UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said he repeated a «simple and direct» message to Central Asian leaders on the importance of respect for human rights during a recent tour of the region.

Ban also discussed the current power struggle in Kyrgyzstan and the management of natural resources throughout the region.

In all five countries, Ban said, he told leaders that the protection of human rights is a «bedrock principle» of the United Nations.

Ban told officials that democracy could only exist with a robust civil society rooted in the rule of law, respect for human rights, and freedom of expression.

«I urged the leaders in the region to comply fully with international human rights laws and many treaties to which they are signatories,» Ban said on April 12. «I also urged them to fully implement all the recommendations made by the UN Human Rights Council under the universal periodic review.»

Two Central Asian states, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, are regarded as among the world’s worst human rights offenders by the U.S.-based group Freedom House.

Rights groups have urged Ban to condemn the human rights violations in both countries.

Ban visited Kyrgyzstan just two days before violence that killed at least 80 people led the country’s president, Kurmanbek Bakiev, to flee the capital and political opponents declared an interim government.

Ban said he has been following the situation «very closely» and that his special envoy, Jan Kubis, is in Bishkek until April 15.

«He has been meeting with all parties, working closely with the envoys of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe…and others to maintain and restore constitutional order while respecting the wishes of the Kyrgyz people,» Ban said of Kubis’s visit.

Ban’s spokesman, Martin Nesirky, confirmed that the UN under secretary-general for political affairs, B. Lynn Pascoe, had met with Kyrgyz opposition leader Roza Otunbaeva while Ban was visiting Kyrgyzstan last week. The details of that meeting were not disclosed, but Nesirky said that Ban could sense the political tension during his visit.

Otunbaeva heads the group that declared an interim government and has threatened to arrest Bakiev if he does not cooperate. Bakiev insists on his legitimacy and warned of massive «bloodshed» if the plotters move to detain or kill him.

Meanwhile, there are reports that a number of Kyrgyzstan foreign ambassadors have been fired by the interim government including the ambassador to the U.S., Zamira Sydykova, and the permanent representative to the UN, Nurbek Jeenbaev.

A source at Kyrgyzstan’s UN mission told RFE/RL that Ambassador Jeenbaev continues to represent Kyrgyzstan at the UN.

In his discussions with Central Asian leaders, Ban said he also focused on an issue of «crucial importance» for all five Central Asian states: the management of the natural resources, chiefly water and energy.

«Every year tensions are rising. Visiting the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan, I saw a graveyard of ships moored in the sand [that] was once a deep seabed,» Ban said. «Resolving these tensions harmoniously through dialogue and negotiation is a collective responsibility not only of the region’s leaders but the international community.»

Aside from the Aral Sea disaster, a simmering water-rights dispute between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan is near the boiling point.

Tajikistan has announced its intention to complete a dam and hydroelectric power plant at Rogun that Uzbekistan vehemently opposes.

Tashkent is concerned that completion of the Rogun Dam will severely constrict flows downstream that Uzbekistan uses to irrigate crops of one of its most lucrative exports, cotton.

Dushanbe dismisses those concerns as unfounded.

More than 60 percent of Central Asia’s water resources originate in Tajikistan, and water distribution and management are a frequent point of friction among the Central Asian states.

Nikola Krastev, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/

New pressure on news outlets in Kyrgyzstan is intimidating independent-minded journalists, media rights activists say.

The troubles began on March 10 when several news websites focusing on Central Asia became unavailable. All had reported critically on alleged connections between businessman Eugene Gourevitch and President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s son Maxim, a top official at the Central Agency for Development, Investment and Innovation. Gourevitch is wanted in Italy for financial crimes.
For over a week, the news website Ferghana.ru, the website of the Belyi Parus newspaper («White Sail»), along with opposition members’ blogs, were unavailable. Broadcasts of Radio Liberty’s Kyrgyz service and the BBC’s Kyrgyz service have also been interrupted. Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov claimed to be unaware of the troubles.
The pressure appears to have emboldened the opposition. At a demonstration on March 17, the United People’s Movement, an umbrella organization, nominated widely respected former foreign minister Roza Otunbaeva to be its leader, and called for Maxim Bakiyev to step down from the development agency position.
The night before, on March 16, authorities had seized all 7,000 copies of the Kyrgyz-language opposition newspaper «Forum» at the printing facility, and detained six members of the paper’s editorial team for questioning.
Independent bloggers have complained to EurasiaNet of increasing harassment from authorities.
For the first time, authorities are seeking out and pressuring Kyrgyz-language media outlets, says Dinara Oshurahunova, head of the coalition for democracy and civil society. Previously only Russian-language outlets faced such harassment.
«The Kyrgyz language media was not so persecuted before because its criticism [used metaphorical] tales and other style of writing,» she told EurasiaNet.org. «It was not so sensitive. And now, all of the independent media that write and publish about recent scandals, about the opposition protests ? about the increase of [energy] tariffs are being closed down.»
Oshurahunova predicted the crackdown would backfire. «Kyrgyzstan is going to have more dissatisfaction; day by day it will grow. If those in power think that by blocking websites and [seizing] newspapers, nobody will know anything, they are mistaken. People talk and will tell each other,» she added.
The recent troubles follow increasing violence against journalists associated with opposition papers. Last year, at least two Kyrgyz journalists were killed and nine others attacked.
Ferghana.ru reports that since the blockings began, the «majority of local news agencies» have stepped up self-censorship.
«Press freedom violations seem to be increasing in frequency and intensity,» media watchdog Reporters Without Borders noted in a March 17 statement. «By harassing independent and opposition media and allowing those responsible for physical attacks on journalists to go unpunished, the authorities are assuming a decisive share of the blame for the extremely worrying deterioration in the situation.»
The OSCE, Freedom House, and, unusually, the Russian Embassy in Bishkek have also reportedly asked the Kyrgyz foreign ministry to lift pressure on the press.
Posted March 22, 2010 © Eurasianet
http://www.eurasianet.org

