GENEVA, Switzerland, May 20 (UPI) -- A U.N. arbitrary executions expert is trying to visit Uzbekistan following reports government troops killed scores, if not hundreds, of protesters last week.
U.N. Special Rapporteur Philip Alston said in a statement issued Friday in Geneva he was gravely concerned about reports hundreds of people had been killed and troubled that the government attributed the violence to Islamic terrorists.
"Quite apart from the need to distinguish political opponents from terrorists, the point is that governments are clearly obligated to address any such situations within a framework clearly governed by human rights law," Alston said.
Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov rejected a call by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan for an international investigation Thursday saying the situation was under control and the government was working to bring those responsible to account.
He also rejected a similar call Thursday by U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbor who urged Uzbekistan to respect the freedom of assembly it had pledged to uphold under international law.
