A leading international human rights watchdog urged Uzbekistan's government Wednesday to meet the human rights benchmarks set by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ahead of its planned annual meeting in Tashkent.
"The bank has made it clear that it expects reforms in exchange for engagement," Elizabeth Andersen, Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia director, said in a statement. "The ball is now in (President Islam) Karimov's court, and the international community is watching closely what steps are taken as a result."
International human rights groups have criticized the EBRD's decision to hold the forum in this former Soviet republic that has long been internationally criticized for its poor human rights record and lack of democratic reform. The critics said the bank should instead press the government for democratic changes.
"Finally we see a public acknowledgment by the bank that things are seriously wrong in the country," Andersen said in the Wednesday statement, but added that it would have been more effective if the benchmarks had been set a year ago instead of just weeks before the May 4-5 meeting.
In a new country strategy for Uzbekistan unveiled this month the EBRD criticized the Central Asian nation for "systematic violations of the freedom of religion, expression, association and assembly" and "arbitrary arrests and torture of detainees in order to obtain confessions or incriminating statements".
It urged the Uzbek government to ensure greater political openness and media freedom, register and allow free activity of independent civil society groups and fulfill the recommendations made by the U.N. special rapporteur on torture after his visit here last year.
The bank said if a review, to be conducted next year, concludes that no progress has been made on human rights and civil freedoms the scope of investment in Uzbekistan will be limited.
The impoverished nation badly needs foreign investment but its economy has been one of the least attractive in the region for investors since the Soviet collapse in 1991 due to the lack of market reform and tough restrictions on currency operations.