Europe and Central Asia Summary of Amnesty International’s Concerns in the Region, January-June 2007 developments in individual cases and press for improvements At the May GAERC meeting the EU Council decided to extend sanctions aimed at Uzbekistan; a visa ban imposed on 12 Uzbekistani officials was extended for six months and an ongoing arms embargo was left unchanged. However, four names were removed from the list of the 12 officials banned from travelling to the EU. Three of these were reportedly no longer in office. In a departure from previous Conclusions, the Council called for the release of human rights defender Gulbahor Turaeva and asked for restrictions on the free movement of released human rights defender Umida Niazova (see below) to be removed. The Council also said that it remained seriously concerned about the human rights situation in Uzbekistan and linked the lifting of sanctions to Uzbekistan's implementation of international human rights standards. The Uzbekistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to the Conclusions, issuing a public statement on 16 May calling the EU decision "unfounded and biased" and an "instrument of systematic pressure on Uzbekistan dressed up in human rights rhetoric.” The second anniversary of the Andizhan events The GAERC meeting coincided with the second anniversary of the Andizhan events. AI reminded the EU that two years after the Andizhan killings there had been no real progress on human rights in Uzbekistan and the government continued to refuse to allow an independent and international investigation into the killings of hundreds of unarmed people in May 2005. The organization also pointed out that recent events had provided renewed cause for concern. At the same time that the EU Presidency took steps to establish a human rights dialogue with Uzbekistan two human rights defenders and a political activist received long prison sentences. All three were in one way or another linked to the Andizhan killings. AI believed that they, as others, had been convicted on politically Amnesty International 147 motivated charges and called on the EU Presidency to request the immediate and unconditional release of those considered as prisoners of conscience. EU-Uzbekistan Human Rights Dialogue In May AI submitted a briefing paper to the EU Presidency ahead of the first round of the EU-Uzbekistan Human Rights Dialogue, providing background information on four key human rights challenges identified by the organization as persisting in Uzbekistan. Firstly, AI continued to be gravely concerned about the deterioration of freedom of expression and assembly in Uzbekistan as well as the increased pressure on human rights defenders, civil society activists, political opposition activists and independent journalists. Of particular concern was the continued imprisonment of several human rights defenders, including their limited access to relatives and legal representatives, and the long prison sentences for two human rights defenders and a political opposition activist on reportedly politically-motivated charges handed down in the first half of 2007. Secondly, the organization remained seriously concerned about continuing persistent allegations of widespread torture or other ill-treatment of detainees and prisoners by law enforcement personnel and the failure by the relevant authorities to consistently, effectively and systematically investigate such allegations. Thirdly, the Uzbekistani authorities continued to actively seek the extradition of members or suspected members of banned Islamic parties or movements, such as Hizb-ut-Tahrir and Akramia, whom they accuse of participation in the May 2005 Andizhan events. AI was concerned that most of the men forcibly returned to Uzbekistan have been held incommunicado for long periods of time, thus increasing their risk of being tortured or otherwise illtreated. The organization has also been concerned about allegations that the Uzbekistani authorities have pressured AI Index: EUR 01/010/2007