| on 22-09-2008 11:13
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Published in : , Politics |
By Hannah Straw
Ruling a country is a difficult thing. Let's not knock it. But not all despotic dictators rely on mere election rigging to maintain their position. Oh no. Some are far more imaginative and cruel.
Take Islom Karimov, president of Uzbekistan. Sorry, I mean The Democratic Republic of Uzbekistan. Any country which make any kind of claim to democratic in its qualifying prefix should be handled with extreme caution, past experience should warn us.
Karimov followed an illustrious path to power, becoming secretary of the ruling Communist Party in 1989. By March of the following year, he had pushed his way into presidency. This power was consolidated in August of the following year as Uzbekistan celebrated its independence from the USSR in 1991. By December of that same year, he commanded a staggering 89% of the vote, and his popularity miraculously increased to over 90%, and this success was added to by Karimov winning countless referendums allowing him to extend his term. What a glory for democracy. Yeah, right.
On the underground stage, worrying reports suggest that Karimov sustained his position of unprecedented power by less respectable means.
Formerly on good terms with the West, the US and UK governments withdrew their embassies following allegations of torture of political dissidents including but not limited to: drowning, suffocation, rape…. All the usual boring stuff. However, Karimov dissolved the bitter taste of his political enemies in the same way we make carrots more palatable- by overcooking them in a large pan with spices. Yes, Karimov is alleged to have simmered his political adversaries in boiling liquid.
Such horror only falls short to the atrocious oddities characterised by Teodoro Obiang Nguema's dictatorship in Equatorial Guinea, where he allegedly eats the testicles of executed political prisoners to boost his sex life. You can't make this stuff up. No wonder he was allied for a time with Mark Thatcher, son of the closest thing Britain has had for a dictator in the past 100 years, good old Maggie Thatcher. As far as we know, the most brutal of her tactics was closing down some coal mines and dissin' union leaders. But I can quite imagine her munching on balls, with a bit of Branston pickle for that truly British dictatorial experience.
However, lest we forget that the US and UK are themselves far from the democratic bastions they oft claim themselves to be. The UK fired its ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, after he presented detailed documentation including photographs of the mistreatment of political prisoners at the hands of Uzbekistan. Before then legitimising his claims by swiftly closing its embassy in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent. Shoot the messenger?
As for the US, it claims to refuse to send prisoners abroad to face trial in other nations, unless it receives assurances of humane treatment. It openly and willingly sends prisoners to face trial in Syria, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan: countries that have such abysmal human rights records that it renders such promises as empty as the UK Embassy building in Tashkent.
So when it comes to scary politics, the West must never forget to look within.
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