Free Women picket Russian Embassy in Tashkent to protest Moscow's support of Karimov

There were remarkable scenes outside the Russian Embassy in Tashkent - and eslewhere in Tashkent - today that would gladden the heart of the democracy peddlers on Capitol Hill.. Freedom of speech and expression in action.

Gavkhar Aripova, leader of Uzbek human rights organization Ozod Ael [Free Women], led a demonstration this afternoon."We came to protest against the biased coverage of the tragic events in Andizhan by ORT and NTV channels of the Russian television,". "Mikhail Leontiev (presenter of Odnako a current affairs / news program) either does not know the first thing about the situation in Uzbekistan or shamelessly acts on political orders of unscrupulous government of Russia that backs Islam Karimov's regime” she said.

“It isn’t Islamists and terrorists who rise against the authorities of Uzbekistan. Ordinary people will no longer tolerate impoverishment, starvation, unemployment, crib deaths, and coercive sterilization of women in the Ferghana Valley with the help of which the regime is trying to solve economic and social problems. Not only in Andijan, but throughout the Fergana Valley and elsewhere, they are in poverty and they can wait no longer. This is the breaking point."


Uzbek women, old men, and children are in the streets nowadays because they are fed up with hopelessness while their men are already jailed or harassed. The Russians have always supported the Uzbek people.

Give Orders of Pinochet to Leontiev and those like him, even Pinochet never ordered his soldiers to fire at children like Karimov's soldiers did in Andizhan on May 13."

"Look at us! Are we Islamists?" Tatiana Dovlatova asked journalists. "We only want no more harassment of citizens of Uzbekistan, regardless of their ethnic origins, for the smallest disagreement with the authorities. We want our human rights. We urge Russian women - if their men, politicians and journalists, are impotent - to support us and organize protests in front of the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Moscow."

Repair works were said to be undertaken in front of the Russian Embassy. Organizers of the protest action say that dozens of women intended to participate but most of them were intercepted on the way by the police. 9 women were kept in a police van barely 100 meters from the Embassy.

Human rights activist Yelena Urlayeva was literally forced to stay at her home.

Human rights activist Yuri Konoplev made it to the Embassy. Men passing by helped the women to unfold placards "Mothers of Andizhan - We Are With You!" and "Remember, Russia: Uzbek Cotton is Saturated with Blood!"

“If people continue to be oppressed, they will rise,” said Anatoly Volkov, a rights activist. “We don’t want it to take 200 years to reach democracy, we need our basic rights now.”

Drivers in Nukusskaya Street began pulling over, passengers and drivers shouted, "Right! Let Russia discover the truth!" The police then asked the protesters to leave the roadway for the sidewalk. Dialogue with pedestrians continued there. The latter supported the protesters. Foreign camera crews were filming as were Uzbek secret services were filming the proceedings too, so many people immediately walked away.

Elswhere in Tashkent, Ozod Dehkonlar (Free Farmers) party held a Press conference and said that last Friday's violence in the eastern city of Andijan showed that "the present regime is not fighting against Islamic extremism but is simply clinging to power by way of government-sponsored terrorism against its citizens."

At a press conference in the capital Tashkent, the leader of the group said that the secular opposition party was demanding the resignation of Karimov and his cabinet followed by presidential elections within three months.

"It is not too late for the international community to provide help in a peaceful transfer of power," said Nigara (K)Hidoyatova. “The population is fed up with impoverishment. People in the square in Andizhan only wanted to be heard, they were asking for freedom and their right to work. The regime responded with bayonets and bullets.”

Events in Pakhtaabad, are still unclear and uncertain some reports claim 200 killed but a local journalist Andrei Babitsky who visited Pakhtaabad yesterday reports no tragic events in the city.

Meanwhile the Ambassadors went on a drive by diplomacy charabang trip in Abidjan accompanied by Uzbek Interior Minister Zakir Almatov(see AP pic left) , a likely successor to Karimov, if he decides to go and spend more time with his money elsewhere. After three hours in Andijan, the delegation was treated to a lavish lunch of the national lamb-rice dish, plov, and flown back to the capital, Tashkent. "I think we need to be realistic about how much can be achieved in a whistle-stop tour of ambassadors in a large delegation format over such a short period," said British Ambassador David Moran who was accompanied by the UK Military Attache.

plov = pilau

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