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Freedom of Assembly, Association Needed in Eurasia, U.S. Says

Warsaw: U.S. Envoy to OSCE cites Uzbekistan, Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan

By Jeffrey Thomas
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- Restrictions on freedom of assembly and association in Uzbekistan, Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan were criticized September 20 by Julie Finley, U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Azerbaijan figured positively in Finley’s remarks to the OSCE human rights conference because of President Ilham Aliyev’s assurances that opposition parties would be permitted freedom of assembly during the campaign leading up to the country’s November parliamentary elections.

“The closely related rights to freedom of assembly and freedom of association provide an important gauge of democratic development and are essential to the existence of genuine pluralism,” Finley told the 2005 OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) in Warsaw, Poland.

During the HDIM meeting, which runs from September 19-30, participating states review implementation of their own and other states’ existing OSCE commitments. The term “human dimension” is a short-hand phrase for all human rights and humanitarian provisions of agreements concluded through the process initiated by the 1975 Helsinki Accords, as well as the democratization commitments made by the OSCE since 1989.

Finley began by citing the massacre in Andijon, Uzbekistan, in May as an example of a government’s failure to recognize the right of its citizens to assemble peacefully. 

She acknowledged that the shootings were preceded by an armed assault on a prison and government buildings, saying that “the United States does not condone these actions, and we acknowledge the right of governments to maintain public order using proportionate force.”

“The reaction of Uzbek security forces, however, far exceeded any possible provocation,” Finley continued. “There is no justification for opening fire indiscriminately on thousands of men, women and children peacefully assembled in a public square.”

The freedoms of assembly and association “have not been respected in Uzbekistan over the last dozen years,” she said, noting that no legal opposition parties are allowed in the country and those who protest social and economic grievances risk being jailed or beaten.

In 1990, the OSCE participating states adopted politically binding commitments to “respect the right of individuals and groups to establish, in full freedom, their own political parties or other political organizations” and reaffirmed that “everyone will have the right of peaceful assembly and demonstration.”

Uzbekistan’s disregard for its OSCE commitments is undermining its security, the United States believes. “The systemic failure to observe these basic rights has exacerbated circumstances in Uzbekistan and, we believe, is a radicalizing factor,” Finley said.

The United States, European Union, United Nations and OSCE have called for an independent, international investigation into the facts surrounding the Andijon massacre.

Turning to Belarus, Finley criticized the legislation passed in June that “enhanced the punitive tools, including suspension and liquidation, available to the regime to use against nongovernmental organizations, political parties, independent trade unions and private educational institutions.”

Opposition figures Pavel Severinets, Nikolai Statkevich and Andrei Klimov all have been imprisoned for involvement in peaceful protests, she said.

Regarding Russia and Kazakhstan, Finley expressed concern that nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) face restrictions and harassment because of a backlash against democratic revolutions in several Eurasian countries.

“As expected in totalitarian states, such as Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Belarus, highly restrictive policies continue to restrict the work of NGOs,” she said. “Equally worrisome, states that have taken some steps to institute democratic reforms are enacting harsh legislation or policies - sometimes under the guise of national security or counter-terrorism - that could be used to restrict severely NGO activity and impinge on freedom of association.”

Finley urged the Russian government “to support a vibrant civil society and not restrict foreign funding of NGOs engaged in nonpartisan activity such as media and election observation.”

She welcomed the rejection by the Kazakh Constitutional Council of laws that would have restricted the activities of NGOs and urged Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to uphold that decision.

But the ambassador expressed concern about published reports that law-enforcement agencies in some countries with upcoming elections, such as Kazakhstan, “have begun arming themselves, in apparent preparation for subduing by force demonstrators who contest the official results of the balloting.”

Regarding Azerbaijan, Finley said “we hope and expect that freedom of assembly and association will be honored fully before and after the election cycle.”

The full text of Finley’s HDIM statement on freedom of assembly and association is available at the U.S. Mission to the OSCE Web site.

The most recent State Department human rights reports for Europe and Eurasia are available on the State Department Web site.

The OSCE Human Dimension Commitments, including the commitment to respect the freedom of assembly and association, are available at the OSCE Web site in both a thematic compilation (PDF, 287 pages) and a chronological compilation.


Created: 26 Sep 2005 Updated: 26 Sep 2005

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