Volodymyr Campaign

TBILISI, May 29 (Reuters) - Five men died in a gunfight in the Georgian separatist region of South Ossetia on Sunday, an Interior Ministry spokesman said, the first violence this year in a zone patrolled by a three-sided peacekeeping force.

The spokesman, Guram Donadze, said one Georgian policeman and four South Ossetians died in the village of Kurta, three km (two miles) north of Tskhinvali, the capital of breakaway South Ossetia. The circumstances were unclear. Regional police chief Vladimer Jugeli told Georgia's Rustavi-2 television that he suspected it was an attack launched by South Ossetian volunteer fighters.

The tiny Georgian region is not internationally recognised as a state but it has rejected all attempts by Tbilisi to bring it back into the fold, including fighting a separatist war to win de facto independence in 1992.

Georgia has accused Russia of backing rebels in the region, as well as in another separatist zone, Abkhazia.

The dispute over South Ossetia flared into violence last year, but a Georgian plan to grant the region broad autonomy in January calmed things down.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:18 0 comments links to this post

LVOV, May 29 (Itar-Tass) -- The investigation of journalist Georgy Gongadze’s murder has not brought sufficient results, but “I have done my best for its soonest completion,” Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko told the press in Ternopol on Sunday.

The investigators “still need to collect evidence and find people involved in the journalist murder,” Yushchenko said. He said the police are detaining suspects with a high social status. “The head of the murdered journalist may be found only after the arrest of Police Gen. Pukach,” he said.

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Svyatoslav Piskun said on Saturday they still need to find former head of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry’s Surveillance Department Alexei Pukach (who is the crime’s suspected perpetrator), question former major of the State Guard Service Nikolai Melnichenko who currently lives in the United States, and finalize the body’s identification by request of the family.

The body is under an international examination, which involves specialists from Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Ukraine, he said.

Opposition journalist Gongadze disappeared in September 2000, and a decapitated body was found in the Tarashcha forest near Kiev two months later.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:15 0 comments links to this post

ANDIJAN, Uzbekistan -- The armed, masked guard behind the gate at police headquarters projected sheer force, but his eyes brightened as he fondly remembered his time training in the United States.

The U.S. government has trained and equipped Uzbek troops and police -- the same forces who opened fire without warning on some 2,000 demonstrators this month in this eastern city. Now international groups are urging Washington to reconsider its aid and involvement.

Under U.S. law, no unit of a foreign military can receive training if it is found to have committed a gross violation of human rights.

Uzbek officials won't name the exact units involved in the Andijan events for security reasons. But one police official said all the country's elite forces had been mobilized here.

"There were regular army and special forces of all sorts, both Interior Ministry and National Security Service," the official said on condition of anonymity. "Everyone was there."

Karimov has used the language of anti-terrorism in explaining authorities' actions in Andijan, claiming the instigators were extremists bent on creating a Muslim state -- and refusing to acknowledge any peaceful protesters were present as seen by reporters.

U.S. and Uzbek soldiers have held regular training exercises since the 1990s, with American special forces troops heading to the mountains with their Uzbek counterparts for lessons on repelling incursions -- a main worry for Uzbekistan after several such attacks starting in the late 1990s by the al-Qaida-allied Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

Much U.S. assistance also focuses on worries about the spread of weapons of mass destruction across rugged, poorly controlled borders. Uzbekistan controls half of an island in the Aral Sea that was the site of a Soviet biological weapons research lab, and has some nuclear facilities.

Uzbekistan's human rights abuses have caused it to lose aid before. Last July, the U.S. State Department withdrew most of its aid after failing to certify Tashkent had made progress to rectify its abuses.

But later that month, Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the region, flew to the Uzbek capital Tashkent to reassure the Uzbeks that the American military would maintain and even boost its cooperation -- aid that is separate from State Department assistance.
Noting the base negotiations that could be a financial windfall for Uzbekistan, U.S.-based Human Rights Watch expressed concern this week that Defense Department cooperation with the country continues, and that the European Union also gives some $20.1 million in indirect assistance. Uzbek troops in Andijan were seen driving around in British Land Rovers.

"The U.S. and the EU have to make clear that there will be real consequences for a cover-up if there is no independent investigation, and they have to set a deadline for it to take place," Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

It's not clear if any immediate reconsideration of assistance is in the works. On Wednesday, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Washington continues to press for reforms and an open investigation into the Andijan violence, but that anti-terrorism cooperation with Uzbekistan would continue.

"It doesn't do any of us any good to abandon the effort against terrorism in this critical region," Boucher said. "So we will continue work with them in many areas, including the fight against terrorism."

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:02 0 comments links to this post

Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov has arrived in China on a state visit. This the first country he decided to visit following the brutal suppression of the uprising in Andijan. These days China looks like the best way to go to for Mr. Karimov. Moscow could have been his only alternative.

Mr. Karimov began pushing for "active friendship" with Beijing about two years ago. He was also seeking Moscow's support at the time following the disruption of relations between Uzbekistan and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. In 2002, the EBRD accused Tashkent of committing a number of deplorable things such as human rights violations and the use of torture in prisons. Subsequently, the Uzbek authorities decided to improve relations with those who turn a blind eye to the situation in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan and Russia signed an agreement on strategic partnership. Now a similar document will be signed in Beijing after the talks with the Chinese leadership.

"It is highly unlikely that Beijing will criticize Mr. Karimov for the way he put down the upheaval in Andijan because the memories of Tiananmen Square are still alive," Andrei Grozin was quoted as saying to Izvestia. Mr. Grozin is a head of the department for studies of Kazakhstan and Central Asia of the Institute of the CIS Countries. China's stance on the events in Uzbekistan is based primarily on the "Kyrgyz experience." Beijing is interested in maintaining its positions in Central Asia. "China used Kyrgyzstan as a "model country" of sorts for strengthening its economic influence in Central Asia," said Mr. Grozin. According to him, the groups that seized power in Kyrgyzstan mostly share the anti-Chinese sentiments and Beijing could not but worry about the situation. China does not want any new "velvet revolutions" in Central Asia.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:58 0 comments links to this post

The former leader of the Union of Right Forces, Boris Nemtsov, has given a pledge that neither he nor the chief of the Unified Energy System (UES) of Russia, Anatoliy Chubais, will meddle in the day-to-day activities of the party, and that the party’s new leader will not be a puppet, Interfax news agency reported.

He also said that he would support Nikita Belykh, the deputy governor of Russia’s Perm region, although he respected the other candidate, Ivan Starikov, the former Council of Federation (Upper House of Parliament) member. A third candidate, Aleksandr Fomin pulled himself out of the elections.

At the moment Nemtsov works as the Ukrainian President’s economic advisor.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:52 0 comments links to this post

Belarus has no revolutionary prerequisites at all, Stepan Sukhorenko, its KGB (state security committee) chief, said to a news conference in Astana, Kazakh capital, tonight.

"We have no grounds for a revolution, and no prerequisites for a revolutionary situation. The country enjoys social and political stability, and its economy is on an upswing. Revolution from the inside is ruled out.

"As for intervention from without, there is small chance for it-other laws are governing the world nowadays," he reassured.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:47 0 comments links to this post

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan May 28, 2005 — The United States warned its citizens Saturday of potential terror attacks against American targets in Uzbekistan following the recent deadly riots in the Central Asian nation a U.S. ally in the war against terrorism.

It cautioned U.S. citizens to limit unnecessary travel to the eastern city of Andijan, where the government said 173 people were killed when Uzbek troops put down a May 13 protest after militants seized a local prison and government headquarters.

The announcement came after the State Department designated the Islamic Jihad Group a global terrorist organization, saying the group coordinated last year's bombings of the U.S. and Israeli embassies in the Uzbek capital and the Uzbek prosecutor general's office.

Those attacks, along with other scattered violence, killed more than 50 people in the spring and summer of 2004.

But the unrest in Andijan was far deadlier the worst violence the nation has seen since gaining independence in the 1991 Soviet collapse.

On Friday, the Uzbek prosecutor's office announced the death toll from the Andijan riots reached 173 after four law enforcement workers died of their wounds. Authorities rejected rights activists claims that as many as 750 people were killed.

The U.S. response to the violence was cautious at first, but after Britain and non-governmental organizations assailed Uzbekistan, Washington joined the criticism and urged Karimov's government to allow an international investigation.

Describing the Andijan unrest in Saturday's announcement, the State Department said "fighting broke out between government forces and the militants" and "there were reports indicating that several hundred civilians died in the ensuing violence."

There no reports of U.S. citizens being hurt in the clashes, it said.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:34 0 comments links to this post

In Europe the institute of ombudsman is a parliamentary body, since human rights are violated by the executive power”, chairman of the Helsinki Committee of Armenia Avetik Ishkhanyan noted. He is against the appointment of the Ombudsman by the President. “Actually the formation of the institute of ombudsman of Armenia was a mere formal step in order to demonstrate the fulfillment of commitments to the CE”, he says. Aveti, Ishkhanyan considers that for real correspondence to the European standards the appointment of the human rights defender, guarantees of his independence and existence as a parliamentary body should be precisely fixed in the Constitution. “Otherwise we will not be able to say that the institute has been already formed in the RA”, he notes.

When commenting of the activities of the institute of ombudsman in Armenia, he said, “Even in winter 2004 I stated that the human rights defender will face serious challenges having in mind the opposition rallies. Everyone knew that human rights will be violated at that time, however the developments exceeded all the expectations. Unfortunately the newly appointed Ombudsman did not pass the trial. The formation of the institute of ombudsman in Armenia was premature, as the Ombudsman was appointed by the President”, he resumed.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:28 0 comments links to this post

The Belarusian social-democratic party People’s Ghramada leader and the European coalition coordinator Mikola Statkevich was sentenced to 10 days of imprisonment. He is charged with article 166 of the administrative code violation (the order violation in the court and showing the absence of respect to the court). The sentenced was made by the central Minsk court’s judge Alexy Bychko. The politician refused cooperation with the court declining to answer the judge’s questions and did not rise when Mr Bychko was addressing him. Earlier Mr Statkevich said that he did not consider the hearing to be a true one: “I cannot call this the court because the judge is said to be totally dependent on Lukashenka and thus I’ll be sentenced by his administration,” he said.

From the judge’s study Mr Statkevich was sent to the detaining centre and his case hearing to be continued today at 14:00.

The hearings on Mr Statkevich’s and Mr Seviarynetz’s criminal cases started yesterday in Minsk central court. The two politicians are charged with public disorders inspiration in October 2004. Mr Statkevich and Mr Seviatynetz together with hundreds of other citizens took part in the demonstration protesting against the fraud parliamentary election and the national referendum results.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:20 0 comments links to this post

Freedom of expression, the safety of journalists and media development are under siege in most regions of the world, according to the World Association of Newspaper’s (WAN) half-year review of press freedom world-wide.

"The press is simply muzzled in many countries. Attacks on journalists are common. Too many killers of journalists remain free. A total of 38 journalists have been killed since November 2004. Hundreds more have been arrested, assaulted and harassed," said the report, delivered to the WAN Board, meeting in Seoul, Korea, on the eve of the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum, the global meetings of the world’s press.

