Almaty, Kazakhstan

December 15, 2001

The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 and the ensuing events have altered the political situation in Central Asia and attracted considerable attention to the region.

The conference's participants believe that with the prospect of a closer cooperation between Uzbekistan and the community of democratic nations, there is now an opportunity to change the attitude of the Uzbek government toward human rights.

We urge the Uzbek government to take the following steps:

--Cease all persecution of opposition activists, human rights organizations, religious groups and members of their families;

--Start a genuine dialogue with the opposition; hold a round-table meeting with representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs);

--Simplify the registration procedure for NGOs; register existing NGOs;

--Provide international observers and local human rights activists with regular access to prisons;

--Create a commission with the participation of human rights activists to review the cases of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience;

--Announce a moratorium on the use of the death penalty;

--Conduct investigations of all known instances of the use of torture in pre-trial detention facilities and bring those guilty to justice;

--Abolish the restrictions introduced in 1998 on the activities of religious organizations;

-- Given the new military and political situation in the region, start an immediate demarcation and subsequent demining of mine fields in border areas;

-- Permit and create the necessary conditions for the return of the residents of those villages (kishlaky) which were forcibly resettled in 2000 and 2001;

--Abolish exit visas for travel abroad, including restrictions on Muslims making pilgrimage to Mecca;

We urge the governments of countries cooperating with Uzbekistan, as well as all other countries to:

--Provide security guarantees to persons fleeing Uzbekistan for political and religious reasons; treat them in accordance with international legal standards;

--Make any financial and military assistance to Uzbekistan contingent upon improvements in the sphere of human rights in this country.

Conference's Participants