National Security Service (Uzbekistan)
The National Security Service (in Uzbek Milliy Havfsizlik Hizmati, MHH; in Russian Служба национальной безопасности, СНБ, sometimes romanised as SNB) is the national intelligence agency of the government of Uzbekistan. It was created as a successor to the KGB following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and retains the same responsibilities and a similar range of functional units, including paramilitary police and special forces. The SNB and the national police force are agencies of the Interior Ministry.
Some analysts maintain that the SNB is under the control of the Tashkent clan, a powerful faction within the Uzbek elite.[1][2] The SNB has been closely associated with the authoritarian administration of President Islam Karimov, and has been accused of involvement in human rights abuses and in sponsoring acts of terrorism to provide a pretext for repressive policing. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has reported claims that the 1999 Tashkent bombings were carried out by the SNB, then led by Rustam Inoyatov of the "Tashkent clan", and that the SNB may also have been responsible for a series of bombings in 2004 in Tashkent and Bukhara.[3]
The US State Department's 2004 report on human rights in Uzbekistan stated that SNB officials "tortured, beat, and harassed" citizens.[4]
On 13 May 2005 SNB troops, along with military and Interior Ministry forces, killed a large number of protesters in Andijan, in an event that became known as the Andijan massacre.[5][6] Estimates of those killed range widely, from the official figure of 187 to upwards of 1,000.[5][7][8][9] The protests related to the arrest of a group of local businessmen, and the massacre was preceded by disorder including, according to Pravda, an attempt to seize the regional headquarters of the SNB.[10]
The deputy director of the SNB was in 2005 appointed Minister of the Interior.[1] A reorganisation of the security and counter-terrorism agencies in the aftermath of the Andijan massacre significantly increased the power and resources of the SNB.[1][2]
The SNB monitors internet traffic and works with the main regulatory body to impose censorship. Its officers frequently visit ISPs and internet cafés to monitor compliance.[11]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c [1] Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on "Tashkent clan"
- ^ a b Changes in Uzbekistan’s Military Policy after the Andijan Events Central Asia-Institute Silk Road Studies Program
- ^ [2] Radio Free Europe feature on bombings
- ^ Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2004 United States Department of State
- ^ a b Preliminary findings on the events in Andijan Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, June 2005
- ^ "Documenting Andijan", Council for Foreign Relations, 26 June 2006.
- ^ The Turkish Weekly
- ^ Institute for War and Peace Reporting
- ^ Former Uzbek Spy Accuses Government Of Massacres, Seeks Asylum 1 September 2008, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
- ^ The revolution in Uzbekistan's Andijan turns out to be narcotic Pravda
- ^ "ONI Regional Overview: Commonwealth of Independent States", OpenNet Initiative, March 2010
