[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 68 (Thursday, May 26, 1994)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Page E] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov] [Congressional Record: May 26, 1994] From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] HUMAN RIGHTS IN UZBEKISTAN ______ HON. STENY H. HOYER of maryland in the house of representatives Thursday, May 26, 1994 Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, Uzbekistan's regime continues to flout CSCE commitments by cracking down on opposition activists and violating their human rights. Even more alarming, Uzbekistan's security agencies have reached beyond the country's borders to attack and intimidate Uzbek human rights activists abroad. The United States must communicate to Uzbekistan that such behavior is intolerable. Under President Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan's democratic opposition has been terrorized out of existence. Erk and Birlik, the two largest political groups, have been shut down and their leaders hounded into exile. Mohammad Solikh, the chairman of Erk, now lives in Istanbul, after going underground in his homeland to escape the security services' dragnet. Also in Istanbul is Abdurrakhim Pulatov, the chairman of Birlik, who was nearly killed when he was beaten on the head with metal rods in Tashkent, Uzbekistan's capital. Pulatov's brother Abdumannob, a member of Birlik's leadership, received special attention from Uzbekistan's coercive apparatus. While attending a human rights conference in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in December 1992, Uzbek security agents kidnaped him and forcibly brought him to Tashkent, where he stood trial on trumped-up charges of ``insulting the dignity of the president.'' Fortunately, a groundswell of international publicity and interest in the case saved him from prison: the court convicted him, but he was amnestied and now lives in the United States. Apparently undeterred by the international condemnation connected with that incident, Uzbek security, it seems, last week tried the same tactic. Uzbek agents went to Almaty, Kazakhstan, to inquire about Uzbek human rights activists assembled there for a conference organized by the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews. Informed about the Uzbeks' presence and likely purpose, Kazakhstan's authorities promptly deported them, for which they deserve credit. No Uzbek activists suffered harassment in Kazakhstan. In Uzbekistan, however, two members of the opposition group Birlik were reportedly detained to prevent their travel to Kazakhstan for the conference. What underlies this behavior was an attitude that Uzbek Government officials recently made explicit at a CSCE-sponsored Seminar on the Human Dimension in Almaty. They argued that, as Uzbekistan is not a European state, perhaps Western concepts of human rights were not applicable there. Mr. Speaker, Uzbekistan in 1992 voluntarily joined the CSCE, by which act it freely obligated itself to fulfill CSCE commitments. The very basis of the CSCE--and of modern, civilized countries--is the belief that human rights are inalienable and universal, regardless of history, cultural traditions or values. If Uzbekistan's president and government do not subscribe to this belief, maybe they should reconsider their membership in CSCE and the benefits it confers. Meanwhile, they should expect continued criticism of their repressive policies, which are impeding the improvement of United States-Uzbek relations. ____________________