UK embassy bash falls foul of Uzbek secret police

[emad]

Nick Paton Walsh in Moscow
Saturday April 24, 2004
The Guardian

<snip>

It is an event more usually associated with cocktails, canapes and polite laughter. But in Uzbekistan, the annual party held by the British embassy in honour of the Queen's birthday has been the object of dark threats from the secret police.

Furious with the efforts of the British ambassador, Craig Murray, to highlight human rights abuses in the country, the Uzbek security services have warned everyone from government officials to local musicians not to attend.

A source close to the embassy said: "Prominent Uzbeks were invited to attend. But they have been getting phone calls from the secret police telling them it would be bad for their health to be there."

At least 20 Uzbek guests rang the embassy to say they would come anyway. The callers said the Uzbek security services, or SNB, had made the majority of threats.
<snip>
More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1202235,00.html

So what else is new? Secret police in the UK routinely act as party poopers....hehe....

[JohnyCanuck]

1. Bad for their health alright. They might get boiled alive

<snip>

President Karimov government was awarded $500m in aid from the Bush administration in 2002. The SNB (Uzbekistan's security service) received $79m of this sum.

The U.S. State Department web site states "Uzbekistan is not a democracy and does not have a free press. Many opponents of the government have fled, and others have been arrested." and "The police force and the intelligence service use torture as a routine investigation technique."

Now I would like to introduce you to Muzafar Avazov, a 35-year old father of four. Mr Avazov had a visit from our presidents friends security force (SNB), the photographs below detail the brutality and inhuman treatment our tax dollars subsidize, with the full knowledge of our president and his administration.

Muzafar Avazov, body showed signs of burns on the legs, buttocks, lower back and arms. Sixty to seventy percent of the body was burnt, according to official sources. Doctors who saw the body reported that such burns could only have been caused by immersing Avazov in boiling water. Those who saw the body also reported that there was a large, bloody wound on the back of the head, heavy bruising on the forehead and side of the neck, and that his hands had no fingernails.

<snip>

www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3943.htm

[ze_dscherman]

2. But Uzbekistan is an ally in the war against terror!!!

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan (AP) - The U.S. military is considering this central Asian nation for expeditionary bases that could be activated during a crisis, but it has no plans to establish a permanent presence in the region, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday.

Rumsfeld said he discussed such an arrangement with Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov during their meeting. The bases would not be home to U.S. troops but instead could handle American troops should the U.S. need a staging area in the region.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, Uzbekistan provided U.S. troops a base near its border with Afghanistan, from which U.S. troops launched strikes against the Taliban, and in 2002, the two countries signed a strategic partnership agreement.

Since then, the Bush administration has praised Uzbekistan's support in the war on terror, but Karimov's government has been frequently criticized for human rights issues.

More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3784442,00.html

See also: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3918100,00.html

[atreides1]

3. Funny Isn't It

The sheep condone a war to bring down one dictator, at the same time George and Company become allies to at least 3 others.

[frankieT]

4. Uzbekistan is a dictatorial country

and its secret police is everywhere. friends who have been there talked a lot about these infamous threatening agents. they spy on foreigners and some uzbeks often disappear. watch the uzbek national tv and soon you ll get disgusted with the military propaganda displayed.