EU extends sanctions against Uzbekistan

The European Union will drop a visa ban against four Uzbek officials, EU foreign ministers decided yesterday while extending the rest of the bloc's sanctions against the Central Asian nation imposed after a bloody crackdown on an uprising in 2005.

"We will go on with the sanctions, that is absolutely clear, but at the same time the sanctions will be somehow modified, particularly the visa ban," said EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

The arms embargo on Uzbekistan has been kept in place, but only eight Uzbek officials will now be banned from traveling to the EU, down from 12, Ferrero-Waldner said, adding that the sanctions will be reviewed again in six months.

The sanctions were imposed after government troops opened fire on a crowd of mostly peaceful protesters in Andijan, a city in the east of the country, two years ago, killing at least 700 people, according to rights groups and witnesses. The government insisted 187 died and blamed Islamic militants for instigating the violence.

In December, the Uzbeks agreed to talks with EU experts on the Andijan events but have refused to meet EU demands for an independent investigation into the crackdown. Nevertheless, the EU seized on President Islam Karimov's increased openness to discuss the May 13, 2005, events.

The EU "appreciates the readiness of the Uzbek side to engage in this dialogue," the ministers said in a statement. Ferrero-Waldner said the modified visa ban "gives a chance to the Uzbeks to show that they really mean what they say ... and we think this is a way of engaging with the Uzbeks."

EU president Germany, backed by Spain, had pushed for the blacklist to be reduced even further and reviewed again after three to four months, while Britain and the Netherlands harshly criticized Uzbekistan for continuing human rights breaches, EU diplomats said.

Human rights campaigners, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, had urged the EU to maintain the tough line against resource-rich Uzbekistan and put human rights ahead of economic concerns.

Ahead of Monday's meeting, Human Rights Watch suggested that signs of a softer European line may have emboldened the Uzbek authorities during the recent trials of rights activists.

"The worsening human rights situation in Uzbekistan is also directly linked to the EU's soft-pedaling," the New York-based campaign group wrote in its letter to the EU.

Authorities in the ex-Soviet republic have stepped up a crackdown on dissent and expelled dozens of foreign-funded civil groups and media outlets since the Andijan events in 2005. The local media is tightly controlled.

Human rights defenders have been assaulted, arrested or sentenced to long jail terms on charges they called trumped-up following the Andijan violence, according to rights groups.

Karimov has ruled the Central Asian state with an iron fist since before the 1991 Soviet collapse - first as the Communist Party boss and then as president, tolerating no dissent and eliminating opposition.