The NYT has a lengthy story on the release of a 70-minute video recording of the events in Andijan in May 2005. (A shorter version is already in circulation, mostly through the Uzbek embassies, and can be viewed at Registan.) Pretty early on it becomes clear that the video can be viewed from any number of angles; the writers state:

‘[But] the video is remarkable as a document that can be read different ways - not just as propaganda but in places as a portrait of confusion and disorganization among the protesters and gunmen that undermines Uzbekistan’s claim that it resorted to violence to put down an armed uprising by highly trained international terrorists. The gunmen often appear inexperienced, bungling and poorly equipped.

Even allowing for the government’s editing, other scenes belie some survivors’ contentions that they were simply hoping to spark a nonviolent, national uprising like those that had recently toppled other corrupt post-Soviet governments. Serious crimes committed by the gunmen and poor judgment by the demonstrators are evident, as are the tactical difficulties faced by Uzbek security forces.’

The NYT also provides a brief viewer’s guide, explaining the origins of the video and what it was primarily used for - prosecuting the alleged instigators of the events in Andijan. What is interesting in relation to this is the provenance of the video: Martha Brill Olcott of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace received it from the (in)famous Bakhtiyar Babadjanov, who in turn helped prep the Uzbek prosecutors.

That would seem to suggest that this longer version is in effect the case for the prosecution, which reinforces interpretations of those bloody events as falling into one of two camps: popular protest bloodily suppressed by government, or armed insurrection defeated by Uzbek security forces? As ever, the truth appears to fall somewhere in between. One alternative interpretation may be that it was all - hard though it may be to swallow - one enormous and very bloody cock-up.

A mixture of inexperience, misunderstanding and lack of communication among the factions of protestors, armed rebels and security forces may have lead to a breakdown of control which in turn triggered the shooting and killing. After all, even hardened and trained law enforcement officers can experience meltdown in extreme situations - as Malcolm Gladwell argues in his book Blink, when describing the shooting of Amadou Diallo by NYPD officers.

The events in Andijan have been incorporated into the anti-Karimov narrative of Uzbek state brutality, but such a process can obscure the realities on the ground that day. I believe The Germans have a wonderful word (what is it, Ben?) that roughly translates as ‘the smell on the tips of your fingers’, which is used to describe the sensation of a certain ‘feeling’ in the air or atmosphere at a given event (or, if you like, ‘the vibe’). Watching this video, it’s hard not to get the feeling that something very bad was about to happen.