2006年VOA标准英语-Experts Say Uzbekistan Fears Outside Inter

By Stephanie Ho
Washington
29 March 2006

Experts say they believe the ongoing¹ crackdown against foreign organizations in Uzbekistan is due to Uzbek government fears of what they call "outside interference." 

  
  
Uzbekistan has recently come under international criticism following the government's move to force international non-governmental and other organizations to leave the country.

The closures in recent weeks include civil society groups like Freedom House and IREX, and media agencies like Internews, BBC and Radio Free Europe.

When asked about the crackdown at a recent conference in Washington, Uzbek Ambassador to the United States Abdulaziz Kamilov said his government is making tough decisions.

"Obviously, it's regrettable to stop any cooperation with any NGOs, but every time, when we stop accreditation² or close cooperation with any NGO, we try to explain the reasons," he said.

One organization that has operated in Uzbekistan for 12 years, Eurasia Foundation, faced lawsuits³ in Uzbek courts. So, the foundation voluntarily closed its offices in Tashkent before negative court rulings would force it to leave the country.

Eurasia Foundation President Bill Maynes says the charges against his group were specific and vague at the same time.

"We know what the alleged⁴ reason was," he said. "It couldn't possibly be the real reason. We've been told that we did not register our logo 10 years ago. We've been told that we signed a lease with someone who did not get his papers properly signed by a notary⁵ public. We've been told that we operated outside of mandate⁶, but how is unspecified."

He says he believes his group, which is largely U.S.-funded, is just one of the victims of what he sees as an overall souring of relations between the United States and Uzbekistan.

"I mean, all of these draconian⁷ steps were taken after Uzbekistan had decided⁸ to close the U.S. military base in Uzbekistan," he said. "And, then, it took some time, but there's been a cascade⁹ of steps taken against American NGOs."

Maynes adds that he believes Tashkent's fear of any foreign presence in the country hardened after last year's uprising in the town of Andijan, where hundreds of people are believed to have been killed in violent clashes with police.

"There's been a growing, ever since the uprising in Andijan and the deaths that took place there, there has been a heightened sensitivity from the Uzbek government about outside involvement, outside interference, outside encouragement, of forces within the country that are pressing for change," Maynes said.

Besides kicking out foreign organizations, Uzbekistan's unelected government has jailed human rights activists¹⁰ and suspected Muslim extremists.

This, says Frederick Starr, of Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, is why the issue of "outside interference" is very real for Uzbekistan. He says Central Asian governments often see NGO .s as acting¹¹ at the behest of their home governments.

"The argument that these NGOs are non-governmental fails, because they know that in most cases, they have received public funding from Congressionally-financed programs in the U.S. and EU-funded programs in Europe," Starr said. "Therefore, it looks to them that these are not really non-governmental, that these are agents of other governments."

The Eurasia Foundation's Maynes agrees that there is a perception problem. But he stresses that although organizations like his receive much of their funding from the U.S. government, they operate independently.

"We have a number of foundations that operate around the world, that are not under the command of the local U.S. ambassador," he said. "You know, you have the Asia Foundation, the Inter-American Foundation, the African Development Foundation. You have a number of private initiatives that receive government money. And we think that is totally normal."

Maynes says groups like the Eurasia Foundation work to improve Uzbek society - important work he says Tashkent currently does not do.

"We've shown the list of recent grants to some Uzbek officials, and they privately¹² all agree that these are very good grants," he said. "I think we've given grants to university students to find jobs, we've given grants to handicapped organizations, organizations for the handicapped, to help them find jobs. We've given grants to organizations that help people understand their rights and defend them."

He says he believes the Uzbek government will only allow international organizations to stay in the country if they have value for the government. Therefore, he says, he hopes Tashkent will come to realize the value of groups like Eurasia Foundation, and make theirs a temporary absence.

1 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

2 accreditation   

n.委派，信赖，鉴定合格

参考例句：

• a letter of accreditation 一份合格证明书
• This paper gives an overview of the Verification, Validation and Accreditation (VV&A) in High Level Architecture(HLA). 对基于高层体系结构(High Level Architecture,简称HLA)的仿真系统的校核、验证与确认(Verification, Validation and Accreditation,简称VV&A)问题进行了详细的介绍及分析。 来自互联网

3 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

4 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

5 notary   

n.公证人，公证员

参考例句：

• She is the town clerk and a certified public accountant and notary public.她身兼城镇文书、执业会计师和公证人数职。
• That notary is authorised to perform the certain legal functions.公证人被授权执行某些法律职能。

6 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

7 draconian   

adj.严苛的；苛刻的；严酷的；龙一样的

参考例句：

• You can't expect the people to obey such draconian regulations.你不能指望人民服从如此严苛的规定。
• The city needs a draconian way of dealing with robbers.这个城市需要一个严苛的办法来对付强盗。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 cascade   

n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下

参考例句：

• She watched the magnificent waterfall cascade down the mountainside.她看着壮观的瀑布从山坡上倾泻而下。
• Her hair fell over her shoulders in a cascade of curls.她的卷发像瀑布一样垂在肩上。

10 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

12 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。