Human Rights In Uzbekistan

In advance of the summit between U.S. President George W. Bush and Uzbek President Islam Karimov on March 12, Human Rights Watch wrote to President Bush urging him to insist on specific improvements in Uzbekistan's abysmal human rights record. HRW, Amnesty International, the International League for Human Rights, and Freedom House wrote to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg in advance of his separate meeting with Karimov. An op-ed by Washington Advocacy Director Tom Malinowski and Central Asia Researcher Acacia Shields in the Washington Times also encouraged President Bush to use his meeting with President Karimov to link continued U.S. engagement with Uzbekistan to progress in ending human rights abuses and showing openness to political change.