Not a single Central Asian nation is among the ten of the happiest countries in the world.

Northern European countries — Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden — top Gallup’s World Poll (GWP) of the happiest countries.

According to the poll, Turkmenistan, which came in 18th place on the GWP list, is the happiest Central Asian nation. Surprisingly, it ranked above wealthier Western countries like Italy, Germany, and France.

Apparently happiness isn’t related to civil liberties.

GWP researchers say they «measured» people’s happiness by asking respondents in 155 countries to reflect on their overall satisfaction with their lives, and ranked their answers using a «life evaluation» score from 1 to 10. Respondents were also asked about their «daily experiences» — including whether they felt well-rested, respected, and free of pain and intellectually engaged.

Assessing the poll, Forbes.com writes that «by and large, rich countries are happier.» But if this is so, how to explain Kazakhstan — the richest country in Central Asia — being ranked 70th in the happy index, far below the poverty-stricken Malawi (63rd).

Uzbekistan, which is ranked 85th, could console itself with the fact that came in just a few places behind wealthy Japan (81st).

The poll found Tajikistan, which came in 130th, to be the least happy country in Central Asia, worse than even its war-torn neighbor, Afghanistan (115th). Just another reason to get depressed.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Not_A_Very_Happy_Place/2103150.html

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has said it would send a 52-member police force to southern Kyrgyzstan.

Herbert Salber, director of the OSCE Conflict Prevention Center, told reporters on July 16 the pan-European security bloc and Kyrgyzstan have agreed to dispatch the group to the regions of Osh and Jalal-Abad.

He was speaking during an informal meeting in Almaty, Kazakhstan, ahead of the July 17 meeting of foreign ministers from the 56-member OSCE.

The gathering in Almaty is focused on what is happening across the border in Kyrgyzstan, where violence erupted in the country’s south in June.

Salber said that the group would comprise «52 policemen representing the OSCE member states,» and an OSCE statement added that 50 more officers could later be sent. Salber gave no precise time frame for any possible mission, but the press release said the advisory group would spend four months in Kyrgyzstan.

The advisory group still requires unanimous approval, which could come when the ministers and other officials gather on July 17.

Bloody Ethnic Clashes

Clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks in the Osh and Jalal-Abad regions left at least 309 dead and displaced another 400,000.

With Kyrgyz officials estimating that some 2,500 homes, more than 100 commercial buildings, and 10 government buildings were destroyed or suffered major damage during the unrest, the situation remains volatile.

Ahead of the meeting, two foreign ministers were visiting Osh, Kyrgyzstan’s second-largest city, to assess the situation for themselves.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner are flying into the city as part of a fact-finding tour that will also take them to Bishkek, where they will meet with President Roza Otunbaeva.

The OSCE meeting — taking place at the Ak-Bulak resort outside Almaty — comes amid a rising chorus of voices calling on the organization to take a more active role in helping stabilize the country.
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s special envoy for Central Asia had urged the organization to send international police to Kyrgyzstan to provide technical advice to local security forces.

Kimmo Kiljunen told reporters last month that he thought the presence of international police advisers could «create an atmosphere of trust» that could help ease tensions. He added that he was recommending a force that would not include «peacekeepers in the military terms» but rather be «an international police operation to offer technical advice.»

Kiljunen also said EU foreign ministers have discussed the option of sending police to provide crisis-management support. However, the European Union itself has yet to indicate it has any plans to do so.

The Kyrgyz government has joined the call for an international police presence, with Otunbaeva saying hours before the gathering that such a mission is needed for maintaining security in Osh.

«These [international police] forces will work temporarily, within a limited period of four months here,» Otunbaeva said. «We are going to reconstruct the city [of Osh]. For instance, they are needed for maintaining security in the city of Osh. They will be unarmed.»

International Inquiry Needed

In addition to an international police force, there are also expectations that the OSCE will lead an international investigation into the June events.

Otunbaeva on July 16 agreed to a proposal that an international commission, to be headed by Kiljunen, be formed to look into the unrest. The commission would include representatives of the OSCE, EU, and the UN, and Otunbaeva said it should work closely with the Kyrgyz investigative commission.

During a joint news conference with Westerwelle in Osh, French Foreign Minister Kouchner said, «We would like to know who these groups are that provoked these incidents. These incidents and animosities go back a long way, but there were clearly provocations in this case and we want to know about them. So we support this proposal for an international investigative commission.»

