EU Extends Post-Andijon Sanctions On Uzbekistan

The number killed in Andijon last year and their identities remain disputed (AFP) PRAGUE, November 13, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The Council of the European Union, which is the bloc's main decision-making body, today voted to extend the arms embargo on Uzbekistan for another 12 months.

The embargo was imposed following the military crackdown in the Uzbek city of Andijon in May 2005.

The council said in a statement that visa restrictions on the 12 Uzbek officials it holds responsible for the Andijon violence will be extended for another six months.

The council says it "remains profoundly concerned by the human rights situation in Uzbekistan," and urges President Islam Karimov's government "to implement fully its international obligations related to human rights and fundamental freedoms."

In order to achieve progress on rights issues, the council decided to resume "technical meetings" with the Uzbek leadership.

The EU's special representative for Central Asia, Pierre Morel, told RFE/RL's Uzbek Service that the decision reached today aims at "adapting" the sanctions regime.

"The text speaks by itself," he said. "It takes into account all the elements, the plus[es] and minus[es], in order to come to this new phase of our relationship with Uzbekistan -- that is a mix of working together in order to improve -- concretely and rapidly -- the human rights situation, and at the same time in view of the fact that things have not been moving in the [right] direction in many respects, a pursuance of a series of measures. It is a combined approach, which intends to be dynamic in order to [achieve] results quickly."

The sanctions were imposed after Karimov refused to let the EU investigate the Andijon upheaval.

Uzbek authorities say 187 people, including many security officers, were killed in what they describe as a foreign-funded armed Islamist uprising.

Rights groups, in turn, say government troops killed hundreds of unarmed civilians while reasserting control over the city.

In other news, Uzbekistan's government has set up a special fund to control and manage foreign financial assistance to the country's media outlets.

State-controlled news agencies say today that foreign states and organizations are now forbidden to directly provide grants to Uzbek media and that the amount of foreign help any media outlet can receive will be strictly regulated.

Uzbekistan has tightened its grip on independent media since the Andijon events.

(RFE/RL's Uzbek Service, consilium.europa.eu, vesti.uz, press-uz.info)