Uzbekistan Embargo Lifted, Human Rights Watch Reacts
by TAMMY ROSECRANS, Causecast Editor
Uzbekistan is a country riddled with humanitarian crises. The authoritarian government is known for its lack of an independent judicial branch and wide spread human rights abuses against civilians and activists.
October 27, it was announced that the European Union has lifted its embargo on the country. The EU placed the sanctions following the Andijan Massacre where hundreds of unarmed protesters were massacred for speaking out against poverty and government oppression.
Human Rights Watch, among others, continues to speak out on the EU’s apparent lack of consideration for the people of Uzbekistan. Claiming the “The EU is rewarding Tashkent with a stamp of approval at a time when it could not have deserved it less,” HRW calls on the EU to toughen up their human rights policy.
From Human Rights Watch:
The European Union’s decision today to lift the arms embargo against Uzbekistan despite its atrocious human rights record is an unconscionable abdication of responsibility toward Uzbek victims of abuse, Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group, and Reporters Without Borders said today. The decision underscores the EU’s lack of resolve in the face of Uzbekistan’s intransigence and severely undermines its global standing and credibility as a principled promoter of human rights, the groups said.
“With today’s decision the EU has effectively abandoned the cause of human rights in Uzbekistan,” said Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The EU keeps reiterating its demands for human rights but then never actually holds Uzbekistan to those standards, making these demands ring hollow.”
Photo by Shark Shots, flickr.
- Posted by Causecast
Related causes: Human Rights
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