U.S. 'Disappointed' That Uzbek Refugees Sent Home

I don't know whether to laugh or cry over this one...--Dictynna.

By REUTERS

Filed at 10:13 a.m. ET

BISHKEK (Reuters) - The United States said on Monday it was very disappointed that Kyrgyzstan had handed four asylum seekers over to authoritarian neighbor Uzbekistan without considering whether they would be persecuted.

The four men fled a bloody government crackdown in the eastern town of Andizhan last month and human rights campaigners have said they fear they may face torture.

The Kyrgyz security services handed the men over last Thursday, after pressure from Uzbekistan on its smaller Central Asian neighbor to return 12 men who broke out of jail at the start of a rebellion that was put down by troops.

``The United States is very disappointed by the Kyrgyz government's decision last week to turn over four Uzbek individuals, who had registered as asylum seekers, to Uzbek authorities ... without careful review of whether those people might be persecuted,'' the U.S. embassy in Kyrgyzstan said.