HUMAN RIGHTS DIALOGUE BETWEEN UZBEKISTAN AND THE WEST.

U.S. ambassador Stanley Escudero yesterday handed a grant of computer equipment to Uzbekistan’s unofficial Human Rights Society, praising its activities in five years of existence. Escudero expressed hope that the state will grant the society a legal status and that its leader, Abdumanop Pulatov, will soon be able to return from the U.S. and resume his work in Uzbekistan. Also yesterday, parliament chairman Erkin Halilov admitted in talks with a European Parliament delegation that human rights violations exist in Uzbekistan. Tracing such violations primarily to the legacy of Tsarist and Communist rule and the need to contain Islamic radicalism, Halilov discussed corrective measures. (Interfax, May 5)

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