EurasiaNet

Источник: http://eurasianet.org/departments/civilsociety/articles/eav032210.shtml

The governing People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan is cruising to victory in the country’s parliamentary election with almost 72 percent of the vote, according to a preliminary tally. Western election monitors, however, expressed disappointment with the conduct of the polling, saying that fraud boosted the governing party’s winning margin.

The PDPT did not face a strong test from opposition parties in the February 28 election, in which all 63 seats in the lower house of parliament were up for grabs. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Even so, the election was marred by irregularities, prompting opposition parties to call for an investigation.

In the weeks leading up to the vote, public interest in the elections seemed tepid. But authorities claimed 85 percent of the country’s 3.5 million registered voters turned out to cast ballots.

A preliminary report issued March 1 by observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) contained a dose of disapproval. «Despite certain positive steps, Tajikistan’s parliamentary elections failed to meet many key OSCE commitments,» the statement said.
Pia Christmas-Moller — special coordinator of the OSCE short-term observers, and vice-president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly — said she was «disappointed that these elections failed on many democratic standards.» In 2008, Christmas-Moller participated in an OSCE observation mission that monitored the conduct of the US presidential election, won by Barack Obama.

«Such serious irregularities weaken genuine democratic progress, Christmas-Moller added during a March 1 news conference, referring to the Tajik vote. «There is still a long way to go, and hopefully the new parliament will take up this challenge.»

The US Embassy in Dushanbe also criticized the electoral process, noting that «the vote was beset by procedural irregularities and fraud, including cases of ballot stuffing.»

Representatives of the opposition Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), which holds two seats in the outgoing parliament, and which had hoped to form a larger block in the next legislature, say they will protest the results of the February 28 voting.

«Even in conditions of tough competition with the ruling party, our party hopes to get seven or eight seats in the new parliament,» party Chairman Muhiddin Kabiri told the ITAR-TASS news agency on March 1. «Otherwise, we will file a lawsuit in court within the law to defend each vote given to [our] party,» he added.

Rakhmatillo Zoirov, chairman of the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDPT), which currently does not hold any seats in parliament, echoed Kabiri’s criticism.

There «are violations involving ballot papers which were marked in advance of vote counting. Reports about all violations registered by our party’s observers will be prepared and given to the relevant bodies in the near future,» he told Asia Plus on March 1.

Prior to the vote, at a two-day briefing held February 26-27 and organized by the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), opposition leaders expressed concerns over campaign violations.

Leaders of several opposition parties complained that PDPT loyalists dominate membership in district elections commissions. These purportedly independent bodies are charged with overseeing a fair vote. The US Embassy, in its post-elections assessment, described «cases of bias by local election officials in favor of the ruling People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan.» Other international observers suggested that the members of the Central Commission for Elections and Referendums (CCER) unfairly supported the PDPT.

«All executive officials in every administrative unit countrywide are appointed personally by the president [who is also the PDPT chairman]; and, virtually all of them are members of PDPT,» said IRPT leader Kabiri. «It gives them opportunities to interfere and breed impediments.»

Kabiri noted that his party’s activists faced continuous harassment during the campaign. He added that he personally had to work to secure the release of four young men on February 25, members of IRPT arrested by municipal policemen in Dushanbe simply for wearing blue scarves, a new symbol of the party.

During the pre-election campaign, free-speech advocates complained about numerous press freedom violations. In early 2010, three senior judges filed lawsuits against five private Tajik newspapers demanding exorbitant financial compensation for the «defamation» of their «dignity and professional honor.» [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Such cases were designed to quiet the fledgling independent press during the parliamentary campaign, said Nuriddin Karshibaev, chairman of the Tajik National Association of Independent Media (NANSMIT). «The court hearings are postponed until the elections are fully over, but the fact of persecution of the private media seriously spoils Tajikistan’s adherence to the principles of democracy,» Karshibaev told EurasiaNet.

Editor’s Note: Konstantin Parshin is a freelance journalist based in Dushanbe.
Posted March 1, 2010 © Eurasianet
http://www.eurasianet.org

Konstantin Parshin, EurasiaNet

Источник: http://eurasianet.org/departments/insightb/articles/eav030110.shtml

According to Tajikistan’s election officials, President Emomali Rahmon’s People’s Democratic Party is on course to win the vast majority of 63 seats in the next parliament — winning nearly 72 percent of the vote.

For the first time, the Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP) appears to have moved ahead of the Communist Party. Partial results give the party 7.7 percent of the vote. The Communists were in third place with 7.2 percent. Other opposition parties, including the Democratic Party and the Social Democrats, likely failed to pass the 5 percent threshold needed to get a seat.

But for the first time, election officials say two other small, progovernment parties — the Economic Reforms Party and the Agrarian Party — possibly made it into parliament.

The results released today are from the 22 seats decided through a party-list system — considered the best chance for opposition parties to win any parliamentary seat. The rest — 41 seats — are decided through votes in single-mandate constituencies. Those results have yet to be announced.

