18 November 2004 -- Birlik leader Vasilya Inoyatova says the CEC has disqualified Shavkat Tursunov, the only independent candidate linked to the opposition, Inoyatova says disqualification was due to CEC claim that 13,000 signatures for registration were invalid
8 November 2004 -- UzA reports HDP party congress, says there are 580,000 members, also reports Fidokorlar holds second party congress and says there are more than 61,000 members
6 November 2004 -- Atanazar Aripov of Erk urges voters to boycott parliamentary elections, says, "We can say with certainty that the election will not be free, fair or democratic"
1 November 2004 -- Personal representative of the OSCE chairman, Marti Ahtisaari, visits, says, "I am sorry that it will not be possible at this stage to hold the elections with greater participation of different political views," especially since "this is not because of the lack of opposition political parties. In fact, a number of opposition parties have tried to register and participate, but never succeeded in doing that." Without the opposition, he says, "the elections will be seen as an internal exercise of the government," and "it is not only how you technically run an election but how representative the elections are. I hope that can be still corrected." Ahtisaari says the OSCE will send a limited mission of observers to monitor the December parliamentary election
1 November 2004 -- A large crowd of people -- various reports claim between 2,000 and 10,000 -- march through Kokand protesting new regulations for merchants, some attack police and burn several police cars
22 October 2004 -- CEC chairman Buritosh Mustafayev says "all five political parties" have been registered to take part in parliamentary elections; "All the five parties the Social-Democratic party Adolat (Justice), the Democratic Party Milli Tiklanish (National Revival), the Popular Democratic party, the Movement of Businessmen-Liberal Democratic party, and the National-Democratic Party Fidokorlar (the Selfless), in compliance with the Law On Elections, have gathered no less than 50,000 signatures of voters supporting their participation in the elections"
15 October 2004 -- The British Embassy in Tashkent confirms that Ambassador Craig Murray has been recalled, "The Times" reports he was removed from his post because he criticized Uzbekistan's human rights record
14 October 2004 -- The unregistered People's Movement Birdamlik (Solidarity), formed by 12 opposition political activists on 10 April 2004, announces it is boycotting the December parliamentary elections
14 October 2004 -- Nine opposition political and human rights organizations send an open letter to British Prime Minister Tony Blair supporting a statement made by British Ambassador Craig Murray, the groups are Birlik, Erk, Ozod Dehkonlar Partiyasi, the Democratic Forum of Uzbekistan, the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, the Ezgulik Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, the Center for Democratic Initiatives, the Association of Rights Defenders, and the Committee of Mothers Against the Death Penalty
11 October 2004 -- The "Financial Times" cites memo by British Ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray protesting Britain's use of intelligence obtained through torture: "Tortured dupes are forced to sign confessions showing what the Uzbek government wants the U.S. and U.K. to believe that they and we are fighting the same war against terror ... This is morally, legally and practically wrong"
30 September 2004 -- Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov says Uzbekistan wants international and regional organizations to send representatives to monitor parliamentary elections
24 September 2004 -- ODIHR mission completes inspection of preparations for parliamentary elections
20 September 2004 -- Campaigning for parliamentary race officially starts, to end on 10 November, with elections set for 26 December
15 September 2004 -- Committee to Protect Journalists releases statement expressing concern over the closure of Internews-Uzbekistan, saying, "the closure of Internews-Uzbekistan comes amid a broad government crackdown on the independent media and non-governmental organizations ahead of parliamentary elections"
13 September 2004 -- Uzbek court orders media training organization Internews closed for six months for "violating regulations pertaining to the registration of non-commercial non-governmental organizations," Internews-Uzbekistan head Khalida Anarbayeva says, "I see it as a deliberate attempt to muzzle the freedom of speech and hamper the work of non-governmental organizations"
10 September 2004 -- Some 100 women stage sit-in on Andijan street, halting traffic for one hour, to protest hakim's broken promise that they could sell their goods near the site of the Uzum Bazaar, which the hakim ordered to undergo reconstruction for two months
