MAY 10 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, started a tour of Uzbekistan, the first since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Mr Zeid met with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Uzbekistan leader since September and the man credited with opening up the country, at the start of his trip.
During their 1-1/2 meeting, Mr Zeid urged Mr Mirziyoyev to show restraint in his campaign to root out radical Islamists.
“As in other countries, I have emphasized that the answer to the risk of radicalisation is not simply heavy-handed security measures and repressive policies which breed resentment and frustration, thereby making it easier for extremists to recruit new supporters,” he was quoted by Voice of America as saying.
Mr Mirziyoyev took over from Islam Karimov who was loathed by human rights activists for ordering soldiers to shoot and kill anti- government in Andijan, in the east of the country, in 2005 and for locking up his political opponents.
Analysts, though, cautioned that major policy changes were unlikely.
“Important economic reforms are currently underway, but the Uzbek administration, in close proximity with the powerful Uzbek security services, will not risk giving any oxygen to the political situation under which thousands of prisoners have been incarcerated for dissent for nearly two decades,” said Kate Mallinson, a Central Asia analyst.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 328, published on May 12 2017)