Ole Solvang, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, told RFE/RL from Bishkek that the Kyrgyz government and the OSCE have discussed the subject in the run-up to the Almaty conference.

«We do know that there have been discussions going on, there have been discussions between the government and the OSCE about an international police force,» Solvang says,» and there have also been discussions between the Kyrgyz government and various actors about an international investigation and it is very much our hope that the OSCE meeting in Almaty this weekend will take that discussion forward.»

Security Questions

Human Rights Watch earlier this month issued a call for the OSCE to send police forces and open an international investigation. The group reported on July 14 widespread cases of torture and arbitrary detentions in southern Kyrgyzstan of Uzbeks suspected of participation in the June violence.

If the OSCE ministers and high representatives discuss the calls for a police mission and an international investigation, a major question would be how to balance the organization’s interests with those of the region’s own multinational security grouping, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

The CSTO, which is led by Russia and includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, is already sending equipment and funds to Bishkek to bolster the capabilities of Kyrgyz security forces. The CSTO has so far resisted sending any international police forces, despite early calls from Bishkek to do so.

This weekend’s OSCE meeting is also expected to discuss topics ranging from European security to engagement with Afghanistan and possible topics for an OSCE summit.

Kazakhstan, which currently heads the OSCE, has said it hopes to host a formal summit of the organization this year. The group’s last major summit was in Istanbul in 1999.

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/OSCE_Foreign_Ministers_Meet_In_Almaty_On_Kyrgyzstan/2101664.html

Imagine relatives of yours were killed by angry mobs. Your house set alight. Your livelihood wrecked overnight. Knowing that such atrocities took place in the city you called home, and possibly even committed by your neighbors, how could you ever expect to return to life as normal?

It’s a question that is surely being asked by thousands of displaced persons as they return home following the outbreak of bloody interethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan in June. As the government vows to rebuild the homes and communities of ethnic Uzbeks and ethnic Kyrgyz caught up in violence that left at least 275 dead and some 400,000 displaced, it must also find ways to reduce tensions and ensure they don’t erupt again in the future.

Millions Displaced

If the Kyrgyz interim government is looking for an immediate example of how to get the mending process going, it need not look any farther than its southern neighbor, Tajikistan. In 1997, following the end of a five-year civil war, Tajikistan faced a similar test. And while there have been many setbacks, 13 years later Tajikistan’s peace process has been widely hailed as a success.

It’s not a perfect comparison. The Tajik war did not rise from ethnic divisions such as those seen recently in Kyrgyzstan, for example — it was more a battle for political control fought between supporters of the Moscow-backed government in Dushanbe and its opposition led by the Islamic Revival Party (IRP). But the Tajik war did pit fellow civilians against each other — residents of the southern Kulob region, «Kulobis,» against those from the eastern Rasht Valley known as «Rashtis.»

In a conflict in which Kulobis were widely assumed to be government supporters, and Rashtis supporters of the opposition, at least 50,000 people were killed. Most of the victims were civilians, and 1.2 million — some 20 percent of the country’s population at the time — were forced to leave their homes during the 1992-97 armed conflict.

For Suliko Salimova, a 50-year-old from a small village in southern Tajikistan near the Kulob region, the civil war conjures up painful memories.

«I left my house with only the clothes I was wearing. When I came back, I learned that my husband had killed and my house was burned down. I was left with absolutely nothing,» Salimova says.

«When everybody else fled, my husband stayed behind. He said, ‘I don’t belong to any side of the conflict, why would they bother me?’ But he was the first one to be killed. We found his body in a nearby brook.»

Salimova lost four other relatives in addition to her husband, all targeted for being Rashtis. «My life will never be the same again after what I witnessed during civil war,» she laments.

Gulrukhsor Safarova, a native of the Kulob region, has similarly painful memories.

«I saw many bodies [of Kulobis] being brought for burial. When you see them first-hand, you can’t help hating those who did it. I didn’t know who had done it, all I knew was that somebody was killing Kulobis. I remember having some strange feelings inside me,» Safarova says.

Today the two women have each managed to achieve forgiveness, and even reside in the same district of Kumsangir, in the southern Khatlon Province.

Salimova says people need to reconcile, «no matter how painful it is,» in order to move on. Safarova, recalling that she was eyed with suspicion when she first moved to the area at the height of the civil war, is happy to see Rashtis and Kulobis socializing together once again.

