NOV. 21 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – As part of a tour of Central Asia, Swiss President Didier Burkhalter travelled to Uzbekistan. This was a rare trip to Uzbekistan by a Western leader, who are keen to avoid the Uzbek stigma of human rights abuses.

In a meeting, Uzbek President Islam Karimov and Mr Burkhalter discussed “mutual ties, the situation in the world, bilateral business relations and international organizations’ roles,” the official Uzbek media dryly report.

Although little official information is available about Mr Burkhalter’s visit, it is clear the Uzbek side had a few topics to discuss with him.

One issue was the $1b sitting in Swiss bank accounts that allegedly belongs to Gulnara Karimova, the Uzbek president’s daughter. Swiss banks froze that money after prosecutors launched a criminal investigation into suspected money laundering activities.

Ms Karimova is believed to be under house arrest in Tashkent, while other people the Swiss prosecutors wanted to interview have been jailed by Uzbek courts. The Uzbek side will probably use the Swiss president’s visit to attempt to salvage the frozen assets.

Another matter the official Tashkent would have been eager to discuss is the parliamentary elections in December, because Mr Burkhalter is also OSCE Chairperson- in-Office. The OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) sent a mission to Uzbekistan late October to assess elections monitoring needs. The ODIHR assessors recommend sending a limited observation mission due to a lack of competition.

Perhaps to incline Mr Burkhalter toward benevolence, President Karimov signed a decree on introducing amendments to a Swiss-Uzbek agreement on avoiding double taxation.