New Parliamentary Elections in Uzbekistan

The parliamentary and municipal election campaigns had already started in Uzbekistan on September 22.

The number of candidates will increase from 120 to 150 people. Fifteen seats are assigned for candidates of the Uzbek Environmental Movement. There are four political parties in Uzbekistan: the People's Democratic Party, the Businessmen Movement - Liberal Democratic Party, the Adolat Social Democratic Party and the Milli Tiklanish Democratic Party. All Uzbek citizens of 18 and older can vote in the elections.

The Uzbek newspapers covering the campaign claim that they are being conducted in a democratic manner and comply with the international standards of elections. I am not sure though what democracy means to the government officials in Uzbekistan when Central Election Commission Chairman, Mirzo-Ulugbek Abdusalomov, who read a brief statement about the elections, declined to provide a single response to the questions of the media representatives.

Also, the Uzmetronom.com openly criticized the election campaigns and stated that Uzbek government officials prefer to communicate with the people through different government decrees, which cannot be discussed, or through press briefings, in which media representatives act as a silent crowd who create visibility of the public interest to the events happening in the country.

Shootings in Tashkent: Were They Simple Bandits or Members of Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan

In August 29, 2009, many Web sites reported about shootings that took place in Tashkent city. These shootings  took place at Mannon Uygur Street near the Kukcha mosque. 


According to the news reports, 2 gunmen and middle-aged lady who lived in the same building were killed during the operation. Ferghana.ru also reported that after special forces came to the scene, they drove most residents out from their apartments. Then, indiscriminately started shooting at the building. 


Firstly, the Prosecutor-General's Office accused that killed gunmen were bandits, and after a while, changed their terminology blaming them as members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. The Prosecutor's Office also blamed these individuals with recent killings of two Tashkent imams (religious leaders) and high-ranking law enforcement chief Hasan Asadov.


So, it seems that the law enforcement simply solved the problem of investigations into the killings of two religious leaders and one of the law enforcement officials by accusing the killed gunmen. 


Uznews.net also reported that witnesses of the events said that the gunmen were not terrorists but a criminal gang. Here's an excerpt from the article "Witnesses reject terrorism claims in recent shooting" published on September 7, 2009:

"Residents of a neighbourhood where an unknown group and Uzbek security officers exchanged fire on 29 August say that a woman was killed in the incident. They deny claims that those killed were terrorists.

They say that a criminal gang was uncovered in their neighbourhood after a tip-off to police which did not expect to meet armed resistance.

The gang was operating in other parts of the city and one of its members was recognised by their neighbour on Mannon Uygur St who reported to police."

It is not a secret, that the government officials are trying to frame each incident as a terrorist attack and it became a regular accusation that was employed since 1996 bombings in Tashkent city and since the Andijan events in 2005.

Uzbek Foreign Affairs Minister Counter-criticized Rights Violations

According to EUbusiness.com, the Uzbek Foreign Affairs Minister, Vladimir Norov, reacted to the criticisms over human rights violations in Uzbekistan and provided a counter-criticism accusing the West of "Islamophobia". 

The following excerpt from EUbusiness.com details what has been said by the minister:

"There is very widespread Islamophobia in the West, prejudice against Asian and Muslim states. It's that which we must act against," he said.

On the question of the use of torture he said that this was not a solely Uzbek problem as "torture is a problem that exists everywhere ... in Europe as well."

We have nothing to hide," Norov insisted, stressing that his Central Asian nation allowed International Red Cross visits throughout the country.

"We have 142 prisoners per 100,000 people. That's among the lowest figures in the world," he told reporters.

"We are open to listening to criticism but we also assume this a dialogue among equal partners," he said.

"We are an Asian Muslim society very much integrated into the Eurasian area. We do not depend on the European Union," he stressed.

I believe "Islamophobia" exists not only in the West, but also within the Uzbek government. The Uzbek government supports only "official Islam" meaning that it has to be within the government standards and anything out of it will be considered as extremism.


For example, this year's arrests of "Nur" movement followers and former graduates of joint Uzbek-Turkish high schools can be considered as an act of "Islamophobia" on the part of the Uzbek government (relevant information can be found here Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, UNHCR).