The United States embassy welcomes the release last week of journalist Jamshid Karimov. The news followed the release of Muhammad Bekjanov and other long-held prisoners. These positive steps seem to foreshadow future releases and a more tolerant approach to civil society in general. So, we were disappointed to learn of setbacks with other activists, such as the recent detention of Elena Urlaeva and the decision to uphold Azam Farmonov’s sentence extension. We urge the government to reinforce its more positive trajectory on questions of the human dimension so that future actions align more closely with the country’s own laws and international standards.