(...)
In Central Asia, the governments of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan remain the worst predators of press freedom in the region. In Uzbekistan, international free expression and media organisations remain shuttered, and self-censorship is endemic in what remains of the country’s independent media. Turkmenistan remains completely isolated from the outside world; very few foreign media travel to the country, and there is no independent media.

In Europe, Belarus continues to provide an extremely difficult environment for media under the dictatorial government of President Aleksandro Lukashenko. Closures and legal harassment of the country’s independent press continue, an example being the three-month suspension of Birzha Informatsii in December for "violating the media law" after writing articles that criticised the action of Mr Lukashenko in the run-up to the country’s October referendum.

In Russia, the apparent unwillingness of authorities to investigate a number of murders of journalists as well as physical attacks on journalists further tarnishes the country’s already poor press freedom record.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:07 0 comments links to this post

58 percent of Russian experts, who have taken part in the latest poll, believe that the country may soon face a regime change similar to the recent “velvet revolutions” in former Soviet states, Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. Less than a year ago only 28 percent of analysts shared this view, Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily reported.

Center of Public Opinion Studies Glas Naroda (Voice of the People) polled 42 Moscow political scientists and 120 experts from Russian regions. Most of them said the revolution may happen even before the 2008 presidential elections, but at the same time express concern that radical nationalists may come to power after the collapse of Putin’s regime.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:37 0 comments links to this post

Lawyers largely agreed that the drawn-out reading of the verdict may take a few more days, spilling over to next week. But Robert Amsterdam, a Canadian lawyer on the defense team, predicted that the verdict reading may already wrap up on Friday. "I am taking bets on it!" he said.

Khodorkovsky's farther, Boris, drew a bottle in his notepad, scribbling underneath "We are waiting!" He then waved it at the defendants' cage. Both Khodorkovsky and Lebedev smiled back.

The number of pro-Khodorkovsky supporters further dwindled on Thursday, dropping to just about 30 people.

A half-dozen anti-Khodorkovsky demonstrators stood on the opposite side of the street and away from the court, where much of the area was still blocked by idle road repair machinery.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:27 0 comments links to this post

A group of 25 men claiming to represent the Kremlin seized the Trinity Motors car dealership near Pushkin Square on Thursday, changing the locks and painting showroom windows white, Trinity Motors said.

The seizure of the piece of prime real estate on Tverskaya Ulitsa caps a three-month-long lease dispute between the luxury-car dealer and Izvestia, a presidential property department-managed company that controls the building.

Trinity Motors is registered in Russia and says it is owned by a Canadian and two British citizens.

Trinity, which refused to identify the foreign owners, hastily called a news conference Thursday night to denounce what it described as a state property grab.

"The issue here is that bureaucrats in the presidential administration are abusing their power against a foreign investor," said Rudy Amirkhanian, who represents Trinity's owners.

Amirkhanian said the men -- some wearing dark security guard-style uniforms -- entered the showroom at about 11 a.m. and identified themselves as representatives of the presidential property department, but did not show any identification. They ordered employees to leave, covered showroom windows in white paint and changed the locks, he said.

Trinity employees called the police, but no officers arrived, he said. The dealership later filed a complaint about the takeover with the police, he said.

Phone calls to Izvestia went unanswered Thursday. The company is wholly state owned and not connected to the Izvestia newspaper, which is controlled by Vladimir Potanin's Interros holding. Calls to the presidential property department also went unanswered.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:16 0 comments links to this post

A day after the power outage that hit Moscow and four neighboring regions, electricity chief Anatoly Chubais faced questions from prosecutors about his role in the blackout, and speculation mounted about his future.

The City Prosecutor's Office summoned Chubais for questioning at 4 p.m., but the Unified Energy Systems chief -- whom President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday personally blamed for the outage -- turned up more than four hours later, saying that he had urgent work to do first.

A spokesman for the City Prosecutor's Office, Sergei Marchenko, said late Thursday that investigators were questioning Chubais about "organizational activities that he oversees," The Associated Press reported. He did not elaborate.

Chubais, 49, one of the country's most experienced and controversial liberal politicians, has served in various capacities under both former President Boris Yeltsin and Putin and has proven almost unsinkable over the last 15 years of his highly visible career. But Chubais' influence within the Kremlin has been on the wane, particularly since the rout of his party, the pro-business Union of Right Forces, in the December 2003 State Duma elections, and the increased influence of the siloviki.

In March, Chubais was in the headlines over an ambush on his motorcade in March, when gunmen opened fire on his car on a road outside Moscow. Chubais was unhurt, but speculation swirled about who could have been behind the attack.

As recently as last week, the Natural Resources Ministry launched an investigation into what it said was unsanctioned tree-felling at Chubais' country home.

With Putin moving with unusual haste to blame Chubais for Wednesday's power outage, speculation grew that even if Chubais managed to hang onto his job at UES, he could find his influence within the company and in the political arena seriously undermined.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:09 0 comments links to this post

Court put off hearing of the suit filed by the LDPB leader Siarhei Haidukievich against the Narodnaia volia to 3 June
On 25 May no court hearings took place because some of the documents presented to the court by the parties had not been translated from English. Judge Lubou Valievich of Leninski Borough of Minsk, who is to chair the hearings, informed the press service of the BAJ.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:03 0 comments links to this post

In Mahilou two activists of the Zubr resistance movement were punished for the action they staged outside the Mahilou KGB office in commemoration of the anniversary of the disappearance of the former Minister of Interior of Belarus Iury Zakharanka.

The picket was prevented by the police that detained 12 people, and made detention reports.

After this, Iauhien Suvorau and Andrei Razumkou were again detained by the police for distributing the independent newspaper Vybar in the central streets of Mahilou, and taken to the police station and then to the court that dealt with their participation in the 7 May action.

According to Radio Liberty, the court found guilty the Zubr activists of having taken part in an unauthorized event and insubordination to the police, and imposed large fines on them: Andrei Razumkou will have to pay 20 basic units, and Iauhien Suvorau - 25, which is more than 500 thousand rubles.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:54 0 comments links to this post

A print run of the private newspaper Den was seized on Belarus` Russian border on the evening of May 26, Editor-in-Chief Nikolai Markevich told BelaPAN. According to Mr. Markevich, the shipment passed the Belarusian customs checkpoint without hindrance but then the vehicle was stopped by road police officers who said that there might be something wrong with the shipment.

The vehicle was taken to the Dubrovno district police department in the Vitebsk region, where all Den copies were seized on the alleged ground that the newspaper "is not accredited," Mr. Markevich said with reference to the driver.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:53 0 comments links to this post

The new version of the law "On Organs of State Security" gives broader powers to the operative services. Now they can enter a person`s place or any (even foreign) organization`s office without the procurator`s office sanction. The procurator`s permission is not necessary at all, informing the procurator within 24 hours of the entry necessitated by operative reasons will do. "If we find nothing, we`ll offer our apologies", answered the former KGB chair Leanid Ieryn to the question asked by the journalists about how the agents will be punished in the event of a mistake.

Another important innovation of the law is the right of the special service to implant its secret agents into any organization. A person disclosing the identity of a secret agent will be criminally persecuted under the law. The punishment is up to 5 years in prison. The one who makes public a state secret will be imprisoned for the same term…

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:49 0 comments links to this post

On 25 May four members of the Zhodzina-based Young Front went on hunger strike to protest against the wave of expulsions from universities, including secondary schools. This is the information provided by www.belngo.info. Among the hunger strikers is the under-age Siarzhuk Murashka, who was expelled from a polytechnic college last week. The Young Front leadership says that in case the legal demands of the hunger strikers are not fulfilled in the near future, the Zhodzina action will become nation-wide.

According to Paval Krasouski, the chair of the Zhodzina branch of the Young Front, the following students have been expelled for political reasons over the past month: Kiryl Shymanovich - legal school of BSU, Siarzhuk Murashka - polytechnic college, Alies Smolski - military school, Siarzhuk Savich - academy of the interior, Zmitsier Chartkou - arts academy. Yesterday on 24 May Paval Kareniukhin was expelled from Pleshchanitsy-based state school of the Olympic reserve. The Young Front members Natallia Maksimava and Volha Halubiets, who are students in Zhodzina women`s gymnasium, threaten that the girls would be deprived of the opportunity to carry on with their studies.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:45 0 comments links to this post

At the today’s trial over opposition leaders, the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Narodnaya Hramada), coordinator of the European Coalition Mikola Statkevich and one of the leaders of the “Young Front” Paval Sevyarynets, Prosecutor Vadzim Paznyak (Vadim Pozniak) demanded to sentence them to three years of restraint of liberty. The politicians are charged with organizing mass protest actions against rigged results of parliamentary elections and referendum -- Article 342 of the Criminal Code (organizing of group actions, violating public order, or participation in them). The main complaint against Statkevich and Sevyarynets is blocking of traffic for a short time during the protest rally.

The prosecutor stressed that Mikola Statkevich and Paval Sevyarynets are subject to amnesty announced on the 60th anniversary of victory in Great patriotic War, and the term of restraint could be cut down for one year.

Mikola Statkevich, the BSDP leader, at the moment is serving a 10-day arrest for contempt to court, as he refused to stand up during the trial. As said by Statkevich, the court is dependent and cannot pass a just verdict in his case.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:41 0 comments links to this post

Reporters Without Borders expressed concern at a new decree governing registration of websites, put forward by the Ministry of Transport and Communication, that has already come under attack from the Ukrainian media.

Compulsory registration has so far been adopted only by countries that trample free expression, such as China and Vietnam, the organisation pointed out.

To be allowed to appear, sites must not call for "a change of government through violence" or support "terrorism", not damage individuals' "honour", "dignity" or "reputation" and not post "swear words" or pornographic content. Reporters Without Borders said the language is however too vague to guarantee press freedom if it were to be applied to private websites.

The decree, adopted on 18 May, also specifies that an "administrator" will decide on the registration of the website, opening the way to administrative censorship of the Internet, said the organisation.

"The way the decree is worded appears to suggest that all electronic media - private and public - will be forced to register in future. A recent statement from the Ministry of Transport and Communication that it would only be compulsory for government-run sites, has not completely reassured us," it said.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:37 0 comments links to this post

The 46-member Council of Europe, the influential forum promoting human rights, is hoping to further develop its relations with the Central Asian republics.

The new focus on Central Asia comes at a time when the region is increasingly volatile, with democratic elements in some countries squeezed between authoritarian regimes on the one hand and the threat of Muslim extremism on the other.

Council Secretary-General Davis said a "softly, softly" approach will be used to increase dialoge with what he calls "our neighbors."

"We are not approaching [this project] like missioneries; we are approaching it as friends and neighbors who want to encourage people to raise the level of human rights and democracy, not only inside Europe, but in the countries around Europe," Davis said.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:26 0 comments links to this post

U.S. President George W. Bush says the focus of his second four-year term is the spread of democracy worldwide, and the United States has garnered some of the credit for facilitating the democratic movements in Georgia and Ukraine. But with respect to at least two countries, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, Washington must maintain a careful balance between its economic and strategic interests on the one hand, and their peoples' desire for democracy on the other.

