The UN Human Rights Committee is a body which routinely pulls its punches. It treats member states with respect, whether they deserve it or not. The UN is of course composed of nations many of which have much to hide on human rights, so the glass houses and stones argument is much applied.
In that context, the new advisory report of the UN Human Rights Committee on Uzbekistan is absolutely damning – as damning as these reports ever get. It contains one paragraph of “Positive Aspects” and 25 paragraphs of “Concerns”.
Concerns include lack of judicial independence, widespread use of torture, the position of women, the failure to produce bodies or graves of those executed by the state, lack of freedom of speech and movement, and use of forced labour – to name but a few.
Not even the UN can pretend that the human rights situation in Uzbekistan is anything other than abysmal.
Still more astonishing then that the Home Office has refused the asylum applications of every single one of the few dozen escapees from Uzbekistan to make it to the UK – which still has the Soviet exit visa system and locks its people in. Even last week the Home Office was still claiming at immigration hearings that there is no human rights problem in Uzbekistan. (Fortunately judges have been less blinkered and asylum cases have been won on appeal).
The UN and EU countries continue to use Uzbekistan as a major supply base for the occupation of Afghanistan. Major new contracts between the US and Uzbekistan were signed in March 2009, and Hilary Clinton is to pay an official visit to President Karimov in November this year.
Even more disgusting is that it now emerges that the newly reinvigorated US/Uzbek relationship was made possible in negotiations because the US agreed to contract Gulnara Karimova’s company FMN Logistics to provide the transport for all the US supplies passing through Central Asia to the US forces in Afghanistan.
Not only that, but the Karimov company FMN Logistics is involved in construction and supply services on the US airbases in Afghanistan itself, and has been involved in the massive expansion work to the prison at Baghram Airbase to provide a replacement Guantanamo torture centre further away from media access.
The Pentagon contracts are worth $850 million a year to the Karimovs.
Israeli Organ Trafficking and Theft: From Moldova to Palestine
By Alison Weir
Arsalan,
I’m trying to digest the above and it’s making me slightly sick. But I will copy and keep it, and read it again. Do you have the URL by any chance?
dreoilin, you’re extremely dishonest. It seems that you can’t avoid making very stupid generalizations about Americans.
For instance, above you wrote, “She reared him as many/most other Americans are reared …”
That’s par for the course with you.
So will women soon be given reproductive rights in Ireland?
And are you able to say bad stuff about the Catholic Church over there?
dreoilin: “I’m trying to digest the above and it’s making me slightly sick. But I will copy and keep it, and read it again.”
So, dreoilin, you just buy into such a thing without any requirement for evidence, don’t you? You believe it because you want to believe it. You’re entirely complicit in your own manipulation, like many Fox News viewers.
If anyone wishes to dispute the fact that the vast majority of Americans are reared to believe that it’s the best country in the world, and that no other country can match it, feel free.
Well, dreoilin, you’ve demonstrated such a lack of intelligence that you can’t seem to think past stereotypes, so your generalisation of Americans is quite suspect.
Suhayl – “in the old days, ‘tea’ used to refer to ‘LSD'”
Are you sure of that ? back in the beatnik days – and further back still, I think – it was marijuana.
This is an argument in favour of “e-books”. I’d search Raymond Chandler, Chester Himes, etc, for references (see also ‘muggles’); so much quicker than reading …
Arsalan, thanks for the link (finally). I know nothing about the sources, so I’ll check (echoing dreoilin’s feelings in the meantime).
One thing I would say. The most inflammatory quote is the following:
(Dr Scheper-Hughes) described speaking with Israeli brokers who told her “it’s kind of ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. We’re going to get every single kidney and liver and heart that we can. The world owes it to us.'”
I’d expect someone who uses that kind of quote as evidence to have it on tape and attributed. Otherwise it’s the self-justifying ramblings of evil and venal men, or petrol on a fire. The Chinese authorities, who stand accused of worse, have no ‘Holocaust’ justification, nor do they seem to need one.
