EU extends sanctions against Uzbekistan over Andijan violence

BRUSSELS, May 14 (RIA Novosti) - Foreign ministers of 27 European Union nations extended sanctions against Uzbekistan, introduced over an allegedly violent suppression of an uprising in the country in 2005.

At a meeting in Brussels, the ministers agreed to prolong a ban on arms sales to Uzbekistan for 12 months and visa restrictions for Uzbek officials for six months.

The sanctions were triggered by the Uzbek authorities' refusal to allow an international probe to be conducted into the events in the eastern town of Andijan. Rights activists said troops allegedly opened fire on thousands of protesters. Official statistics said 187 people were killed but rights groups said the death toll was far higher.

In their statement, EU ministers said they might review the sanctions if Uzbekistan agreed to continue negotiations on civil rights and freedoms in the Central Asian republic. The ministers added they were satisfied with the first round of talks held May 8-9 in Tashkent, the Uzbek capital.

The EU statement also expressed concerns about jail sentences for Uzbek rights champions, Umida Niyazova and Gulbakhor Turayeva, and demanded their release.

Both women were arrested in January - Turayeva, 40, for a coup attempt and threat to public security, and Niyazova, 32, for illegally crossing the border and smuggling extremist religious literature. Niyazova had worked with the U.S.-based NGO Human Rights Watch as a translator.

Last year, Uzbekistan expelled a whole range of foreign NGOs, accusing them of supporting opposition forces and attempting to discredit the country following the bloody riots in Andijan.

Rights groups say that since the Andijan revolt, Uzbek authorities have cracked down on dissent in the country, and jailed thousands of people on charges of extremism and attempts to overthrow the government.