The White House and the State Department have spoken out in favor of greater freedoms in Uzbekistan, the scene of recent protests that led to the deaths of as many as hundreds of people in the eastern city of Andijon.

In Azerbaijan, the recent detention and arrest of about 30 members of the opposition prompted the U.S. Embassy in Baku to question the country's commitment to free and fair elections this fall. The arrests came just before an unsanctioned pro-democracy rally scheduled for 21 May that authorities broke up.

It is not clear how the Bush administration might be helping democracy movements in Uzbekistan, but efforts to provide aid via nongovernmental organizations are under way in Azerbaijan. For example, the Eurasia Foundation, a private nongovernmental organization financed in part by the U.S. government, this week announced grants totaling more than $90,000 to support civil-society work in Azerbaijan.

Ottaway said it is too early to say whether nongovernmental organizations in Azerbaijan will receive support from the United States. Now, she noted, the pro-democracy movement is fractured. She said the different opposition factions could help their cause if they begin working together more closely.

According to [policy analyst Marina] Ottaway, there are two other developments that make the United States more reluctant to support opposition movements in postcommunist countries. One is the danger that such efforts could destabilize their political environment. She pointed to the current uncertainty in Kyrgyzstan and to what she calls the political "mess" in Serbia.

The other development, Ottaway said, is that governments with growing democracy movements are cracking down on NGOs that promote civil society.

Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan are greatly in need of reform, this according to Freedom House, a New York-based advocacy group for democracy and human rights. It says human rights in both countries have improved little, if at all, since they gained independence.

Yet both countries are allied with the United States. Washington has a military base outside Tashkent to support operations in neighboring Afghanistan. And it has interests in gaining access to the oil that will be flowing from the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which began filling near the Azerbaijani capital yesterday.

Christopher Walker, a Eurasia analyst at Freedom House, said the Bush administration has to be careful not to let its needs blind it to the needs of ordinary Azeris and Uzbeks. In fact, he told RFE/RL, these needs are not necessarily contradictory.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:19 0 comments links to this post

Nearly two weeks after the shootings, Andijan residents whom Human Rights Watch contacted clearly feared government retribution for speaking about the events. A woman who was wounded and lost two family members on May 13 told Human Rights Watch:

"I am so scared, I don't want anything, I don't want any justice. Don't tell our names, don't say you came to our house – just say you heard about what happened to us from other people."

Several people told Human Rights Watch that police had warned them not to talk to journalists or other "outsiders."

One person told Human Rights Watch:

"Last night there was an [identification] check throughout the neighborhood. Several policemen were checking the documents in every house. They warned us, 'If the journalists, correspondents come – you should not tell them anything, otherwise we will find you.'"

The same person warned Human Rights Watch not to go to the local cemetery where there were reportedly visibly fresh graves, because "there is an informant sitting near the gates watching for any strangers who come to the cemetery."

Andijan remains essentially closed to journalists and human rights investigators. Police have either forced foreign journalists in Andijan to leave or threatened them and their support staff. Police have warned taxi drivers not to take foreign passengers to Andijan. Any traveler to the city must first pass through numerous checkpoints and undergo thorough searches.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:14 0 comments links to this post

Europe's top security organization says it will have an observer mission in Kyrgyzstan to monitor the July 10 presidential election.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the OSCE, says it will "assess the entire election process" in terms of its compliance with international standards for democratic elections.

The OSCE mission consists of 15 election experts based in Bishkek and 26 long-term observers deployed to various regions of Kyrgyzstan. About 300 short-term observers will join the mission just before the polls.

The OSCE move follows allegations of official abuses during the Kyrgyz parliamentary polls earlier this year which triggered public protests that ousted the unpopular government in March.

The presidential election is seen as a major democracy test for the new Kyrgyz leadership.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:04 0 comments links to this post

"We are concerned over a possible further crackdown and have already seen the beginnings of it," Rachel Denber, acting executive director of Human Rights Watch (HRW) Europe and Central Asia division, told IRIN from New York, citing incidents of local rights activists being called in for questioning.

"Generally, the situation has already deteriorated," Maisy Weicherding, a researcher for Amnesty International's (AI) Central Asia desk said. Speaking from London, she cautioned that the situation could worsen further unless immediate action is taken, referring to repeated calls for an independent international investigation.

"The recent tragic events in Andijan may spark a renewed crackdown on civil rights and liberties in Uzbekistan," Peter Zalmayev, programme manager for the New York-based International League of Human Rights (ILHR), told IRIN.

Dr Aaron Rhodes, executive director of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF), warned of possible further violence.

"We cannot say what will happen in the future," Rhodes said from Vienna. "The social and political situation is unstable. Citizens want to resist but they fear for their lives, especially after the regime has demonstrated that it has no qualms about killing peaceful demonstrators," the prominent activist maintained.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 08:59 0 comments links to this post

Uzbeks face an increasingly repressive economic and political environment. Anyone who opposes the regime is liable to be accused of being an Islamist radical or terrorist. There are small numbers of both in Uzbekistan but the vast majority of protests have been by people angered by economic policies that have concentrated wealth in the hands of a tiny elite while stifling opportunities for others. Industry is in dire straits, foreign investment has evaporated, and agriculture provides almost no income for farmers. The World Bank calls Uzbekistan a "Low-Income Country under Stress", a polite term for a state at serious risk of failing. But the international community has been slow to recognise the dangers of instability.

Russia and China have strongly backed Karimov's approach, ignoring the reality that his failed economic policies and political restrictions have fuelled the potential for a serious Islamist opposition. U.S. policy has focused almost entirely on maintaining a strong security relationship, with far less attention to improving human rights, encouraging political reforms or opening the economy, thus inevitably undercutting these objectives and adding to some of the very risks that Washington says it is engaged in the region to prevent.

Unless Uzbekistan urgently adopts widespread economic and political reforms, it is likely to move with greater speed towards state failure. This would have a profound impact on all Central Asia, including Afghanistan. Chaos in the region would be the best possible outcome for a number of underground Islamist groups that are active in Uzbekistan and its neighbours.

As a first step toward assessing the true condition of the country, democratic governments and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), of which Uzbekistan is a member, should press, following the lead of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, for an independent and international investigation into what happened in Andijon. If President Karimov continues to block such transparency, governments will need to ask themselves whether the only way to avoid being tainted themselves by association with the Uzbek government, and to shock the Uzbek authorities into reform before it is too late, is to pull back their assistance and begin to distance themselves from the regime.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 08:54 0 comments links to this post

The next elections to the Moscow city legislature are likely to take place in March, 2006, not in December, 2005, as earlier planned, said Central Elections Commission Chairman Alexander Veshnaykov.

He told members of the United Russia factions' sub-group led by Vladimir Katrenko, that the postponement is due to the current debates in the State Duma of amendments to 13 regulatory acts, including the proposal to set a single day for elections in Russia - the second Sunday of March.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:44 0 comments links to this post

Reporters Without Borders condemned systematic violence against the press and urged the authorities to act after a murder attempt was made against the head of a press group in Samara, south of the country. Dmitri Surianinov, head of Media-Samara (six dailies, one magazine, three TV stations and a distribution network) was brutally beaten by three men wielding baseball bats at 1am on 21 May.

Surianinov, who was attacked in the street near his home, said that the murder attempt was linked to his professional work. He had a large sum of money on him at the time which was ignored by his attackers. He was taken to the neuro-surgical unit of Samara's Pirogov Hospital with concussion and multiple contusions. The prosecutor's office opened an investigation for "attempted murder".

The journalist had received threats after the publication of a series of articles in the weekly Samarskoe Obosrenie and the daily Postscriptum (belonging to the Media-Samara group), particularly revealing the activities of the automobile industry group SOK. Several of his neighbours had told him that unidentified men had turned up at his apartment block several times at the end of April, asking for information about his working hours."After publishing a photo of Yuri Kachmazov, on the front page of Samarskoe Obosrenie, with the caption 'a multimillionaire's statement', I also received threats from people I cannot name," he said. "I was advised to employ a bodyguard but I didn't think it had got to that point", said Surianinov.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:30 0 comments links to this post

The opposition party’s demonstration scheduled at 4.00 pm in the square facing the 28 May metro station on 21 May. The square reminded the seized citadel, as great number of police and internal troops was deployed there and this metro station kept closed during the rally-long. Police encircled headquarters of three leading parties and blocked approaches to the party offices.

Azerbaijani government mobilised police, internal troops and specially trained athletic guys in casual wear to beat opposition activists and scatter the demonstration violently. Some ten buses jammed with police with truncheons were standing nearby one of the opposition party office. A large number of police were also brought from regions outside Baku.

The opposition parties continued to maintain their rallies in various central parts of Baku by forming separate groups, as it failed to enter the main planned square encircled by fortified by police.

"Today’s event clearly sign that the government is not ready for holding free and fair elections. Over 300 opposition supporters were detained and seriously beaten up,” said Ali Kerimli, chairman of the opposition Popular Front Party.

“I was attacked in my car by a large group of police and my five bodyguards were detained, while my car was taken to an unknown direction. I hardly escaped from this police storm”, Karimli said in front of his party headquarter.

Several journalists have suffered during the clashes between policemen and demonstrators. Policemen especially used brutal force against Farid Teymurkhanly, Zerkalo newspaper's correspondent. Although journalists wore a special jacket identifying working for mass media, the policemen beat them violently. Police mainly beat the opposition backers on their scull and face, while some supporter were immediately hospitalised.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:18 0 comments links to this post

U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman is joining foreign officials Wednesday in Azerbaijan to inaugurate a new oil pipeline largely built with U.S. financial assistance.

But the violent break-up of an attempted rally by various opposition groups Saturday in Azerbaijan's capital Baku has cast a shadow over the long-awaited event.

The chief of the Azerjaijani division of British Petroleum, David Woodward, said he was surprised the government felt the need to prevent the protest gathering.

The U.S. embassy in Azerbaijan said the arrest and detention of members of the opposition cast doubt about the commitment of the government to hold free and fair parliamentary elections later this
year.

Many analysts say the oil wealth flooding into the country has intensified long-standing political tensions as the general public has seen little economic gain.

Mikhail Alexandrov is an expert on Azerbaijan with the Institute for CIS or former Soviet states in Moscow.

He says outside countries are in a position to put pressure on the government.

"What Western countries do, they just close their eyes to the fact that these local authorities just get this money, and put it into Western banks,” he noted. “There must be more strong criticism from the West.”

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:12 0 comments links to this post

NATO has warned Uzbekistan that its ties with the security alliance depend on its commitment to upholding basic human rights.

A NATO statement, issued Tuesday in Brussels, condemned the recent reported use of excessive force against protesters and supported the United Nations' call for an independent inquiry.

Meanwhile, China today declared its support for the Uzbek government of President Islam Karimov, saying whatever happened in the country is an internal affair. President Karimov is to visit Beijing Wednesday.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 08:46 0 comments links to this post

A letter signed by Deputy Premier Rustam Azizov was cabled to Uzbek media outlets the other day. The letter is essentially an instruction on how the recent events in Andizhan should be covered, according to executive of a Dzhizak regional TV studio who insisted on anonymity.