The official turnout in the February 28 vote in the impoverished former Soviet nation was high as usual, reaching 87 percent.

‘Serious Irregularities’

Monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) cited «serious irregularities» on election day, including «a high prevalence of family and proxy voting and cases of ballot-box stuffing.»

In a statement, Pia Christmas-Moeller, special cocoordinator of the OSCE’s short-term observers and vice president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, said: «I’m happy that election day took place in a generally good atmosphere, but I’m even more disappointed that these elections failed on many basic democratic standards.»

OSCE observers delivered their scathing report about the elections in Dushanbe today.
The ruling party’s landslide victory did not come as a surprise to a majority of voters. Neither did the OSCE’s criticism of the elections.

Rahmon has been ruling the Central Asian nation with an iron fist since 1992, handily winning every presidential election, while his party has held an absolute majority in each parliament since a party-based elections system was introduced in 2000.

Each Tajik election since then has been criticized by the OSCE for failing to meet democratic requirements.

Opposition parties were swift in their criticism of the election, saying the vote was far from transparent.

Muhiddin Kabiri, the leader of the IRP — seen by many as the main rival to the ruling party — accused election officials of facilitating multiple voting and of not allowing IRP monitors to vote count. At least one IRP candidate, Ashurali Abdulhaev, abruptly withdrew from the parliamentary race two days before the election, saying he was «threatened by two unknown assailants in the middle of the night.»

The Social Democratic Party, which has never made it into parliament, said «the names of all but one candidate – from the ruling party – were scored out in voting ballots» in some districts.

Attracting New Supporters

While the ruling party’s victory was a foregone conclusion, many Tajiks were curious to know who would come in second.

In the past two legislatures, the Communists were the second-largest party, once holding a parliamentary faction with five MPs. Despite its occasional criticism of the ruling party, the Communist Party has never been considered a real opposition to Rahmon. Its presence in the parliament as the second-largest party suited the ruling party, as well as staunch supporters of the secular system in the country.

However, the IRP has managed to enhance its presence in society since the last election in 2005, attracting new supporters among a young generation increasingly dissatisfied with a lack of jobs and opportunities. Investing money and effort in the election campaign, IRP leaders said they were «eyeing to form at least a parliamentary faction» in the next Majlisi Namoyandagon (Chamber of Representatives).

Even its critics admit the Islamic party was the most active political group during the election campaign, trying to gain support even in areas that traditionally backed the ruling party or other secular groups.

Democracy Versus Secular System

In a country that borders Afghanistan and shares the same language and culture with Iran, the IRP’s growing influence in Tajik society has caused anxiety and suspicion. Despite an increasing respect for Islamic values, most Tajiks still firmly favor a secular system.

The IRP is the only officially registered Islamic party in Central Asia. Any success by the party will be seen by Tajiks as a victory for democracy but also as a real threat to the secular system of governance.

Faridun Ali, an expert on domestic politics in the northern town of Khujand, tells RFE/RL that boosting its presence in the parliament even by one additional seat would be the first step for the IRP in its «obvious long-term plan.»

However, echoing a sentiment shared by many, Ali says that, despite all its efforts, «in the foreseeable future, in the next decade, the IRP will not be able to form an Islamic government or to reach a majority in the parliament, even if we had democratic elections.»

«The majority of voters were raised during Soviet times. These people’s mentality is a big barrier for the IRP to gain popular support,» Ali says. «Besides, the IRP doesn’t have a strong program to convince people to change their minds.»

Final results, including the vote count from single-mandate constituencies as well as the exact number of seats won by each party, are expected in the coming days. A run-off vote is to take place in at least one district.

Farangis Najibullah, RFE/RL

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/Presidential_Party_Wins_Tajik_Landslide_But_Who_Came_In_Second/1971306.

A dark horse has emerged ahead of Tajikistan’s national elections that could add some excitement to an otherwise predictable poll.

Following considerable effort to transform its image, Central Asia’s only religiously based political party, Tajikistan’s Islamic Renaissance Party, enters the gate determined to change the status quo.

Of the eight parties fielding candidates in the February 28 vote, only the ruling People’s Democratic Party is expected to hold real power in the lower house of parliament, or Majlis.

«Tajikistan’s upcoming parliamentary election is so ‘transparent’ that we can already see its results,» Dushanbe resident Dust Muhammad quipped recently in a comment to RFE/RL’s Tajik Service website.

It’s a sentiment shared by many who view the vote as a formality to extend the ruling party’s legislative stranglehold for another five years.

All eight of the country’s registered parties will participate in the poll, with a total of 221 candidates vying for 63 seats (41 single-mandate and 22 party-based seats). Just two opposition parties are represented in the current parliament, however, with a combined six seats.

And observers don’t expect any sea changes.

But the Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP), revitalized and rejuvenated following an extensive makeover, enters the race expecting to expand its parliamentary representation from two to 10.

«Of course, it would be naive to believe the election will be fair; we don’t forget we live in a closed society,» says IRP leader Muhiddin Kabiri. «We should not expect free and fair elections in Central Asia in the foreseeable future, but we hope this election will be more fair than the 2005 vote.»

Recent opinion polls rank the IRP second in terms of power and influence within Tajik society only to President Emomali Rahmon’s People’s Democratic Party. Its 35,000 members and thousands of supporters have made the IRP among the country’s best-organized parties since the late 1990s.

