The European Union should establish human rights benchmarks for Central Asian governments and make their fulfillment a core objective of its Central Asia Strategy, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today.

Members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization missed a key opportunity to implement the organization’s human rights principles when they met on August 16 at the SCO summit in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, Human Rights Watch said today.

With repressive governments ruling over Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and their neighbors, the European Union should make respect for human rights an integral part of its new Central Asia strategy, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today. EU foreign ministers are scheduled to review a first-ever Central Asia strategy at the General Affairs and External Relations Council meeting in Brussels on April 23-24.

Members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) should commit to adhering to international standards on human rights when they meet to discuss joint counterterrorism measures on June 15, Human Rights Watch said today.

A regional security group of Central Asian countries along with Russia and China, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization should condemn the Andijan massacre committed by government forces of its member state Uzbekistan, Human Rights Watch said before the group meets on Tuesday in the Kazakh capital Astana.

Since September 11, the U.S. government has extended new military assistance to governments engaged in serious human rights abuse, including torture, political killings, illegal detention, religious persecution, and attacks on civilians during armed conflict, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

Human rights should be an essential part of the anti-terrorism strategy being discussed in Beijing on January 7 at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Human Rights Watch said today.

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan -- As the assault on Osama bin Laden and his Taliban protectors in Afghanistan continues into its second week, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan's neighbor to the north, is emerging as one of the most stalwart regional supporters of the U.S.-led military campaign. While other states in the region remained equivocal and noncommittal, Uzbekistan welcomed an early October visit from U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and announced that the U.S. could use its air space and several of its airfields. More than 1,000 U.S. troops are already stationed in Uzbekistan and last Friday the two countries announced the formation of a "qualitatively new relationship."