Money And Time

Such results were not easy to achieve, and they did not come about by accident. It required cooperation between the Tajik government, the opposition, and international organizations. It took money. And it took time.

The process began with the signing of an internationally mediated peace accord between the government and the United Tajik Opposition in June 1997.

But «signing a peace accord by itself does not mean people immediately start trusting each other,» as Ibrohim Usmonov notes. «And you cannot give people an instruction to do so.»

Usmonov knows this first-hand. He was a prominent member of the key body established by the government and opposition to facilitate the road to peace and harmony — the National Reconciliation Commission.

Recalling the many obstacles faced, Usmonov says «the biggest challenge was rebuilding trust between the two sides.» And this, he says, «required concrete measures by government, political leaders, and international donors.»

Measures included aiding the return of refugees and the displaced, rebuilding their homes, restoring their businesses, and reinstating returnees to their previous jobs.

«There was a rehabilitation program for victims of the conflict, which included psychological and financial support for those who had lost their relatives and properties,» Usmonov says, noting that funding from international donors enabled Tajikistan to implement its peace program.

Usmonov points out that the government’s role is crucial for building trust among people. «People need to see for themselves that the peace process is working and the government’s promises are being carried out,» he says.

Kumsangir district provides proof that today enough trust has been established for people to resume their normal lives.

Suliko Salimova, whose husband was killed for being a Rashti, has moved to Kumsangir, remarried, and become a merchant.

Safarova, who moved to Kumsangir from Kulob, who has since got a job with the local government dealing with women and family issues. «A few marriages between Kulobis and Rashtis have taken place in our district in recent years,» Safarova says.

The two women admit there are times people snap at neighbors, blaming them for what has happened during the war. But as Salimova notes, «no one wants another war or conflict to grip our lives once again.»

Ultimately, the success in restoring peace and unity in Tajikistan derives from «ordinary people’s willpower and ability to forgive,» according to Hikmatulloh Saifullozoda, head of the Dushanbe-based think tank Dialog and member of the Islamic Renaissance Party who was active in the National Reconciliation Commission.

«People knew that revenge wasn’t a solution,» Saifullozoda says. «People knew revenge would bring more violence, more bloodshed, so they made the only right choice, and that choice was peace.»

RFE/RL’s Tajik Service correspondent in Khatlon Nosirjon Mamurzoda contributed to this report

Farangis Najibullah, RFE/RL

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/A_Tajik_Peace_Recipe_For_Kyrgyzstan/2096637.html

People in Turkmenistan — where all media is state-controlled — may soon be reading privately-owned newspapers and magazines.

In televised remarks during a cabinet meeting, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov announced plans to allow the creation of private newspapers in the country.

«Proposals for the founding of private newspapers and magazines can be prepared and work on this matter can be accelerated,» Reuters quotes Berdymukhammedov as saying.

Berdymukhammedov also said the country’s union of industrialists and entrepreneurs should also launch its own publication focusing on business success stories.

«Likewise, if there are those who want to create new parties, we will support them too,» the president said, although he also noted that the establishment of political parties should not be rushed, AFP reports.

Turkmenistan is the only post-Soviet country without privately-owned media. The country’s five television channels, 25 newspapers, 15 magazines and one news agency are all state-owned.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Turkmenistan_Plans_To_Allow_PrivatelyOwned_Media/2096284.html

The Tajik weekly Facts & Comments published an article titled “Where does the TVT money go?” (#15, 07.07.2010).

The author, M. Salohiddinov says that due to the Tajik state television he has fallen in love with reading – since all the TV programs are dedicated only to the president’s business trips. Last week, the Tajik TV stations were covering president Rakhmon’s visit to Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province.

“These stories are long as Arabian nights… and they do not require any special investments,” – the author says. – “It takes a lot of efforts, specialists and logistical arrangements to create a real talk show and touch upon something really topical. The TV authorities do not bother. They keep broadcasting these boring reportages, and they do not care about the audience’s opinion”.

NANSMIT monitoring servce

Viktor Ivanov, the head of Russia’s Federal Drug Control Service, was in Tajikistan at the start of July and made a curious remark.

Ivanov said Russian border guards could return to duty in Tajikistan keeping a watch on the Central Asian country’s border with Afghanistan. It was a function the Russian border guards performed from 1991 until 2006, when they completely handed over the task to their Tajik counterparts.

Ivanov said Russia was not holding talks with Tajikistan on sending the Russian troops back but added, «if the countries have goodwill it is possible.» Ivanov made his comments just after meeting with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon.

