James Kilner: US sends Non-lethal Military Supplies to Uzbekistan

The United States has quietly agreed to start giving Uzbekistan non-lethal military aid despite concerns over its human rights record: Over the past year, the US has courted the former Soviet states of Central Asia as it bolsters its supply line to its forces fighting in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, once considered a pariah state for allegedly shooting demonstrators and torturing prisoners, and is now an important ally. Now, after months of wrangling, news agencies have reported that Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, signed a waiver on Jan 18 to allow the US to send non-lethal aid to Uzbekistan once again. "This will enhance the Uzbek's ability to counteract transnational terrorism," the AFP news agency quoted US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland as saying last week. "It's defensive in nature, and it's also supportive of their ability to secure the routes in and out of Afghanistan." Military aid to Uzbekistan had been suspended in 2003 on human rights concerns. The new waiver lasts until September 2013, and will be reviewed every six months. The deal is important to Uzbekistan and its leader, President Islam Karimov, because by sending military aid to the former Soviet state, US President Barack Obama and his administration are acknowledging that the human rights situation in the country has improved. Human rights groups, though, disagree: Under a website post last month, entitled "Uzbekistan blackmails the West into silence" Human Rights Watch said that far from improving, human rights in Uzbekistan were as bad as ever: "In prisons and police centers across the country, detainees are tortured with electric shocks, strangulation, sexual abuse and severe beatings," Human Rights Watch said.