Uzbekistan
Civil war in Uzbekistan can still be prevented
Appeal to governments of Uzbekistan, other Central Asian countries, and
international organizations
Received via e-mail, 3 December 2000
Dear friends,
The document below has come as a result of the roundtable discussion
that took place in Vienna on October 6, 2000. The discussion was organized by the
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) and was attended by
representatives of Jalal-Abad regional human rights organization “Spravedlivost”
("Justice") (Kyrgyzstan), Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights, Uzbekistan Society
for Human Rights (USHR) and "Memorial" Human Rights Center (Russia). The
document was widely discussed. If you support the resolution, or would like to offer your
comment, please contact us at one of the addresses below by December 10, 2000:
savdial-shm@nursat.kz
VPonomarev@mtu-net.ru
chrights@imfiko.bishkek.su
Civil war in Uzbekistan can still be prevented
Appeal to governments of Uzbekistan, other Central Asia countries, and
international organizations
We, the representatives of NGOs based in Central Asia and other
countries,
expressing our concern over the escalation of armed confrontation
between the Islamic opposition and Uzbekistan government,
fully realizing the real possibility of a civil war outbreak in
Uzbekistan in the near future, and the disastrous consequences of this war for the
neighboring countries,
emphasizing that the increasing instability in Central Asia is clearly
related to the large-scale repression of Muslims in Uzbekistan,
condemning the numerous cases of human rights violations of Muslims in
other countries of Central Asia, especially in the neighboring regions, that have
contributed to the built-up of social tension,
noting that religious and political radicalism is especially dangerous
in today's conditions of economic decline, growing poverty and crisis of confidence,
stating that suppression of secular opposition by Central Asian
governments and the underdeveloped democratic institutions have triggered extremism in the
region,
expressing concern over the lack of effective steps to prevent
conflicts on the part of Central Asian governments,
have resolved that the following steps should be taken in order to help
stop the armed conflict in Uzbekistan, and alleviate the tension in the region:
- The government of Uzbekistan and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan should seek a
peaceful solution to the conflict through an open dialog. Such a dialog can be organized
on the territory of a foreign country with participation of the OSCE and possibly other
international organizations, government officials and concerned states;
- As the first step towards nation-wide reconciliation and development of democratic
institutions, the government of Uzbekistan should agree to hold a roundtable discussion
with representatives of the political opposition and political emigrants who stand for
solving political problems by non-military means;
- Central Asian governments should urgently put an end to the politically motivated
oppression campaign against individuals not involved in armed struggle and not calling for
violence;
- The government of Uzbekistan should set up a special commission with participation of
foreign experts to reconsider the politically and religiously motivated sentences. Similar
commissions should be established in other countries of the region;
- The places of confinement for persons sentenced for political and religious crimes
(prisons, colonies, isolation wards) should be made accessible to international experts,
thorough investigation should be made into each case of death in the detention center or
prison;
- The CIS governments should guarantee safety of persons who fled Uzbekistan on political
or religious grounds, any backroom restrictions on granting political asylum to those
persons should be lifted;
- All the existing legal norms should be observed in full when considering the cases of
extradition of citizens to Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan government should show good will and
free all foreign citizens who have been illegally brought to Uzbekistan by secret
services.
The present proposals were originally discussed at the meeting of
representatives of Central Asian human rights organizations held in Vienna on October 6,
2000. They have been corrected and amended in the course of further discussions.
Any NGO based in Central Asia or any other NGO on Central Asia from
other country is welcome to join this resolution before December 10, 2000.
Received via e-mail, 3 December 2000 |