It is no secret Russia, as well as other countries, are concerned about increasing drug trafficking from Afghanistan through Tajikistan and onward toward Russia and Europe or China and Asia.

Many in Russia and some of the Central Asian states were displeased to see the last of the Russian border guards leave the Tajik-Afghan border and feared the Tajik border guards were not up to the task.

Results since have been mixed. Seizures of narcotics are up, but many feel that simply reflects the fact that ever more narcotics are crossing the border and that the percentage of drugs intercepted remains only some 5 to 10 percent of the total.

Russia may have another reason for wanting to help Tajikistan keep watch on its southern frontier. Kyrgyzstan, to the north of Tajikistan, has been experiencing severe difficulties — the ouster of a president and violence between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks.

With instability both to the south and north, Tajikistan’s border guards are stretched thin, a situation that gives the «bad guys» — drug traffickers, Islamic militants, and others — easier access and freedom of movement in the southeastern Central Asian region.

Ivanov said the question was: are Russia and Tajikistan «ready to take this action»? Since Ivanov appears to have been the one talking about it, we can assume Russia at least is ready.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Is_Russia_Considering_Returning_To_The_Afghan_Border/2092083.html

The Tajik National Association of Independent Media has released a new study guide for journalists titled “Legal Regulations in Access to Information”. The study guide was released under support of Internews in Tajikistan and funded by USAID.

The publication contains a compilation of legal documents regulating access to information with relevant explanations and interpretations. It also contains samples of legal complaints and other papers, which might help media professionals in their everyday activities. While working on the study guide, the authors referred to practical experience of Russian, Kazakh and Tajik researchers and legal practitioners.

The study guide is released in Tajik and Russian languages. It is intended for journalists, lawyers, media researchers and university students. The publication is being disseminated free of charge and can be received upon request at NANSMIT.

NANSMIT

A Kyrgyz journalists’ organization says several journalists were attacked while covering the ethnic violence in the southern cities of Jalal-Abad and Osh last month, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reports.

The Public Association of Journalists (PAJ) said that six journalists were attacked and beaten in Osh, another suffered severe burns, and photographer Pazyle Sarybaev is still missing. In addition, the homes of four journalists were damaged after they were set on fire.

It added that Osh-based Keremet TV cameraman Batyr Mamatjanov, who was seriously injured on June 11 when a crowd attacked his car and seized his camera, remains in critical condition in hospital with broken ribs and a head injury.

PAJ coordinator Meri Bekeshova told RFE/RL the association has given financial and technical help to the journalists who suffered attacks, with assistance from International Media Support, a Danish nonprofit organization.

At least 291 people were killed and hundreds of thousands fled their homes in the clashes between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in Osh and Jalal-Abad that began on June 10.

http://www.rferl.org/content/NGO_Says_Journalists_Were_Attacked_In_Southern_Kyrgyzstan/2089261.html

This report is based upon messages from the Tajik media and the NANSMIT monitoring network.

In June 2010 the NANSMIT Monitoring Service received 16 reports. Five of them describe the factual situation in the media in the light of socio-legal and political environment; five reports describe direct violations of rights of media professionals; and six reports describe conflicts and accusations against the media and journalists.

I. PECULIARITIES OF POLITICAL, SOCIAL, ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL CLIMATE IN THE COUNTRY DEFINING THE FACTUAL SITUATION IN THE MEDIA

1. Public speeches and statements of superior officials defining the factual situation in the mass media

June 3
Ibrohim Usmonov, chairman of the Tajik Media Council, Dushanbe

“Disrespect to women is manifested in this or that extent in 99 percent of publications in the Tajik media”, — said Ibrohim Usmonov, chairman of the Tajik Media Council. He made this remark on 3 June in Dushanbe at a round table on the topic “Studies of legal and moral reasons for bringing the Tajik media to judicial liability”.

According to Usmonov, the vast majority of publications present a woman as a servant to her husband, a prostitute, an avaricious creature seeking for easy money, etc. “The media do not publish stories presenting women as prominent politicians, successful entrepreneurs, or, say, simply a good journalist”, — he added.

June 25
All media, Dushanbe

Twenty newspapers and five magazines have been registered in the Ministry of Culture since the beginning of this year compared to 24 newspapers and 18 magazines during the same period of 2009.

All the five magazines are based in Dushanbe. The magazine “Navnikhol” will be printed once a month in Tajik, Russian and English languages. All these magazines are sectorial, i.e. their founders are ministries and government agencies.

