Read Shanghai or Bust by Prajakti Kalra and Siddharth Saxena, Central Asia Now’s latest piece of analysis.

United Nations’ human rights commissioner, Louise Arbour, began her tour of Central Asia this week. Starting in Kyrgyzstan, Arbour raised concerns with President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and other officials in the capital, Bishkek, about the levels of domestic violence against women. Further, with the apparent persecution of the political opposition and the imprisonment of its leaders Omurbek Subanaliev and Omurbek Abdyrakmanov, Arbour called for an independent investigation into Kyrgyzstan’s judicial process. Any hopes which Arbour may have had of constructive dialogue with neighbouring Uzbekistan, however, proved fruitless, as she was effectively snubbed by government officials who refused to even meet her. Arbour will also visit Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan over the coming week. Kazakhstan remains a source of concern for human rights activists over its crackdown on demonstrations and peaceful protests. Demonstrations are permitted but must be authorized by the government and are tightly monitored and controlled. 

After last week’s heavy rainfall which has led to mudslides in southern Kyrgyzstan,  EurasiaNet summarised a United Nations report that says situation is set to worsen over the coming decades with temperatures rising and water resources depleting. With both Uzbekistan and Tajikistan reliant on the cotton industry, such changes would bring about economic disaster.

The race to secure Turkmenistan’s rich energy resources continued with the EU and USA competing against Russia to access oil through two opposing pipelines. The EU and US proposal to ship oil through a new pipeline running under the Caspian sea to Azerbaijan is a real threat to Russia’s energy trade links with Turkmenistan. Russia has proposed an alternative pipeline which will run along the Caspian sea coast through Russian territory but Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov refuses to commit to either project. Russian President Vladamir Putin hopes to make further progress on the issue during his visit to Turkmenistan on May 13th.  Meanwhile, as United Press International reported, China’s state run Sinopec has threatened to abandon its oil and gas projects in Uzbekistan over its high tax rates for oil extraction.

Health and disease control remains an important issue in Tajikistan as despite success such as the successful vaccination against Polio of 300,000 children along the Afghan border, awareness of the fight against the global threat of HIV and AIDS is worryingly low. Despite the high percentage of young people who are aware of the virus, almost half those participating in a recent survey supported by UNAIDS was unaware of how to prevent infection. Despite Tajikistan’s low level of reported cases, there has been a steady increase in number of HIV-infected people.

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

A recent high-level EU tour to Central Asia seems to have generated a renewed interest in human rights in the region among commentators. Ahead of a External Relations Council review of Central Asia strategy scheduled for April 23rd, Human Rights Watch takes the EU to task for letting governments off the hook. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Lousie Arbour, is set to visit Central Asia from 24th April to 5th May. She will visit all of the five republics apart from Uzbekistan, though no reason for this omission is given.

In any case, news from the region on freedoms is depressing. In Kazakhstan, anti-corruption journalist Oralgaisha Omarshanova has been missing since March 30th. Colleagues believe her disappearance is linked to her reporting. Ahead of the EU decision on whether to uphold sanctions invoked after the Andijan massacre, Uzbekistan has postponed the trial of journalist and rights activist Umida Niyazova, who was detained last year trying to cross the border from Kyrgyzstan. RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty highlights fears that Tajikistan may be heading the way of its authoritarian neighbour, after the government sought to ban the opposition Social Democratic Party on a technicality. It seems that social freedoms are being restricted too: United Press International reported that young people are to be officially encouraged to abandon both Western and Islamic modes of dress.

Meanwhile, Niyazov-era Turkmenistan is satirised in the UK’s Independent newspaper by filmaker Waldemar Januszczak for its culture of secrecy and paranoia. His documentary about the country was broadcast on Wednesday.

Nature and the environment have come into sharp focus this week as mudslides hit southern Kyrgyzstan after heavy rain, destroying houses and displacing families. In Kazakhstan, warnings of a drought in the south are said to have come too late for farmers there. Elsewhere in that country, more than 500 dead seals have been washed up on the shores of the Caspian, according to Associated Press. It is not clear whether pollution or a virus were to blame for the majority of the deaths.

Political unrest has added to Kyrgyzstan’s troubles this week, with protesters continuing to demand early elections. The constitutional crisis has not escaped Russia’s notice, and Turkish Weekly reports rumours that Deputy Premier Sergei Ivanov might travel to Bishkek in the near future. Stories on the protests have been carried by the UK’s Financial Times, the BBC and the International Herald Tribune, which reports that demonstrators have now been dispersed amid mass arrests and a media crackdown.

