MOSCOW, June 7 (RIA Novosti) - The Human Rights Watch (HRW), headquartered in New York, came up with the demand to look into the recent events in Andijan and to impose sanctions against Uzbekistan. HRW executive director Ken Roth presented the results of an independent investigation carried out in Andijan on May 12-13 as he appeared at a RIA Novosti press-conference on Tuesday.
He claims that the explanations furnished by the Uzbek government are all lies, as for instance their testimony that 170 people were killed while the casualties numbered ten times more. The crowd consisting chiefly of women and children was constantly under fire.
Roth stressed the necessity of an international probe into the Andijan conflict, which, to his mind, might call for international pressure upon Uzbekistan.
The Uzbek government asks for trust and the possibility to investigate into the events on their own. However, the government actually is hampering access to the scene of the conflict, Roth said.
In the opinion of Ken Roth, the United States should freeze all further talks with Uzbekistan on a long-term agreement on a military base, look for other alternative bases in the region and, in case the Uzbek government turns its back on international inquest, back out of strategic partnership with and give up its military presence in the country," he added.
Besides, the Human Rights Watch considers that the European Union should suspend an agreement on partnership and cooperation with Uzbekistan (worth 16 million euros), if Tashkent refuses to receive international inspectors.
The European bank for reconstruction and development should keep under control all instances of borrowings by Uzbekistan in order to reveal private projects representing the interests of the government or individual officials and hinder assistance to such projects, says the Human Rights Watch.
The HRW probe was based on interviews of 50 witnesses to the Andijan events.
