Islom Karimov
Encyclopedia
Islam Abdug‘aniyevich Karimov (Cyrillic Uzbek
: Ислом Абдуғаниевич Каримов; Russian
: Ислам Абдуганиевич Каримов Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov) (born January 30, 1938) is the first President of Uzbekistan
, serving since 1990.
at birth, grew up to study economics and engineering at school. He became an official in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
, becoming the party's First Secretary in Uzbekistan in 1989. On March 24, 1990 he became President of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. Karimov's election to the Uzbek Communist Party resulted after his predecessor Rafik Nishanov failed to quell inter-ethnic clashes and instability in the Fergana
region. He declared Uzbekistan an independent nation on August 31, 1991 and subsequently won Uzbekistan's first presidential election on December 29, 1991, with 86% of the vote. The election was called unfair, with state-run propaganda and a falsified vote count, although the opposing candidate and leader of the Erk (Freedom) Party, Muhammad Salih
, had a chance to participate. Karimov permitted the participation of the opposition organizations Birlik
("popular movement") and the Islamic Renaissance Party until his efforts to consolidate power over Shukrullo Mirsaidov
, a former Communist Party elite who had originally supported Karimov's rise to the Party presidency. The period of political thaw was brief; Karimov began to complicate the registration process of opposition parties during elections. As Birlik grew in strength as a "popular movement", it was denied the ability to register as a "political party" without the required 60,000 signatures. The Karimov government allowed Birlik one day to gather these signatures, 25,000 of which they rejected. Karimov effectively took authoritarian measures to block any meaningful opposition.
. He was re-elected with 91.9% of the vote on 9 January 2000. The United States
said that this election "was neither free nor fair and offered Uzbekistan's voters no true choice". The sole opposition candidate, Abdulhafiz Jalalov, implicitly admitted that he entered the race only to make it seem democratic and publicly stated that he voted for Karimov. Following this election in 1996, Karimov further tightened the restrictions on his opposition through the Law On Political Parties. This law ensured the right to meetings, publications, and elections of opposition parties, but only to those who had registered with the Ministry of Justice. This policy allowed for government blockage of unapproved parties. Political parties based on ethnic, religious, military, or subversive ideas were prohibited.
Karimov's reelection resulted from highly criticized electoral practices. 99.6% had elected to keep Karimov in office after his term had expired, but ballots had been created such that it was much easier for voters to cast a "yes" vote than a "no" vote. Unmarked ballots, as well as ballots of those who did not vote, were automatically counted as "yes" votes, while a full black mark, under the supervision of authorities, was necessary to count as a "no" vote.
Under the Karimov regime, a heavy regulation policy of NGOs
led to the creation of paradoxically-named GONGOs, or Government-Organized Non-Governmental Organizations. Trade unions became "an instrument of management rather than a means of interest group-based collective bargaining." The Karimov government requires universities to serve a strictly pedagogical purpose and not as a branch of civil society; they must provide students with skills for the workplace without an emphasis on the skill of critique of public issues.
After the September 11, 2001 attacks
Uzbekistan was considered a strategic ally in the United States' "War on Terror
" campaign because of a mutual opposition to the Taliban. Uzbekistan hosted an 800-strong U.S. troop presence at the Karshi-Khanabad base, also known as "K2", which supported U.S.-led efforts in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan
. This move was criticized by Human Rights Watch which said the U.S. government subordinated the promotion of human rights to assistance in the War in Afghanistan. U.S.-Uzbek relations deteriorated in May 2005 when Karimov's government strongly encouraged the abandonment of the U.S. base in the face of U.S. government criticism of the government killings of protestors in Andijan
. In July 2005 U.S. military forces left Karshi-Khanabad.
