President Karimov and his officials are…

Uznews.net – The Human Rights Alliance of Uzbekistan has urged UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to bring the Uzbek government to justice for crimes against humanity ahead of his first visit to Uzbekistan.

The alliance also urged him not to believe what government officials had to tell him. Activists wrote that President Islam Karimov’s policy was blamed for the growing unemployment, the closures of enterprises, poverty, human rights violations and government abuses.

“President Karimov and his officials are openly ignoring the law and the Uzbek constitution and are using power to enrich and please themselves,” the alliance wrote. It also noted that thousands of people were forced to work and face violence in prison.

The alliance drew Ban Ki-moon’s attention to inmate Aleksey Zotov, 32, who is being forced to die of starvation in the Tashkent prison.

Activists also raised the country’s environmental problems, the imprisonment of journalists and opposition members and the prosecution of Muslim followers, as well as torture.

The separate topic of the appeal was the Andijan killings on 13 May 2004. No Uzbek government official has been made answerable for the killings of hundreds of people who demanded the rule of law, human rights and decent living conditions.

The alliance urged Ban Ki-moon help take Karimov, Prosecutor-General Rashid Kadyrov, Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyayev, Ombudswoman Sayora Rashidova and law-enforcement ministers to the international tribunal for crimes against humanity.