Read Lost for Words by Ross Perlin, Central Asia Now’s latest piece of analysis.
In Uzbekistan this week there were dramatic developments in the Umida Niyazova case: her 7-year prison term for smuggling and distributing material causing public disorder was commuted to a 3-year suspended sentence on May 8th. The journalist was released after she confessed and admitted to having been ‘under the influence’ of international organisations according to RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. She was in prison for a total of 3 1/2 months. On May 2nd the US State Department had issued a press release condemning the original sentence. EUBusiness.com attributed her early release to Western pressure.
Elsewhere in the country there was less cause for celebration - Reuters’ AlertNet reported an Uzbek court’s decision to double the jail sentence imposed on Gulbahor Turaeva, arrested on January 14th under circumstances strongly reminiscent of the Niyazova case. Muslim Uzbekistan.net carried the story of Andjian refugees, who despite returning from the US in recent months, have now feld to neighbouring Kazakhstan. EU members are currently deadlocked as they negotiate to decide the future of the post-Andijan sanctions regime against the country.
Holger Haibach, Deputy Chairman of the German Reichstag’s Human Rights Committee criticised Deutsche Bank for its links to the govenrment of Turkmenistan. The Bank has admitted it has managed funds for the Turkmen government for more than a decade.
Louise Arbour ended her tour of Central Asia this week, having visited all of the five republics except Uzbekistan. According to the BBC, plans are afoot to open a UN human rights office in Kyrgyzstan. Arbour has emphasised how much work needed to be done to improve human rights and civil society, including press freedom, in the region. As if to illustrate her point, the President of Tajikistan made a speech before parliament this week setting out plans for a more ’patriotic’ media.
Energy was on President Putin’s mind as he visited the region’s two main oil and gas exporters, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. The two countries are being courted strongly with Russia as it seeks to promote hydrocarbon transport through its own territory, though as the Financial Times notes there are plenty of competing plans for routing oil and gas out of the region.
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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Comment by Sheryl Roberts 11.12.08 @ 11:30 pm