Uzbekistan Warns UN against Using Human Rights to "Interfere in Internal Affairs"
Friday, November 2, 2007 11:42 AM
In a speech to a session of the United Nations General Assembly, Uzbek Ambassador to the UN Alisher Vohidov warned on October 31 against the use of the issue of human rights as a "pretext" for interfering in countries' internal affairs, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service reported. Vohidov called on the UN to pursue international cooperation on human rights in a "transparent and fair" manner and said that such cooperation "must be based on equality, mutual respect, social and economic development, and historical and cultural traditions." The statement follows a record of criticism of Uzbekistan's human rights record by human right groups and Western governments since a clash between Uzbek security forces and hundreds of unarmed demonstrators in the eastern city of Andijan in May 2005.
Published in: "Uzbekistan Warns UN Against Using Human Rights to "Interfere in Internal Affairs," Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 2 November 2007.
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