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Thursday, 02 February 2006
SWITZERLAND JOINS EU SANCTIONS AGAINST UZBEKISTAN
By empty (2/2/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Switzerland has moved to join the sanctions the European Union imposed on Uzbekistan after the Uzbek government refused to allow an independent investigation of massacre allegations in Andijon, the BBC\'s Uzbek Service reported on 31 January. The sanctions include an embargo on arms sales and a visa ban for 12 high-ranking officials. Rita Baldegger, spokeswoman for the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, told RFE/RL\'s Uzbek Service on 1 February, \"We are very strongly against internal repression, and this is a way of showing that and, of course, hopefully a way of making the [Uzbek] government think about their actions.
Switzerland has moved to join the sanctions the European Union imposed on Uzbekistan after the Uzbek government refused to allow an independent investigation of massacre allegations in Andijon, the BBC\'s Uzbek Service reported on 31 January. The sanctions include an embargo on arms sales and a visa ban for 12 high-ranking officials. Rita Baldegger, spokeswoman for the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, told RFE/RL\'s Uzbek Service on 1 February, \"We are very strongly against internal repression, and this is a way of showing that and, of course, hopefully a way of making the [Uzbek] government think about their actions.\" Baldegger added, \"These sanctions do not mean that our relationship with Uzbekistan is indefinitely harmed. It just means that we really want to uphold the civil rights, human rights.\" (RFE/RL)