Accreditation Needed for Dialogue, Fair Reporting in Uzbekistan

Human Rights Watch, the internationally recognized non-governmental organization (NGO), continues to seek renewal of its official registration in Uzbekistan amidst talks of a possible closure. Closing its offices would not only impede HRW dialogue with government authorities, but further damage Tashkent’s relationship with the West, says Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of the Human Rights Watch.

HRW operations in the country were suspended in June 2007 when Andrea Berg, head of the mission in Tashkent, was denied registration renewal for unsubstantiated reasons.

The watchdog has continued reporting on Uzbekistan from its office in Almaty, Kazakhstan. However, it no longer has access to state representatives, which prevents HRW from conducting fair and balanced reporting.

“If our representative was based in Tashkent, it would be much easier to establish a dialogue with the state,” Roth said in an interview with Ferghana.ru.

However, authorities have recently refused the newly proposed candidacy for head of mission of Igor Vorontsov, who arrived with Roth last week seeking accreditation, due to what was described as his alleged lack of knowledge about Uzbek domestic affairs and, in general, his way of thinking. Officials explained, this would not allow Vorontsov to understand governmental reforms and report accurately.

HRW repeated, though, that most of its representatives whose competence about Uzbekistan satisfied authorities, fell from grace immediately after issuing critical reports.

“I arrived here to personally reassure authorities of our interest to report fairly and impartially on Uzbekistan. We are interested in dialogue with the state and willing to share results of our monitoring so as to incorporate the official standpoint in our reports,” Roth noted.

Roth emphasized that the organization monitors human rights transparently throughout the world and is open to fair criticism.

The government’s final decision has not yet been announced, but refusal would send a clear message that Uzbek authorities censure independent human rights observers. It will also damage already complex relationships with the European Union, which just lifted two-year sanctions imposed upon Uzbekistan.

“Sanctions have not been canceled completely, but temporarily frozen. And the EU made it clear that Vorontsov’s registration is a prerequisite for full cancellation of sanctions,” Roth said.

Roth further added that HRW’s failure to re-register in Uzbekistan would not stop the organization from reporting.

“We will make sure there is enough information flowing from Uzbekistan. We have experience in reporting about situations in the states that deny us registration, such as North Korea,” Roth concluded.

Source: Ferghana.ru

Net News Publisher for World News