Andijon Refugees Rally In Kyrgyz Town

May 13, 2006 12:19 GMT

Part of the Kara-Suu demonstration today (RFE/RL) KARA-SUU, Kyrgyzstan; May 13, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Uzbek opposition members today held a small rally in the Kyrgyz border town of Kara-suu to commemorate the violent crackdown on protesters in Andijon, Uzbekistan, one year ago.

Demonstrators unfurled banners calling for the tragedy to be remembered.

Authorities broke up the demonstration after about 30 minutes.

Uzbek participants said they had been warned earlier that participating in political demonstrations could affect their refugee status in Kyrgyzstan.

Other rallies marked the anniversary on May 12 in New York, Istanbul, and Kyiv. In the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, plainclothes police broke up a small demonstration by activists demanding an independent probe.

The Uzbek government blamed Islamic militants for the violence in Andijon. But the Uzbek opposition, eyewitnesses, and human rights groups accuse the government of suppressing a peaceful demonstration, and say many unarmed civilians were killed in the crackdown.

On the eve of today's anniversary, the United States joined calls for an independent probe into Andijon.

Andijon Anniversary Conference

Violence in Andijon, Uzbekistan, on May 14, 2005 (epa)

TALKING ABOUT ANDIJON: On May 9, 2006, RFE/RL, the National Endowment for Democracy, and U.S.-based human rights organizations cohosted a conference on the May 2005 events in Andijon and their aftermath in Uzbekistan and throughout the region. The first panel featured Andijon eyewitness GALIMA BUKHARBAEVA, National Endowment for Democracy Fellow NOZIMA KAMALOVA, RFE/RL Central Asia analyst DANIEL KIMMAGE, and others. The second panel featured presentations by U.S. Senator JOHN MCCAIN and U.S. Congressman CHRISTOPHER SMITH, who used the forum to announce they had introduced legislation calling for sanctions and other measures against the government of President Islam Karimov.

LISTEN

Listen to the Andijon conference.
Part One (70 minutes):
Real Audio Windows Media
Part Two (60 minutes):
Real Audio Windows Media
The Uzbek government's response:
Real Audio Windows Media

THE COMPLETE STORY: A dedicated webpage bringing together all of RFE/RL's coverage of the events in Andijon, Uzbekistan, in May 2005 and their continuing repercussions.

CHRONOLOGY

For an annotated timeline of the Andijon events and their repercussions, click here.

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