Uzebekistan Decertified for Aid

When I got my monthly update from Human Rights Watch in my e-mail today and read that Uzbekistan had been decertified for a US aid program for making "no progress towards ending police torture and other abuses," well, I really got excited:

“This is the first time any country in Central Asia has been ‘decertified,’” said Tom Malinowski, Human Rights Watch’s Washington director. “The Uzbek government has sold itself to the United States as a partner against terror. But real partners in that fight give people peaceful avenues for expressing themselves, rather than shutting them down.”

Indeed! I was all determined to heap praise upon the Bush administration for this until I read that there is a catch:

Uzbekistan will still receive the designated U.S. funds as part of a national interest waiver that recognizes the need to safeguard weapons and materials in the region, where Uzbekistan is a major source of uranium.

So, essentially it's a little more than symbolic for now. Not to cast a pall on things, there is some potential good news:

“Later this year the U.S. government will have to make another human rights certification decision tied to other aid to Uzbekistan, for which there is no national interest waiver,” Malinowski said. “After this decision, it will be hard to certify progress again soon unless they can point to real results in the interim. I hope, and believe, that this is the message they are conveying to the Uzbeks now. If so, this could have some real impact.”

So, for now I'll remain as chary as usual with my praise for the president, but agree with what Malinowski said. If they certify Uzbekistan, then there had better be demonstrable progress. I'll be optimistic, but skeptical until then.