…fulfillment of all existing agreements…

EU has retracted its decision to establish delegation in Uzbekistan and committed to put additional pressure upon Tashkent

European Union has announced its decision to suspend the earlier signed agreement to set up a delegation in Uzbekistan and continue to put additional pressure upon Tashkent following the latter’s intention to shut down the office of the Human Right Watch, reported by Uznews.net.

Michael Mann, spokesman for the EU Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, said that the EU has decided not to send EU delegation to Uzbekistan and that there was not a single EU delegate at the moment.

Originally, the decision to set up a EU delegation in Uzbekistan was made during a visit of President Islam Karimov to Brussels, as a result of the meting with the EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

One may recall that during that meeting the president Barroso has raised issues of the human rights in Uzbekistan citing several individual cases of human rights defenders still imprisoned in the country.

According to Michael Mann, the EU Commission President has tried to convey to Islam Karimov the message that continued engagement of the European Union with Uzbekistan is directly linked to the political reform process in Uzbekistan.

President Barroso also raised the issue of the accreditation of the Human Rights Watch office in Tashkent and requested that Karimov allow an International Labor Organization (ILO) monitoring mission to address the issue of any remaining child-labor practices.

EU Commission’s press release issued after the meeting of the presidents Karimov and Barroso made an impression that the Uzbekistan’s leader actually gave in to the EC demands and intended to fulfill his promises upon return to the country. A spokesman for the European Commission was also assuring that the organization was going to monitor the situation in Uzbekistan and fulfillment of all existing agreements via the established formal dialogue on human rights.

Michael Mann, spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, said Tuesday that the EU has repeatedly urged Uzbek officials to reconsider their decision not to grant Human Rights Watch accreditation and refuse to register the organization’s office, reported by Associated Press.

However, in two months after the visit, the human right activists mentioned by Barroso still remain in prisons. ILO is not sure if it can send its mission to Uzbekistan in order to monitor child-labor practices in 2011, while the Human Rights Watch appear to face the inevitable expulsion by decision of the Uzbek authorities.

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