Ferghana.ru in English!

This is the best summary of the events in English that I've seen so far - this is available in English on the Ferghana.ru website, so thankfully I didn't have to translate it:

Uzbek Troops Fire on Thousands at Andijan Rally
IWPR, Galima Bukharbaeva, 14.05.2005

Demonstration turns violent as Tashkent authorities send in soldiers to shoot at crowds.
By IWPR staff in Uzbekistan (RCA No. 376, 13-May-05)

Troops opened fire on thousands of demonstrators in the Uzbek city of Andijan on May13, bringing a bloody climax to protests sparked by a trial of local businessmen accused of being Islamic radicals.As thousands of people including many women and children took part in a rally in the centre of the city, located in the east of the Fergana Valley, two columns of armoured cars moved in on the crowds and fired on civilians apparently indiscriminately.

IWPR’s country director Galima Bukharbaeva saw at least five blood-covered bodies lying on the ground, and many other people were injured. Some protesters who had earlier seized Kalashnikovs and other weapons from a military base returned fire at the security forces. The crowd panicked and people ran in all directions to escape the gunfire.

There had been peaceful protests on May 10-11 outside a courtroom where 23 men were on trial on charges of being Islamic radicals – which they all deny. But the situation suddenly escalated early overnight on May 12-13 when a group of their supporters raided a local military base and seized weapons. They then stormed the prison and freed the defendants along with all the other inmates. Crowds appeared in central Andijan and broke into the regional government building. Reports said they also tried to capture the local office of the National Security Service, SNB, the successor to the KGB in Uzbekistan, but were repulsed.

When the troops moved in, IWPR contributors estimated there were 20,000 people gathered on the square outside the local government building. Uzbekistan’s state-run and heavily controlled media remained tight-lipped, but shortly before the armoured vehicles went in, national TV put out a statement saying “there have been talks with the bandits all day, but they did not lead to anything. The criminals are using women and children as cover. There has not been a single death so far”.

Kabuljon Parpiev, one of the leaders of the protest, said before the assault that there were up to 50 people dead, as security forces ringing the city centre were firing shots from about one kilometre away. Other reports spoke of nine dead at this point. The protesters had about 30 hostages – police, SNB officers and provocateurs. Rally organisers were maintaining order and people were building barricades.

Parpiev said he had spoken by phone with Uzbekistan interior minister, Zokir Almatov, asking him to secure the release of Akram Yuldashev, who is alleged to have provided the inspiration for the 23 accused.

According to Parpiev, at first Almatov told him that he would try to get Yuldashev released, but in a subsequent phone call the minister took a tougher line, saying the judges in the case had refused the request, and that “the authorities will mount an assault on the rebels and take the city by force”. [...]

This report was compiled from reports filed from Andijan by IWPR’s Uzbekistan project director Galima Bukharbaeva and from Tashkent by IWPR contributor Malik Boboev.