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.
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