Andijan massacre

Map of eastern Uzbekistan

The Andijan massacre occurred when Uzbek troops from the Ministry of Internal Affairs fired into a crowd of protesters in Andijan, Uzbekistan in May 2005. Estimates of those killed on May 13 range from between 187, the official count of the government, and 5,000 people, with most outside reports estimating several hundred dead. people. The exact number of victims is still uncertain. The bodies of many of those who died were allegedly hidden in mass graves following the massacre.

The Uzbek government at first said the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan organized the unrest and the protesters were members of Hizb ut-Tahrir. Critics argue that the Islamic radical label is "a pretext for maintaining a repressive state"; there is also a dispute whether troops fired indiscriminately at peaceful protesters chanting "freedom" or acted legitimately to quell a prison break. The Uzbek government eventually acknowledged that poor economic conditions in the region and popular resentment played a role in the uprising.

Calls from the Western world for further investigation catalyzed changes in Uzbek foreign policy. The Uzbek government ordered the closing of the United States air base in Karshi-Khanabad. Uzbekistan improved ties with the People's Republic of China, India, and Russia and allied itself closer with China and Russia, who supported the regime's response in Andjian.

Trial of businessmen

In June 2004, 23 popular local businessmen were arrested and subsequently charged with charged with “extremism, fundamentalism and separatism” for alleged connections with Akramiya, an organization the Uzbek government has designated and banned as terrorist. The businessmen denied the charge, saying they were arrested because of their growing support among the local populace. There were irregularities in the trial, with allegations of torture of the defendants and coerced statements in court.

During the trial protests in front of the courthouse were common. On May 10 BBC news said another demonstration had occurred, this time in the city of Andijan. At least 1,000 people gathered. The protesters, mainly relatives of the defendants, videotaped the demonstration, which the police did not interrupt. Demonstrators lined the streets around the courthouse, with women on one side and men on the other. By May 11, when the verdict was to be announced, the demonstration swelled to over 4,000 residents of the city. Prosecutors had asked for prison terms ranging from three to seven years for 20 of the accused, offering to free the remaining three. The government postponed the sentencing, however. A relative of one defendant told uznews.net, "We are ready to do anything in order to free our innocent brothers." Late on May 12, the government arrested some of the peaceful protesters and relatives of the defendants.

May 13

On the night of May 12 or early in the morning of May 13 armed men attacked the prison where the businessmen were held and freed them, along with hundreds of other prisoners, many of which were charged with similar charges; several prison guards were killed. The armed men, including the 23 defendants, also took over the regional administration building in Andijan, and took at least twenty law enforcement and government officials hostage, including the Head of the Prosecutors Office and the Chief of the Tax Inspection Authority. An opposition group reported that rebels had unsuccessfully tried to seize the National Security Service headquarters in the city. They demanded the resignation of President Islom Karimov, though one of the protesters occupying the regional administration building told Radio Free Europe that their only demand was the release of all prisoners accused of involvement in Akramiya. Karimov's press office said that "intensive negotiations" proved fruitless. "The militants, taking cover behind women and children, are refusing any compromise," the statement said.

Encouraged by the prison break, even more protesters gathered in the central square to voice their anger over growing poverty and government corruption, speaking at microphones that were installed at Babur Square. Though government officials blocked the roads to Babur Square in the morning, they let people through on foot. Someone (it is unclear who) set fire to the Babur theater and cinema.

Government soldiers blocked the streets to the prison. Shooting incidents began in the morning; there was at least one exchange of gunfire between armed civilians and troops. But protestors remained on the square, apparently because of rumors that Karimov was coming to address their demands or because attempts to exit the square or surrender were refused.

Around 5 or 6 in the evening, the government launched a major offensive on the square without warning. There are reports that the protestors used government hostages as human shields in the front row as they tried to escape. According to Human Rights Watch, the government then sealed off the perimeter of the protest and opened fire. Some reports indicate indiscriminate firing by government troops, including the use of snipers, automatic rifles, and armoured personnel carriers. It is unclear whether Karimov personally ordered the attack.

