt regime and well disposed towards the U.S.

Uzbekistan’s Karimov sees us as his greatest strategic danger; he has cracked down even harder and state-run media accuse us of trying to enslave Uzbekistan. Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are suspicious of our allegedly revolutionary goals but still want to maintain good ties – as long as they are not threatened by civil society. And Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan surely assume that we want their oil and gas too much to stir the pot.

What can we do about this? How can we try to make things better, especially keeping in mind that U.S. influence is limited?

This week I will be re-introducing my Central Asia bill, to help ensure that the United States is doing everything possible to encourage these governments to respect human rights and democratization. The act will also bring greater consistency to U.S. policy, creating a framework to guide our bilateral relations in Central Asia.

The Central Asia Democracy and Human Rights Promotion Act supports the President’s freedom agenda by providing $118 million in assistance for human rights and democracy training and $15 million for increased Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America broadcasting.

The new Act will also establish a certification mechanism for the distribution of assistance to each government. The Secretary of State will determine whether each has made “significant improvements in the protection of human rights.” This system will have a national security waiver and is modeled on the current system in Foreign Ops appropriations for Kazakhstan and expanded for all five countries.

In addition, considering the forced return of Uzbek refugees from Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, the new Act will require the Secretary of State to report on whether any government is “forcibly returning Uzbeks or other refugees who have fled violence and political persecution.” This is modeled on language regarding Kyrgyzstan in Foreign Ops appropriations and expanded for all five countries.

Notably, my new legislation will create a sanctions section for Uzbekistan. First, the bill concretizes into law the limitations already in place in Foreign Ops appropriations. The limitation prevents funding to the Uzbek Government unless the Secretary of State determines the government is “making substantial and continuing progress” towards respect for human rights and that the Uzbek Government begins a “credible international investigation” of Andijon.

In addition, the new Act mirrors European Union sanctions by establishing a visa ban and an export ban on munitions. The sanctions section also establishes an asset freeze for Uzbek officials, their family members, and their associates implicated in the Andijon massacre or involved in other gross violations of human rights.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is hard to promote democratization in strategically important countries whose leaders want to keep all real power in their own hands. Our task is especially complicated by the fact that Russia – which has re-emerged as a major international player, thanks to sky-high oil prices – is working hard to undermine our efforts. But I think the measures which I’ve outlined here in brief offer a good chance of achieving our goals.
Thank you for your attention. I look forward to hearing the other participants’ views and your comments.

By Rep. Christop, 11 May 2006