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Uzbek authorities suspend democracy organization's work

The Uzbek authorities have suspended the activities of a Washington-based democracy organization, charging it with providing public Internet access without a license, administrative irregularities and a host of other problems.

The group, Freedom House, said on Friday that it was ordered by the Tashkent City Court to suspend its programs for six months. Freedom House receives financing from the US government and other private sources.

It has operated two programs in Uzbekistan in recent years -- one against torture, and another supporting human-rights defenders.

The group provides legal training and has helped rights advocates bring their cases to the UN in Geneva.

accountability

"We are enabling Uzbek citizens to stand up and make their government accountable for the international commitments they have agreed to," said Thomas Melia, deputy executive director of Freedom House, in a telephone interview from Washington.

The move is the latest in a string of repressive acts in Uzbekistan following a crackdown on a political uprising in the Uzbek city of Andijan in May that witnesses said left many hundreds dead.

Most of Freedom House's work was with people who were persecuted by the Uzbek government. Melia said the organization's six-month suspension "is really about isolating the local activists."

The government is "trying to cut off locals' access to international support networks," he said.

Human-rights specialists criticize Uzbekistan for carrying out state-sanctioned torture, religious repression and endemic corruption.

uprisings

Hundreds of arrests followed the political uprisings in Andijan, and, according to Freedom House, more than 200 local organizations have since been closed.

"Civil society in Uzbekistan has been targeted," said Alexander Gupman, senior program manager for Freedom House in Washington. "We're just the latest one," he said.

Freedom House's workers in Uzbekistan have suffered government harassment, including apartment break-ins, and have been falsely quoted in state-controlled news media, Gupman said.

In the past six months, the BBC has closed its Tashkent office under harassment and intimidation by police, and reporters for the US-financed Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty have lost their media accreditation.

Two other private organizations based in the US -- Internews, which promotes free media worldwide, and Irex, which focuses on international education -- have recently been ordered by Uzbek courts to close permanently. Like Freedom House, these organizations were first ordered to suspend their operations for six months.
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