Karimov mobilized against the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
and Hizb-ut-Tahrir, two Islamist organizations that have been designated as terrorist by his government. The Uzbek government sentenced Tohir Yo‘ldosh
and Juma Namangani, leaders of the IMU, to death in absentia
. Namangani died in Afghanistan
in 2001, and Tohir Yo‘ldosh was killed in an air strike on August 27, 2009. Though the Uzbekistani constitution protects the separation of religion and state, the Karimov regime has marginalized politically dissident Muslims and religious leaders who critique its human rights abuses through rhetoric of “anti-terrorism.” From 1991 to 2004, the government has imprisoned over 7,000 Uzbeks for “Islamist extremism,” and silenced Imams like Muhammad Rajab, who advocated for more open democracy in the early 1990s. These fears of extremism arose out of discourse among the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) of a "Jihad against the Karimov regime." The government of Uzbekistan retains fears of "large-scale all-encompassing anti-state conspiracies" and "echoes of Basmachi"
Among Karimov's anti-Islamist policies is the purge of Muslim leaders. Karimov led a crackdown on Adolat, a league of Muslim activists. Explicit fears of threats of Islamic extremism also led to a crackdown of displays of Islamic practice in public. The term "Wahhabis" became the umbrella term to refer to all strains of "extremist" Islam; it did not necessarily refer to the branch of Islamic extremism origninated in Saudi Arabia. Ordinary practicing Muslims have been targeted and jailed without trial, and frequent use of torture and occasional "disappearances" have been reported.
to run for a third term. On November 19, the Central Election Commission announced the approval of Karimov's candidacy, a decision that Karimov's opponents condemned as illegal.
Following the election on 23 December, preliminary official results showed Karimov winning with 88.1% of the vote, on a turnout rate that was placed at 90.6%. Observers from groups allied to the Karimov administration such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
and the Commonwealth of Independent States
gave the election a positive assessment. However, observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe criticized the election as lacking a "genuine choice," while others deemed the election, a "political charade," given that all three of Karimov's rivals began their campaign speeches by singing Karimov's praises.
and press freedom. In particular, Craig Murray
, the British Ambassador from 2002 to 2004, described widespread torture, kidnapping, murder, rape by the police, financial corruption, religious persecution, censorship, and other human rights abuses. This included the case of Karimov's security forces executing prisoners Muzafar Avazov
and Khuzniddin Alimov by boiling them alive
in 2002. Murray became noted within the British government for memos disagreeing with official UK & US policy, which was at the time to back up Karimov as part of the global war on terror. Uzbekistan was used for extraordinary rendition
and for the air base in Karshi-Khanabad
. Murray wrote two books about his experiences; Murder in Samarkand
and Dirty Diplomacy.
In response, the Uzbek government criticized Murray for not behaving like a genuine British ambassador. It informally stated that diplomacy is more about mutual compromise rather than one-handed harsh criticism. The British government replaced him in 2005.
The United Nations
found torture
"institutionalized, systematic, and rampant" in Uzbekistan's judicial system. For several years, Parade magazine
has selected Karimov as one of the world's worst dictator
s, citing his tactics of torture
, media censorship, and fake elections
.
Karimov's Party apparatus gained effective control over the media during the immediate independence period. Due to a poor human rights and democratization record, the Karimov administration worked to improve its image by allowing broadcasts from Radio Liberty and Radio Free Europe. A tarnished record had harmed the efforts to gain greater access to developmental aid and foreign investment.
According to the Uzbek Constitution freedom of expression in the media is nominally guaranteed. The Karimov administration has persistently violated this press freedom. Article 67 states that "Censorship is not permitted." Under the Karimov government, all media publications must be "held accountable for the reliability" of the information released. This "accountability" actually introduces an opportunity for further government censorship, as the definition of "accountability" is left to the Karimov administration's discretion. Article 29 states that all freedom of media expression is to be allowed with the exceptions of releasing state secrets and statements against the Constitution. The printed media of Uzbekistan has a high number of publications, but is dominated by three: Khalq Sozi, its Russian edition Narodnoye Slovo, and another Russian-language publication, Pravda Vostoka. The state owns almost all media, and the State Control Inspecorate, located in Tashkent, secures tight editorial control. Topics deemed "sensitive" are not considered for publishing. A ban is in place that prevents publications that give space to "unregistered opinions." Arrests of journalists have been documented in Tashkent and Samarkand.