Terrible stuff, regardless. Organs were also removed from Israeli soldiers, I notice, which seems to demonstrate the regime’s attitude to common humanity in general. Indefensible. But as Finkelstein points out, it’s all indefensible. Are things changing with Obama? It seems they might be.
angrysoba: ‘To Shoot an Elephant’ – yes, the title and the inspiration behind the journalism come from Orwell.
larry: you obviously know very little about Ireland. Nor do you even seem to have watched ‘Father Ted’; loved by everyone as far as I can tell. I advise it.
Dreoilin, that quote was a quote, wasn’t it? Henry James? Fitzgerald? Wodehouse? I can’t put my finger on it.
Is “Father Ted” about ritualised child abuse?
Tech
The issue I was trying to make was more about Israel’s untouchable than Israel’s evil.
You mentioned China selling organs. You are right. It does happen, and I can give you more information on how they do it, who they do it to and why they do it.
But now that you have mentioned China, will any one call you anti-Chinese?
Or accuse you of being against the religions of Buddhism or Confucianism?
Will anyone say you are committing blood libel against orientals?
If not, what makes Israel so different?
What makes them so untouchable?
What makes that country immune from criticism?
It is the fear of being called an anti-Semitism.
They use that fear to blackmail the world.
And this immunity from criticism results in Israel behaving worse than other nations. Because people can report on the abuses of every other nation except Israel.
No Larry, your mother is about ritualised child abuse!
Larry I don’t tolerate you making fun of Islam and I will not tolerate you making fun of the Catholic Church, you anti-Semitism screaming hypocrite.
Ted: I’m not a fascist. I’m a priest. Fascists dress up in black and tell people what to do. Whereas priests…More drink!
We lost a great comic writer when Dermot Morgan died so young.
Father Ted was fantastic! Belly-splitting-funny. I love the old randy alkie one who degenerates steadily as the series progresses.
I was agreeing with you, Dreoilin; most of the Americans I know are not stereotypes either.
He was good,
But do you think he was so good because of him or the writers?
Whatever it is, they don’t make comdey like that any more.
Most of what we have now is so rubbish I don’t bother to watch TV any more.
My best one was the over 70s football match, both parts.
Yeah, I think I saw that one! I liked the way eventually they had him in a pen in the sitting-room! Father Dougall’s cardigans were priceless and that unstoppable ‘Janet’-like tea-lady, the whole thing was simply brilliant. It’s a terrible tragedy ‘Father Ted’ died so young – but he left us all with years and years of laughter.
They grafted two extra gods onto Allah, being Jesus pbuh and the Holy Spirit.
They grafted extra lives onto their past prophets.
They grafted a piece of dust from the Angel Gabriel’s steed onto the gold of the golden calf.
Their theological transplants from local cults through the centuries are probably more heinous even than the horrible things described above about body parts.
Allah all glory be to Him says that he could have made us all One Faith. He is testing us to demonstrate who will do excellent deeds.
Laz Taz is wasting his time trying to justify God’s command that Judaism will continue to be practised. Nobody can undo that command. Their prophet Jesus pbuh will return as a Muslim and they will recognise him as the Messiah who was previously sent to them. Keep up the jogging LazTaz, you don’t want to have a heart attack when that happens.
Laz Taz is wasting his time complaining about people talking about Israel’s crimes, because the crimes are inevitable once you have rejected and tried to kill 1/ Jesus pbuh and 2/ Muhammad salallahu ‘alaihi wasalam. Better to accept the prophets pbut, and discover that God is the Forgiver, the Kind.
What, anno, Father Dougal did all that? Theological transplants…? Oh, Father Ted, perish the thought and have another cup of tea with six sugar-lump and ten Hail Marys.
Craig,
Do you have a link to the place this document came from?
I’ve been in contact with my PM re Uzbekistan and asylum refusals (originally re Alisher’s case) and would like to send him this. However, it would be useful to have a reference to the original source so he can see it in context.
Paul
Think I found it:
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/hrcs98.htm
Search in the page for “CCPR/C/UZB/CO/3”.