Seven out of the twenty newspapers are sectorial; the rest of them are private. Nine newspapers will be published in Dushanbe; eight – in Sughd province; one in GBAO; and one in Rasht valley.

Experts note that very few magazines survive in the current conditions. Usually, shortly after registration they get closed, not being able to cope with numerous challenges, including the lack of experienced personnel.

2. Journalists protecting their civil and professional rights

June 17
All media, Dushanbe

On 16 June the Tajik Union of Journalists hosted a round table on the issues of access to information. The event was organized by the National Association of Independent Media (NANSMIT).

It was stressed that “Information cannot be divulged only if it contains elements of the state, banking or commercial secrets”. The Tajik Constitution, the “Law on printing and other mass media”, the “Law on Television and Radio” clearly explain that media professionals have the right to timely receive reliable and quality information.

June 28
All media, Dushanbe

On 28 June, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) held a seminar in Dushanbe on the topic “Interactions between state press services and the media”. The event was held within the framework of the project “Human rights and legal education through the media in Central Asia” financed by the European Commission and technically supported by the National Association of Independent Media (NANSMIT). NANSMIT is currently implementing another similar project — “Strengthening the media freedom network in Tajikistan” supported by Internews and funded by USAID.

The main purpose of the seminar is to improve access to official sources of information and develop practical skills of interaction between the state press services, NGOs and the media.

II. VIOLATION OF RIGHTS IN THE MEDIA

1. Obstructions to professional activities

June 10
Usmon Khushvakhtov, head of mayor’s office administration in Kulyab

The resent disastrous floods in Kulyab became the main topic of publications in the media. Usmon Khushvakhtov, head of the mayor’s office administration told the Ozodagon weekly (#25, 10.06.2010) that certain authors pursued their sordid goals defaming some public officials.

In particular, Khushvakhtov criticized the story published in Ozodagon on 12 May. The official says that the publication goes beyond the standards of media ethics. “Although the Constitution guarantees the freedom of speech, actions of certain individuals cannot go beyond the framework of laws”.

2. Violation of professional rights

19 June
Zarina Abduvakhidova, head of Persian service, Radio Ovozi Tojik, Dushanbe

Zarina Abduvakhidova, employee of the Radio Ovozi Tojik Persian service was sacked from the post of the head of the service and appointed to the position of editor, according to the Order issued by the chairman of the State TV and Radio Committee on 3 March 2010.

On 17 May, Ms. Abduvakhidova applied to the Ismoili Somoni district court in Dushanbe with a request to reinstate her in the former position and reimburse moral and material losses.

On 18 June, the Ismoili Somoni district court settled the suit in favor of the journalist. Abduvakhidova will be reinstated in her previous position. Besides that, the court obliged the TV & Radio Committee to pay the claimant the due amount as a compensation for illegal demotion.

This is a precedent of a kind – the case was resolved in favor of the journalist.

3. Ungrounded limitation in access to information

24 June
Kharamgul Kodiri, freelance journalist

Freelance journalist Kharamgul Kodiri complains in her article that Tajik parliamentarians hide from journalists (Nigokh weekly, #14, 23.06.2010). “They find all kind of excuses to avoid a meeting with media representatives”. Kodiri calls the Tajik parliament “The valley of dumbness”.

III. CONFLICTS. VIOLATIONS INCRIMINATED TO THE MEDIA AND JOURNALISTS

1. Protection of honor, dignity and business reputation

3 June
Millat weekly, Dushanbe

The Dushanbe city court sent the text of an article published in the Millat weekly to the Tajik Institute of Language and Literature for a linguistic expertise. The Ministry of Agriculture accused the newspaper of insult and defamation – because of the article titled “The Ministry of Agriculture is the most corrupt government institution”.

Junaid Ibodov, the lawyer representing the interests of Millat in court, said that the claim of the Ministry looks illogical since “insult” refers to the category of criminal cases. According to Article 136 of the Tajik Criminal Code, only individuals can be considered as victims of insult; and none of legal entities or institutions could be considered victims of insult or defamation.

The lawyer stated that the newspaper is going to appeal against the court decision since it contradicts the Tajik legislation.

This report is based on compiled materials from the media and private information presented by correspondents of the NANSMIT Monitoring Network

Coordinator of the Monitoring Service
Abdufattokh Vokhidov

Project Manager
Nuriddin Karshibaev