As a propaganda tool, the state strictly controls the tone and subject material of publish works. State censors give preference to works that provide a positive, uplifting ideology to its readers. Criticism that passes the censors is limited to low and mid-level officers. One publication, Vatantaraqqioh, is under investigation because of its criticism of the "lack of diversity" in the Uzbek press. Although the Karimov regime during the 1990s assumed a greater tolerance for foreign media, the state has heavily limited foreign publications during the past decade. There has been a considerable reduction of Russian-sponsored broadcasting, and Western media has diminished in publication as well. Forty-six financially independent television and radio broadcasts were taken off the air unexpectedly.
Banned publications under the Karimov administration include Mustaqil Haftalik and Erk, the respective publications of the Birilik and Erk opposition parties. The Karimov government charged each publication on the grounds of being "disloyal to the current regime.". In December 1995, Karimov was quoted in describing local journalists as "toothless." Karimov had essentially called for more criticism in printed material, but only "approved" criticism.
In May 2002, the Karimov administration lifted the pre-publication censorship, and fined the chief censor, Ervin Kamilov. The State Inspectorate for the Protection of State Secrets was disbanded. Two days later, the administration proceeded to reinstate further censorship measures. Among topics prohibited in Uzbekistan's publications are official corruption, opposition political parties and Islamic organizations. Radio Liberty lost its broadcast rights. Uzbekistan has one state-run internet server, UZPAK, that blocks prohibited websites.
According to Ikrom Yakubov, a major in Uzbekistan's secret service who defected to Britain in 2007, the government "propped up" Akramia, which the Uzbek government blamed for fomenting the sparking the incident led to the protests. He believes that the attacks were incident was a pretext to repress dissenters. According to Yakubov, President Karimov personally ordered government troops to fire on the protestors. http://www.rferl.org/content/Former_Uzbek_Spy_Seeks_Asylum/1195372.html
Islam 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". Andijan massacre
, serves as an advisor for Uzbekistan's ambassador to Russia
and is believed to have built an extensive business empire that includes the largest mobile phone operator in the country, night clubs and a large cement factory. Karimov's second daughter, Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva
, is known in Uzbekistan for her role in promoting education and sports, as well as championing the rights of children. She is founder of major charity organizations in Uzbekistan - "You are not alone", Republican Social Children's Fund for helping orphans, and Republican Center for Social Adaptation of Children, mainly focusing at disabled children and those from vulnerable groups.
Uzbek language
Uzbek is a Turkic language and the official language of Uzbekistan. It has about 25.5 million native speakers, and it is spoken by the Uzbeks in Uzbekistan and elsewhere in Central Asia...
: Ислом Абдуғаниевич Каримов; Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
: Ислам Абдуганиевич Каримов Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov) (born January 30, 1938) is the first President of Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
, serving since 1990.
Early life and career
Karimov, placed in an orphanage in SamarkandSamarkand
Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...
at birth, grew up to study economics and engineering at school. He became an official in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
, becoming the party's First Secretary in Uzbekistan in 1989. On March 24, 1990 he became President of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. Karimov's election to the Uzbek Communist Party resulted after his predecessor Rafik Nishanov failed to quell inter-ethnic clashes and instability in the Fergana
Fergana
Fergana is a city , the capital of Fergana Province in eastern Uzbekistan, at the southern edge of the Fergana Valley in southern Central Asia, cutting across the borders of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan...
region. He declared Uzbekistan an independent nation on August 31, 1991 and subsequently won Uzbekistan's first presidential election on December 29, 1991, with 86% of the vote. The election was called unfair, with state-run propaganda and a falsified vote count, although the opposing candidate and leader of the Erk (Freedom) Party, Muhammad Salih
Muhammad Salih
Muhammad Salih , is an Uzbek political opposition leader and writer. He lives in exile in Norway where the government has granted him political asylum.-Early life:...