Galima Bukharbaeva, a journalist for IWPR, witnessed a "mass of dead and wounded. At first, one group of armoured-personnel carriers approached the [city] square, and then another group appeared. They opened fire without mercy on everyone indiscriminately, including women and children. The crowd began to run in all directions. We dove into a ditch and lay there for a while. I saw at least five bloody corpses next to me. The rebels who are holding the provincial administration opened fire in response. They intend to stand to the end! When we got out of the ditch, we ran along the streets into the neighbourhood and now we're looking for a place where there's no shooting. But shots can be heard everywhere..." The Uzbek government disputes this and states that only terrorists were killed.

Several foreign news sources estimated the dead in Andijan as numbering between 400 to 600, with civilians accounting for almost all the victims. Some reports stated that troops had systematically shot the wounded after the first shootings. Uzbek President Islom Karimov "placed blame for the unrest on Islamic extremist groups, a label that he has used to describe political opponents in recent years and that his critics say is used as a pretext for maintaining a repressive state." A press release from the government stated that "As a result of the clashes, 9 people died and 34 were injured."

Mass graves

Muhammad Solih, founder and leader of the Erk political party in Uzbekistan, estimated more than 1,000 casualties in the massacre. Solih said the bodies were were buried in mass graves holding 15 to 20 people each, or were thrown into the Karasu river. Between May 13-14, 18 flights took 35 or more bodies from Andijan out of the city. Solih said, "Andijan is a litmus test for countries who want influence in the region. Russia sees Central Asia as the source for religious extremism, while China fears a growth of internal separatists," but "neither wants to recognize that Karimov gives strength to what they fear." The Chinese and Russian governments support for the Uzbek government allows it to avoid an international investigation.

Juraboy, a citizen of Andijan, led a Radio Free Europe correspondent to a mass grave on the far end of the city on 27 May 2005. Gravediggers told Radio Free Europe that 74 bodies were buried in the grave, and that there were 37 more secret graves, each containing two bodies, in the area. Three trucks brought the first bodies on May 13. On 28 May two people murdered Juraboy. Some families of the deceased found the graves of their relatives, dug up the bodies, and reburied them according to Islamic burial rites. There is another known mass grave outside of Andijan and grave in the botanical gardens in the center of the city. Vitaly Ponomaryov, director of the Central Asia Program at the Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Center, said, "planes flew out of Andijon beginning late in the evening on 13 May. In the course of 24 hours, there were around 18 flights. Our source for this information doesn't know where they were flying to, but he spoke with an eyewitness who talked about 36 bodies that were loaded into one plane alone."

Aftermath

Despite the violent crushing of the protests, the following day thousands reappeared to demonstrate. Huge crowds shouted "killers, murderers", and again demanded the president step down. One man, speaking of the previous days' events, said, "People were raising their hands up in the air showing they were without arms but soldiers were still shooting at them."

On May 14 thousands seeking to flee the country stormed government buildings in the eastern frontier town of Qorasuv, 50 km east of Andijan. They torched police offices and cars, before attacking guards on the Kyrgyz border. Authorities in Kyrgyzstan turned 6000 Uzbeks away. Uzbek army helicopters were seen circling overhead.

There is some information that on May 14 nearly 200 people (possibly armed people, who tried to flee to Kyrgyzstan) were killed in Pahtaabad, 30 km north-west of Andijan.

According to the New York Times, "[T]here were reports of skirmishes in or near Andijon and of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of refugees making their way to Kyrgyzstan. There were indications that the Uzbek government, which normally maintains strict order, did not have full control of a portion of the valley."

In Qorasuv, a town then under rebel control, the leader, Baxtiyor Rahimov stated that he would take control of local government and aimed to create an indepenant state. He said his supporters were prepared to fight for their cause, and that they could no longer tolerate Islom Karimov. The town was recaptured the night of May 18 and Rahimov was arrested. Bridges to Kyrgyzstan in Qorasuv were destroyed by Karimov's forces.

Peace Corps Uzbekistan closed its post in response to increased security threats, according to policy that corresponds with the security level of the in-country U.S. Embassy.

