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Accidental casualties
As Peace News went to press, hundreds of protesters remained on the streets of Uzbekistan, following mid-May's unrest and subsequent massacre by government troops. Sian Glaessner has been talking with the founder of the Uzbek organisation "Mothers Against the Death Penalty and Torture".It is testament to life in Uzbekistan under President Karimov that Tamara Chikunova's organisation is in such demand.
"When we started I knew every case by name, but now there are too many." She has been threatened, but refuses to be frightened into passivity. She said, defiantly, "They took my son, I have nothing left to lose. They cannot continue to take our children, make them vanish into prison, and kill them, for no reason. They must be held accountable for their actions. We are not even told where the bodies are, so we can bury them, or when the death sentence is carried out, so we can mourn." Her son was arrested, accused of a crime, tortured, and finally killed in 2000.
Shutdown
Chikunova and her associates now work to appeal cases like that of her son; they have gained a stay of execution in some cases and other prisoners have been released. One of "her" prisoners was in the gaol "liberated" by armed men who wore uniform similar to the special OMON forces in Andijan in mid-May. She has had no word from their relatives.Since the storming of the prison, subsequent demonstrations, and massacre, those towns deep in the Fergana valley have had all communication cut off. They are blockaded and phone lines have been cut.
The capital, Tashkent, is calm but angry, she said; "People are outraged at this further atrocity, there have been so many and it just seems to get worse, he must be held to account. They were desperate, they wanted jobs, that's all, they were not all even overtly political, their hunger drove them onto the streets and they were greeted by gunfire from their own soldiers. It is a tragedy. We look to the International Community for help. They can make him [Karimov] realise he cannot continue to behave like this". She went on to say that it continued to be calm because there is a total media blackout: people in Tashkent cannot get information from Andijan, Fergana, Osh or Korasuv, where the majority of demonstrations have taken place.
International solidarity
Figures for the death toll in Andijan and the other areas involved in the recent massacre range from 500 to 1000. Not knowing how many have died is something people in Uzbekistan live with daily. This most recent violence in this bloody, hidden, face of the "war on terror", proves that Karimov is willing to risk the wrath of the international community; and he is in a strong position for, whatever is said in the coming weeks, neither the US nor the Russian Federation wish to see his regime crumble. He is indeed a good servant of two masters.There are many organisations like Chikunova's, all over Uzbekistan, in towns, cities and villages. They feel forgotten by the international community, an accidental casualty in the war on terror.
In support of Uzbek's democratic opposition - and calling for an end to western support for the "brutal regime" - on 21 May a group of UK-based Uzbek dissidents, supported by Britain's former Ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray, organised a demonstration outside the Uzbek embassy in London.