"The letter is quite explicit. We are supposed to offer "a true picture" of the tragedy in Andizhan consistent with what the president said at his press conferences on May 15 and 17," the executive said.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 11:58 0 comments links to this post

Formal charges were brought against Sergei Skrebets, a member of the 2000-2004 House of Representatives of the Belarusian National Assembly, on May 23, eight days after his arrest.

As a source with the Brest Regional Prosecutor`s Office, the charges were brought under the same articles of the Criminal Code under which the criminal case had been opened: Part 1 of the Criminal Code`s Article 13, which penalizes preparations for an offense, and Part 2 of Article 431, which carries punishment for giving a bribe.

Investigators have gathered sufficient evidence to prove the former lawmaker`s guilt under these articles, which may result in a 5-year "restricted freedom" sentence or imprisonment for two to seven years for him, the source said.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 11:49 0 comments links to this post

The majority of the employees of the editorial office of the independent newspaper “Narodnaya Volya” received letters from tax inspections of their districts with the demand to declare all their income and property. The employees of the newspaper link the actions of the tax inspection with the problems related to the list of signatures under the address of the movement “Volya Narodu” published in the newspaper in the beginning of May. In this connection eight dwellers of Salihorsk and Klyotsk went to law demanding material compensation of 220 million Br in total.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 11:46 0 comments links to this post

Leader of the Belarusian Social Democrats (Narodnaya Hramada), coordinator of the European coalition Mikola Statkevich is sentenced to 10 days of arrest. The oppositionist is charged with violation of the Article 166 of the Administrative Code (violation of order during court session and actions demonstrating contempt to court). The ruling was passed by the judge of the court of Tsentralny district of Minsk, Alyaksei Bychko. The politician had refused to cooperate with the court. He was not answering the questions of the court and did not stand up when the judge addressed him. “I cannot call it a trial. The judge is considered to be simply a clerk who is completely dependent on Lukashenka and cannot be independent. The judgement to me is to be passed by Lukashenka’s administration. They have ordered to bring up the criminal action against me,” told Mikola Statkevich in his interview to the Charter’97 press center yesterday.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 11:41 0 comments links to this post

Dear Mr President,

At our meeting on 8 April this year, you stressed that it was "unacceptable for government officials to attack journalists" and that you wished in future to "establish the rule of law" in Azerbaijan.

I must tell you of my surprise and deep concern therefore at an assault by the security forces on Farid Teymurkhanli of the daily Zerkalo while he was covering a demonstration in Baku on Saturday 21 May. The fact that the gathering had not been officially authorised should not in any way excuse the use of violence by the police against a journalist who was only doing his job.

Several police officers clubbed him on the head in Rashid Beybudov Street and continued beating him after he had lost consciousness. I would like to point out that the journalist could not have been confused with a demonstrator because he was wearing an armband with the word press emblazoned on it.

I am therefore convinced that you will be prepared to respond to my request for those responsible for the attack on Farid Teymurkhanli to be quickly punished and that journalists should receive better protection so that this kind of incident is not repeated.

I would appreciate it if you would keep me informed of the progress in this case.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Ménard Secretary General

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 11:32 0 comments links to this post

Uzbek authorities should immediately release a prominent human rights defender detained in Andijan, Human Rights Watch said today. The defender, Saidjahon Zainabitdinov, has been in custody since May 21. While the charges against him are unknown, Zainabitdinov's detention appears to be linked to his having spoken out about recent demonstrations in Andijan and the government's use of force. The arrest raises serious concerns about a growing crackdown against activists and others in the wake of events in Andijan.

A government-appointed lawyer who visited Saidjahon Zainabitdinov's family yesterday confirmed that the human rights defender is in government custody. Zainabitditnov is the chairman of the Andijan human rights group Apelliatsia ("Appeal").

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:39 0 comments links to this post

There has been sharp international criticism of the way the authorities in Azerbaijan prevented opposition activists from holding a demonstration in Baku on 21 May. The United States and the OSCE were among the most outspoken critics of the police's use of violence. Dozens of opposition members were arrested and some remain in detention.

On 25 May, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and a host of other world leaders and businessmen will arrive in Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, to celebrate the launch of the $4 billion Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. Instead, his government is under a cloud of international condemnation for its violent handling of an opposition demonstration on 21 May.

The Azerbaijani authorities have been undermined by their own authoritarian reflex and their complete failure to anticipate international reaction. And this despite the fact that the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan had issued a statement the day before the rally, urging the government to guarantee the right of Azeri citizens to free assembly.

If the intention of the authorities was to silence the opposition, its ban on the rally was an abject failure. Even the opposition concedes that no more than a few thousand took part, but the heavy police presence in Baku guaranteed domestic and international publicity.

Norway's Ambassador to Azerbaijan Steynar Gil was among those on hand to witness the beatings and arrests.

"Of course, one would have liked things to have happened differently. The right to assembly is established by the constitution. It's a universal right. They could have conducted this demonstration calmly, just as happens in all democratic countries. I saw the [police] violence with my own eyes. It was serious violence, I would say," Gil said.

US state department spokesman, Richard Boucher, said the government's decision to detain protesters violated the spirit of a presidential decree affirming the right to peaceful assembly.

"[It is] regrettable that the police used force to disband small groups of protesters and detain participants in an unsanctioned rally," he said.

The OSCE Office in Baku this week expressed concern over the refusal by the Baku Mayor’s Office to authorize a rally of opposition parties planned for Saturday, 21 May.

“The decision taken by the Mayor of Baku seems to contradict the spirit of the 12 May Presidential Decree, which ordered the local administration to authorize political rallies and find appropriate venues for them,” said Ambassador Maurizio Pavesi, head of the OSCE Office in Baku. “Such a decision raises doubts about the implementation of the Decree.” The Mayor’s Office has said that 21 May rally would interfere with preparations for the official opening ceremony of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which will take place on 25 May.

“The fact that no public manifestations of the opposition have been allowed in the city in the past 19 months is another example of the position taken by the Baku Executive Authority, which violates the constitutional law,” added Ambassador Pavesi.

The OSCE Office in Baku hopes that the right to freedom of assembly will be immediately restored, not only in connection with the upcoming November Parliamentary Elections, but as a fundamental political right of citizens.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:31 0 comments links to this post

Siarhei Salash, chairman of Skryzhavanne (Crossroads), an independent NGO dedicated to educating and training political active youth, declared that he is "absolutely sure our Belarusian youth will be very active in [Belarus's 2006 presidential] elections. They will be just as passionate as the youth in Georgia and Ukraine were and other countries of the former Soviet bloc. I am very hopeful that 2006 will be the year of great changes in our country."

Asked whether Belarus has some of the key elements that made the Rose and Orange revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine possible, Olha Stuzhinskaya, coordinator of We Remember!, an independent NGO dedicated to informing the Belarusian and international community about the course of investigations into disappearances, noted that Ukraine was already a lot more democratic than Belarus: it had opposition members in the parliament and at least one independent television station. "We do not expect the same scenario in Belarus," Stuzhinskaya said. "Probably there will be much more blood."

Salash, for his part, agreed that Belarus "will not have the same kind of revolution as happened in Ukraine and Georgia." He continued, "Concerning the security forces, Lukashenka has a full circle of people who are funded from an undisclosed budget. I am absolutely convinced that nothing will stop these people." He concluded that the Belarusian opposition would need to get much more than even 50,000 people out on the street. "I think hundreds of thousands will have to go out into the streets, and then the opposite process will take place," he said "Those [people] who are protecting Lukashenka right now will be protecting the people from Lukashenka."

For Salash, a key to getting large numbers of Belarusians to act publicly is finding a single presidential candidate from the democratic opposition around whom people can unite. Salash said the process of selecting a joint democratic candidate is ongoing, although it has been "somewhat dragged out." Stuzhinskaya, however, suggested that delay is not necessarily bad because the "danger exists to a very high degree" that once a single candidate is identified, he or she will become a target for the authorities. United Civic Party Chairman Anatol Lyabedzka told Belapan on 18 May that eight presidential hopefuls are going to participate in an effort to select a single candidate, and they plan to hold a congress by 1 October.

In an interview with Ekho Moskvy on 19 May, Alyaksandr Kazulin, the leader of the unregistered Will of the People movement, echoed these youths' sentiments. He declared that Lukashenka would no longer be president next year.

The wild card, however, in all of the calculations of Belarus's opposition is what role Russia would play. Kazulin believes that "Russian will not come to Lukashenka's aid and will not allow blood to be spilled" in the event that the current authorities in Belarus find themselves in a crisis.

Salash, however, was less hopeful. "Unfortunately, Russia is conducting a very imperialistic policy toward Russia," Salash said. "Of course, again, talks of the union have been renewed. Of course, Putin has to pay attention to his political rating. He lost Ukraine. He lost Georgia. He doesn't know what is happening in Kyrgyzstan.... Putin will not have any kind of political future if Russia loses Belarus. And right now Russia is going to do everything in its power to support the regime. I do not believe that Russia will or can change the situation in Belarus. Of course, sometimes you can hear Putin criticize Lukashenka; however, it is very arbitrary and not part of a unified policy. However, when the time comes to realistically change something in Belarus, Putin's Russia provides all possible support to Lukashenka. It doesn't matter what kind of violations took place during the elections. The next day, Russia recognized them."

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:09 0 comments links to this post

Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky's supporters planned to protest, again, outside the courthouse where he is - still - awaiting a verdict in a trial that has turned epic, but the road workers got there first.

When the protesters arrived this morning, bulky construction machinery already occupied the side of Kalanchevskaya Street where other supporters of Mr. Khodorkovsky had assembled each day last week. Unfettered then by the grit and racket of road repair, they were free to denounce what they called the government's selective prosecution of Mr. Khodorkovsky, the former chairman of Yukos Oil and once the country's richest man.

Kalanchevskaya, like most of Moscow's streets, certainly could use the work, but the timing and location of the repairs - directly opposite the courthouse - at least raised the question of selective reconstruction.

"The authorities seem to be afraid," Yelena L. Liptser, a lawyer for Mr. Khodorkovsky's partner and co-defendant, Platon Lebedev, said during a break in today's proceeding, "but I do not know what they fear."

The biggest news of the day was that the judges appeared to have picked up the pace, though with no more explanation than last week, when the court's sessions lasted only about three hours a day. In Russian courts, a verdict is read in its entirety, as judges review the charges and the evidence before declaring a defendant's guilt or innocence.

Today, the reading ritual lasted almost six and a half hours. During a midday break, Mr. Khodorkovsky's lead lawyer, Genrikh Padva, suggested that if the judges sustained this pace, the verdict could come by the end of the week or the beginning of next week.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:53 0 comments links to this post

Ukraine's top human rights official said Monday that she has opened an investigation into a reported police attack on three opposition lawmakers.

"The use of force against lawmakers is a clear sign of a police state," Nina Karpachova said in a statement.

The opposition Social Democratic Party of Ukraine claimed that its lawmakers had suffered injuries in the western city of Uzhgorod while attempting to prevent police from transferring former Zakarpatye Governor Ivan Rizak from hospital back to jail.