But after that support translated into only two seats in the last parliamentary elections in 2005, the IRP took a long look in the mirror and began making significant changes.

The IRP, the only officially registered Islamic party in Central Asia, has in the past depended heavily on support in the country’s conservative east — particularly Rasht Valley, the wartime stronghold of the Islamic opposition fighters. Today, the party boasts an increasing number of followers in other regions, including Kulob and Sughd, traditionally dominated by the pro-presidential party.

Breaking The Mold

The IRP broadened its support base in a number of ways. First, it sought to shed its image, cultivated since its founding in 1990, as a rural party followed by mullahs and religious conservatives. By replenishing its aging ranks, the party has made itself more appealing to intellectuals, businessmen, and students. Most of the IRP’s candidates in the upcoming elections are in their 30s and 40s, and they include lawyers, teachers, entrepreneurs, and at least one professional sportsman.

Forty-five-year-old party leader Kabiri has played a major role in the ongoing transformation. Kabiri took over following the death in 2006 of his mentor, Said Abdullohi Nuri, the iconic founder of the IRP.

Kabiri maintains that he has continued in the path of his predecessor, but there is a sharp contrast in their methods and presentations.

Unlike the publicity-shy Nuri, who wore a dark beard and donned a long cloak at official meetings, the clean-shaven Kabiri comes across as media-savvy, outspoken, and dynamic.

An avid handball player, Kabiri and travels abroad frequently, giving speeches and interviews in Russian and English.

Kabiri has sought support outside the party’s traditional base — making it his goal to appeal to young and educated Tajiks, including women.

One of the four women on the IRP’s list of candidates, Zurafo Rahmoni, says the party aims to promote women’s role in society, including in the political arena.

She opposes quotas of the sort that are currently in place in Tajikistan, saying they «actually limit women’s real participation.»

«Women should be treated as men’s equal, so they could have an equal and healthy competition with men,» Rahmoni says. «If we create such conditions for women, hundreds of women will emerge as leaders on their own merits.»

Tough Task

Despite the IRP’s «new image,» however, the party still faces hurdles to mainstream acceptance. Tajik critics insist the party’s ultimate goal is to replace the current secular system with Islamic governance.

Kabiri maintains that he supports the country’s secular system and is not trying to create an Islamic state or Islamic republic in Tajikistan.

«Our goal is to create a society that lives with Islamic values,» Kabiri says.

The IRP, believed to be the most affluent opposition party in Tajikistan, battles the perception that it receives financial support from foreign Islamic states — presumably Iran and Saudi Arabia — in exchange for greater influence in Central Asia. The IRP denies any such arrangements, claiming that it benefits from charities and generous sponsors.

Some have accused the IRP of buying its support. One university student claimed to RFE/RL that he joined the party only because the IRP pays money to its supporters. The claim could not be verified.

Some have questioned how the IRP managed to list 39 candidates for the looming elections while the $1,500 registration fee — twice the amount required in the 2005 elections — proved a serious obstacle for other political parties.

The Communist Party, whose candidates advocate state control over the economy and even a return to the Soviet Union, is the only other party given much chance of garnering enough votes to make parliament. It has registered only about half that number of candidates.

The opposition Social Democrat and Democratic Party listed seven and three candidates, respectively.

Difficult Odds

To date, the IRP has launched 50 complaints pertaining to electoral violations and official interference. The IRP’s and other opposition parties’ complaints claim that their canvassers are harassed by local police, that the ruling party is given sole access to assembly halls where potential voters could be won over, and that the timing of the elections in the middle of winter makes it difficult to campaign in remote areas.

Kabiri claims that the IRP makes up for such disadvantages by having the most active supporters in the election campaign. «People show little interest in elections, so our campaigners go door to door to talk to voters, to promote our party, and to explain the importance of their participation,» the IRP leader says.

While heavy snowfall and icy roads in mountainous terrain have discouraged some candidates from traveling to remote villages, IRP representatives have donned signature blue scarves in eastern Rasht district and ventured out on horseback in an effort to meet voters.

However, despite all the efforts and financial investments, not everyone is convinced the Islamic party stands a chance of boosting its parliamentary presence.

Shokirjon Hakimov, a representative of the Social Democrat Party, predicts the IRP will get no more than three seats in the next Majlis.

«In regions like Karategin, where the IRP has most of its supporters, local authorities will try to show their loyalty to the government,» Hakimov says, «so they’ll use all kinds of methods to ensure the victory of ruling party candidates.»

IRP leaders themselves are not «overly optimistic» that the parliamentary elections will be free and fair.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has not recognized either of the country’s post-civil war parliamentary elections, in 2000 and 2005, as free and fair. IRP leaders insist Tajikistan’s authorities «still are not ready for real and transparent votes.»

Kabiri has warned officials against electoral fraud, saying that «if people, once again, lose their faith in elections, if people no longer believe they can determine their future through lawful means, it would be the authorities’ biggest gift to extremists.»

By Farangis Najibullah, Radio Free Europe / Radio

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/Tajik_Islamic_Party_Puts_Face_Lift_To_A_Test/1965070.html

With parliamentary elections fast approaching, print journalists in Tajikistan are coming under increasing pressure, media watchdogs say.

The pro-presidential People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan (PDPT) is widely expected to retain its hammerlock on parliament in the February 28 elections. Even so, media rights groups contend that President Imomali Rahmon’s administration is trying to muzzle media outlets not directly under the government’s control.

