Since the explosions in Uzbekistan in February, sacribed to "terrorist organisations " the situation there has worsened considerably. Mass arrests of "people likely to blow themselves up" (ie: Muslims) have become the norm, and the atmosphere of absolute terror is crippling civil society. Everyone could be an informal informer. Anyone could be next on the list of those sentenced to death for crimes they did not commit. Those who are sentenced to death are refused access to close relatives in the days/ weeks/ months leading up to their execution, and are held in intolerable conditions: underground in isolation, in the cold, naked. Torture is routine and confessions are commonplace as ordinary civillians break under brutal police pressure. How does the US fit in to all this? The US has been training and funding the development of the Uzbek army in what it calls its "role in fighting the war on terror". Untill February the only "Terror" in Uzbekistan was that perpetrated by the Government against its people. Now "international terrorists" are supposedly operating from within its borders, the US has further "justification" for funding these oppressive police and military structures which are daily involved in countless cases of violation of national and international law.

Tomorrow, representatives from Uzbek NGOs are meeting with the EBRD (Hilton Metropole, near Edgeware Rd, London), another key funder of projects in the region, projects which bring profit and prosperity to the few at the top and misery and environmental degredation to everyone else.

More info to come