Human rights organisations and diplomats believe 6,500...

Human rights organisations and diplomats believe 6,500 Muslims are currently in jail in Uzbekistan for supposed sympathies with Muslim extremist groups. The majority are believed to have been imprisoned, tortured and in some cases executed, on trumped-up charges as part of a nationwide action against Muslims.
Uzbekistan's human rights record is infamous. It was singled out in Human Rights Watch's annual report as one of the world's most repressive regimes for its arrests, torture and imprisonment of peaceful Muslims. "For too many countries, the anti-terror mantra has provided a new reason to ignore human rights," said a spokesman. In another report the organisation said that Uzbekistan had "a terrible record of torture".
But this year Uzbekistan has been hailed as a key ally in the US war against terrorism. Up to 5,000 Special Forces troops have been stationed in a former Soviet base in Khanabad, on the Afghan border 300 miles from the Uzbek capital of Tashkent, since October 2001.
Sadiq Safayev, Uzbekistan's Deputy Foreign Minister and a reformer, said: "The US presence means there is extra leverage to support democratic development." He added: "We are in more danger if they are not here."
Mikhail Ardzinov, a prominent human rights campaigner, said that President Karimov "wanted a barter; his air base in exchange for American silence on human rights. But I don't think he'll get it".