«There is clearly an all-out drive to intimidate news media and get them [independent media outlets] to [self-] censor their coverage of state authorities,» the Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders said in a February 1 statement.

There are no daily newspapers in Tajikistan. Of late, independent-minded weeklies have had to cope with the possibility of financial devastation via lawsuits. The Reporters Without Borders statement noted one January 26 case in which a court awarded «astronomical damages» in a suit against the weekly Paykon (Arrowhead) for a report on corruption. «Such high awards threaten the publication’s survival and, therefore, the diversity of the country’s news media, which is already very limited,» the statement said.

More recently, two Supreme Court judges and one judge from the Dushanbe City Court have brought libel suits against three independent weeklies stemming from reports in the publications about corruption in the judicial system, the Asia-Plus news agency reported on February 1. The plaintiffs are seeking approximately $1.2 million in «moral damages,» and for the newspapers’ operating licenses to be suspended while the hearings proceed.

Opposition parties in Tajikistan are in disarray and are not in position to mount a serious challenge to the PDPT in the upcoming voting. But Muhiddin Kabiri, chair of the opposition Islamic Renaissance Party, was quoted by Asia-Plus on February 2 as saying that the government remains wary of the ability of independent outlets to draw attention to «acute social problems, such as corruption and the inefficiency of government agencies.»

«This explains the growing trend of filing legal cases against the media by the authorities,» Kabiri added.

Critics have also pointed to legislation, adopted last fall, which potentially imposes onerous fees to obtain information from official sources. Specifically, the legislation, titled «On the order of payment to government agencies for the provision of information,» requires journalists to pay roughly 10 cents per page for official documents obtained from government employees. The charge ostensibly covers the costs of printing.

Nuriddin Karshibaev, chairman of the National Association of Independent Media in Tajikistan, contended, in an interview with EurasiaNet, that the law violates the Tajik constitution, which guarantees access to information. At the same time, he noted that the legislation wasn’t being enforced.

«So far, there haven’t been any conflicts between the authorities and journalists applying for official information,» said Karshibaev. «Nobody has been asked to pay for any requested data. If such a thing occurs, I believe, our colleagues would bring in a lawsuit against the government agency [that requested payment for information].»

Makhmudkhon Saraev, a representative of the Tajik president’s office, insisted the legislation would not prompt government officials to charge money for interviews. «The government resolution mainly concerns the use of archive materials, whereas oral information must remain free of charge,» Saraev said during a recent roundtable discussion in Dushanbe.

Lidia Isamova, a Tajik journalist and media expert, saw nothing sinister in the legislation. Given that the government is facing a severe budget crunch, it’s not unusual that it would see to reduce expenses in any way possible, Isamova suggested. «Somebody has to pay for paper, printer ink, Xerox equipment, etc,» Isamova said. «I don’t think that any official would try to make a fortune out of such services, and no journalists would be overcharged for it».

What seems to have angered journalists most about the adoption of the legislation was the way in which it was promulgated. «Everything goes in a reverse order,» said one journalist, speaking on condition of anonymity, referring to the legislative process. «A law is first adopted, and then [the public] starts discussing it.»

Editor’s Note: Konstantin Parshin is a freelance journalist based in Tajikistan.
Posted February 5, 2010 © Eurasianet
http://www.eurasianet.org

Konstantin Parshin, EurasiaNet

Источник: http://eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav020510a.shtml

The U.S.-based human rights watchdog Freedom House says 2009 saw more setbacks than improvements, with 40 countries and territories covered in its latest survey experiencing declines in democratic freedoms, including most of the post-Soviet area.

Freedom House has issued its annual measure of freedom in the world since 1972. For its survey, it looks at everything from freedom of expression to political pluralism and the right to free association.

Its 2010 «Freedom in the World» survey, which reviews indicators from 2009, was released on January 12. It tracks a worrisome trend — an ongoing, multiyear decline in the former non-Baltic Soviet states. The most significant steps backward were witnessed in the areas of governance and the electoral process.

In countries ranging from Belarus to Uzbekistan, the «Freedom in the World» survey reveals a lack of institutional accountability and transparency. In a vast majority of the post-Soviet space, a vast zone of unchecked authority has been created in the absence of an independent judiciary and the marginalization of the independent media and political opposition.

2009 was the fourth consecutive year marking the trend. Christopher Walker, the director of studies for Freedom House and one of the authors of the report, says the findings suggest the screws are only being tightened further.

«This year’s findings tend to amplify some of the trends we’ve seen in recent years, including a deepening of authoritarian rule throughout much of the non-Baltic former Soviet Union,» Walker says.

«Among other countries, Russia underwent declines. This was a year that saw Kyrgyzstan go from [an overall rating of] ‘partly free’ to ‘not free.’ It also saw some of the few positive spots, including Ukraine, hold steady over the course of this calendar year, coming into Ukraine’s elections in early 2010.»

Russia continued a long-standing trend in crackdowns on accountability and transparency, Walker says, despite pledges by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to restore public debate and a more liberal political atmosphere in Russia after eight years under Vladimir Putin.

«All in all, what we’ve seen is the continuation of the space that has shrunk over the past several years. And this last cycle is one where President Medvedev has been in control,» Walker says.

«And there’s nothing to suggest that the policies he’s pursued have modified or altered the basic framework of governance that has been put in place before him.»

Russia’s downward trend included voting abuse in local elections, growing state manipulation in the academic presentation of history, and the ongoing use of political pressure to intimidate human rights activists and journalists.

