UN award for Karimov 'shocking': Knowledge Driven Revolution

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Human rights groups have strongly criticised the UN's cultural body, Unesco, for giving a prize to Uzbek President Islam Karimov.

Unesco's Director-General, Koichiro Matsuura, presented a cultural heritage award to Mr Karimov when he visited Tashkent last week.

Mr Karimov has been condemned by the UN for a bloody crackdown in May 2005.

Rights groups called the Unesco award "scandalous, shocking, absurd and inappropriate".

Human Rights Watch, Freedom House and Paris-based Reporters Without Borders have all expressed their concern at the award, which Unesco said was in recognition of Mr Karimov's preserving his country's cultural heritage.

Just over a year ago, the UN condemned Mr Karimov for staging what it called a "massacre" in the city of Andijan, where government troops opened fire on demonstrators, killing hundreds of protestors.

More recently, the UN high commissioner for refugees accused the Uzbek government of kidnapping refugees from Andijan who were hiding in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, and persecuting people connected to the events of last year.

A Unesco spokesperson told the BBC that the medal was a "gesture of courtesy".

According to the Uzbek press, Mr Matsuura also thanked the president for his role in strengthening friendship and cooperation between nations and developing cultural and religious dialogue.

But human rights groups say it is inappropriate to give an international award to the leader of a country where the torture of prisoners is systematic, religious repression is widespread and political opposition is not tolerated.

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HOME V for Vendetta - R for Reality Canadian Bird Flu Pandemic Looming ? Shill of the Week: Stephan Harper Aspartame: The Sweetest Killer Chicken Little Terrorist of the Week: Creating Fake Terrorists Shill of the Week: Paul Martin The Number 1 Reason YOU became a Slave	UN award for Karimov 'shocking' BBC News September 15, 2006 Related - UN Honors Racist Dictator Who Boils People Alive With "Cultural Diversity" Award Related - Harper and Charest sign historic agreement establishing a formal role for Québec in UNESCO Human rights groups have strongly criticised the UN's cultural body, Unesco, for giving a prize to Uzbek President Islam Karimov. Unesco's Director-General, Koichiro Matsuura, presented a cultural heritage award to Mr Karimov when he visited Tashkent last week. Mr Karimov has been condemned by the UN for a bloody crackdown in May 2005. Rights groups called the Unesco award "scandalous, shocking, absurd and inappropriate". Human Rights Watch, Freedom House and Paris-based Reporters Without Borders have all expressed their concern at the award, which Unesco said was in recognition of Mr Karimov's preserving his country's cultural heritage. Just over a year ago, the UN condemned Mr Karimov for staging what it called a "massacre" in the city of Andijan, where government troops opened fire on demonstrators, killing hundreds of protestors. More recently, the UN high commissioner for refugees accused the Uzbek government of kidnapping refugees from Andijan who were hiding in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, and persecuting people connected to the events of last year. A Unesco spokesperson told the BBC that the medal was a "gesture of courtesy". According to the Uzbek press, Mr Matsuura also thanked the president for his role in strengthening friendship and cooperation between nations and developing cultural and religious dialogue. But human rights groups say it is inappropriate to give an international award to the leader of a country where the torture of prisoners is systematic, religious repression is widespread and political opposition is not tolerated. Read the full article here Broken Link? If the link to the original article is broken or has been altered you can view the article by clicking here. About KDR \| \| Home \| \| Weekly Features Archive	Weekly Features Archive
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