, had a chance to participate. Karimov permitted the participation of the opposition organizations Birlik
Unity (Uzbekistan)
Birlik is a now banned political party formed in September 1989 under the leadership of Islam Karimov....
("popular movement") and the Islamic Renaissance Party until his efforts to consolidate power over Shukrullo Mirsaidov
Shukrullo Mirsaidov
Shukrullo Raxmatovich Mirsaidov served as the last Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Uzbek SSR and then as Vice President of Uzbekistan until Uzbek President Islam...
, a former Communist Party elite who had originally supported Karimov's rise to the Party presidency. The period of political thaw was brief; Karimov began to complicate the registration process of opposition parties during elections. As Birlik grew in strength as a "popular movement", it was denied the ability to register as a "political party" without the required 60,000 signatures. The Karimov government allowed Birlik one day to gather these signatures, 25,000 of which they rejected. Karimov effectively took authoritarian measures to block any meaningful opposition.
Presidency
Uzbekistan under the Karimov government classifies as a hard authoritarian regime with little to no civil society promotion. The state's primary legitimacy claims are anti-Islamism and ethnic identity. Karimov's primary authoritarian measures that were implemented following the brief period of "thaw" and political tolerance include the thwarting of alternative politica leaders from coalition building.Election controversies
In 1995, Karimov extended his term until 2000 through a widely criticized referendumReferendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
. He was re-elected with 91.9% of the vote on 9 January 2000. The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
said that this election "was neither free nor fair and offered Uzbekistan's voters no true choice". The sole opposition candidate, Abdulhafiz Jalalov, implicitly admitted that he entered the race only to make it seem democratic and publicly stated that he voted for Karimov. Following this election in 1996, Karimov further tightened the restrictions on his opposition through the Law On Political Parties. This law ensured the right to meetings, publications, and elections of opposition parties, but only to those who had registered with the Ministry of Justice. This policy allowed for government blockage of unapproved parties. Political parties based on ethnic, religious, military, or subversive ideas were prohibited.
Karimov's reelection resulted from highly criticized electoral practices. 99.6% had elected to keep Karimov in office after his term had expired, but ballots had been created such that it was much easier for voters to cast a "yes" vote than a "no" vote. Unmarked ballots, as well as ballots of those who did not vote, were automatically counted as "yes" votes, while a full black mark, under the supervision of authorities, was necessary to count as a "no" vote.
Administrative policies
As a poor indication of contact and negotiation with Western nations, Karimov has taken fewer foreign visits, especially to the West, in comparison to his Kazakh counterpart. There is also a low number of foreign embassies in Tashkent as of 2003, with only 13 total embassies; only 7 from countries not part of the former Soviet Union and only 3 from the West.Under the Karimov regime, a heavy regulation policy of NGOs
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
led to the creation of paradoxically-named GONGOs, or Government-Organized Non-Governmental Organizations. Trade unions became "an instrument of management rather than a means of interest group-based collective bargaining." The Karimov government requires universities to serve a strictly pedagogical purpose and not as a branch of civil society; they must provide students with skills for the workplace without an emphasis on the skill of critique of public issues.
Policies towards Islam
Karimov had originally cultivated Islamic symbols after independence in order to coopt religious opposition. In May 1999, as a response to the threat of Islamic radicalism, the Oliy Majlis revised the 'Law on Freedom of Conscious and Religious Organizations' to impose new restrictions on religious groups. The construction of mosques, for example, required permission and specific documentation. An assassination attempt on Karimov in 1999 elicited even more repression of Islamic groups.After the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
Uzbekistan was considered a strategic ally in the United States' "War on Terror
War on Terror
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
" campaign because of a mutual opposition to the Taliban. Uzbekistan hosted an 800-strong U.S. troop presence at the Karshi-Khanabad base, also known as "K2", which supported U.S.-led efforts in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
. This move was criticized by Human Rights Watch which said the U.S. government subordinated the promotion of human rights to assistance in the War in Afghanistan. U.S.-Uzbek relations deteriorated in May 2005 when Karimov's government strongly encouraged the abandonment of the U.S. base in the face of U.S. government criticism of the government killings of protestors in Andijan
Andijan massacre
The Andijan massacre occurred when Uzbek Interior Ministry and National Security Service troops fired into a crowd of protesters in Andijan, Uzbekistan on 13 May 2005. Estimates of those killed on 13 May range from between 187, the official count of the government, and 5,000 people, with most...