Russia has steadily declined in the Freedom House rankings over the past decade, sinking from a «partly free» overall rating to «not free.»

The ‘Putin Effect’

Arch Puddington, Freedom House’s director of research and one of the authors of the report, says the steady erosion of political rights and civil liberties in Russia is a consequence of what he calls the «Putin effect.»

«An important part of the Putin agenda was to consolidate centralized state control over as much of Russian society as possible. And the second part of the Putin effect is what happened in the [post-Soviet] neighborhood as well,» Puddington says.

«We see a decline in political conditions in a number of countries in the Russian neighborhood, and we see that as having been in part driven by Putin’s diplomacy.»

Russia’s influence over its post-Soviet neighbors is undeniably significant. Puddington says some countries, particularly the energy-rich Caspian states, are pursuing their own versions of authoritarianism as they seek to break their ties with Moscow. But he adds that ultimately, most of the countries in the region are following the Russian model.

«Countries like Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan don’t want to be dominated by Russia, and they work to keep their independence; they’re not puppets of Russia,» Puddington says.

«But they are strongly influenced by Russia; they have political systems that are quite similar to Russia’s political system. I think that you’re going to see Russia influencing the democratic direction of the whole region for a couple of decades to come.»

Disappointment In Central Asia

In the latest survey, Kyrgyzstan — once the center of pro-democracy hopes in Central Asia — moved from «partly free» to «not free» category. The downgrade was due, in part, to claims of voter irregularities in the country’s July 2009 presidential election, consolidation of power in the executive branch, and new restrictive legislation on freedom of religion.

The setback means the entire region of Central Asia is now rated «not free.» Walker says the hopes that bloomed in 2005 for Kyrgyzstan and the region are now history.

«Kyrgyzstan has turned out to be a sour disappointment in terms of political rights and civil liberties, and has trended downwards over the last two years,» he says. «This year the consolidation of executive power, and the other issues connected to transparent governance, contributed to the country moving over the threshold from the ‘partly free’ group into the ‘not free.'»

Kazakhstan is another problem country in Central Asia. The energy-rich state witnessed a continued crackdown on journalists and rights activists. This included the case of human rights worker Yevgeny Zhovtis, who last year received a heavy prison sentence for his role in a fatal traffic accident.

Supporters said the sentence was punishment for his activism. Observers like Walker worried that the Zhovtis case and others like it set a worrying tone as Kazakhstan prepared to become the first post-Soviet country to hold the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Walker says the Zhovtis case «was evaluated in tandem with pressure on the news media, including problems with ‘Respublika’ [newspaper], and other ongoing pressures on the independent sectors in Kazakhstan, which really are at direct odds with the pledges and the spirit of OSCE chairmanship obligations. To the extent that 2009 suggests the standard for Kazakhstan, it really does raise some serious concerns about the country’s fitness to hold the chairmanship which it is now assuming.»

Azerbaijan is another country that has shown a continuation of very restrictive policies. Walker cited as particularly problematic the trial of bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizada, who were subjected to a long pretrial detention and ultimately convicted of hooliganism for an incident in a restaurant after they posted political videos on the Internet.

«This, for many, was a signal both to users of new media as well as to the youth in Azerbaijan to steer clear of the politics in the country at exactly the time when the country needs a more candid conversation about public policies, diversification of the economy, and corruption,» Walker says.

Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan continue to hold the lowest freedom rankings, not only among the countries of the former Soviet Union but globally.

Some Hopeful Signs

In Georgia, Walker says 2009 was a period of relative stability in comparison to the previous two years, which were marked by violent domestic upheaval and a military conflict with Russia:

«There has been an element of easing of the sort of highly polemical environment that we have seen in calendar [year] 2007 and 2008,» Walker says. «The coming year will be particularly important to see whether the opposition can begin to build some meaningful alternative programs and to see whether the Saakashvili government can begin to make good on some of its pledges to further democratization in the country.»

Ukraine, for all of the flows and challenges that it has confronted since the 2004 Orange Revolution and the election of a pro-Western president, remains an example of some considerable democratic durability.

«The elections that have been held in the country so far since late 2004 have been competitive, they’ve been plural, they’ve had a number of different forces involved in the political battles there,» Walker says. «And by and large the news media has been able to comment with relative openness on this process.»

Outside of the former Soviet Union, one bright spot noted by Walker was Southeastern Europe. There, the status of the newly independent nation Kosovo improved from «not free» to «partly free,» due to greater recognition of minority rights and the conduct of its November parliamentary elections, which were generally deemed to be in compliance with international standards.

Montenegro’s status moved from «partly free» to «free,» due to the successful organization of parliamentary elections in March and progress in adopting anticorruption legislation.

Nikola Krastev, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/Report_Democratic_Decline_Continues_Across_Former_Soviet_States_/192767

The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has sharply criticized Beijing’s policy of censoring access to the Internet and pursuing Chinese dissidents who try to use it as a tool for social change.

In a speech on Internet freedom on January 21, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that “countries that restrict free access to information or violate the basic rights of Internet users risk walling themselves off from the progress of the next century.»

The immediate reason for Clinton’s remarks was the quarrel between Beijing and Google, the U.S. company which operates one of the largest Internet search engines.

Google has threatened to withdraw from the Chinese market because of Beijing’s hacking the accounts of human rights activists who use its e-mail service, Gmail.

