Ban in
Uzbekistan
Praises
Karimov on
Rule of Law,
Urlaeva
UNmentioned
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, June
12 -- As UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon,
embroiled in a
scandal
of his UN
covering up
alleged child
rapes by
French
peacekeeping
soldiers in
the Central
African
Republic,
continues his
long trip
through
Central Asia
then for murky
talks on Yemen
in Geneva on
June 14, his
statement in
Uzbekistan on
June 12 did
not mention
the case of
Elena Urlaeva.
In
fact, Ban
lavished
praises on
Islam Karimov,
just as his
spokesman did
on Azerbaijan
and its Baku
2015 European
Games, for
which UNICEF
is the
"Official
Child Rights
Organization.
(See that
Inner City
Press story
here.)
On June
12 in Tashkent,
Ban Ki-moon
said:
"This is my
second visit
to Uzbekistan
as
Secretary-General.
I thank again
His Excellency
President
Islam Karimov
and the
Government and
people of
Uzbekistan for
their
hospitality...
Uzbekistan has
initiated a
number of good
laws.
President
Karimov has
emphasized the
importance of
the rule of
law. But laws
on the books
should be made
real in the
lives of
people.
Uzbekistan has
made important
progress in
eliminating
child labour
in the cotton
sector.
Now more must
be done to
address the
mobilization
of teachers,
doctors and
others in
cotton
harvesting,
and prevent
the
maltreatment
of
prisoners...I
am pleased to
be in
Uzbekistan to
underscore the
commitment of
the United
Nations to
work with you
to advance
peace,
development
and human
rights for
all.”
Really.
Back on June
4, Inner City
Press asked
Ban's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric, video here, transcript
here: and
below, about
the case of
Elena Urlaeva
in Uzbekistan.
Dujarric said
"We're looking
into it" - but
has not
answered on it
in the five
days since.
Inner City
Press: I
wanted to ask
you about
Uzbekistan.
In light of
the
Secretary-General's
trip, and just
generally,
there's been a
pretty
high-profile
arrest and
abuse of a
human rights
defender,
Elena Urlaeva,
who is known
to document
forced labor
in cotton
fields
there.
She was
arrested,
subject to
cavity
searches,
X-rays.
A number of
human rights
groups have
spoken against
it. And
I wonder, one,
is the
Secretary-General
aware of
it? And,
two, is this
the type of
issue…?
Spokesman
Dujarric:
We've seen the
reports.
The
Secretary-General
will very much
bring up the
issue of human
rights on his…
on every stop
in the
region.
You know, the
human rights
record in the
region is
mixed.
That's
evident.
We obviously
welcome the
engagement of
these
countries with
the UN human
rights
machinery.
The
Secretary-General
will tell his…
reiterate to
his
interlocutors
the importance
of working
with that
machinery,
offering the
UN's help in
working to
implement the
recommendations
of the Human
Rights
Council.
I think by the
end of 2016,
all the
countries will
have gone
through the
Universal
Periodic
Review.
We also have a
human rights
centre in
Dushanbe,
which is there
to help, as
well.
And he will
also make the
point of the
importance of
civil society,
of a free
civil society
that can
operate, so
the human
rights issues
will be
raised.
Inner City
Press:
But, on this
particularly
kind of pretty
high-profile
case, does he
have a view of
the arrest and
some would say
torture of
this activist?
Spokesman:
Obviously,
we're… we're…
we're looking
into it but
it's clear
that civil
society groups
in every
country need
to be able to
operate
freely.
We'll continue
to watch how
Ban addresses
these issues
during his
travel - and
after.
Inner City
Press also
asked about
the Rohingya:
Inner City
Press:
Rohingya
question?
The Asian
Centre for
Human Rights
put out a
report blaming
not just the
Government of
Bangladesh but
the UN/UNHCR
[Office of the
United Nations
High
Commissioner
for Refugees]
for failure to
register up to
2,000 Rohingya
within the
country, which
it says makes
them much more
susceptible to
trafficking
because they
don't have the
stature… they
haven't been
registered by
the UN
system.
So, I wonder,
is there some
reason that
UNHCR or the
UN system to
the level of
Mr. [Vijay]
Nambiar and
the people
working on it…
, 