In a 60-page report based on 50 interviews with victims and witnesses of the Andijan crackdown, Human Rights Watch said the killing of unarmed protesters by the Uzbek government on May 13 was so extensive and unjustified that it amounted to a massacre.

In October 2005 an Uzbek court found several Kyrgyz citizens guilty of several crimes revolving around involvement in the Andijan massacre. The government denied access to observers and refused to identify the defendants as the trial proceeded.

Press

The government-controlled media within the country broadcast only brief statements regarding the crisis. In its news bulletins, Uzbek State TV said "an armed group of criminals" had attacked the security forces in Andijan: "The bandits seized dozens of weapons and moved on to attack a correctional colony, setting some convicts free." Describing the rebels as "extremists", they claimed that nine people had been killed and 34 wounded during the clashes. The local radio station had reportedly been taken off air. Authorities also blocked foreign TV news channels, including CNN and the BBC News.

Reaction

European Union

On October 3, 2005 the European Union approved an arms embargo on Uzbekistan and decided to deny visas to top Uzbek officials, in response to an "excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force" and because of the Uzbek government's opposition to an international investigation into the events. In November 2006 the EU renewed the sanctions but agreed to resume low-level talks.

British Foreign Minister Jack Straw said on May 15 that "there had been a clear abuse of human rights" in Uzbekistan.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier met with Uzbek Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov in March 2007. He told the foreign ministers of the governments of European Union member nations in Brussels on March 5 that the Government of Uzbekistan may be willing to let the International Committee of the Red Cross visit prisons in Uzbekistan, hold talks on the Andijan massacre with EU officials, and letting EU officials reexamine human rights cases in return for an end to the sanctions imposed by the EU following the incidents in Andijan. Steinmeier visited Uzbekistan again from 6 April-9 to further assess the effects of the economic sanctions and how to proceed. Uzbek Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov stressed the need to respect Uzbekistan's sovereignty when an EU delegation met with officials from Central Asian governments in Astana, Kazakhstan on 27 March and 28. Pierre Morel, the European Union's special representative to Central Asia, said continuing negotiations would be positive.

Shanghai Cooperation Organization members

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, composed of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, characterized the Andijan massacre as a terrorist plot. The SCO passed resolutions in July 2005 calling for nations to deny asylum to Uzbek refugees from Andijan in Kyrgyzstan.

Andijan protestors had called for help from Vladimir Putin, but Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a press conference after meeting with the foreign minister of CSTO member nations, "Uzbekistan is not a CSTO member, and we don't interfere in the internal affairs of other countries."

Kyrgyzstan, which had recently undergone a revolution, closed its border with Uzbekistan.

United States

When asked about the government's response to the incident, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the U.S. government has been "very consistently critical of the human rights situation in Uzbekistan, we're very concerned about the outbreak of violence in Andijan, in particular the escape of prisoners, including possibly members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, an organization we consider a terrorist organization. I think at this point we're looking to all the parties involved to exercise restraint to avoid any unnecessary loss of life." At another point Boucher said, "It's becoming increasingly clear that very large numbers of civilians were killed by the indiscriminate use of force by Uzbek forces. There needs to be a credible and a transparent accounting to establish the facts of the matter of what occurred in Andijon. At the same time I think it is clear that the episode began by an armed attack on the prison and on other government facilities. there are reports of hostage-taking and other claims that should be investigated. Nothing justified such acts of violence." Craig Murray, the ambassador of the United Kingdom to Uzbekistan, criticized the U.S. government's position, calling it a "sickening response." George Soros, chairman of the Open Society Institute which actively promoted the color revolutions, called the Andijan massacre "one of the worst political crimes committed in the 21st century." A bipartisan group of U.S. senators criticized the State Department's reaction and called for a United Nations investigation: "We believe that the United States must be careful about being too closely associated with a government that has killed hundreds of demonstrators and refused international calls for a transparent investigation."

