Human rights NGOs suffer intensified persecution
This was revealed by the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights. There is a drive to suppress those who contest the official version of what happened in Andijan, when hundreds of people were killed.
Vienna (AsiaNews/Agencies) The Uzbek government has intensified persecution against human rights campaigners after events in Andijan in May 2004, according to the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF).
"After the Andijan events, the government has undertaken a campaign against civil society. It's taken the form of undermining the credibility of civil society organizations defending human rights, accusing them of disloyalty, accusing them of falsification of evidence," said IHF director Aaron Rhodes, adding that the government was also resorting to "Stalinist style" propaganda to fuel public sentiment against these agencies.
The government of President Islam Karimov stands charged with ordering the army to shoot on peaceful demonstrators in Andijan city and elsewhere last May. More than 500 civilians were killed, according to hundreds of eye witnesses.
The charge has always been denied by the government, which claims it suppressed an Islamist coup. Seventy-three alleged conspirators were arrested, some of who have been convicted in a trial which observers unanimously branded as "unfair" and "not in line with the minimum requisites of justice".
Human rights NGOs, like the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU), came out against the "official" version of what happened in Andijan and they have been critical of the government. The IHF has listed 15 HRSU activists who have received threats against them and their relatives, who have been beaten in public and seriously injured, and whose property has been damaged. No move was taken against the perpetrators.
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