Timeline: Uzbekistan

2005 Troops open fire on demonstrators. Eyewitnesses report deaths of hundreds of protesters.

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Uzbekistan: Freedom Party Nominates Presidential Candidate

The unregistered Uzbek opposition party Erk (Freedom) nominated its leader, Muhammad Solih, as a candidate for the 2007 presidential election. But Solih cannot run for president under current Uzbek legislation: he has not lived in Uzbekistan for 10 straight years before the election, as the constitution requires, and he was also sentenced to a lengthy prison term in 1999 on charges of extremism. Will the Erk party be able to get around these obstacles so that Solih can be a candidate?

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Uzbek protest: Your reaction

We are Muslims, but not extremists. Calling protestors radical groups is a just tool for Karimov because he can do anything with these "Islamic extremists"

Eson, Tashkent

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Andijan Remembers the Dead

Andijan is in mourning for its mothers, fathers and children.

The dead have been buried – washed carefully according to Muslim custom – but the families I visited on May 19 seemed to have no relief from their grief and anger at the shooting of a largely peaceful crowd.

By Mansur Karimov for IWPR in Andijan (RCA No. 380, 20-May-05)

Uzbekistan: Andijan Under Occupation

The blood has been washed away, but memories of the violence have not faded.

By Dilya Usmanova for IWPR in Andijan (RCA No. 385, 08-Jun-05)

Uzbekistan: Andijan Residents “Tortured”

The May 13 protest, which was initiated by supporters of 23 businessmen accused of Islamic radicalism, was violently quashed when government troops opened fire on demonstrators. Hundreds of people are said to have died in the crackdown.

By IWPR's  Anvar Makhkamov in Andijan. (RCA No. 389, 21-Jun-05)

Human Rights Watch

Uzbekistan

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Human Rights Watch

Burying the Truth
Uzbekistan Rewrites the Story of the Andijan Massacre…

RIGHTS GROUP PRESSES FOR INFORMATION ON JAILED UZBEK ACTIVIST

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a 20 January press release on the organization's website (http://www.hrw.org) that the Uzbekistan government "must clarify" the fate of rights activist Saidjahon Zainabiddinov, who has reportedly been sentenced to a seven-year prison term for having provided information to foreign journalists about the Uzbek authorities' violent suppression of unrest in Andijon in May (see "Human-Rights Activist Reportedly Sentenced In Secret Trial," rferl.org, 13 January 2006). "Uzbek authorities are hiding information about Zainabiddinov's whereabouts," Holly Cartner, HRW Europe and Central Asia director, commented. "They should immediately tell Saidjahon's family and the international community what has happened to him." Cartner added: "Uzbek authorities are punishing Zainabiddinov for telling the world what happened in Andijan. He should be released immediately." Unconfirmed reports indicate that Zainabiddinov was convicted for spreading false information and sowing panic among the population. DK

Radio Free Europe

Radio Liberty (Monday, 23 January 2006 Volume 10 Number 12)

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT CONDEMNS UZBEK ‘MASSACRE’

The European Parliament on 9 June described events in 13 May in Andijon, where Uzbek forces are alleged to have killed hundreds when they fired on demonstrators, as a "massacre" and urged a trial of the perpetrators, Reuters reported. A joint resolution published on the European Parliament's website (http://www.europarl.eu.int) stated that members of the body "strongly condemn the excessive, brutal and indiscriminate use of force by the Uzbek security forces and urges the Uzbek authorities to bring those responsible for the massacre in Andijan to trial." DK

Radio Free Europe

Radio Liberty (Friday, 10 June 2005 Volume 9 Number 110)