New friends since 9/11

This isn't new news, but I just came across the following article, and thought I'd give it some space:

JASLIK, Uzbekistan (Reuters) -Muzafar Avazov's teeth were smashed and his fingernails ripped out by the time he died--but the head of the Uzbek jail where he was killed says the prison is like a health farm.

(Note: this article has links to the photos, which I could not get to work - and probably I don't want to. Muzafar's mother says that all his nails, including toenails were ripped out, and that he was boiled. The pictures purportedly show the lack of nails and the burnt skin.)

"Prisoners live in comfort, eat scrumptious food and play soccer. All is great," said Colonel Alikhaidar Kolumbetov, sitting in a throne-like black and gold armchair.

Human RightsWatch(HRW) estimates there are at least 6.000 political and religious prisoners in Uzbekistan. It has reported more than 10 deaths from torture in jails since November 2001.

President Islam Karimov, who has led Uzbekistan since Soviet times, refuses to condemn torture, saying he must be tough to halt militant Islam in hisMuslim nation.

...And Kolumbetov angrily denied there had been any torture in his prison at all--any injuries arose from fights between ordinary criminals and political prisoners, in which they threw hot tea at each other.

"Then they died from the resulting illnesses," he said.

Almost as convincing a liar as Double-face.

Kolumbetov prevented Reuters from meeting many of the prisoners, but Nodir Sarimsakov, an emaciated pious Muslim serving 16 years for "undermining the constitutional order" confirmed torture was commonplace.

...One group of Hizb ut-Tahrir supporters inside Jaslik could not be stopped from expressing their hatred of Karimov's friendly relations with U.S. President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair.

"Are you from Reuters? Britain? Then tell Blair and Bush that when we build our Islamic state we will hold them accountable for Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq, and for their support of the killing of Muslims in Chechnya and Uzbekistan," said Akram Ikromov, a 29-year-old sentenced to 18years.

"Allah Akbar! (God is Great!)," the group chanted, waving clenched fists in the air, and all an enraged Kolumbetov could do was look on.

From the Guardian, May 26, 2003:

The US condemned this repression for many years. But since September 11 rewrote America's strategic interests in central Asia, the government of President Islam Karimov has become Washington's new best friend in the region.

The US is funding those it once condemned. Last year Washington gave Uzbekistan $500m (£300m) in aid. The police and intelligence services - which the state department's website says use "torture as a routine investigation technique" received $79m of this sum.

The cooperation grows. On May 2 Nato said Uzbekistan may be used as a base for the alliance's peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan.

Since the fall of the Taliban, US support for the Karimov government has changed from one guided by short-term necessity into a long-term commitment based on America's strategic requirements.

Critics argue that the US has overlooked human rights abuses to foster a police state whose borders give the Pentagon vantage points into Afghanistan and the other neighbouring republics which are as rich in natural resources as they are in Islamist movements.