Dear Editor:
In May 2005 in Andijan, Uzbekistan, government soldiers committed what Human Rights Watch (HRW) has since called a "massacre" against civilian protestors, the vast majority of whom were unarmed.
Following the event, government officials collected the present journalists' materials and barred others from entering the city. Wounded protestors were left lying in the street, and witnesses indicate that, on the following morning, soldiers began to "summarily execute" some of those survivors, according to HRW. Reports generally indicate that around 500 people were killed in the events.
In October of this year, HRW reported that Alisher Saipov, a Kyrgyz journalist, was killed on the side of the street in Osh, Kyrgyzstan. A Western diplomat was quoted by the New York Times as saying the incident was "not an execution, but an assassination."
An opponent of Uzbekistan's government, Saipov had been the target of attacks from Uzbekistan's state-controlled media. According to BBC News, Saipov told his friends that he believed he was being followed as recently as two days before his death.
It has become clear among international observers and Krygyzstan's media that the killing was orchestrated by Uzbekistan's National Security Service.
This month, Uzbekistan's president, Islam Karimov, has registered his name for that country's presidential election, though his entrance into the race violates that country's constitutional law banning more than two consecutive terms in office.
The United States has begun to limit the funds it directs to Uzbekistan in light of the Andijan massacre. But it has put little pressure on the government to reform any of its policies, and it's curious why the United States only now cares about Karimov's disgusting treatment of his citizens when public accounts of his methods have existed for years.
Similarly, the United States has continued to maintain a relationship with Uzbekistan, because, according to U.S. diplomat Evan Feigenbaum, there is a "sound basis of common interest" - namely, continuing to destroy Uzbekistan's chief security concern, Afghanistan, and stifle democratic reform in the region.
The United States should entirely sever its relationship with Uzbekistan while actively promoting political reforms in that country. Only then will the United States begin to atone for the massive aid it has given that country for more than a decade.
Brian McLooneClass of 2009
Dear Editor:
In the Dec. 4 Features article entitled "Teaching of Freud slips in college psychology, but thrives in other fields across universities," Meredith Hassett does an outstanding job in covering the issues surrounding the teaching of Freud to undergraduates.
However, it is the American Psychoanaytic Association that has created a task force - the Task Force on Psychoanalysis and Undergraduate Education - to study university approaches to psychoanalysis and increase student exposure to psychoanalytic theory, rather than the American Psychology Society as was reported.
One of the many projects this Task Force has created is www.teachpsychoanalysis.com, an online resource for undergraduate educators and students.
Dottie JeffriesDirector of Public AffairsAmerican Psychoanalytic Association
