Nick raises a very good point as to whether or not sanctions will have any real effect on government action, and the sad response has to be probably not. If that is the case, then some leaders seem to think that cozying up to the leaders who are perpetrating these grotesque offenses, and making it easier for citizens themselves to travel to more open societies is the best we can currently do. The problem is that the easing of visa restrictions really only applies to a certain class of peoples that is severely restricted.

I would agree that the government is even more restrictive now than it was during Soviet rule. The overtures that the they have made to please the world’s democratic powers (such as the “abolition of the death penalty”) simply pay lip service to democracy and human rights while, in practice, the government maintains its tyrannical strangle hold on the population through any means necessary.

In my opinion, a closer look should be taken at how the sanctions are impacting the many peoples of Uzbekistan (though given the limited access from outside, even this would have to be done carefully and probably by a non-western NGO). The sanctions may not be working, but I do not see rewarding the government through processes such as the liberalization of visa requirements is the correct path either. The lack of criticism of Uzbekistan’s human rights violations by the world’s great powers is reward enough. Sadly, it seems that the only action to be taken right now is to sit tight, hope that bloggers continue to foster some type of free speech, and apply soft power pressure on the country as best we can. However, as long as NGOs and aid missions are restricted like they currently hard, this final objective remains very difficult. Tragically, it will probably take another Andijan–or several more–before the world pays much more attention to this difficult situation.