Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
City Hall
New York, NY 10007

Via Facsimile: 212-788-7476

Dear Mayor Bloomberg:

We represent Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International USA, Freedom House, and the International League for Human Rights, New York-based organizations that investigate and report on human rights issues around the world. We are writing regarding your March 14 meeting with President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan, a leader whom the U.S. State Department has labeled "authoritarian" and who has shunned all efforts to bring rule of law and political freedoms to this former Soviet state.

In Uzbekistan, women and girls who wear head scarves are expelled from school; young men who have beards, a sign of piety, are taken off the street and forced to shave; and anyone who exchanges religious information or materials with another person without first getting permission from the government, is subject to a lengthy term in prison.

In the interest of promoting harmony and tolerance in New York City and advancing human dignity-one of the goals of America's campaign against terrorism-we urge you to stress in your meeting with President Karimov the need for improvements in that country's human rights record.

We understand that President Karimov plans to visit Ground Zero. We are concerned that he will try to use the attacks on New York to justify his own harsh measures at home. He will no doubt say that these measures are effective in the fight against terrorism. We hope you will convey your concern about the arrest of peaceful Muslims in Uzbekistan, and your conviction that any anti-terror campaign must distinguish between those who have committed or plotted specific acts of violence on the one hand, and those who are peaceful dissidents, on the other.

The State Department's human rights report, released March 4, vividly describes the Uzbek government's campaign of arrest, torture, and imprisonment of independent Muslims, its censorship of the media, and its intolerance of political opposition. The report particularly criticizes the Karimov government for its routine use of electric shock, rape, beatings, asphyxiation, and other forms of torture of detainees-those charged with common crimes and those arrested for their non-violent political or religious beliefs. Last year, state authorities also resurrected the Soviet practice of placing dissidents in psychiatric institutions.

The Bush administration has vowed to raise human rights issues during the summit with President Karimov at the White House. We hope you will also use your meeting with President Karimov to urge specific steps for progress in human rights, including the registration of Uzbekistan's domestic human rights groups and independent political parties; the reform of laws used to persecute independent Muslims and political dissidents; access for U.N. human rights monitors; and the release of political and religious prisoners.

Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International USA, Freedom House, and the International League for Human Rights call on you also to find a way to emphasize these benchmarks publicly, since President Karimov will otherwise be able to portray the meeting to the world as evidence of solidarity between this city and his policies. The symbol of resilience in the face of tragedy that New York has become should not be tarnished or exploited by an unreconstructed Soviet-style leader bent on rationalizing the suffering he has brought to his own people.

We urge you to use the opportunity of your meeting with President Islam Karimov to promote human rights and the rule of law - for the sake of the people of Uzbekistan and to advance the cause of stability and security for everyone.

Please accept our best wishes for a productive meeting.