Ukrainian investigators detained Rizak earlier this month and charged him with abuse of power and bribery. Rizak, who suffers from a heart condition, was later transferred to a local hospital for treatment for a few days.

Interior Ministry spokesman Volodymyr Mulko on Monday said that it was "too early to draw any conclusions," and that senior police officials and prosecutors had traveled to Uzhgorod to investigate.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:46 0 comments links to this post

Refugees from the Andizhan region of Uzbekistan confined to the filtration camp in the Suzak district of Kyrgyzstan (Dzhalal-Abad region) announced on May 23 their intention to return to Uzbekistan. The men are determined to continue their struggle against Islam Karimov's regime, foreign and local journalists were told by one Murodzhon, a refugee.

"Waving white flags, we will return to the territory of Uzbekistan. We are responsible for the deaths of those who were killed by dictator Karimov's bullets. The world has seen Karimov's true face now. He can mow us down, but the world will know," Murodzhon said.

The date of the action has not been set yet.

Alisher, another refugee, emphasized that the struggle against Karimov's regime was to be restricted to peaceful methods.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:33 0 comments links to this post

U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman plans to raise the issue of stricken oil firm Yukos and the rule of law in Russia during his visit to Moscow this week, Reuters reported Monday quoting the Kommersant daily newspaper.

In an interview with the newspaper, Bodman said some U.S. investors were concerned about the Russian investment climate and said this could hamper the two states’ goal of strengthening their energy partnership.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:51 0 comments links to this post

After five days of reading the verdict in the case of former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovskii and his fellow defendants, the judges of Moscow's Meshchanskii Raion court on 20 May were less than one-third of the way through the 1,000-page document. Moreover, they had not yet issued a single solid decision, although all observers agree that the language and tone of the verdict indicates the three defendants will almost certainly be convicted on all charges.


According to "Nezavisimaya gazeta" on 19 May, the judges are reading between 20 and 40 pages of the verdict each day, cutting each day's session short after about three hours of reading. Lawyer Pavel Astakhov told "Moskovskie novosti," No. 19, that he has never known a court to produce such a long verdict or to read it so slowly. He said that in the embezzlement trial of Valentina Soloveva, the court read out its 860-page verdict in two days. In the case of Alfa-Bank's libel claim against the Kommersant publishing house, Astakhov said, the court extended its working day until 8 p.m. in order to read the entire verdict in one day. He declined to speculate on why the court in the Khodorkovskii case is taking so long to deliver its verdict, saying that the Moscow City Lawyers Collegium prohibits attorneys from commenting on cases in which they are not directly involved.

Defense lawyer Genrikh Padva told "Nezavisimaya gazeta" on 20 May, "I don't remember what the record is for reading a verdict in my experience, but I can say that the Meshchanskii Raion Court of Moscow has already broken it." Fellow defense lawyer Yurii Shmidt told Regnum on 20 May that the defense team now expects the reading of the verdict to last at least 10 more days.

Most analysts argued that the Kremlin is orchestrating the reading of the verdict, which was originally scheduled to be read on 27 April but was postponed without an official explanation until 16 May. Observers speculated that the purpose of the delay was to avoid having the trial overshadow the 9 May commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, which was marked in Moscow by celebrations involving more than 50 heads of state.

Among the reasons given by analysts for the slow reading of the verdict are that the Kremlin wants to create the appearance that the court has been meticulous in its consideration of the evidence. However, most observers agree that this argument is not working out; the fact that the court's verdict so far echoes word-for-word the prosecution's charges against the defendants has been seen by many as undermining faith in the independence of the court. "The fact that the announcement of the verdict is dragging on clearly shows that the Russian judicial system is highly politicized," political analyst Sergei Markov told Interfax on 20 May. "The people who have set up such a system are inflicting damage on Russia." Politika foundation head Vyacheslav Nikonov told the news agency that the fact that the Kremlin is so closely associated with the prosecution in this case means that "an acquittal would have been a blow to the authorities' legitimacy."

In addition, observers believe that the state media is using the time to swing public opinion away from sympathy for Khodorkovskii. Kremlin-connected political consultant Gleb Pavlovskii has been given particular prominence on state-controlled television, including a long interview on RTR's main analytical "Vesti-Podrobnosti" on 16 May. In that interview, Pavlovskii said that the oligarchs "tried to buy [Russia's] political system" and to "put themselves between the citizens and the state." "Then the state becomes private property," Pavlovskii said, "no longer the property of the citizenry. People couldn't go along with that. This is the moral problem that proved to be the undoing of Yukos." He further accused Yukos of waging a deliberate campaign to smear Russia's image abroad and domestically.

Analysts also argue that the purpose of dragging out the verdict is to reduce public interest in the case. By the end of the week, media were reporting that even most of the defense team and the defendants' relatives had stopped attending the hearings, as had many journalists. "Nezavisimaya gazeta" reported on 19 May that increasingly the words "I'm bored" and "nothing interesting" are dominating conversations at the courthouse and trial participants are most often asked, "How long are they going to read?" Some observers also note that the Russian media have been flooded with stories of rumors of the purportedly imminent dismissal of the government of Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, which they argue is also a distraction tactic.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:26 0 comments links to this post

On Friday evening in the German theatre of Hamburg the award presentation ceremony of Henri Nannen award took place. Representatives of the establishment, mass media and art of Germany have participated in the ceremony. The jury of the prestigious prize consisted of the editors of the leading German magazines “Stern”, “Der Spiegel”, “Focus”, newspapers “Sueddeutshe Zeitung”, “Die Welt”, and others. They have considered 840 articles and 150 investigations by journalists. The award has 7 nominations. A famous Belarusian journalist, deputy editor of the Minsk-based private newspaper Belorusskaya Delovaya Gazeta, Irina Khalip, has become the winner in the nomination “For courage in the freedom of speech defence”. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer specially arrived to Hamburg to present the laureate.

Speaking of Irina Khalip, Joschka Fischer called her a real journalist, who is not afraid to bring up the most dangerous topics like corruption of state officials, rigged elections, capital punishment. “She can ask the leader of the state a direct question about his mental health,” the minister told. It all is related to the great risk, and she is exposed to the direst dangers. She is constantly summoned for interrogations to the prosecutor’s office, brought to court. In conclusion Joschka Fischer said: “Dear Irina, we are filled with admiration for your courage and devotion to the course you are serving to. The new Europe needs people like you. And Belarus is undoubtedly a part of Europe.”
Receiving this award, Irina Khalip told:

«I cannot help thinking that history is full of paradoxes. In 1939 when my grandmother fled the ghetto of the occupied Warsaw to save her life in the East she couldn’t imagine that all her life she would live in the totalitarian state.

In 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed I couldn’t have imagined that in only three years I will again be living in a totalitarian state under the regime similar to that which my grandmother fled from. And the award is given to me in a free and democratic Germany…

However I had enough time to find out about a free world and European values. I envy you since freedom of speech and freedom of choice for you are as natural as the air. Several of my friends who were fighting for these values were killed, some are in prison today. Under dictatorship journalists quite often have to become human rights defenders thus becoming even more vulnerable. In receiving this award I feel that my German colleagues and the democratic community as a whole protect me. Also it demonstrates that the democratic world will not tolerate a dictatorship in the center of Europe. I’m grateful for this award, which undoubtedly could be given to any of my colleagues in Belarus. I’m grateful that you are not indifferent to my country and its problems. I believe that Belarus will soon become free. To be exact I promise you this. We have no other choice».

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:16 0 comments links to this post

Activists of Belarus` outlawed Vyasna human rights organization have issued a statement accusing the Belarusian authorities of increasing pressure on members of the pro-democratic opposition.

The statement, which bears the signatures of 150 people, says that many opposition activists are now in prison “on apparently far-fetched charges,” citing the arrest of politicians Syarhey Skrabets and Andrei Klimaw and the imprisonment of politician Mikhail Marynich, researcher Yury Bandazhewski and market vendors’ leaders Alyaksandr Vasilyew and Valery Levanewski. “Pavel Sevyarynets and Mikalai Statkevich are also to stand trial soon for exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and demonstration,” the human rights defenders note.
They express concern that “state television channels continue a propaganda campaign against the opponents of the regime, which was plotted by the authorities, arouse fear and tensions to pave the way for more repressive measures.”

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:13 0 comments links to this post

The Minsk-based private newspaper Narodnaya Volya has been hit with four more libel suits over its publication of a list of signatories of a statement in support of the Will of the People movement. Editor Iosif Seredich learned about the new lawsuits on May 20 during his meeting held in the court of Minsk’s Leninsky district in connection with five claims filed earlier, said the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ).

On May 16, the newspaper was notified that five workers of the Belaruskaly state-controlled company brought libel suits, each claiming 50 million rubels ($23,000) in damages.

The libel action stems from an article under the headline "Such is the Will of the People" published in the April 23 issue of the newspaper. The article listed hundreds of Belaruskaly workers who allegedly signed an appeal in support of the opposition movement "Will of the People."

The five plaintiffs denied signing that letter. One of them has reportedly withdrawn his claim.
The new 5-million rubel ($2,300) claims were put in by four residents of the town of Glusk, who also say they have never signed the statement.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:08 0 comments links to this post

Amnesty International is concerned about the continued imprisonment following a secret trial last year of former Mufti Nasrullah ibn Ibadullah. There are allegations that he was targeted for expressing dissent and because of his ethnic origin as an Uzbek.

Exactly one year ago, in the night from 23 to 24 May 2004, officers of the Interior Ministry reportedly beat Nasrullah ibn Ibadullah in the maximum-security prison in the Caspian port town of Turkmenbashi (formerly Krasnovodsk). According to the international broadcaster Deutsche Welle, Nasrullah ibn Ibadullah "suffered significantly". To Amnesty International's knowledge, the authorities have not investigated the allegations and none of the perpetrators has been brought to justice.

On 2 March 2004 Nasrullah ibn Ibadullah was sentenced to 22 years' imprisonment on treason charges by Azatlyk district court in Ashgabat in a secret trial with the first five years to be served in a maximum-security prison. He was accused of involvement in the alleged assassination attempt on President Niyazov in November 2002. The President had removed Nasrullah ibn Ibadullah from his post as chief mufti and deputy chair of the Gengeshi (Council) for Religious Affairs in January 2003.

There are allegations that the charges against Nasrullah ibn Ibadullah were fabricated and that he was targeted for expressing dissent. For example, he was believed to have repeatedly objected to the extensive use of the President's book Rukhnama [Book of the Soul] in mosques. In addition, Nasrullah ibn Ibadullah did not advocate the imposition of the death penalty on the suspects in the November 2002 alleged assassination attempt on the President while other senior officials called for the reintroduction of the death penalty. Nasrullah ibn Ibadullah's expression of his opinion on this issue, before President Niyazov himself decided that the death penalty would not be reintroduced, could have been perceived as undermining the President's authority. There were also allegations that one of the reasons for targeting him was his Uzbek ethnicity. The government launched a new wave of pressure on ethnic minorities at the end of October 2003, removing ethnic minorities from particularly influential posts and replacing them with ethnic Turkmen.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:19 0 comments links to this post

Kazakhstan's opposition parties held an authorized rally in Almaty on Sunday to demand an end to reprisals against newspapers which criticize the authorities.

