Silence After The Storm

The government of Uzbekistan violently quelled an uprising in Andijan in mid-May; now it's harrying those who contradict the official version of events. Late last month, Uzbek President Islam Karimov's security police arrested human-rights campaigners across the country, including lawyer Saidjahon Zainabitdinov. It was Zainabitdinov who alerted international human-rights monitors that the government might not be telling the whole story about what happened in Andijan.

Uzbek authorities claimed that 173 people died, mostly militants. But based on first-hand experience and other eyewitness accounts, Zainabitdinov said the death toll could be as high as 1,000 — and demanded an international inquiry. The government answered with slander charges that could mean up to five years in prison. Said Muzaffarmirzo Iskhakov, the Andijan chair of the Ezgulik (Goodness) human-rights group: "They did not let his family see him, or even send him some food."

Surat Ikramov, chair of Uzbekistan's Initiative Group of Independent Human Rights Defenders in Tashkent, told Time that police have subjected more than 40 protesters in the Uzbek capital to repressive measures, including detention in unknown locations and house arrests. And he says other activists have been harassed or arrested in the country's Fergana, Kashkadaryinsk and Djizak regions. Karimov's government has repeatedly rejected calls for an independent inquiry, despite mounting international pressure. "Karimov is digging his own grave," says Oleg Panfilov, a Central Asia expert in Moscow. "The tragedy is he's dragging his entire country along."