The tragic events in Andijan, Uzbekistan, began in the early hours of May 13, 2005, when an armed group staged a raid on a local prison with the aim of freeing the jailed entrepreneurs. The militants, comprising many friends and family members of the detained, later occupied a government building and took local officials hostage.
As the militants settled into the government building, or hokimat, in central Andijan, they sought to "prepare for a massive protest in Bobur Square," according to the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report on the massacre. The militants took action, including notifying friends and relatives by telephone, designed to attract a large crowd to the square. At the same time, HRW reports, "many protesters joined the crowd on their own initiative." Those within the protesting crowd were unarmed, HRW investigators say, when the Uzbek military opened fire, killing hundreds.
Galima Bukharbaeva of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting was one of the few journalists to witness the massacre in Andijan. In this forum sponsored by OSI's Central Eurasia Project, she shared what she saw that day.