Opposition leaders and mass media managers spoke about the importance of developing independent and opposition media. They argued that alternative viewpoints positively influence democratic processes, an Interfax correspondent reported.

The demonstrators also demanded strenuous measures to combat corruption and more journalist investigations into corrupt deals.

"The Prosecutor General's Office and law enforcement must defend the citizens' rights and liberties, instead of protecting the interests of corrupt bureaucracy," they said.

The rally adopted a resolution saying that "the authorities must appropriately respond to facts of corruption and bribery quoted in the press, and prosecute those whose corrupt conduct is damaging the state."

The rally was organized by the freedom of the press public committee and by the opposition newspaper Respublika, banned by the Kazakh authorities.

Kazakh Journalists' Union Chairman Saitkazy Matayev, who is a leader of the Congress of Kazakh Journalists, said that the Congress is prepared to offer legal support to the newspaper which had appealed the authorities' moves.

Despite rainy weather, the rally had been joined by about 1,500 demonstrators. It lasted for about 90 minutes. No incidents were reported. Police watched the rally and did not intervene.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:14 0 comments links to this post

Azerbaijani protesters demanding free elections were beaten back Saturday by police, who arrested dozens as they broke up a banned rally in the oil-rich former Soviet republic on the Caspian Sea four days before the inauguration of a new pipeline.

Officials had forbidden the opposition to protest, citing security concerns four days before the visit of foreign leaders who will attend a ceremony marking the opening of Azerbaijan's portion of the U.S.-backed Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline.

The violence broke out as groups of protesters tried to defy the ban and make their way to a central square in the capital, Baku, shouting "Freedom!" and "Free elections!"

Helmeted police with riot shields chased protesters and lashed out at them with truncheons, dispersing the rally after about two hours.

Human rights activist Saida Godzhamanly said more than 100 people were detained.

The police said 45 people were detained for disorder and refusing to obey police.

"Our action succeeded," said opposition Musavat [Equality] party leader Isa Gambar. "Today was a demonstration of our will and the will of the people for democratic changes in the country."

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:05 0 comments links to this post

Hundreds of liberal and radical party activists rallied in Moscow on Sunday, demanding greater press freedom and more access to the country's state-dominated television networks.

Meanwhile, the leaders of two top Russian political parties appeared in a rare prime time interview on state-run television, apparently underscoring new efforts by the Kremlin to improve media access and improve its image.

Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov and Rodina (Homeland) Party leader Dmitry Rogozin appeared on Rossiya television's Vesti Nedeli program for a brief, wide-ranging discussion on their two blocs in the Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma.

The Duma is dominated by the Kremlin-backed United Russia party and minority parties including the Rodina and the communists are routinely shut out of full access to Russia's television networks, which are almost all directly or indirectly controlled by the government, following the takeover of the NTV network in 2001 by the state-connected natural gas monopoly Gazprom.

Critics have accused President Vladimir Putin of cracking down on freedom of speech since he came to power in 2000 and of shutting down television stations whose reporting was critical of the government.

In an apparent effort to counter criticism of a growing centralization of power, Putin promised parliamentary leaders that he would ensure that state media offered access to all political forces.

Research shows as many as 90 percent of Russians get their news from television.

Yabloko party leader Grigory Yavlinsky told protesters wearing masks reading “Shut Off” and carrying signs reading “News Is Propaganda” and “Down With Censorship!” that Russia has no freedom of the press. “The freedom of the press is not the freedom of propaganda or pornography. It is the freedom to discuss the hardest questions and to find answers,” Yavlinsky told the rally at the Ostankino broadcasting tower.

Many of those at the protest, which included communists and activists from the radical National Bolshevik Party, wore orange T-shirts in a nod to Ukraine’s pro-democracy Orange Revolution and posters showing jailed Yukos oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 08:54 0 comments links to this post

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Leigh Tomppert (New York): 212-514-8040 x25
Michael Goldfarb (New York): 212-514-8040 x12
Frances Abouzeid (Amman): +962-777-696-069

AZERBAIJAN: STOP REPRESSION AND COMMIT TO DEMOCRATIC REFORM

NEW YORK, May 20, 2005 -- Freedom House today expressed serious concern over the government of Azerbaijan’s increasing abuse and intimidation of opposition activists.

Azeri authorities arrested and detained more than 30 activists on May 18 and 19, part of a broader pattern of repressive measures that effectively deny any non-governmental actor a meaningful voice in Azeri society. Independent media, the non-governmental sector and opposition political parties all face serious obstacles created by the authorities.

The detention of the activists comes in advance of a scheduled public rally planned by the UGUR opposition bloc for May 21. Freedom House called on the government of Azerbaijan to immediately release the detained individuals and to respect the right to freedom of assembly.

"It is time for the Azerbaijani government to demonstrate its commitment to democratic reform with genuine action" said Freedom House Executive Director Jennifer Windsor. "Actions speak louder than words. Unfortunately, there is a wide gap between the regime's pledges to implement democratic reforms and its following through on these commitments."

Freedom House also expressed concern over the reported mysterious death on May 18 of Ehtiram Jalilov, deputy head of Azerbaijan's National Democratic Party, an opposition group. He died while drinking tea with a colleague. According to the Musavat (Equality) opposition group, he was the second opposition activist to die this year.

The continued denial of political space by the regime has created a tense environment in Azerbaijan. With parliamentary elections scheduled for November 2005, it is essential that those who control power in Azerbaijan meet both the letter and spirit of a decree issued last week by President Ilham Aliev, which requires authorities across the country to ensure the implementation of free and fair elections.

To meet the president's stated objectives, the Azeri government should immediately take the following steps:

Enable the unfettered activity of civil society, both during and outside of election campaign periods. Toward this end the regime should also facilitate less onerous registration and compliance procedures for non-governmental organizations;



Meet obligations within the context of its Council of Europe membership to improve the law on public television and enable the creation of a genuinely independent public television station. At present, all television news outlets with national reach are controlled by the regime, or forces aligned with it. A genuinely free and fair election can only take place with a diversity of political views capable of reaching a national audience;



Cease the aggressive denial of rights to opposition activists in order to bring about a more civil and productive dialogue capable of meeting the needs of average Azeri citizens. Toward this end, the political opposition and protesters should also avoid violence and seek a productive course in looking to meet Azerbaijan's serious public policy challenges, including poverty and corruption.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 12:30 0 comments links to this post

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Friday raised the prospect of a further cut in U.S. aid to Uzbekistan if the government of President Islam Karimov continues to resist calls for an investigation of last week's Uzbek political unrest. The United States and other countries have called for a credible probe of the violence that includes international involvement.

At a news conference here with Iraqi Planning Minister Barham Salih, Secretary Rice said the United States has relations with the Karimov government and is using them to urge authorities to respond positively to what she termed the international community's justified concerns about what happened in Andijon.

If it does not, she indicated the Uzbek government could face a repeat of the 11-million dollar aid cut the Bush administration enacted last year under a human rights mandate from the Congress.

"As to what consequences there might be, I think Uzbekistan does not want to endure further isolation from the international community,” said Ms. Rice. “And secondly, I would just note that we have concerns about human rights, which we expressed through a human rights report and which actually have certain certification requirements for any assistance to Uzbekistan. We withheld $11 million last year because of those requirements. There are additional funds that we cannot make available to the government without further human rights certification."

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 12:22 0 comments links to this post

The tax authorities on 17 May sealed the offices and equipment of independent Somonien television in Duchanbe on the orders of the State Committee on TV and radio broadcasting.

The committee's chairman, Barakatullo Abdulfaizov, justified the closure of Somonien at a press conference on 17 May on the grounds that its licence had expired on 31 December 2004. He was unable to explain however why the licence had effectively been extended to April 2005.

The station's director, Ikrom Mirzoev, said the closure of the station was linked to a political decision. "We provided the State Committee on broadcasting with all the official documents, as set out by the prosecutor and the justice ministry, needed to renew the broadcast licence and proving that we are fully complying with the law".

Somonien, founded in 1991, was the country's first independent channel. In the run-up to legislative elections on 27 February 2005, independent stations, Guli Bodom and Somonien were the only ones to give airtime to all political parties. The State Committee on broadcasting closed Guli Bodom on 25 February, two days before polling, at the request of the mayor of Kanibodom, Emin Sanginov, for "breaking the law".

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 12:20 0 comments links to this post

The lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, has approved new amendments to the laws on elections brought in by President Vladimir Putin.

According to those amendments, political parties will play a bigger role in elections at all levels. The creation of electoral alliances between several parties will now be outlawed.

A Duma member may now lose his mandate if he or she changes political faction. If the Supreme Court rules that a deputy has failed to fulfill his or her duties, his or her powers will be removed.

A candidate for deputy or a party can be banned from registering for an election if five percent of the signatures in their registration lists are found to be false; the number used to be 25 percent.

The threshold for a party to reach the Duma will be seven percent of the vote, an increase from the current five percent.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 12:14 0 comments links to this post

The head of the U.S. Central Command, General John Abizaid, says the United States has scaled back its military operations in Uzbekistan since last week's violence in the Central Asian country. Two leading human rights organizations say Uzbek security forces may have killed as many as 1,000 civilians in the eastern city of Andijan.

Uzbekistan is a country of strategic interest to the U.S. and an ally on the war on terror.

Michael Cromartie, the head of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, says it is important that the U.S. speak with a unified voice to the Uzbek government, something it hasn't always done. "Last year the State Department refused to provide funding for the Uzbek government, due to its human rights violations. Yet, one month later the Defense Department granted funds to the Uzbek government."

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:19 0 comments links to this post

Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov said he opposes an international investigation into the worst violence since the country's independence in 1991, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Thursday.

``He said he had the situation under control and was taking every measure to bring those responsible to account and didn't need an international team to establish the facts,'' Annan told The Associated Press Thursday night.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:16 0 comments links to this post

Vasily Yurevich, administrator of New Life charismatic church in Minsk, faces new charges of repeatedly organising "illegal" worship, five months after he was fined 150 times the minimum monthly wage for the same "offence". He told Forum 18 News Service he was summoned by police on 18 May to be informed of the new charges, two weeks after his appeal against the earlier fine was rejected. The church's pastor, Vyacheslav Goncharenko, has also been fined twice. The authorities say the church's use of a former cowshed for services is illegal as the building has not been designated for religious use. The 600-strong church has already been denied official registration, meaning that all its activity is therefore illegal. In April Minsk city administration issued the church with a third official warning, though two are enough for a court to close down a religious organisation.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:10 0 comments links to this post

Slovak Foreign Affairs Ministry is concerned about the news that Byelorussian authorities have detained opposition leader Sergei Skrebets. According to the ministry, the detention of the former MP and leader of opposition group Respublika is a further sign of politically-motivated prosecution of opposition politicians and journalists, and a sign of the rules being violated. Slovakia's Foreign Ministry has asked Byelorussian authorities to stop the pursuit and repression of private media, independent trade unions, non-governmental organisations and opposition parties.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:05 0 comments links to this post

Two months ago, revolutionary developments in Kyrgyzstan sent shockwaves rumbling through neighboring Uzbekistan, placing Uzbek President Islam Karimov’s administration on guard against a popular revolt. Now, it is Kyrgyzstan’s provisional leadership that is growing nervous about the impact of the Uzbek government’s crackdown in Andijan. Felix Kulov, a key member of the Kyrgyz leadership team, has voiced concern of a spillover effect, amid unconfirmed reports that Kyrgyzstani citizens participated in the Andijan events.

