Revolt and repression in Uzbekistan

AT LEAST 700 people were brutally massacred by government troops in
Uzbekistan over the weekend.

Accurate information is hard to come by, as even before the shooting
Uzbekistan was one of the most dictatorial states in the world. Now
there has been a further clampdown with foreign and local TV
transmissions blocked.

Rob Jones, CWI Russia

This trouble started when a group of armed people who, after having
demanded the release of thousands of prisoners, decided to storm the
city prison in the town of Andizhan. Hundreds of prisoners were released
and went on to protest outside the city mayor’s office. Troops then
opened fire killing hundreds in Andizhan itself and repeating the
massacre in other cities as people joined the protests.

Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov claims that this was an uprising
organised by Islamic fundamentalists. But for years he has used the
threat of the growth of Islamic fundamentalism in the region, and
particularly in the Ferganna Valley, as an excuse to clamp down on any
form of opposition to his dictatorial rule.

It is hardly surprising that in one of the poorest nations of the
world, the patience of the masses would eventually run out and they
would try and take things into their own hands. Unfortunately, having no
organizations capable of leading the opposition to Karimov’s rule, the
uprising ended in this brutal bloodbath.

Initial reports indicate that the protesters demanded that Russia be
asked to be an intermediary in negotiations. However, the Russian
Foreign Ministry quickly expressed its wish that the dispute be solved
by whatever means necessary, and calling the Uzbek regime
"soft".

Britain and the US also share a large degree of the blame for what
has happened. Islam Karimov has been an ally of the USA in the Iraq war
coalition and in the ‘fight against terrorism". They have therefore
turned a blind eye to his dictatorial methods.

The Blair Government recently even sacked Craig Murray as British
Ambassador to Tashkent for being too "outspoken" in his
criticisms of Karimov. Murray explains that the western powers have
accepted Karimov’s repressive measures because he has allowed the US an
airbase in the country and because they are interested in the country’s
energy resources. Now the US merely requests that the two sides work out
their differences "peacefully".

It is undoubtedly true that Islamic fundamentalists are building a
base in the region and many of those who have fought in neighbouring
Afghanistan were Uzbeks. Even before the collapse of the Soviet Union,
the Ferganna Valley, the most densely populated area in Central Asia was
home to many fundamentalists. But it is the extreme poverty that has
resulted from the restoration of capitalism in the region and the
repressive policies of Karimov that have caused the despair that drives
people to support the fundamentalists.

There are however also reports that a section of Karimov’s own clique
have been secretly encouraging the fundamentalists. They, it is argued,
believe that sooner or later Karimov will be overthrown by Uzbekistan’s
own version of neighbouring Kyrghizia’s revolution and are therefore
preparing the ground so that they end up on the right side.

But for now it is inevitable that, until a class force that can lead
the struggle for the genuine liberation of this region from capitalism
emerges, there will be more such clashes and brutal repression.