Google also says it is “no longer willing to continue censoring” Chinese users’ search results for subjects such as the Tiananmen Square massacre, which Beijing considers taboo.

The dispute sounds a bit like any trade issue: a case of the United States defending an American company’s interests in a foreign land.

But in fact, Clinton’s criticism of China breaks new ground.

It is the first time the Obama administration has brought this much firepower to defending the freedom of the Internet or criticized Beijing so bluntly over its suppression of Internet-based dissent. And this suggests Washington views the Internet as such an effective democracy-building tool that it needs to be defended as a matter of U.S. foreign policy.

Antigovernment Networks

That view has grown with the ever increasing role the Internet, and social networking sites in particular, have played in protests against repressive governments around the world.

Dissidents in places as diverse as Belarus, Moldova, and Iran have used sites like Facebook and Twitter to build communities of like-minded people and share information and goals. Combined with other media, like mobile phone-based text messaging, those resources have helped bring thousands of protestors onto the streets, like during Iran’s postelection protests in June.

On January 21, Clinton not only defended the freedom of the Internet but also announced new U.S. investments to expand access to it. She promised $15 million in funding for new grassroots efforts to “expand civic participation and increase the new media capabilities of civil society in the Middle East and North Africa.”

But not everyone is convinced that the Internet is as positive a force for democracy as Clinton’s support of it suggests.

Evgeny Morozov, an expert on political repression online at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., says that if enthusiasm for “digital revolutions” abounds, so do the dangers for the digital revolutionaries.

“Mainstream thinking on this issue is that somehow the activists will use the secure technologies provided by the Internet and social networking, they will organize groups, and collectively they will then oppose and challenge the regime, which itself is perceived as somewhat of a laggard,” he told Britain’s «Prospect” magazine in November. “So, the common misperception about authoritarian states is that their governments are usually very bad at technology and that all they do is just censor and filter.”

But censoring and filtering, as China’s own hacking of dissidents’ Gmail accounts shows, can be just the beginning of how repressive governments themselves use the Internet to crack down on dissidents.

Morozov, a native of Belarus who has worked widely with civic groups in the region, says people often overestimate their ability to protect their anonymity when they join social networking sites. That puts them at risk of being monitored.

At the same time, governments are becoming better at profiling the online behavior of targeted Internet users, with the goal of predicting if they will pose a future threat to the state. China, for example, has contracted Western data-mining companies to help them do so.

Other tricks authoritarian governments use are to hire proxies to sabotage online discussion forums by leaving comments on articles that twist their meaning or stigmatize the authors. And that — just like the Internet’s widespread use by militant groups like neo-Nazis, Hizballah, or Al-Qaeda — simply underlines how little the web is exclusively democracy’s preserve.

Still, if skeptics express caution regarding the Internet’s current ability to advance democracy, few question its potential to do so. What is needed is for the global providers of the social networking and similar services to do more to make such sites secure and to protect users’ data.

That means that Washington’s call to Beijing this week may represent only half the fight between democratic and authoritarian governments over the Internet.

Washington is making it a foreign policy priority to keep the window for the Internet as wide-open as possible in repressive states.

But it will be up to companies like Google, Facebook, and others to get better at protecting prodemocracy users if the Internet is to realize its full potential for challenging authoritarian regimes.

Charles Recknagel, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liber

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/Why_Are_Internet_Rights_Becoming_Part_Of_US_Foreign_Policy/1936849.html

With attacks against journalists around the world on the rise, it is no surprise that Central Asian journalism is becoming ever more dangerous.

The recent brazen murders of two Bishkek-based journalists have shocked human rights groups that seek to pressure Central Asian governments into investigating such crimes and bringing the guilty to justice.

It is increasingly clear, however, that those governments themselves are behind much of the violence, leaving any hopes that justice will prevail futile.

The two journalists — 40-year-old Gennady Pavlyuk (pen name Ibragim Rustambek) and 27-year-old Sayat Shulembaev — were brutally murdered in Almaty in December. Pavlyuk’s hands and feet were bound and he was thrown out of a sixth-floor apartment window on December 16; he died six days later of his injuries. Shulembaev was stabbed to death in an Almaty apartment on December 26.

The office of Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev has issued a statement affirming that «Kyrgyzstan’s law-enforcement agencies are doing their best to make sure that every attack on journalists is thoroughly investigated.» But little in the way of competent police investigation followed earlier such pledges from Central Asian governments.

Possible Motives

Pavlyuk, who worked closely with the Kyrgyz opposition and exposed high-level corruption in his writing, was planning to establish an opposition publication with the support of Bakiev’s rivals in the opposition Ata-Meken party. Shulembaev had been reporting on Pavlyuk’s murder before being killed himself.

Though the Kyrgyz government maintains that the murders were not «connected to any kind of political motivation,» the spate of recent attacks, combined with the stiffening of media laws across the region, suggests that the Kyrgyz regime, like its counterparts in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan, is willing to take drastic measures — even beyond its own borders — to silence criticism.

Earlier in 2009, a Kyrgyz journalist was reportedly beaten to death by eight policemen in the southern town of Osh while trying to renew his passport, and three journalists were attacked in Bishkek the same week that Pavlyuk was killed. Reporters Without Borders believes those attacks were part of a broader effort to intimidate journalists close to opposition parties. Despite official Kyrgyz assurances, no one has yet been arrested or charged with any of those crimes.