At a May 17 news conference, Karimov suggested that many of the Uzbeks who found refuge in Kyrgyzstan were Islamic militants, stating that Kyrgyz border guards collected "73 assault rifles" from the refugees. "After this, you can judge what kind of refugees they were," Karimov told the assembled diplomats and journalists. A spokesman for Kyrgyzstan’s border guards disputed Karimov’s claim, insisting that the refugees "did not carry any weapons," the Ferghana.ru website reported May 19.

The Andijan events, and the accompanying rise in Kyrgyz-Uzbek tension, threaten to compound the Kyrgyz provisional government’s stabilization challenges. Bakiyev’s team has struggled to restore order in Kyrgyzstan since the March 24 revolution toppled Askar Akayev’s administration. Now, on top of existing problems, including the seizures of land in and around Bishkek by squatters, the provisional government faces the prospect of rising social instability in southern provinces, which have sizable ethnic Uzbek minorities. There is growing concern that prolonged unrest in Uzbekistan could possibly stir inter-ethnic tension in southern Kyrgyzstan, and/or fan Islamic radical sentiment among ethnic Uzbeks in Osh and Jalal-abad provinces.

For now, Kyrgyz leaders appear reluctant to do anything that might rile Uzbek leaders further. Although Kyrgyz officials have indicated that the country will be accepting of more Uzbek refugees, Bakiyev said May 18 that as soon as conditions in Uzbekistan "stabilized," the refugees should go home. While Kyrgyz leaders seem conciliatory towards Tashkent, Kyrgyzstani rights activists and student groups continue to protest the Uzbek government’s crackdown. Student protesters, including activists from the Kel-Kel group, staged a demonstration outside the Uzbek embassy in Bishkek on May 19, denouncing Uzbekistan as a "police state," Ferghana.ru reported.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:51 0 comments links to this post

Lukashenka is used to criticism from the United States and European Union. What makes the new attacks different is that many of them now come from Eastern Europe and former republics of the Soviet Union. On 17 May, Slovakia added its voice to the swelling chorus of condemnation. The detention of yet another prominent opposition leader this week was, it said, further evidence of political motivated pressure on the opposition and media in Belarus.

Poland, which borders Belarus, has become one of Lukashenka's most outspoken critics. Yesterday it expelled a Belarusian diplomat in retaliation for the expulsion of the first secretary of the Polish Embassy in Minsk one day before. Earlier, at the summit of the Council of Europe, Polish President Aleksandr Kwasniewski said that "widespread violations of elementary principles of democracy and human rights in Belarus" were not acceptable. His foreign minister, Adam Rotfeld, made much the same point.

"In Belarus, the internal system has to change," Rotfeld said. "It is the last example of the sort of museum piece that the Council of Europe does not accept."

Lukashenka might be feeling the heat, but isolation is a condition to which he has grown accustomed. He makes no secret of his contempt for international as well as domestic opinion.

His opponents, both at home and abroad, will be encouraged by the collapse of Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma in the elections in Ukraine in late 2004.

But Lukashenka is a tougher proposition altogether. He enjoys a solid nucleus of support in Belarus and he has repeatedly demonstrated his readiness to use force when threatened.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:46 0 comments links to this post

Former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov stepped up his criticism of President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, warning that unless pro-democratic political forces unite, the nation could revert to "a Soviet system with elements of state capitalism."

"The country is going in the wrong direction. Unfortunately the speed of movement in this negative direction is increasing," Kasyanov told a news conference.

Putin's plan to change the way State Duma elections are held is one of the greatest dangers to Russian democracy, Kasyanov said. On Thursday, Putin signed into law a change effectively blocking independent lawmakers without party affiliations from taking office.

Kasyanov also reiterated his criticism of the state's legal onslaught on the Yukos oil empire and its founders Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev.

Kasyanov, whom Putin abruptly fired a month before the March 2004 presidential elections, also repeated that he may run for president in 2008. He added that his final decision would depend on the support of the people.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:37 0 comments links to this post

Judges in the fraud trial of ex-Yukos tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky in Moscow are due to resume reading the verdict for the fifth consecutive day.
Defence lawyers say the judges have not even reached a third of the way through the inches-thick judgment.

Mr Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man, faces up to 10 years in prison.

His lawyers are unanimous in expecting a conviction.

There have been daily protests outside the court, and one of his lawyers has said the case is an "act of reprisal" for Mr Khodorkovsky's links with the liberal opposition.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:34 0 comments links to this post

The majority of citizens in Georgia and Moldova believe their countries should join the EU, a new report released on Thursday (19 May) by Gallup and the International Republican Institute (IRI) shows.

The survey says 77 per cent of Moldovans and 80 per cent of Georgians think their countries' future lies in the 25-nation bloc.

Less than 50 per cent in both countries (33 per cent in Georgia and 40 per cent in Moldova) think they should remain members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

"People in these countries have always had a European identity, they feel themselves Europeans", the coordinator of the study, Dr Rasa Alisauskiene, told the EUobserver.

However, most of them believe it is possible to keep good relations both with Russia and the EU, and see Russia as a key partner, she specified.

The study was carried out in Georgia, Moldova and Kazakhstan via face-to-face interviews between June and November 2004.

However, the third country, Kazakhstan, points to neighbouring Russia and China as its main partners.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:25 0 comments links to this post

Poland’s foreign ministry has said that the intimidation of the Union of Poles by the Belarusian authorities violates all democratic standards. Deputy foreign minister Adrzej Załucki said in the Polish Parliament that the ministry intends to call the attention of world public opinion on the situation in Belarus. The parliament discussed the worsening of relations with Belarus today. MPs pledged to help open a radio station to provide honest information for the citizens of Belarus.
A diplomatic war broke out on the Warsaw-Minsk line after Belarus expelled a senior Polish diplomat, accusing him of meddling in the country’s internal affairs. Poland responded, telling a deputy of the Belarusian ambassador to leave. The Polish foreign ministry announced a list of Belarusian citizens denied entry into Poland in return for the persecution of the Union of Poles in Belarus. The Minsk regime declared recent election of the union’s officials null and void and ordered the reinstatement of the old leadership loyal to Lukashenko. The Union represents the 400,000 strong Polish minority and is the biggest civic organization in Belarus.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:04 0 comments links to this post

Russian politicians appear split over the situation in Uzbekistan. Dmitry Rogozin, head of Rodina party, claimed that Karimov became a target of radical Islamists when he allowed U.S. military bases on Uzbek soil. Konstantin Zatulin of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party argued that Karimov "did it all right" to forestall destabilization. Alexei Mitrofanov, deputy of the Liberal-Democratic party, blamed U.S. interference in Afghanistan for general destabilization across Central Asia.

Yet, Sergei Mitrokhin of Yabloko warned against Russian support for the Karimov regime, which could trigger civil war in Uzbekistan. Boris Nemtsov, of the Union of Right Forces, picked up this notion and argued that the Karimov regime was doomed and that by supporting Karimov the Kremlin had picked a loosing scenario, as it had in Ukraine.

Initially, the mainstream media in Russia, notably First Channel and RTR television, appeared to be siding with Karimov and interpreted the events in Uzbekistan mainly as a plot by Islamic extremists.

The one-sided view seen on Russia's major television channels earned a measure of criticism from other Russian media outlets. Izvestiya ran a series of articles, headlined: "Events in Uzbekistan: Popular revolt or extremist rebellion?" The daily described events in Andijan as a revolution, adding that the coverage by Russian official media outlets was somewhat detached from reality. Izvestiya specifically criticized Russian First Channel, which merely followed Uzbek official statements, described Uzbek protesters as extremists, and ignored alternative versions of the Andijan events (Izvestiya, May 17).

Presumably responding to such criticism, the First Channel on Tuesday reported not only the official death toll of 169 for Andijan, but also mentioned unofficial estimate of 745 fatalities (TV First Channel, May 17).

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 08:52 0 comments links to this post

The news from the CIS countries more and more sounds like reports from the battle fields. The information about the tough measures towards the “orange threat” is coming from everywhere. Byelorussia gathers the closed meeting of law enforcements which suppose to come up with new methods of fighting against revolutionary masses.

Kazakhstan adopts the law prohibiting the organization of any demonstrations after the announcement of final election results. Moscow blocks Leninsky Prospect (avenue) to let the Ours (pro-Putin political organization) to have huge anti-“orange” demonstration. The head politicians of each of these countries openly or clandestinely criticize the “color revolutions”. “Maybe somewhere the “orange revolution” is possible, but not in our country,”- parliamentarians of Moscow, Minsk and Astana repeat like some sort of mantra.

However, their actions tell a different tale. The authorities behave themselves like there is an enemy outside of the door and they are under the siege. Nobody seriously threatens them yet, but the authorities are ready for the last decisive battle.

“Vladimir Putin and Nursultan Nazarbaev did not discuss the situation in Uzbekistan,” the government news agency RIA “Novosti” reported yesterday. Today Alexander Lukashenko should arrive with official visit to Kazakhstan. Does anybody believe that Lukashenko and Nazarbaev will not even mention Andijan events during their negotiations? Everyone understands that crush of the “color revolutions” is the main agenda for post-Soviet leaders. Sergei Lavrov, Russian foreign minister, assures that Andijan events have nothing to do with the “color revolutions.” For the fighters with the “orange threat” the defeat of the “akronists” is precedent showing that it is possible to fight against the revolution. It is a landmark marking the end of the “orange march.” Andijan it is like some sort of Stalingrad that renews the hope about full victory over the “orange” enemy in the nearest future. The Moscow’ words of support for Tashkent praising it for heroic fight with terrorism shows the Andijan massacre a positive example of such fight. Alledgedly Islam Karimov had shown what to do when the enemy enters the house.

There are no doubts that yesterday in Chelyabinsk and today in Astana the presidents discuss what to do with this lesson and how to use Uzbek experience. Soon Lukashenko and Nazarbaev will face election. Most likely, they will try to be ready to use Karimov’s method – do not take example from such bleeding hearts liberals like Askar Akaev and Leonid Kuchma. There is only one question to the hard-liners: Do you understand that Andijan is not over yet? The events in Uzbekistan just started and who knows what is going to be with Tashkent regime in a year or two. Will it survive the election? The bleeding hearts liberal like ex-presidents Kuchma and Shevarnadze live at least in their motherlands. Askar Akaev might come home someday. However, there is a different fate might wait for Karimov and his surrounding.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:06 0 comments links to this post

The United States Wednesday urged a credible and transparent investigation of the violent unrest in Uzbekistan late last week that may have left hundreds of people dead. The State Department said it is becoming apparent that Uzbek security forces used indiscriminate force against civilian protesters in the city of Andijan.

