Rights groups slam planned Prague visit by Uzbek leader

Thirty human rights groups Tuesday called on Czech President Milos Zeman to reconsider his plan to host his Uzbek counterpart Islam Karimov, accused of serious rights abuses, on a state visit next week. The groups including Human Rights Watch and the Prague-based People in Need released an open letter to Zeman expressing their "surprise and deep concern" over the invitation. They called on Zeman to reconsider the invitation or to at least raise the human rights situation in the energy-rich central Asian state with Karimov during the visit. Karimov, 75, has received few invitations from Western capitals during his iron-fisted rule over Uzbekistan for more than two decades. Global rights campaigners have repeatedly labelled his regime as one of the most repressive on the planet. The regime notably crushed protests in 2005 in the eastern city of Andijan during which 187 people died according to the government and 700 according to rights groups. "Karimov has ruled over a country in which torture is systematic in police custody and in prisons, where dozens of human rights defenders, journalists and other peaceful activists are held on politically motivated charges and thousands of people are locked up simply for practising their religion," the groups said in the letter. The outspoken Zeman, 69 -- who has been in office since March as the first-ever directly elected Czech president -- called the rights groups uninformed and hypocritical. "Karimov recently held talks with EU officials in Brussels. I didn't notice your protest against this visit," Zeman said in a statement. In fact, his 2011 visit to Brussels to meet EU and NATO leaders for talks on Afghanistan, which shares a border with Uzbekistan, sparked fierce protests from human rights advocates. Karimov also noted that Washington considers Uzbekistan "an ally in the fight against Islamist terrorism," adding: "I didn't notice your protest against this US stance." Zeman faced an earlier round of criticism this year for insisting that embattled Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych visit Prague in April. He also attended the opening ceremony of the Sochi Olympics unlike many Western leaders who allegedly snubbed the event over Russia's notorious anti-gay law.