Furthermore, in a case that received some attention in the Western press, ethnic Uzbek journalist Alisher Saipov was gunned down in Osh in October 2007. Many believe that assassination was carried out by Uzbek security forces operating illegally in Kyrgyzstan in retaliation for articles Saipov had published exposing high-level Uzbek government corruption. The failure to solve the Saipov case casts serious doubt on official claims that the Kyrgyz authorities are «doing their best to make sure» that such attacks are properly investigated.

Finding The Killers

It is logical that Kazakhstan should bear the primary responsibility for tracking down those who killed Pavlyuk and Shulembaev, especially since it recently took over the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and, among other things, has pledged to uphold the human rights component of the OSCE charter.
Although the Kazakh government has identified suspects in the murders of Pavlyuk and Shulembaev, they have yet to release any detailed information about their investigation, and it is unclear if they are willing to coordinate their efforts with the Kyrgyz authorities. And judging by Kazakhstan’s cavalier attitude toward suggested media and political reform in its run-up to taking over the OSCE chairmanship on January 1, as well as its controversial sentencing of leading human rights activist Yevgeny Zhovtis to a four-year prison term last fall, human rights advocates and Central Asian journalists should not expect a thorough and conclusive investigation nor much cooperation between Kazakh and Kyrgyz authorities.

Based on past experience, the likelihood that the two countries will undertake a joint investigation is slim. Central Asian governments have proved to be extremely reluctant to coordinate efforts of any kind, with intense personal rivalries between the authoritarian leaders in the region often trumping economic or security concerns.

Furthermore, there are few incentives to induce either Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan to pursue the murder investigation systematically. First, the leaders of both countries are aware that they are unlikely to incur serious criticism from either the U.S. or other members of the international community for their failure to do so. Washington’s primary interest, despite its rhetoric regarding universal human rights and support for freedom of expression and the rule of law, remains maintaining oil and gas contracts in energy-rich Central Asia, as well as over-flight and basing rights for its Afghan campaign, including use of the Manas Air Base located just outside Bishkek

And second, if such criticism is forthcoming, the two countries could respond by accusing the West of double standards. After all, neighboring Russia and China routinely violate human rights even more egregiously.

Test Cases

Nonetheless, the Pavlyuk and Shulembaev murders are the first test of Kazakhstan’s affirmed resolve to comply with OSCE standards, and the success or failure of the murder investigations will color perceptions of Kazakhstan’s chairmanship of the OSCE.

Sadly, however, with violence directed toward Central Asian journalists increasing and pressure from western governments to stem it half-hearted at best, it is likely that the Kazakh government will opt for doing very little to solve the case and the treacherous trend will continue, with disastrous consequences for freedom of expression in the region.

«The recent attacks — and now death — of our colleagues make it extremely difficult for the rest of us to do our jobs,» says Marat Tokaev, a leading Kyrgyz advocate for journalists’ rights. «Most of the time, the attacks go unpunished and this creates an atmosphere of hopelessness and fear.»

Unfortunately, such an atmosphere sits perfectly well with Central Asian authoritarians unwilling to tolerate the slightest criticism of their repressive rule.

J.G. Cefalo is a regional analyst formerly based in Almaty. The views expressed in this commentary are the author’s own, and do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL

J.G. Cefalo RFE/RL

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/Journalists_In_Central_Asia_Struggle/1928436.html

Uzbekistan’s Prosecutor-General’s Office interrogated Sid Yanishev and Khusnitdin Kutbitdinov, two independent journalists, in Tashkent on January 7. Journalists Vasily Markov, Marina Kozlova and Abdumalik Babayev were also «invited» for questioning. Kutbitdinov is a former correspondent with RFE/RL’s Uzbek service.

Yanishev spoke with RFE/RL after meeting with Bahram Nurmatov, assistant to Tashkent’s prosecutor-general, who told him that the interrogation was initiated after National Security Service and Foreign Ministry files on Yanishev’s activities were sent to the prosecutor’s office. Yanishev said that he was shown the files and questioned about international conferences he attended, foreign payments he received, and contacts with foreign embassies. He said he was asked to sign an explanatory note at the end of the questioning, but that no charges were officially brought against him.

Kutbitdinov told RFE/RL that he also met with Nurmatov, who told him of reports alleging that he had provided «discrediting information» to foreign websites using pseudonyms. Kutbitdinov told Nurmatov that he was unfamiliar with the pseudonyms and did not write any of the information that was shown to him.

RFE/RL’s investigation of the incidents suggests that the authorities are targeting journalists who have received awards or special recognition by the U.S. and Russian embassies in Tashkent. Asked about the cases, a spokesperson at the U.S. Embassy said, «We have noted these reports with some concern and are in contact with the journalists affected and other sources in order to gather more details on what happened and what might be behind it.»

Galima Bukharbaeva, an independent Uzbek journalist and editor of uznews.net who lives in exile in Europe, told RFE/RL that the interrogation procedure at the prosecutor’s office is a typical practice used by the Uzbek government to intimidate journalists in Uzbekistan.

Reporters without Borders reacted to the incidents in a statement on January 8, saying, «The international community, which has already made too many concessions to the Uzbek authorities, should make a concertd effort to protect the country’s few remaining independent journalists and prevent a new crackdown.»

The statement refers to the crackdown on independent media and civil society that followed the events in the Uzbek city of Andijan in May 2005, when government troops opened fire on a crowd of peaceful demonstrators, killing hundreds and causing many activists to flee the country.

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Источник: