BRUSSELS/OSH, 30 January 2002: The attacks in the United States on 11 September 2001 and the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan have intensified the scrutiny of Islamist movements across Central Asia.

A new ICG briefing paper, The IMU and Hizb-ut-Tahrir: Implications of the Afghanistan Campaign, analyses two of the most important groups, one of which, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) was designated a terrorist organisation by the United States. Hizb-ut-Tahrir has received less international scrutiny, in part because it advocates a non-violent approach. However the two groups share many broad aims, primarily the overthrow of current governments and the institution of an Islamist political order in the region.

How Central Asia and the international community deal with these groups will be critical to long-term stability. Too often, undemocratic Central Asian governments have responded to political demands by Islamist movements with mass arrests and harassment by police and officials. Thousands of people languish in intolerable conditions in Uzbekistan’s jails for no reason other than that they are Muslim.

ICG Asia Program Director Robert Templer said: “It is vital to understand that support for Islamist movements, especially Hizb-ut-Tahrir, is driven by the disappointments of the post-Soviet era rather than by deep attachment to radical Islamist theology. Most recruits are young, poorly educated, and have little religious knowledge. It is Hizb-ut-Tahrir’s call for an end to corruption, greed and abuse of power that strikes a deep chord with many ordinary people.”

The international community and the governments of the region must deal with the fundamental problems of poverty, corruption, education and religious and political freedom if they want to stem the growing popularity of Hizb-ut-Tahrir in particular. The IMU, which moved to Afghanistan in recent years, is believed to have lost its leader and many of its fighters in the U.S. air attacks. However there has been contact between the two groups in the past and without improvements in the general state of civil society, their support base will grow, and may move closer together.

ICG’s Central Asia Project Director David Lewis emphasises the need for the U.S., EU and other donors not to ignore the need for reform in securing co-operation from regional governments on terrorism. “Although there is widespread support to tackle terrorism, if the rule of law to continues to be obviated throughout Central Asia, the long-term consequences will be grim,” he said.