http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11463359
Interfax February 10, 2006
Freedom House's Uzbek office shut down for six months
TASHKENT - A Tashkent court has suspended the operations of the U.S. human rights organization Freedom House in Uzbekistan for six months, the press service of the Uzbek Supreme Court told Interfax on Friday.
Last October, the country's Justice Ministry accused Freedom House's Uzbek office of violating Uzbek legislation, including the law on non-governmental non-profit organizations, and asked the court to suspend its activities until July 11, the press service said. ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/02/10/uzbekfreedomhouse.shtml
MosNews February 10, 2006
Uzbek Court Suspends Operations of US NGO Freedom House
Appeals commission to the city court of the Uzbek capital of Tashkent has approved the court's ruling to suspend the operation of the U.S. human rights organization Freedom House for six months.
The ruling was first issued on January 12 saying Freedom House must cease all activities in Uzbekistan for six months. The organization appealed the decision but the court upheld it.
Last October, the country's Justice Ministry accused Freedom House's Uzbek office of violating Uzbek legislation, including the law on non-governmental non-profit organizations, and asked the court to suspend its activities until July 11, the court's press service was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying. The ministry found that the organization had held a meeting on May 28, 2005, where the representatives of unregistered human rights organizations took part. The ministry also accused the organization of declining to present its finance documentation.
Freedom House is the latest foreign organization to have its activity suspended in the country. Last year, Uzbek courts suspended and later closed the offices of IREX, which ran education programs. The London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting withdrew from the country citing security concerns.
Uzbekistan's relations with the West soured after Tashkent rejected international calls to hold an independent inquiry into major riots in the town of Andijan that took place in May 2005....
The Uzbek authorities, who maintain that 187 people died and blame the uprising on "foreign-paid terrorists", held an open trial and sentenced 15 people to long jail terms last month....