Apparently in response to U.S. calls for an independent international investigation, the Government of Uzbekistan placed restrictions on the operation of the U.S. base in Karshi-Khanabad. After the U.S. participated in the international effort to relocate over 400 Andijan refugees from neighboring Kyrgyzstan, where they were constantly under threat of illegal extradition back to Uzbekistan, in July 2005, the Government of Uzbekistan ordered the Karshi-Khanabad base in the country's South to close within six months, and the US did so in November 2005. Karimov has instead decided to ally his nation closer with China and Russia, who, seeking more influence in Central Asia, expressed support for Karimov after the Andijan uprising.

Clan struggle theory of Andijan protests

A minority theory is that the Andijan uprising reflected a clan struggle.

Based on an undisclosed source, EurasiaNet reports that on May 25, 2004 the legislative chamber of Andijan's regional government voted to impeach Kobiljon Obidov, the Governor of Andijan and a leading member of the Ferghana clan, replacing him with Saydullo Begaliyev, the former Minister of Agriculture and Water in the national government. Governor Obidov's involvement in several political scandals lost him favor with President Karimov, who personally attended his impeachment proceedings. According to an anonymous source who spoke with EurasiaNet Obidov "was the province's master ... businesses favored by the hokim got the green light for everything. All the entrepreneurs who enjoyed [Obidov's] patronage," including the 23 businessmen, "grew rich." In late 2004 Karimov appointed Ikromkhon Nazhmiddinov, who succeeded Begaliyev as the Minister of Agriculture and Water, Governor of Ferghana province.

The source said, "Criminal proceedings were started against many of his [Obidov's] administration members. The new hokim also decided to re-divide the businesses in the province; he cracked down on the entrepreneurs who had been supported by Obidov. They were told to sell their businesses for a pittance either to him [Begaliyev] or his people, or face legal proceedings."

Ikbol Mirsaitov, a Kyrgyz expert on Islam, said that trial and subsequent unrest "was all about clan struggle."

Obidov, initially put under house arrest, is now imprisoned in Tashkent. Karimov replaced Begaliyev with Akhmad Usmanov, the former security head of the Interior Ministry of Namangan province, on October 13, 2006.

Quotations

• "The people have risen up" - Valijon Atakhonjonov, brother of a defendant involved with the trial, on May 13, 2005.
• "We are believers, nothing more" - Unnamed man describing himself as one of the rebel leaders, denying links to Islamic extremism.
• "In Uzbekistan, nobody fights against women, children or the elderly," - President Karimov denying that he had given any orders for the army to shoot unarmed protesters.
• "He said: 'We don't care if 200, 300 or 400 people die. We have force and we will chuck you out of there anyway,'" - Kabuljon Parpiyev, referring to comments allegedly made by Uzbek Interior Minister Almatov during negotiations.
• "To accept their terms would mean that we are setting a precedent that no other country in the world would accept" – Karimov referring to alleged demands by rebels that all followers be released from jails in the Fergana Valley.
• Aksam Turgunov, a member of Erk, a small opposition party, vented his disgust at Mr. Karimov. "He lied brazenly to his people. He will go down in history as a bloodthirsty tyrant. It's clear now, he shot at civilians. So the police are out to defend his actions. They are looking for criminals, but the worst criminal sits undisturbed."
• "We will be building an Islamic state here in accordance with the Quran" - Baxtiyor Rahimov, rebel leader, outlining his prospective policy for governing Uzbekistan.

See also

• History of Uzbekistan
• Politics of Uzbekistan
• Islam in Uzbekistan
• Colour revolution

Further reading

• Adeeb Khalid. Islam After Communism: Religion And Politics in Central Asia, University of California Press, 2007, ISBN 0-520-24927-5
• Rand Robert. Tamerlane's Children: Dispatches from Contemporary Uzbekistan, Oneworld Publications, 2006, ISBN-13: 978-1-85168-457-1

External links

• Video of the prelude to the Massacre An edited video of the prelude to the massacre on Babur Square released by the Uzbek Government in June 2006, together with analysis by Martha Brill Olcott on the Carnegie Foundation's website.
• Preliminary findings on the events in Andijan Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, June 2005
• "Documenting Andijan", Council for Foreign Relations, 26 Jun 2006.
• Human Rights Watch report
• Uzbekistan: Waiting for the other shoe to drop, a follow up by The Economist