This memorandum outlines Human Rights Watch's most pressing concerns about recent U.S. foreign policy toward the independent Central Asian states, offered for the new administration's consideration as it sets in motion its policy toward that volatile region. Religious Freedom Democratization Security Assistance Bilateral and Multilateral Economic Assistance Related Material Focus on Human Rights in Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Caucasus and Central Asia Europe and Central Asia Human Rights Watch has promoted the observance of international human rights norms in the Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union since the late 1980s, and opened its first office in the region in 1994. In sum, our assessment is that Central Asian governments have made, at best, only limited progress toward democracy in the last ten years, and that their ongoing violations of their citizens' rights threaten to destabilize further an already troubled region. The serious flaws in these governments' political transitions result in a disturbing level of abuse-in the cases of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, reminiscent of the worst periods of Soviet repression. While the suffering of victims is itself cause for action, the rampant corruption, lack of rule of law, and repressive policies that to varying degrees characterize governance in these states also threaten important U.S. interests.
Repression aggravates social tensions.
It widens the gulf between Muslim believers and secular governments, exacerbating one of the most dangerous fault lines in the world today. It undermines economic reform, deters honest investment and stunts the development of strong civil societies. U.S. policy toward the region during the past eight years has failed to address these problems effectively, largely because the message conveyed to these governments has been inconsistent. Rhetorical assertions of the importance of human rights and democratization as the key to developing full relations with the U.S. have been coupled with an assistance policy that conferred benefits on those states, without regard for their human rights performance. When, in Turkmenistan, the U.S. did finally halt further financing for Ex-Im and other assistance, it did so without explicitly tying the move to that country's record of tyranny.