Forgotten world (45): Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan is surrounded by five other ‘-stans’ – Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan (the word ‘stan’ means land) – and more strategically located between the giants of Russia and China. It is one of only two countries in the world that has the dubious honour of being doubly landlocked (that is, goods must pass through two other countries to reach a port) – the only other country which shares this trait is Liechtenstein.
In August 1991, Uzbekistan reluctantly declared independence from the Soviet Union. In subsequent ethnic tensions, two million Russians left the country for Russia. The current population of Uzbekistan is 26 million, making it the most populous Central Asian country. Most of these (around 70%) are actual Uzbeks and many of these are Muslims of the Sunni persuasion.
Islam Karimov has dominated the leadership since 1989 when he rose to be Communist Party leader in then Soviet Uzbekistan. The following year he became Uzbek president and continued in the post after independence. A referendum held in 1995 extended his term until 2000 when he won the presidential elections unopposed. A further referendum in 2002 extended the presidential term from five to seven years, so the next presidential elections are due in 2007.
There is no real internal opposition and the media is tightly controlled by the state. A UN report has described the use of torture as “systematic”. It is estimated that there are several thousand political prisoners in the country – most of them Muslims. In Andijan in May 2005, hundreds of unarmed protesters were killed and injured.
I recently spent a week in Uzbekistan.