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

Central Asia Now dips its toe into Afghan affairs with Poison Harvest by Nick Jackson, our latest piece of original analysis, focussing on the poppy crop in the central Asian states’ most volatile neighbour.

This week in Kyrgyzstan thousands of supporters of the opposition took to the streets in the capital, Bishkek, to protest against President Bakiyev following a draft constitution which, it is said, would increase presidential powers. Demonstrations are set to continue as calls for an early election grow.

Kazakhstan’s leader, Nursultan Nazarbayev, has proposed a Union of Central Asian States, or  ‘Uni-Stan’, based on the European Union, a plan which would create a trading block in a region containing some of the world’s richest sources of energy. The Kazakh government has also received a second multi-million dollar loan from the World Bank to build another dam in an attempt to stop the Aral Sea drying up completely. The 40% return of the sea level since the first dam has been dubbed the ‘eighth wonder of the world’ by locals. Meanwhile the southern section of the sea in Uzbekistan continues to shrink. Following his launch from the cosmodrome at Baikonur, Charles Simonyi, the billionaire software pioneer, arrived back on Earth on Tuesday after a successful 10-day $25 million rocket ‘holiday’ in space.

The Uzbek authorities barred one of the most prominent Russian-language religious news websites in their latest bid to restrict access to religious and political news, reinforcing Uzbekistan’s long-standing position as Central Asia’s most internet-censored country. On Monday, a high-level EU delegation met with Uzbek officials to discuss sanctions, human rights, energy resources and closer relations as part of their three day visit to Uzbekistan. At the same time, Reporters Without Borders urged the European Union to “be tougher” with Uzbekistan in reviewing sanctions, imposed after the Andijan killings, in light of charges brought against independent journalist Umida Niyazova. Niyazova was detained crossing into Uzbekistan from Kyrgyzstan in December 2006. She was interviewing family members of victims of the Andijan violence, which left at least 189 people dead.

Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedow, President of Turkmenistan, continued his drive for reform (or at least his drive to appear reformist) by sacking his Minister of Internal Affairs for failing to tackle high levels of drug taking, bribery and other crimes in the country, according to Turkmen TV.

In Tajikistan the ‘cultural makeover’ gathers momentum, at least from the point of view of the President. His plans for the future include further de-Russification, restricting the names given to new-borns and a ban on displays of wealth and extravagant parties.

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

Tajikistan’s President, fresh from dropping the Russian ending to his surname, this week demanded the return from Britain of the Oxus Treasure, a horde of artefacts from the Achaemenid period. Meanwhile, following last week’s Hizb-ut-Tahrir conviction, Tajik citizen and alleged member Akmal Akbarov was sentenced to more than nine years in prison and the confiscation of his property, according to Interfax. The site also reports the arrest in Kazakhstan of a man ahead of a planned leafleting campaign by the outlawed group in the capital Almaty.

Uzbekistan played host to a human rights delegation from the EU this week, the aim of which is to decide whether sanctions imposed in the wake of the Andijan massacre can be lifted. Meanwhile, in neighbouring Pakistan, a campaign by tribal leaders in Waziristan to rid the region of Uzbek militants began in earnest.

Before they got to Tashkent to talk human rights, the EU group were in Astana, to talk energy. The EU is energy hungry and Central Asia is seen as a key future supplier of hydrocarbon resources. Vladimir Socor, writing for The Jamestown Foundation, argues that Kazakhstan is being leaned on by Russia to stay away from energy transportation projects that marginalise that country - for example the Odessa-Brody pipeline - in favour of those in which Russia has a stake - such as the Burgas-Alexandroupolis venture.

In Turkmenistan, Berdymukhammedov-watchers were given further insights into the new Presidency’s direction with the decision on Wednesday to forge ahead with education and agricultural reforms, including a massive pay rise for teachers. In another sign that some of the bizarre excesses of Niyazov’s style of government are being dismantled, the ban on foreign travel by cabinet ministers, designed to pre-empted defections, was lifted on Tuesday, according to the Kyiv Post. In an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, US ambassador to the OSCE, Julie Finley, announced that she plans to visit Ashgabat in June.

Frustration at the pace of constitutional change in Kyrgyzstan was transformed into direct action, as opposition supporters led by Felix Kulov began a hunger strike in front of the national parliament. National actions are planned from April 11th unless the government meets the protesters’ demands.

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