11 August 2004 -- Presidential press secretary Rustam Jumayev announces the release of the multimedia disk, "Islam Karimov: Collection of Works," in Uzbek and Russian languages
4 August 2004 -- Uzbek government turns down offers from the United States, Israel, and Interpol to help in the investigation into the 30 July bombings
30 July 2004 -- Three suicide bombers detonate their explosives within 15 minutes of one another, one outside the U.S. Embassy, one outside the Israeli Embassy, and one inside the prosecutor general's office, two people killed instantly, two more die within three days, Islamic Jihad of Uzbekistan and a group claiming to be the IMU claim responsibility on Internet sites
21 July 2004 -- Ozod Dehkonlar Partiyasi releases a statement criticizing registered parties in the country that are calling themselves "opposition" parties
19 July 2004 -- Nesim Tumkaya, representative of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) in Uzbekistan says population growth in Uzbekistan is decreasing, says growth was 2.1 percent in 1990-95, but was 1.51 percent in 2000-05, says there were 3,867 cases of HIV registered as of 2004
14 July 2004 -- United States announces it is withholding $18 million worth of financial aid from Uzbekistan due to the country's "lack of progress in democratic reforms"
24 June 2004 -- Supreme Court upholds Justice Ministry decision denying registration to the Birlik movement, Birlik party leader Vasilya Inoyatova calls the ruling political, says that authorities are seeking to prevent the party from participating in parliamentary elections at the end of the year, says the party will appeal
24 June 2004 -- U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Lorne Craner says although Uzbekistan has taken several constructive steps to address human rights concerns, its overall rights record remains very poor, cites as examples "serious" abuses and deaths under detention as well as the decision by the authorities to not register any of the existing four opposition parties, and to shut them out of parliamentary polls this winter
21 May 2004 -- Justice Minister Abdusamat Polvon-Zoda says the registration of the Soros Foundation in Uzbekistan will not be renewed, says "the developmental institute of the Soros Foundation was denied registration due to crude breaches of the law," says official warnings were given to the offices of the U.S. National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and U.S. International Republican Institute. Polvon-Zoda says the International Republican Institute took part in organizing the founding congress of the Ozod Dehkonlar party, while Freedom House circulated printed matter and videotapes with "slanted and subjective coverage of the political, social, and economic situation in Uzbekistan and also made anti-constitutional calls," says Erk had not submitted any registration documents, adds that its leader, Muhammad Solih, had been sentenced to 15 years in prison in absentia for organizing terrorist acts in 1999 among other things, says the registration documents of Birlik and Ozod Dekhkhonlar were not considered because of numerous falsifications of signatures of individuals "allegedly wishing to form a political party"
30 April 2004 -- Parliament meets, adopts law on financing of political parties, dismisses B. Mustafayev as chairman of the Supreme Court, appoints M. Abdurasulov to replace him, President Karimov criticizes country's political parties saying "they (political parties) do not have a solid, independent platform, to the point where they differ little from one another," has words of praise for the Liberal-Democratic Party, which "is being created not to compliment each other and the authorities, but for criticism"
11 April 2004 -- Representatives from Birlik, Erk, Ozod Dehkonlar, and the "Entrepreneurs and Agrarians" meet in Kokand for a "round table" (Dawra Kengashi)
30 March 2004 -- More explosions in the Kibraisk district 15 kilometers outside of Tashkent, shoot-out between police and attackers as the attackers take shelter in an apartment complex, then blow themselves up, government already blaming Hezb ut-Tahrir, reports say 22 dead and 31 injured
29 March 2004 -- Explosion in the Romitan district of Bukhara province, then in Tashkent at Chorsu bazaar, near Bolalar Dunyosi, when female suicide bomber strikes, Prosecutor-General Rashid Kadyrov says nine "terrorists" dead and four captured in Romitan, Kadyrov says all together there are 19 dead and 26 injured in attacks, 11 detained
20 March 2004 -- About this time reports circulating that Tohir Yuldash is among the foreign mercenaries that Pakistani military forces are fighting against in Waziristan
24 February 2004 -- Birlik says government is trying to link movement to terrorist groups
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