Country Reports on Terrorism 2012

that address terrorism, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), with the
Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS) of the SCO headquartered in Tashkent. Uzbekistan
continued to work with several multilateral organizations such as the OSCE, the EU, and the UN
Office on Drugs and Crime on general security issues, including border control. However, in
2012 Uzbekistan suspended its membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
In December, at the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Summit held in Ashgabat,
Turkmenistan, CIS members, including Uzbekistan, signed an agreement on counterterrorism
training cooperation.
Countering Radicalization and Violent Extremism: Official government media continued to
produce documentaries, news articles, and full-length books about the dangers of Islamist
religious extremism and terrorist organizations. This messaging generally targeted the 15-40 year
old male population, which the Government of Uzbekistan considers the most susceptible to
recruitment by violent extremist groups, although some campaigns have focused on female
audiences. One of Uzbekistan’s state-run television channels aired a program that urged citizens
to read only state-authorized religious books, noting that there are two government authorized
publishers of religious literature in Uzbekistan. The program highlighted inspections by law
enforcement agencies of bookshops, publishing houses, and border checkpoints to stop the
circulation of unauthorized so-called “extremist” literature. Some non-governmental religious
experts continued to suggest that greater freedom to circulate mainstream, non-extremist Islamic
and other religious materials could be more effective in countering violent extremism than the
current policy of maintaining a government monopoly over religious publications. We refer you
to the Department of State’s Annual Report to Congress on International Religious Freedom
(http://www.state.gov/j/drl/irf/rpt/index.htm) for further information.
WESTERN HEMISPHERE
Governments in the Western Hemisphere took modest steps to improve their counterterrorism
capabilities and tighten border security. The primary impediments to effective action in some
countries included corruption, weak governmental institutions, insufficient interagency
cooperation, weak or non-existent legislation, and a lack of resources. Most countries made
efforts to investigate possible connections between transnational criminal organizations and
terrorist organizations.
Iran continued to try to expand its presence and bilateral relationships within the Western
Hemisphere. Iranian President Ahmadinejad visited Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Venezuela in
2012. The United States continued to monitor such initiatives.
The United States collaborated with both Canada and Mexico to protect our shared borders
through regular exchanges of intelligence and other information.
In 2012, the majority of terrorist attacks within the Western Hemisphere were committed by the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The threat of a transnational terrorist attack remained
low for most countries in the Western Hemisphere.
There were no known operational cells of either al-Qa'ida or Hizballah in the hemisphere,
although ideological sympathizers in South America and the Caribbean continued to provide
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