May 2005 unrest in Uzbekistan
| Andijan massacre | |
|---|---|
| Location | Andijan, Uzbekistan |
| Date | May 13, 2005 |
| Target | Protesters |
| Deaths | 187–1,500 |
| Perpetrators | |
The Andijan massacre occurred when Uzbek Interior Ministry (MVD) and National Security Service (SNB) troops fired into a crowd of protesters in Andijan in the Republic of Uzbekistan on 13 May 2005. Estimates of those killed on 13 May range from 187, the official count of the government, to several hundred. A defector from the SNB alleged that 1,500 were killed. The bodies of many of those who died were allegedly hidden in mass graves following the massacre.
The Uzbek government at first said the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan organized the unrest and the protesters were members of Hizb ut-Tahrir. Critics argue that the Islamist radical label is just a pretext for maintaining a repressive regime in the country. Whether troops fired indiscriminately to prevent a color revolution or acted legitimately to quell a prison break is also disputed. A third theory is that the dispute was really an inter-clan struggle for state power. The Uzbek government eventually acknowledged that poor economic conditions in the region and popular resentment played a role in the uprising.
It was claimed that calls from western governments for an international investigation prompted a major shift in Uzbek foreign policy favoring closer relations with Asian nations, although the Uzbek government is known to have close ties with the U.S. government, and the Bush administration had declared Uzbekistan to be vital to US security because it hired out a large military base to US military forces. The Uzbek government ordered the closing of the United States air base in Karshi-Khanabad and improved ties with the People's Republic of China and Russia, who supported the regime's response in Andijan.
The protesters initially asked for the release of 23 local businessmen who were arrested on 23 June 2004 and charged with "extremism, fundamentalism and separatism." The police subsequently charged them with membership in Akromiya, an organization the government has designated and banned as terrorist. The businessmen denied the charge, saying they were arrested because of their growing support among the local populace. Some accounts suggest that the arrests occurred as part of a purge of allies of Andijan's long-time provincial governor, Kobiljon Obidov, who had been impeached and replaced with Saydullo Begaliyev, allegedly at the behest of President Islam Karimov.
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