Obama cozies up to Central Asian dictator

Brown Bomber

In a demonstration of the insanity and hypocrisy of US foriegn policy they are going to be supporting the Communists to fight the Islamic fundamentalists. The same Islamic fundamentalists they supported to fight the Communists.
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It's generating few headlines, but Operation Enduring Freedom -- otherwise known as the war in Afghanistan -- could soon result in less freedom for the people of Uzbekistan, if the Obama administration gets its way.

The ruling dictatorship of Uzbekistan, which borders Afghanistan to the north, has been a kind of beneficiary of the war and the American need to transport supplies and troops in and out of Afghanistan. (See a map of the supply routes here.)

Prompted by the current crisis in U.S.-Pakistani relations, the Obama administration has reportedly shifted supply lines to rely even more on the Central Asian corridor. And in an effort to improve relations with Uzbekistan, it is now asking Congress to OK military aid to that country, over the furious objections of human rights groups. Several groups signed a strongly worded letter to senators this week, asking that they turn down the administration's requests for aid.

The administration, for its part, has not been commenting on the matter on the record.
To learn more, I spoke to Steve Swerdlow, Uzbekistan researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Who is Islam Karimov, and what sort of regime are we dealing with here?
The Uzbek government is one of the most repressive in the world. It's commonly rated as such on Freedom House's annual list. It's known for the systematic use of torture throughout its criminal justice system. I was there as the HRW representative last year for several months, and we documented widespread torture both in pretrial detention and in prisons. It is used against political opponents, dissidents and even so-called common criminals. Several dozen activists, human rights defenders, journalists and opposition figures are languishing in prisons for their beliefs or activism. There is no free press. The government last year denied my visa and expelled Human Rights Watch from the country for our work in documenting human rights abuses. It has also kicked out international media outlets in recent years following the killing of protesters by government forces in 2005.

And how long has Karimov been in control?
He has ruled with an iron fist for over 22 years. He is the former secretary of the Communist Party in Uzbekistan before it was an independent country. And he was quickly elected president when it became a country in 1991. Since that time, he has been the singular figure in charge.
http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/09/17/obama-cozies-central-asian-dictator

Uzbek President Islam Karimov (right) greets U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Tashkent.

The international community has repeatedly criticized the Karimov administration's record on human rights and press freedom. In particular, Craig Murray, the British Ambassador from 2002 to 2004, described widespread torture, kidnapping, murder, rape by the police, financial corruption, religious persecution, censorship, and other human rights abuses. This included the case of Karimov's security forces executing prisoners Muzafar Avazov and Khuzniddin Alimov by boiling them alive in 2002.[25]



Murray became noted within the British government for memos disagreeing with official UK & US policy, which was at the time to back up Karimov as part of the global war on terror. Uzbekistan was used for extraordinary rendition and for the air base in Karshi-Khanabad. Murray wrote two books about his experiences; Murder in Samarkand and Dirty Diplomacy.[26]


In response, the Uzbek government criticized Murray for not behaving like a genuine British ambassador. It informally stated that diplomacy is more about mutual compromise rather than one-handed harsh criticism. The British government replaced him in 2005.I][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed"]citation needed[/URL][/I


The United Nations found torture "institutionalized, systematic, and rampant" in Uzbekistan's judicial system.[27] For several years, Parade magazine has selected Karimov as one of the world's worst dictators, citing his tactics of torture, media censorship, and fake elections.[28]

Kadongy

That nobel peace prize was a bit premature

The Outside Agency

The US supports dictators all across the globe.

That's why I laugh at the clowns in politics forum harping about the lack of freedom and democracy in countries that are the focus of media attention...these political gurus get all their opinions from news punditry, completely clueless.

You'll never hear any criticism of human rights violations in a country where the west have good business relations.

Jonny7

nivekd wrote: »

The US supports dictators all across the globe.

That's why I laugh at the clowns in politics forum harping about the lack of freedom and democracy in countries that are the focus of media attention...these political gurus get all their opinions from news punditry, completely clueless.

You'll never hear any criticism of human rights violations in a country where the west have good business relations.

This is an exaggeration, there is criticism all the time, esp of countries like Saudi, Bahrain, etc. HRW and Amnesty have it well documented, and there are many reports in the mainstream news (not as many as there should be perhaps)

I don't think any countries, not just the US, should do business with any dictators - but then its a catch-22, the people of that country just suffer more.

Brown Bomber

Jonny7 wrote: »

This is an exaggeration, there is criticism all the time, esp of countries like Saudi, Bahrain, etc. HRW and Amnesty have it well documented, and there are many reports in the mainstream news (not as many as there should be perhaps)

I don't think any countries, not just the US, should do business with any dictators - but then its a catch-22, the people of that country just suffer more.

Is it neccessary to point out the difference between "doing business" with someone who boils rivals to death and arming him?

Brown Bomber

Kadongy wrote: »

That nobel peace prize was a bit premature

At least he closed Guantan.....oh wait...