Uprising in Uzbekistan PDF Print E-mail
By Sebastian Hirsch   
Tuesday, 17 May 2005
After a bloodbath in Andijan on Friday, which claimed hundreds of lives, the situation in Uzbekistan's Fergana region remains extremely tense. Violence broke out after soldiers disrupted a demonstration by firing into the crowd from armored vehicles. Before these events, there were repeated peaceful demonstrations in Andijan, where people gathered to protest the imprisonment of 23 prominent businessmen, accused of belonging to an Islamic extremist group. Armed insurgents stormed the prison on Thursday night, freeing about 2000 criminals, including the businessmen.

They later seized several other government buildings and took hostages in the local government headquarters. Security forces tried to negotiate with them, however, as the negotiations failed, they started to fire upon unarmed citizens. About 10,000 people had meanwhile assembled in the central city square and called for the resignation of the president, Islam Karimov. According to official sources, 9 people were killed and 34 wounded.



Human Rights organizations and Western reporters, however, are speaking of at least 300 deaths. Dozens of bodies were openly lying in the streets before they were loaded into trucks and taken away by soldiers. Information is scarce because reporters are denied access to the region. Furthermore, foreign news sources are cut or censored, effectively leading to a news blackout in Fergana and Uzbekistan.

As a reaction to the bloodshed, many people are fleeing to neighboring Kyrgyzstan. Some witnesses said that they were shot at by Uzbek troops while trying to cross the border. Islam Karimov, the Uzbek president, blames the Kyrgyz government for spurring the unrest. In a press conference in Tashkent, he stated that he had not given any 'order to shoot' on civilians.

Meanwhile, the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, put some blame on Western governments. Speaking with The Independent on Sunday, he said that the Uzbek people are now resorting to violence because the U.S. and the U.K. failed to support the opposition movement. Murray was suspended from his office last year after accusing his own government for condoning torture in Uzbek jails.

Laziz Alidjanov contributed to this article.
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Comments (4)
Written by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it on 18-05-2005 05:42 - Guest
 
 
looking on all this, i sometimes don't believe we are living in the 21th century! It's amazing how government can just cut out all information about whole city, kill anyone they want, and nobody in the entire country knows what is going on because, there are simply NO news on the TV channels and only entertainment programs!! Of course wonderful Western states condemn the actions of the government, but it wont help to hundreds of those who already died (and none knows how many people will be acused now in search for 'responsible' people, simply escape goats!).

How nice it is for the government that no matter what happens, we know whom to blame, of course its only islamic extremists! Why would people who get 20 dollars a month for the living of the whole family, living in misirebale conditions ever revolt against the government?

i know i am being sarcastic, but i simply can't stand it anymore!
  
Written by Nika on 19-05-2005 00:14 - Guest
 
 
True-true... I called my mom to ask about what was going on...and I ended up telling her about the current situation in the country she's presently in. The only thing people knew was that "some terrorists let the prisoners out". That's it. But I still wanna go home :sad:
  
Written by Serkan on 20-05-2005 01:48 - Guest
 
 
I'm really sorry about what has been happening in Uzbekistan for the past week. I only feel rage at those western countries who make a huge fuss about other issues, and in situations like this just stay silent. I also don't understand why something like this didn't even make the headlines on CNN, BBC etc. when the evacuation of the White House was "breaking news". Everyone's equal and everyone's life is precious... but just some more than others.

I hope the Uzbek people of Andijan (some of whom have fled the country) will not suffer any more under the excuse of finding some right wing islamists.
  
Written by This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it on 20-05-2005 19:02 - Guest
 
 
Sadly but the truth is that Uzbekistan is not the only place on which information black out is imposed. Unfortutantely, our idea for what 21st c should be comes only from the West, which is not a big part of the world. I don't even want to imagine how much information has been hidden about revolts on the African continent and elsewhere. Events that might probably take a small line at the final section of a journal by accident.
So horrible and sad that the most beautiful and Earthly places are soacked with blood, terror and fear.
  

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