The United States government has expressed concern over a decision by Uzbekistan’s Supreme Court to approve the closure of the Tashkent office of the internationally respected Human Rights Watch group.

A statement issued by U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said international nongovernmental organizations such as Human Rights Watch «have an important function to play around the world» and that Washington regrets that Human Rights Watch will not be able to continue its work in Uzbekistan.

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch announced in March that it was being forced to close its Tashkent office after Uzbek authorities took steps to liquidate its office registration after years of obstructing the group’s work.

In a statement after last week’s decision by the Uzbek Supreme Court, Human Rights Watch said the Uzbek government continues to interfere with independent civil society and harass activists.

The statement condemned the Uzbek government for what it called an «atrocious human rights record in general.»

http://www.rferl.org/content/us_concern_closure_human_rights_watch_in_uzbekistan/24235375.html

If you want to promote your blog, don’t rule out stripping on camera. That’s exactly what prominent Kazakh journalist Gulzhan Ergalieva has done.

Ergalieva recently stepped down as the chief editor of a Kazakh newspaper, «Svoboda Slova,» which has been critical of the government. She said that her resignation was motivated by the campaign for a referendum to prolong Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev’s term in office until 2020.

Ergalieva is known as a crusading opposition-minded journalist. In 2001, masked men broke into her home before tying her up and beating her. Her husband was tortured, leaving him handicapped. The assailants were never found.

So to promote her new website, she decided to take off her clothes. (Video above. It’s probably just about safe-for-work, although best not to watch it when you have a visiting delegation behind you.) Her campaign is called, » The Naked Truth Is Better Than A Dressed-Up Lie.»

The reactions in the Kazakh blogosphere have been mixed. Here is a sample from our Kazakh Service:

«You are almost 60, how on earth could you take off your clothes in front of all of us? What kind of example are you setting for your children?»

«I think it would be better if you wore hijab and nikab when promoting your new project. Stripteases and drinking are everyday norms in our lives and wearing a hijab would probably attract more attention as something unusual in our country.»

» Gulzhan, how can you consider yourself a Kazakh lady after you’ve shown your naked body to everyone? It is a shame. If you have three grandchildren, as you say, what they are feeling now, I wonder?»

http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakh_journalist_strips_to_promote_her_websites/24236007.html

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon was recently touring Europe but few seemed willing to meet with him. That was too bad for European officials, since Rahmon had an interesting comment.

Rahmon’s tour took him to France, Austria, Luxembourg, and Hungary. He did not meet with many high-placed government officials (except the Austrian president), but Rahmon did meet with officials from European institutions, though he seems not to have made a much of an impression.

Heidi Hautala, the chairwoman of the European Parliament’s subcommittee on human rights, met with Rahmon and later told RFE/RL’s Tajik Service that he «was not extremely open» in their conversation.

Hautala pressed him on human rights issues and told Rahmon there needed to be more transparency and openness in Tajikistan in terms of human rights. But Hautala said she came away with the impression that «for the [Tajik] president, it was enough that the main principles of observing human rights were outlined in the constitution.»

Such an impression is perhaps not surprising, since Rahmon did not travel to Europe to answer questions about Tajikistan’s domestic affairs but to ask Europeans to invest in Tajikistan.

Rahmon was, of course, also seeking support for building the giant Roghun hydropower plant project that neighboring Uzbekistan so vehemently opposes. And as a reward for this potential support Rahmon treated those attending his speeches to marathon oratories that likely left them with little desire to question the Tajik president about anything.

Some Tajiks have pointed out that if European officials had to endure such an hours-long speech for one day, they should consider that Tajiks are treated to these long speeches regularly.

But Rahmon’s show-stopper comment came in his meeting with Hautala, when she asked the Tajik president about increasing prohibitions against young people attending mosques or madrasahs.

Rahmon’s reply: «You prohibit minors from drinking alcohol, don’t you?»

— Bruce Pannier

Bruce Pannier RFE/RL

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/chaikhana_tajik_president_wows_europe/24231267.html

KULOB, Tajikistan — The sons of two prominent Tajik journalists say police in the southern city of Kulob have detained and beat them, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reports.

Ibrohim Ahmad’s son Siyavush and Asliddin Dostiev’s son Bobojon were detained by traffic police at around 11 p.m. on June 7 along with some 100 fans of the local Ravshan soccer club, which had just won a match against Dushanbe’s Energetik team.

Officials say the young fans did not cause a public disturbance while celebrating their team’s victory. But the two say they were beaten while in police custody.

Ahmad and Dostiev say they were held at the police station for several hours and the police were very rude; insulting and beating them. They say they both sustained injuries.

The men underwent a medical examination on June 8 which revealed numerous bruises and other injuries on their bodies. They have filed a lawsuit against the police.