. In July 2005 U.S. military forces left Karshi-Khanabad.
Karimov mobilized against the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan is a militant Islamist group formed in 1991 by the Islamic ideologue Tahir Yuldashev, and former Soviet paratrooper Juma Namangani—both ethnic Uzbeks from the Fergana Valley...
and Hizb-ut-Tahrir, two Islamist organizations that have been designated as terrorist by his government. The Uzbek government sentenced Tohir Yo‘ldosh
Tohir Yo‘ldosh
Tohir Yo‘ldosh, born Tohir Abduhalilovich Yo‘ldoshev , cofounded the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan , an Islamist organization active in Central Asia, with Juma Namangani in December 1991...
and Juma Namangani, leaders of the IMU, to death in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
. Namangani died in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
in 2001, and Tohir Yo‘ldosh was killed in an air strike on August 27, 2009. Though the Uzbekistani constitution protects the separation of religion and state, the Karimov regime has marginalized politically dissident Muslims and religious leaders who critique its human rights abuses through rhetoric of “anti-terrorism.” From 1991 to 2004, the government has imprisoned over 7,000 Uzbeks for “Islamist extremism,” and silenced Imams like Muhammad Rajab, who advocated for more open democracy in the early 1990s. These fears of extremism arose out of discourse among the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) of a "Jihad against the Karimov regime." The government of Uzbekistan retains fears of "large-scale all-encompassing anti-state conspiracies" and "echoes of Basmachi"
Among Karimov's anti-Islamist policies is the purge of Muslim leaders. Karimov led a crackdown on Adolat, a league of Muslim activists. Explicit fears of threats of Islamic extremism also led to a crackdown of displays of Islamic practice in public. The term "Wahhabis" became the umbrella term to refer to all strains of "extremist" Islam; it did not necessarily refer to the branch of Islamic extremism origninated in Saudi Arabia. Ordinary practicing Muslims have been targeted and jailed without trial, and frequent use of torture and occasional "disappearances" have been reported.
Re-election
Karimov sought another term in the December 2007 presidential election, despite arguments that he was ineligible due to the two-term limit on the presidency. On November 6, 2007, Karimov accepted the nomination of the Uzbekistan Liberal Democratic PartyUzbekistan Liberal Democratic Party
The Uzbekistan Liberal Democratic Party is a political party in Uzbekistan, and is considered a center-left party. During the 2004-2005 legislative election, the party won 41 out of 120 seats, and in the Uzbekistani parliamentary election, 2009–2010, it won 55 out of 150.The party said on 4...
to run for a third term. On November 19, the Central Election Commission announced the approval of Karimov's candidacy, a decision that Karimov's opponents condemned as illegal.
Following the election on 23 December, preliminary official results showed Karimov winning with 88.1% of the vote, on a turnout rate that was placed at 90.6%. Observers from groups allied to the Karimov administration such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Shanghai Cooperation Organization
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation or SCO , is an intergovernmental mutual-security organisation which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan...
and the Commonwealth of Independent States
Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union....
gave the election a positive assessment. However, observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe criticized the election as lacking a "genuine choice," while others deemed the election, a "political charade," given that all three of Karimov's rivals began their campaign speeches by singing Karimov's praises.
Human rights and press freedom
The international community has repeatedly criticized the Karimov administration's record on human rightsHuman rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
and press freedom. In particular, Craig Murray
Craig Murray
Craig John Murray is a British political activist, former ambassador to Uzbekistan and former Rector of the University of Dundee....
