news digest march 24th-30th

Read Doors remain closed in Turkmenistan by Judith Evans, Central Asia Now’s latest piece of analysis.

This week, despite continued criticism of its human rights record, Uzbekistan appeared to be let off the hook by the UN, as the Human Rights Council voted to suspend monitoring of the country under procedure 1053, according to Human Rights Watch. The very next day the Uzbek government told visiting German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier that it was not prepared to be lectured on human rights, reports the Pakistan Daily Times. New Eurasia provides us with tangible evidence of Uzbekistan’s failings, carrying a photo essay on child labour in the cotton fields. In a worrying development on the media freedom front, Deutsche Welle journalist and Uzbek citizen Natalia Bushuyeva is to face charges of “tax evasion and conducting her activities without a license”. She faces up to six months in prison. 

Elsewhere, Turkmenistan comes under indirect fire from Krassimir Kanev in The Guardian, who lambasts Bulgaria for its recent decision to begin extradition of Turkmen dissident  Annadurdy Hadjiev. Hard on the heels of Tajikistan’s decision to demolish mosques in Dushanbe, a court there sentences 17 year old Muminbek Mamedov to eight years in jail for membership of banned group Hizb-ut-Tahrir, according to Reuters.  

Despite the country celebrating the two-year anniversary of the ‘Tulip Revolution’ on Saturday, the road to constitutional reform in Kyrgyzstan has not been smooth. New proposals have been set out by the opposition group Movement for Reform, but whether they are accepted by President Bakiev remains to be seen. In a move that echoes Turkmenistan’s decision to restore pensions to 100,000 citizens, Kyrgyz legislators voted to lower the retirement age on Monday, despite warnings of the strain that this will put on the country’s finances.

In a beautiful demonstration of the art of spin, Kazakhstan-based website gazeta.kz reports that the European Union “will support Kazakhstan for OSCE 2009 presidency”. Go to RFE/RL however and the story is somewhat different: “EU Questions Almaty’s Bid For OSCE Presidency In 2009″. Assuming the OSCE presidency would be a triumph for Nazarbayev, but EU officials point to - among other things - the continued harassment of independent media in Kazakhstan as evidence that the country still has an enormous way to go.

Stay tuned to Central Asia Now for weekly news digests. Keep an eye out for our fortnightly analysis slots by regional experts. 

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