Asliddin Dostiev told RFE/RL that the police action is connected with his professional activities. He said he and his colleague, Ahmad Ibrohim, have been writing articles criticizing local police and traffic inspection police for some time.

«When the police found out that the guys were our children, they did what they did while we were out of town,» Dostiev told RFE/RL.

Kulob city traffic inspection police head Saimumin Hasanov told RFE/RL that the incident is being investigated.

He said traffic police had been patrolling the streets of Kulob during the night of June 7 «to preserve order.»

http://www.rferl.org/content/sons_of_tajik_journalists_claim_police_beat_them/24228505.html

DUSHANBE — Workers renovating the Tajik parliament building were surprised to find four Soviet-era busts — including one of Josef Stalin — stashed away in a hidden room, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reports.

Communist Party of Tajikistan chairman and parliament deputy Shodi Shabdolov told RFE/RL that workers removed a wall while renovating the interior of the building today and found a small secret room containing the busts of Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, Karl Marx, and Friedrich Engels.

Shabdolov said Stalin’s bust must have been hidden there after then-Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) Politburo General-Secretary Nikita Khrushchev’s denunciation of Stalin’s personality cult in February 1956.

As for the other three busts, they must have been removed from public view and hidden in the early 1990s, Shabdolov said.

The parliament building previously housed the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic’s Supreme Soviet.

Shabdolov said Shukurjon Zuhurov, speaker of the lower chamber of parliament, has agreed that the busts of Marx, Engels, and Lenin will be placed in Shabdolov’s office in the parliament building.

The bust of Stalin weighs 400 kilograms and is therefore difficult to move, but Shabdolov undertook to find a suitable location and have it transported there.

http://www.rferl.org/content/soviet_era_busts_found_in_tajik_parliament_builsing/24227671.html

MOSCOW/PRAGUE — A prominent Russian human rights activist of Uzbek origin has been attacked and beaten in his Moscow apartment block, RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service reports.

Bakhrom Hamroev, who works for the Moscow-based human rights organization Memorial, was hospitalized after the June 6 attack and Moscow police have launched an investigation into the incident.

Hamroev told RFE/RL by phone that the attack appears to have been planned. He said when he entered his apartment block at around 8 p.m. local time, he saw a man in the corridor who immediately started talking into a cell phone.

«I pressed the button to call the elevator to go up to my apartment on the fifth floor and I saw that the elevator was at that moment on the sixth floor. When the elevator came, a man came out and attacked me,» Hamroev said. He said the man in the corridor also assaulted him and the two sprayed him with pepper spray.

Hamroev said he was scheduled to fly that night to the northwestern city of Murmansk. He planned to meet there with Yusuf Kosimokhunov, an Uzbek who is due to be released from a local jail on June 9 after serving a sentence of several years for his membership of the banned Islamic organization Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Hamroev said the Russian authorities plan to extradite Kosimokhunov to Uzbekistan instead of releasing him from jail.

The incident marks the second time Hamroev has been assaulted in the last six months. Police failed to apprehend those responsible for the earlier attack in December.

Hamroev’s colleague at Memorial, Vitaly Ponomarev, told RFE/RL he believes both attacks were connected with Hamroev’s human rights activities.

Hamroev is a Russian citizen.

http://www.rferl.org/content/prominent_human_rights_activist_beaten_in_moscow/24227244.html

Date:23/05/11
Committee of Concerned Journalists
Location:United StatesSee map: Google Maps

Mid-career journalists from outside the U.S. can apply for a residency program in Washington, D.C.

The Journalists-In-Residence Program, sponsored by the Committee of Concerned Journalists (CCJ), gives participants the opportunity to conduct reporting in the U.S. and gain perspective on American politics, business, culture and media.

Journalists will have access to office space at the National Press Club building, visits to major newspaper, TV and online newsrooms and one-on-one meetings with important American journalists.

The program costs US$750 per week for a single reporter and US$1,200 per week for two or more journalists from a single organization. All participants must be proficient in English and be able to cover their own airfare, accommodation and living costs.

For more information, click here: http://www.concernedjournalists.org/journalistsinresidence-program

http://ijnet.org/opportunities/us-residency-program-international-journalists-worldwide

Journalists interested in furthering their study of religion can apply for a scholarship.

The Lilly Scholarships in Religion from the Religion Newswriters Association are offered to full-time journalists, including freelancers, in the news media. Journalists in any position or beat are eligible.

Scholarships are valid for accredited theology schools, university-related divinity schools, or college/university departments of religion/philosophy and can be used for traditional courses, shorter intensive courses or distance-learning courses.

Scholarships are awarded as stipends of up to US$5,000 each. They may cover tuition, books, application fees, registration fees, lab fees, child care, activity fees and other expenses related to the course.

The RNA does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability or other protected characteristic as established by law.

Applications are reviewed quarterly (April 1, July 1, Oct. 1 and Jan. 1).

For more information, click here: http://www.rna.org/?page=lilly_application#guidelines

http://ijnet.org/opportunities/scholarships-journalists-study-religion-offered-worldwide

Dushanbe, Tajikistan, May 31, 2011 – The U.S. Government through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) marked the publication of a tri-lingual English-Russian-Tajik dictionary of intellectual property rights (IPR) terminology with a ceremony attended by representatives of the Ministries of Culture and of Economic Development and Trade, the Patent Center, international organizations, business associations, and students.

This dictionary, which was funded through USAID’s Regional Trade Liberalization and Customs project, also contains a comprehensive introduction to intellectual property, copyright, and industrial property rights, and will provide crucial support to the Government of Tajikistan, academia, and other professionals as they increase their knowledge of these legal issues. The tri-lingual IPR dictionary is part of the U.S. Government’s ongoing support for Tajikistan’s efforts to bring its domestic legislation into compliance with internationally recognized standards in its bid to accede to the World Trade Organization.

The principal author of the IPR dictionary Mr. Inom Takhirov, played a key role in developing Tajikistan’s system of IPR protection as Director of the National Center for Patents and Information. “The role of intellectual property in effective foreign direct investments and technology transfer is bigger than ever,” Mr. Takhirov noted, during the presentation ceremony. “As a member of the world community, Tajikistan must join with other countries in an effort to provide global protection of intellectual property rights.”

USAID’s Regional Trade Liberalization and Customs Project is one of the many development projects made possible by the American people through USAID. Since 1992, the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe has provided more than $984 million in programs that support Tajikistan’s democratic institutions, health care, education, and economic growth.

For more information about USAID programs, please visit our website at: http://centralasia.usaid.gov/page.php?page=article-3

http://centralasia.usaid.gov/page.php?page=article-3

This is an installment in the WorldWatch series, «The world’s enduring dictators,» inspired by events in Tunisia and Egypt, in which CBSNews.com takes a look at the men who continue to rule their lands unimpeded by law.

See a complete explanation of the series and a list of others profiled here: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20055835-503543.html

Emomali Rahmon, Tajikistan

Length of rule: 19 years. Rahmon became de facto head of government in 1992 as speaker of parliament at the outset of a bloody civil war that ended in 1997 with an estimated 100,000 deaths, when his predecessors had resigned in an attempt to quell the violence. In 2006, he won a third term in office in an election that was described as neither free nor fair.

Most despotic acts: After an assassination attempt on Rahmon in 1997, state security services allegedly conducted sweeping arrests amid allegations of gross abuses. Despite being Central Asia’s poorest country, in a Wikileaks cable, an ambassador said: «Rahmon and his family control the country’s major businesses, including the largest bank, and they play hardball to protect their business interests, no matter the cost to the economy writ large.» A 2010 report from the U.S. State Department lists a depressingly familiar catalog of human rights abuses in Tajikistan that could be used in a similar form in many other countries ruled by despots: restricted political freedoms; torture and abuse by security forces; impunity for security forces; denial of right to fair trial; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; restrictions on freedoms of speech, press, association, and religion; corruption, which hampered democratic and social reform; violence and discrimination against women; arbitrary arrest; and trafficking in persons.

Outlook for change: While it’s unclear whether Rahmon faces political insurrection, the country as a whole faces a growing level of instability largely caused by Islamic militants, many of whom have traipsed back and forth across its 870-mile-long border with Afghanistan. In a report from the International Crisis Group, the conflict-monitoring NGO states: «Tajikistan is increasingly incapable of providing basic services to its population. Corruption remains at a breathtaking level; and recent unsuccessful military operations in the east of the country against warlords and a small group of young insurgents underline its inability to handle even a modest security threat. President Emomali Rakhmon did a deal to bring a temporary peace to the area earlier this year, but he may soon face a tougher challenge from the resurgent Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), a group with a vision of an Islamist caliphate that is fighting in Afghanistan alongside the Taliban. Tajikistan must hope it remains preoccupied there».

Tajikistan stats:
Population: 7,627,200; Tajik 79.9 percent, Uzbek 15.3 percent, Russian 1.1 percent, Kyrgyz 1.1 percent, other 2.6 percent; Median Age is 23.
Constitution and the Rule of Law: Republic; Everyday law based on civil law system.

Economic Indicators: Overall GDP is $14.6 billion (world rank is 138); Per capita GDP is $2,000 (world rank is 188); unemployment rate is 2.2 percent (world rank is 17.)

Press freedom index world rank: 115

World Watch

Источник: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20067645-503543.html