, the British Ambassador from 2002 to 2004, described widespread torture, kidnapping, murder, rape by the police, financial corruption, religious persecution, censorship, and other human rights abuses. This included the case of Karimov's security forces executing prisoners Muzafar Avazov
Muzafar Avazov
Muzafar Avazov,a 35-year-old father of four, was a Uzbekistan torture victim executed in 2002. Human Rights Watch recorded his death as "suspicious" with evidence of torture, citing Uzbekistan's repression of independent Muslims. Individuals who had seen the body told Human Rights Watch that it...
and Khuzniddin Alimov by boiling them alive
Boiling to death
Death by boiling is a method of execution in which a person is killed by being immersed in a boiling liquid such as water or oil. While not as common as other methods of execution, boiling to death has been used in many parts of Europe and Asia...
in 2002. Murray became noted within the British government for memos disagreeing with official UK & US policy, which was at the time to back up Karimov as part of the global war on terror. Uzbekistan was used for extraordinary rendition
Extraordinary rendition
Extraordinary rendition is the abduction and illegal transfer of a person from one nation to another. "Torture by proxy" is used by some critics to describe situations in which the United States and the United Kingdom have transferred suspected terrorists to other countries in order to torture the...
and for the air base in Karshi-Khanabad
Karshi-Khanabad
Karshi-Khanabad is an air base in southeastern Uzbekistan, just east of Karshi. It is home to the 60th Separate Mixed Aviation Brigade of the Uzbek Air Force. A section of the base serves as a commercial airport, supporting a limited number of passenger flights.From 1954 to 1981, the 735th Fighter...
. Murray wrote two books about his experiences; Murder in Samarkand
Murder in Samarkand
Murder in Samarkand is a non-fiction book by British activist and former ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray. The book forms an account of Murray's controversial ambassadorship at the UK embassy in Tashkent in 2002–04...
and Dirty Diplomacy.
In response, the Uzbek government criticized Murray for not behaving like a genuine British ambassador. It informally stated that diplomacy is more about mutual compromise rather than one-handed harsh criticism. The British government replaced him in 2005.
The United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
found torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
"institutionalized, systematic, and rampant" in Uzbekistan's judicial system. For several years, Parade magazine
Parade (magazine)
Parade is an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 500 newspapers in the United States. It was founded in 1941 and is owned by Advance Publications. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., Parade has a circulation of 32.2 million and a readership of nearly 70...
has selected Karimov as one of the world's worst dictator
Dictator
A dictator is a ruler who assumes sole and absolute power but without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship...
s, citing his tactics of torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
, media censorship, and fake elections
Show election
A show election, also known as a sham election or rubber stamp election, is an election that is held purely for show, that is, without any significant political purpose...
.
Karimov's Party apparatus gained effective control over the media during the immediate independence period. Due to a poor human rights and democratization record, the Karimov administration worked to improve its image by allowing broadcasts from Radio Liberty and Radio Free Europe. A tarnished record had harmed the efforts to gain greater access to developmental aid and foreign investment.
According to the Uzbek Constitution freedom of expression in the media is nominally guaranteed. The Karimov administration has persistently violated this press freedom. Article 67 states that "Censorship is not permitted." Under the Karimov government, all media publications must be "held accountable for the reliability" of the information released. This "accountability" actually introduces an opportunity for further government censorship, as the definition of "accountability" is left to the Karimov administration's discretion. Article 29 states that all freedom of media expression is to be allowed with the exceptions of releasing state secrets and statements against the Constitution. The printed media of Uzbekistan has a high number of publications, but is dominated by three: Khalq Sozi, its Russian edition Narodnoye Slovo, and another Russian-language publication, Pravda Vostoka. The state owns almost all media, and the State Control Inspecorate, located in Tashkent, secures tight editorial control. Topics deemed "sensitive" are not considered for publishing. A ban is in place that prevents publications that give space to "unregistered opinions." Arrests of journalists have been documented in Tashkent and Samarkand.
