Several men who identified themselves as financial police officers have searched the offices of the Almaty-based independent 16/12 video news website. 

Noted Kazakh human rights defender Vadim Kuramshin is on a hunger strike in the penal colony in northern Kazakhstan where he is incarcerated. 

U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (Democrat-Maryland) has expressed concern over the situation faced by a prominent Azerbaijani human rights defender and her husband. 

May 27, 2014

May 21, 2014

With Baku now taking over the chairmanship of the Council of Europe, U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Richard Morningstar talked to Khadija Ismayilova from RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service about what the Caucasus country could achieve at the helm of the human rights body. He also discussed other pertinent issues, such as Nagorno-Karabakh and possible fallout from the ongoing Ukraine crisis.

What would you call the success rate within the six months of [Azerbaijan’s] chairmanship [of the Council of Europe]?  What would happen to let you tell that it was successful?

Richard Morningstar: Well, there are trials that are going on now — and appeals. We’ve certainly been troubled by some of those trials — some of the verdicts have not been reached. I think fair results with respect to some of those trials and appeals would show progress. I think that fewer attacks on journalists during the period would show progress. I think the reopening of the civil society dialogue would show progress.

A couple years ago, after one of [U. S. Secretary of State Hillary] Clinton’s visits, the government agreed to hold a civil society dialogue. I think there was one session and there has not been one since then. I think that would help. There seems to be a huge amount of pressure right now on international NGOs that are working with respect to civil society — investigations by the Tax Ministry, by the Justice Ministry…

Again, I don’t understand why these investigations are taking place other than to harass these organizations and the people who work for them. Lightening up on that, I think, would show progress. Freedom of assembly is part of the action plan. There was some freedom of assembly during the elections. Hopefully there will be less problems as far as that goes…

Are there countries where the United States is able to do more and this is just the reality for Azerbaijan?

Morningstar: It’s hard for me to compare Azerbaijan to what we are doing in other countries because I am not directly involved in those countries. There are clearly problems here. I think there are worse countries. This is clearly not the worst country, but there are plenty of countries that are doing better.

And one of the things that the government needs to consider is that — what makes Azerbaijan somewhat different from some of the other countries — Azerbaijan presents itself as a democracy. And there are worse countries. I want to be totally clear on that. But if Azerbaijan is presenting itself as a democracy, than it means to me that Azerbaijan has the responsibility to ensure that some of the things that have been happening here don’t take place.

Ismayilova and Morningstar then discussed a recent satirical sketch in Azerbaijan that poked fun at some the diplomatic language — such as the word «concerned» — which the United States has used to describe the human rights situation in the Caucasus country.  

Morningstar: I would ask you: What words are we supposed to use?  Am I supposed to say, «Azerbaijan is a horrible place for doing these terrible unacceptable things, and it is going to ruin the relationship with the United States!» Is that what I’m supposed to say?  I think that we do a good job at making clear how — I want to say «concerned!» — how deeply disturbed we are by the events that are taking place, and we make it very clear to the government. And I think, incrementally, we’ve done some good with respect to certain cases.

At the same time, I don’t think it is in Azerbaijan’s interest or in its civil society’s interest or individual Azerbaijanis’ interest that we say, «We don’t like what you are doing, so we are going to walk away from Azerbaijan,» or, «We are going to make things so difficult for you on the human rights questions that we recognize that we aren’t just going to be able to deal with you.» I think that would be bad for Azerbaijan. Who else is going to speak up for Azerbaijan sovereignty and independence vis-a-vis Russia — particularly after Ukraine?  Who else is going to be a buffer to make sure that the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiations are fair or don’t go in an unfairly bad direction. Who else is going to work with Azerbaijan on…counterterrorism problems?

I know that people think we care too much about energy. Yeah, we care about energy, but we are not going to see any Azerbaijani oil or gas — but we do think it’s important as a counter to Russian monopolization in some places. If we just didn’t care and walked away, I don’t think that would be very helpful either. There has to be some kind of balance. I know that many — yourself included — wish that we would do more, but we do the best we can under the circumstances and I think we have actually spoken out more in the last couple of years than ever has been the case in the past on human rights issues.

http://www.rferl.org/content/azerbaijan-interview-us-ambassador-morningstar/25391516.html

On World Press Freedom day, ARTICLE 19 and regional partners Adil Soz, MPI and NANSMIT call on governments of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to stop violating freedom of expression.

“Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan should stop using repressive lawsuit politically motivated court proceedings to suppress freedom of expression” said Thomas Hughes, Executive Director of ARTICLE 19, in a joint statement together with regional partners Adil Soz, MPI and NANSMIT.

In Central Asia, draft laws and new legislation in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are aimed at further restricting the rights of people to free expression and stifling the media. In Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, politically motivated prosecutions and law suits are being used to silence dissent. The chilling effect this has on the right to freedom of expression is evidenced by the increasing environment of self-censorship in these countries.

ARTICLE 19 and regional partners Adil Soz, MPI and NANSMIT are also concerned that courts of Kazakhstan and Tajikistan are issuing overtly unjust decisions in politically motivated cases that contribute to an increasing environment of self-censorship.

One of the clearest cases of unjust decisions is the verdict recently issued against Olga Tutubalina, the editor of popular a newspaper, Asia Plus, in Tajikistan.

On 25 February 2014,Tutubalina was ordered by the Firdavsi district court in Dushanbe to apologize for the use of a Vladimir Lenin quote referring to the ‘Intelligentsia’ in derogatory terms (the “shit of the nation”), and pay 30,000 Somoni (approx. EUR 4,500) in compensation for moral damages to three people who claimed they were members of the intelligentsia. The decision was upheld by the Cassation Board on 30 April. The civil lawsuit was based on the statement by the plaintiffs that the word ‘shit’ used in the article ‘did not correspond to reality’ and insulted their honor, dignity and business reputation, even though none of them could be recognized in the article. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in Article 19, requires that all restrictions of the right to freedom of expression are proportionate to the harm of the reputation of individuals. Imposing sanctions where no individual’s reputation has been targeted or harmed violates international standards on freedom of expression. The fine of EUR 4,500, considering the low salaries of journalists in Tajikistan, is clearly intended to silence one journalist and send a warning to all others. It is entirely unjustified and disproportionate.

“The Central Asian governments should abide by their international obligations to ensure full respect for the right to freedom of expression as required by the international human rights treaties” — added Hughes.

WISE – an initiative of the Qatar Foundation — is a global platform for debate and action that contributes to building the future of education through various programs throughout the year.

The annual WISE Summit brings together over 1,000 thought leaders, decision-makers and practitioners from diverse sectors, including education, business, politics, civil society and the media. You can find further information about the mission and vision of WISE in the attached brochure The WISE Education Leadership Program (WISE PEL) will take place in Doha, Qatar from November 1 – 3, 2014 and all participants are invited to attend the Summit that follows it, from November 4 — 6.

The goals of the WISE PEL are to enhance leadership skills for new university presidents from developing countries and to equip them with the knowledge and skills needed to exercise leadership on behalf of innovation in the face of change within a wide variety of institutional, social, political, and economic contexts. Specifically, the 2013 WISE Education Leadership Program will support university leaders in identifying a specific “innovation” and implementing that innovation at their institution within a year. Presidents, vice-chancellors, and other heads of tertiary education institutions who took up office on or after January 1, 2013 are eligible to apply to the WISE PEL. Participants must be chief executive officers of their respective institutions and not subordinate officials.

The WISE PEL will help prepare the next generation of global higher education leaders to manage diverse challenges and opportunities and identify innovative solutions. This three-day workshop will provide experience-based training through case studies, workshops, expert speakers and other exercises. Topics that will be covered during the WISE PEL include: Strategic planning Designing innovation systems and structures and establishing an innovative organizational culture Innovation as a leadership style Encouraging creativity and idea generation within the administrative structures; Removing organizational impediments to innovation Implementing systems and structures for idea generation, evaluation, and implementation to create a more innovative organizational culture Principles of Leadership and Variety of Leadership Styles Participation in the WISE PEL is free of charge and includes round-trip airfare to Doha, hotel accommodations, local transport, meals and conference materials.

The WISE PEL is organized by the Institute of International Education (IIE) in collaboration with the Qatar Foundation’s WISE Initiative. All applications must be received by June 13, 2014. Participants who are selected for the program will be notified by the beginning of August.

To apply, please complete the application form and submit the form by email to nup@wise.org.qa.

Participants will be selected based on geographic, gender and institutional diversity. For inquiries, please email nup@wise.org.qa or call +1 (212) 984-5481. We look forward to receiving your application.