UZBEKISTAN: Uzbek officials took foreign diplomats and journalists on a lightning-quick tour of Andijan yesterday, showing them a prison and the local administration building.
The people of the capital were kept away from the delegation, leaving little chance for an objective assessment of last Friday's violence which reportedly killed at least 169 people by official counts. A political party, the Free Peasants, and human rights advocate Saidjahon Zaynabitdinov have put the figure at about 500 people. The only local residents whom visitors were allowed to see were the parents of a police officer killed in the riots and several local officials, who relayed the government version of events.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said she was deeply concerned over reports about "indiscriminate and excessive use of force by law enforcement officials, followed by the imposition of restrictions on local and foreign media". Ms Arbour urged the Uzbek government to adhere to international principles of the use of force and weapons by officials and to "guarantee the rights Uzbekistan has pledged to uphold under international law".