Uzbekistan: Those insidious pretexts

Today at the United Nations, Uzbekistan's Permanent Representative Mr. Alisher Vakhidov warned the international community not to interfere in Uzbekistani affairs under the pretext of human rights concerns.  According the the RFE/RL report, Mr. Vakhidov said that international cooperation must be based upon “equality, mutual respect, social and economic development, and historical and cultural traditions.”

Okay.  I get that: 1. equal rights.  2. mutual respect. 3. social/economic development.  4. historical/cultural traditions.

Equality: This means equal rights under the law.  Mutual respect has to do with the same equality, but with some manners added in–and a sense of mutual, deserved worth.

Judicial Equality:  Defendants are presumed guilty at the beginning of the process, and judicial efforts to transact the case include proving guilt through the means of torture, intimidation, and a closed trial process.  This also has some implications for Mutual Respect.

Informational Equality: The lack of transparency means that citizens are unable to garner reliable information, and are aided by an unfree press which essentially repeats the party line and disallows investigative or oppositionist journalism.  A free press contributes to a free politics, but also to equal opportunity in economic affairs as well.  Again, Mutual Respect: that people in Uzbekistan can make their own political decisions and be trusted to start viable businesses and be in charge of their own economic fate.  Oh, and allowing, and allowing for, transparency and media incursions also has a lot to do with Social and Economic Development.

Social and Economic Development in Uzbekistan has been stymied since before the end of the Soviet Union, which is why it is an independent state today.  Since the command economy is no longer Soviet, and the vestiges of the command economy do not provide the same social guarantees, it would behoove Uzbekistan to attract new business: and it has.  However, significant barriers to prosperity exist: the bribe economy; the excessive permit regime; the propensity of Uzbekistan to expropriate businesses such as Newmont Gold mining and the old automobile plant.  Much of this Human Rights dialogue is aimed at developing Uzbekistan's draconian legal system into a system that allows Economic development. 

In another sense, the Soviet-style economy can be seen as a Historical and Cultural Tradition.  And in that sense, we must honor some of its achievements: a high literacy rate, jobs, a social services net.  Also, we have to take into account the Soviet experience, which is why international actors such as the World Bank have developed prescriptions for those economies transitioning out of the now-defunct Soviet model.  It is also why states such as the U.S. developed funding programs to aid transition states; why the Council of Europe and the state of Japan, and many others, have made progress in Central Asia a priority.  As far as Mutual Respect goes: most Central Asia analysts feel that Uzbekistan could be a benefit to the region at large–or its greatest destabilizer.

Other Cultural and Historical traditions also prevail.  There is the customs of Islam, which Uzbekistan's current government does not seem to be too happy about–see judicial torture above, for example–and the Cultural and Historical Traditions of an unfree press, an internal security service, et cetera.

 So, the principles go together, Mr. Vakhidov: you’re quite right about that.  Which is why some of us aren't backing off anytime soon . . .

Photo: styledetective.com