End of EU Sanctions Sinks Hope of Change in Uzbekistan

27-Oct-09

The removal of the last of the sanctions the European Union imposed on Uzbekistan after the 2005 bloodshed in Andijan is more likely to bolster the regime’s sense of impunity than to encourage better human rights observance, commentator say.

EU foreign ministers decided to drop the last remaining sanction, a ban on arms sales to Uzbekistan, at an October 27 meeting in Luxembourg.

In a statement, the EU said the decision was taken “with a view to encourage the Uzbek authorities to take further substantive steps to improve the rule of law and the human rights situation on the ground, and taking into account their commitments”.

As examples of improvements, participants in the meeting cited the Uzbek-EU “human rights dialogue”, the release of several human rights activists, the introduction of the habeas corpus principle into national legislation, and the ratification on international conventions banning child labour.

The sanctions were imposed in 2005 in response to the Uzbek government’s refusal to allow an international investigation into the events of May that year, when government troops shot into a crowd of protesters in Andijan, killing and injuring hundreds.

Initially the sanctions consisted of suspending the EU Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with Tashkent, preventing 12 named senior officials from entering EU states, and a ban on sales of weapons to the country.

A year later, the sanctions were eased, to the consternation of local human rights defenders who said they had not noticed the improvements that were claimed in justification of the move. (IWPR reported this in EU Easing of Uzbek Sanctions “Absurd”, RCA No. 513, 23-Oct-07)

Their advice was ignored again in autumn 2008, when all sanctions were lifted except for the arms sale ban, which was of symbolic importance since Uzbekistan had not sourced weapons from EU states in the past. The European concessions came at a time when human rights activists and independent journalists were being arrested and persecuted. (See Узбекистан: Правозащитники разочарованы ослаблением санкций, NBCentralAsia 15-Oct-08.)

Tashpulat Yoldashev, an Uzbek political analyst now based abroad, argues that for Tashkent, the EU measures were simply a political obstacle.

“Uzbekistan doesn’t fulfil its international obligations. It violates human rights and freedom of expression,” he said. “Uzbekistan hasn’t met the requirements, and now it’s going to think it’s allowed to do anything it wants.”

Surat Ikramov, who heads the Initiative Group of Independent Human Rights Defenders in Tashkent, expressed deep disappointment with the EU decision to drop the arms embargo. Although it had little practical effect, the ban still dented the country’s reputation internationally and may have served as a kind of deterrent.

“We give up,” said Ikramov. “I met European Commission representatives and told them they mustn’t lift the sanctions. But they said that if they took a tough line towards Uzbekistan right now, the authorities would close the door to them.”

A human rights defender from Samarkand who asked not to be named said the West should be more courageous when engaging the Uzbek government. Contrary to the fears expressed by the EU, he said there was little danger that taking a tough line with the Uzbeks would enrage them and prompt them to isolate their country.

“This isn’t a moment when Uzbekistan can close itself off to the world, nor is it the economic climate for that. The country cannot survive on its own,” he said. “For that reason, they {EC] should have been more courageous about demanding that it fulfil its obligations.”

Some observers are now worried that the Uzbek authorities will think they have a free hand to commit human rights abuses. Despite the EC claims of improvements, 2009 has seen journalist Dilmurod Sayid sentenced to 12 years in jail. Meanwhile, although the Uzbek government says the use of child labour in the cotton industry has ended, there is ample evidence to the contrary.

“Tashkent is going to see the lifting of the last sanction as carte blanche,” said Ikramov. “The authorities will curb freedoms more harshly than ever.”

(NBCentralAsia is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service has resumed, covering Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.)