17.05.2005 - Article
Switzerland calls for investigation of events in Uzbekistan

The assessment of Swiss cooperation with Uzbekistan will take some time, as discussions must take place with local, regional and international project partners. The SDC and seco have agreed on criteria that should guide the decision-making process. Switzerland is demanding unrestricted access to the crisis area for its local partner organizations as well as the media.

The Swiss authorities regret the loss of many lives due to violent repression by Uzbek security forces directed against unarmed crowd of people. Switzerland condemns the use of force against unarmed civilians, as well as the wave of intimidations and arrests, and the violation of freedom of speech. The Swiss authorities insist that Uzbekistan respects the international human rights standards to which it has agreed to adhere.
In order to shed light on the events that led to the death of hundreds of civilians in and near Andijan, Switzerland supports the UN demand for an independent investigation. A fact-finding mission should consist of Uzbek as well as international experts. Free access to the country should also be granted to the national and international media. The Uzbek population and the world have a right to be informed about the events in Uzbekistan by independent sources.

The SDC and seco are re-assessing their cooperation with Uzbekistan – a procedure that takes time because agreements need to be reached with local, regional and international partners. The SDC and seco have defined key criteria for the decision-making process. Provided that the country is secure enough, projects that strengthen civil society, provide social and health services to disadvantaged groups, support private enterprise and promote cross-border cooperation will be continued. The objective is to avoid additional suffering of civilians after the government’s violent repression. The current circumstances require that special attention is paid to any attempt to weaken accepted project goals and organizational and institutional reforms, or to limit access to, and exchange with, project partners and civilians.

It is well known that Switzerland is leading a voting group or constituency at the World Bank and that Uzbekistan is a member of this group. The purpose of Switzerland’s mandate is not to support the domestic or international policy of a member state, but to defend their interests in international financial institutions. This role gives Switzerland access to government agencies that it would normally not be able to approach, making it possible to ask political questions about reforms, democratization and human rights. The World Bank itself has been pursuing an intensive dialogue for many years on economic framework conditions and structural reforms. The results of this dialogue will become visible in the upcoming discussion about the Uzbek welfare strategy and the Bank’s new cooperation strategy. Switzerland will pay very special attention to this process.

Over the past years, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has also paid increasing attention to the fulfillment of economic and political framework conditions and implementation of reforms when granting credits. Switzerland is co-financing numerous EBRD projects in Central Asia and will continue to support the EBRD in applying strict criteria related to countries’ willingness to initiate reforms and implement good governance.
Uzbekistan is one of the more important countries targeted by Swiss development cooperation. It plays a significant role in the economic development of Central Asian countries, their stability and the regional cooperation among them, not least of all in the Fergana Valley, which is also shared by Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. In view of the slow progress of the democratisation process and insufficient willingness to implement economic reforms in Uzbekistan, Switzerland decided in 2003 to submit cooperation with Uzbekistan to closer scrutiny and monitoring, placing the country on the so-called “watch list” and not committing to new projects in the field of infrastructure.
Within the scope of regional cooperation with Central Asia, the Swiss government has commitments in several bilateral and multilateral projects in Uzbekistan (in cooperation with the World Bank and the EBRD). For project activities in 2005, the SDC has budgeted about CHF 4 million and seco CHF 2 million. A considerable part of these activities focus on the densely populated Fergana Valley (the districts of Fergana and Andijan). The main areas of activity are drinking water supply and irrigation, development of the private sector, modernization of district heating systems as well as education.