As a propaganda tool, the state strictly controls the tone and subject material of publish works. State censors give preference to works that provide a positive, uplifting ideology to its readers. Criticism that passes the censors is limited to low and mid-level officers. One publication, Vatantaraqqioh, is under investigation because of its criticism of the "lack of diversity" in the Uzbek press. Although the Karimov regime during the 1990s assumed a greater tolerance for foreign media, the state has heavily limited foreign publications during the past decade. There has been a considerable reduction of Russian-sponsored broadcasting, and Western media has diminished in publication as well. Forty-six financially independent television and radio broadcasts were taken off the air unexpectedly.
Banned publications under the Karimov administration include Mustaqil Haftalik and Erk, the respective publications of the Birilik and Erk opposition parties. The Karimov government charged each publication on the grounds of being "disloyal to the current regime.". In December 1995, Karimov was quoted in describing local journalists as "toothless." Karimov had essentially called for more criticism in printed material, but only "approved" criticism.
In May 2002, the Karimov administration lifted the pre-publication censorship, and fined the chief censor, Ervin Kamilov. The State Inspectorate for the Protection of State Secrets was disbanded. Two days later, the administration proceeded to reinstate further censorship measures. Among topics prohibited in Uzbekistan's publications are official corruption, opposition political parties and Islamic organizations. Radio Liberty lost its broadcast rights. Uzbekistan has one state-run internet server, UZPAK, that blocks prohibited websites.
2005 Andijan Massacre
According to refugee detailed accounts, some 400 of the 500 killed were said to be driven deliberately into a trap -- authorities had blocked all the exits from Bobur Square with APCs, preventing people from dispersing home. Instead, they drove the crowd into a closed street, Chulpon Avenue, where snipers and police shot to kill. It was these scenes of deliberate killings that prompted eyewitnesses to allege that troops not only shot to disperse the demonstration, but to summarily execute anyone who took part in it. Later, some tortured detainees recounted that police said they had received orders supposedly emanating from the president himself to shoot to kill.http://www.eurasianet.org/node/62372According to Ikrom Yakubov, a major in Uzbekistan's secret service who defected to Britain in 2007, the government "propped up" Akramia, which the Uzbek government blamed for fomenting the sparking the incident led to the protests. He believes that the attacks were incident was a pretext to repress dissenters. According to Yakubov, President Karimov personally ordered government troops to fire on the protestors. http://www.rferl.org/content/Former_Uzbek_Spy_Seeks_Asylum/1195372.html
Islam 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". Andijan massacre
Andijan massacre
The Andijan massacre occurred when Uzbek Interior Ministry and National Security Service troops fired into a crowd of protesters in Andijan, Uzbekistan on 13 May 2005. Estimates of those killed on 13 May range from between 187, the official count of the government, and 5,000 people, with most...
Personal life
Karimov's wife, Tatyana Akbarovna Karimova, is an economist. They have two daughters and three grandchildren. His eldest daughter Gulnara KarimovaGulnara Karimova
Gulnara Islomovna Karimova is an Uzbek businesswoman, fashion designer, singer and diplomat. She is the eldest daughter of the President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov.-Education:...
, serves as an advisor for Uzbekistan's ambassador to Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and is believed to have built an extensive business empire that includes the largest mobile phone operator in the country, night clubs and a large cement factory. Karimov's second daughter, Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva
Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva
Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva is the younger daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov.In January 2008 she was appointed to her current role as Uzbekistan's Permanent Representative to UNESCO.Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva was born in 1978....
, is known in Uzbekistan for her role in promoting education and sports, as well as championing the rights of children. She is founder of major charity organizations in Uzbekistan - "You are not alone", Republican Social Children's Fund for helping orphans, and Republican Center for Social Adaptation of Children, mainly focusing at disabled children and those from vulnerable groups.