At a news briefing, State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said there needs to be a credible and transparent investigation of the events, either undertaken or supported by the international community.

He said, while the United States is still trying to develop a clearer picture of what occurred in Andijan, evidence is building that there were large-scale casualties among civilians:

"I would have to say that reports being compiled paint a very disturbing picture of the events and the government of Uzbekistan's reaction to them. It's becoming apparent that very large numbers of civilians were killed by the indiscriminate use of force by Uzbek forces. We deeply regret that loss of life, and are deeply concerned of reports of indiscriminate firing by Uzbek authorities on demonstrators last Friday," said Mr. Boucher.

Mr. Boucher said it is also clear that the violent episode began with an armed attack by anti-government elements on a prison and other state facilities, and said that violence also cannot be justified and should be investigated.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:52 0 comments links to this post

Uzbek troops are reported to have retaken the border town of Korasuv, where locals threw out their leaders last week in a popular protest.
A number of explosions and some gunfire was heard, but the takeover seems to have been largely peaceful with no reports of loss of life.

The uprising's leader, Bakhtiyor Rakhimov, who said he intended to build an Islamic state, has been arrested.

Mr Rakhimov told the BBC's Ian MacWilliam on Wednesday that the people in the region had put up with President Islam Karimov for 16 years, and could no longer tolerate him.

Residents said the main cause of resentment was the lack of work combined with the regime's tough curbs on private trade.

He said that the townspeople wanted to establish an Islamic administration in the area, but he did not elaborate on the aspiration, or whether the town had any connections to the wider Islamic separatist movement thought to operate in the area.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:26 0 comments links to this post

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)in Uzbekistan confirmed on Wednesday that it was conducting an assessment mission in the border region with Kyrgyzstan to investigate reports that groups of Uzbeks who had tried to escape the killing in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijan by crossing into Kyrgyzstan, were stuck at the border.

But a UNHCR programme officer in Kyrgyzstan, Almaz Burkutov, told IRIN from Kara-Suu on the border, that he had spoken to border officials late on Wednesday and that there were no reports of groups fleeing Andijan wanting to cross in order to seek asylum in Kyrgyzstan.

A human rights activist in Andijan told IRIN by telephone that he was concerned about the fate of hundreds of people who had fled the city, but had not presented themselves as refugees in Kyrgyzstan. "If 500 are dead and 600 or so have escaped across the border, that leaves at least 500 unaccounted for, the families are very worried."

In southern Kyrgyzstan, UNHCR said doctors from Jalal-Abad provincial hospital were attending to Uzbek refugees housed in a temporary camp in Suzak district, close to the border. At least 560 refugees crossed the border at the weekend escaping the violence in Andijan, some were wounded, most were exhausted. The refugees said Uzbek authorities had opened fire on peaceful protesters and bystanders and that hundreds of innocent people had been shot dead.

The refugees told IRIN they wanted to stay in Kyrgyzstan in order to escape persecution in Uzbekistan. "What we witnessed in Andijan was slaughter, a regime capable of that is capable of anything," said a woman who had left her two children behind in the city when she fled for her life early on Saturday morning.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:15 0 comments links to this post

A group of foreign journalists and diplomats were flown (Wednesday) into Andijan to see the area affected by violence lastFriday and Saturday. Uzbek authorities wanted to show that reports of 700 civilian deaths were exaggerated. Uzbek President Islam Karimov maintains that 169 people were killed in clashes between Uzbek soldiers and, in his words, Islamic extremists.

The two-hour visit provided few answers. Several diplomats complained that they were not allowed to roam freely and were introduced only to residents who backed the official version of events.

A Western diplomat, who wished to remain anonymous, told IRIN that a government-organised trip to Andijan - the scene of mass killings by Uzbek forces on Friday - had been "completely stage managed by Tashkent" in order to prevent foreigners and journalists from gaining information to support claims that more than 500 people were gunned down in and around the city's central square. "We were not allowed to talk to local people, see hospitals or morgues, or move freely around the city," the diplomat said.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:12 0 comments links to this post

Speaker of parliament Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz assessed the state of Polish-Belarusian relations as bad.

In a letter addressed to his Belarusian opposite number Cimoszewicz voiced deep concern over their further deterioration by the latest decision of authorities in Minsk asking Polish diplomat Marek Bucko to leave Belarus.

The House speaker linked the move to the campaign launched against the newly elected board of the Association of Poles in Belarus, which contrary to its predecessors did not intend to tow the line of the Lukashenko regime.

Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz expressed contempt for this kind of persecution and said he considers the reactions signalled by the Polish foreign ministry as fully justified under the circumstances.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 08:57 0 comments links to this post

The article listed 300 Belaruskalii workers who had signed a letter backing the foundation of an opposition movement "The People's Will". Five workers denied signing and claimed the equivalent of around 18,200 euros damages from the paper.

One of the workers suing the newspaper, Syarhey Katovich, admitted in an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty having come under pressure from the company's management, as had his four colleagues. "You know, I nearly lost my job", he said.

Narodnaya Volya received the list of signatories in favour of the creation of "The People's Will" directly from the movement's co-ordinator. After receiving a letter from Belaruskalii's management, the newspaper published a retraction of the list in its 14 May edition, to avoid legal trouble.

The newspaper had received a previous warning on 13 April, for carrying an appeal from the "Defenders of the homeland", a group that was not registered with the authorities, in its 31 March edition.

Narodnaya Volya is also facing a complaint lodged on 5 April by Syarhey Haidukevich, leader of the Belarus Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), who is claiming the equivalent of 73,000 euros damages against the newspaper for having suggested that the LDP cooperated with the former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein and received financial backing from him.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 08:37 0 comments links to this post

The Polish embassy in Minsk has officially confirmed that its deputy head Marek Bucko has been asked to leave Belarus within a month’s notice.

The embassy spokesperson told Polish Radio ambassador Tadeusz Pawlak had been requested by the Belarusian foreign ministry to recall Bucko by June 15th .

However, no official note naming the Polish diplomat as persona non grata had been presented by the authorities in Minsk. Bucko’s term in the Belarusian capital expires in October. For the past two weeks he has been in Warsaw on holidays and intends to return to Belarus to his wife and child.

Marek Bucko has been in charge of contacts with Belarusian political parties, NGOs and the media. He also had working ties with the Association of Poles in Belarus.

Last week’s move by the justice ministry in Minsk invalidating March election results to this Polish ethnic organization’s top posts have triggered strong protests and condemnation by Poland.

Foreign minister Adam Rotfeld announced in Warsaw that a Polish reply to the diplomat’s expulsion is imminent. He disclosed the Polish side is considering visa refusal to all Belarusian politicians involved in the campaign targeting the Association of Poles.

At the same time, minister Rotfeld underscored the action would not be directed against Belarusian society, but the members of the regime in Minsk.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 16:27 0 comments links to this post

Ex-minister of Foreign economic relations, former Ambassador of Belarus to Latvia Mikhail Marynich was transferred to the colony number 1 in Kalvaryjskaya Street in Minsk for serving the term, Interfax informed. The political prisoner was transferred to the colony from the republican prison hospital. In March Mikhail Marynich had a stroke in Vorsha medium security colony. “I am sure that the stroke cannot be cured in two months, and father should have rehabilitation in a specialized center. The fact that he is hurled into prison again, though he is still very weak and ailing, means that the authorities are continuing their criminal practice of doing away with its political opponents by any means. The growing pressure on Lukashenka’s opponents means that the regime in reality fears future changes in the country,” told the son of the imprisoned politician, leader of the civil initiative “Freedom to political prisoners!”, the leader of the civil initiative Pavel Marynich in his interview to the Charter’97 press center.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 15:48 0 comments links to this post

They say they raised their hands in the air, waved white scarves and shouted that they were unarmed, but that the Uzbek troops kept firing. Leaving the dead behind, they say they ran for their lives and were fired on again upon reaching the Kyrgyz border after an all-night trek.

Uncertain about their future and longing for justice, some of the 534 men, women and children who made it to Kyrgyzstan gave their own account Tuesday of last week's bloody suppression of a revolt in the Uzbek city of Andijan.

The survivors, including 96 women and 21 children, are living in 10 crowded tents provided by Kyrgyz authorities just a couple hundred yards from the Uzbek border, in the green hills on the bank of the Kara Darya River.

Tavakal Khojiyev, 28, one of activists in the uprising, said the protesters' only demand was that the government allow free business activity. Other Andijan residents who joined the protest demanded better living conditions and complained about the stark poverty they've been forced to live in since the ex-Soviet republic became independent in 1991.

Responding to accusations that the protesters were armed, Khojiyev said they had weapons only for self-defense and weren't planning to attack anybody.

He said that when the crowd of about 5,000 protesters on Andijan's main square was told the news that President Islam Karimov was heading to the city, everybody cheered and clapped.

"We believed until the very end that he would come," said Muqaddas Zhabborova, 44. "If he had come and talked to us, we wouldn't be here today," she said, crying.

"We believed that nobody would fire at peaceful people," said Odina Karimova, 33. "We tried to complain once and this is what we got."

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 11:05 0 comments links to this post

Appeal of the Community of Uzbeks of Kyrgyzstan

Ferghana.Ru, Press release, 17.05.2005

Being ethnic Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan, we have decided to express our attitude towards the current state of affairs in the neighbouring country. We, the Community of Uzbeks of Kyrgyzstan, follow no political and/or religious goals, and the below appeal is to be considered not more than as an evaluation of the current situation in Uzbekistan, and the Uzbek territories that border with Kyrgyzstan.

Following no aim whatsoever to interfere into internal affairs of Uzbekistan, we wish to disseminate the following appeal that contains our view and evaluation of the current state of affairs:


We are deeply touched by the bloody events in Andijan and hereby express our deepest condolences to relatives and next of kin of those who have perished and suffered during these events in the Uzbek south.

We deem certain that the events on 13 May that left so many innocent civilians killed, were provoked exclusively by the authoritarian policy of Uzbek President Islam Karimov and those around him. Islam Karimov has been employing the policy of complete human rights violation, oppressing freedom, repressions, demolition of free mass media, restricting trade and businesses and exiling dissidents.

Security structures of Uzbekistan have used firearms against peaceful and unarmed people who were merely speaking out against the oppressive policy of Karimov. He had had all the chances, opportunities and possibilities to regulate the latest events in a peaceful way. However, in spite of this fact, he has preferred to employ violence and bloodshed.

The community of Uzbeks of Kyrgyzstan urges the international community and human rights organizations in Uzbekistan to force the Uzbek authorities to face the fact of shooting to death peaceful and unarmed civilians as a result of acts and orders from state authorities and not as a result of provocation from terrorist or radical Islamic groups that are being accused of organizing and fulfilling the seizure of the prison and all other events thence unfolding in Andijan.

Islam Karimov's office has lost all legitimacy and moral right to rule over and represent the Uzbek nation. We find Islam Karimov personally guilty and responsible for bloodshed in Andijan on 13 and 14 May, 2005. We also find him guilty in sufferings of the overall Uzbek nation that it had undergone for 15 years of his dictatorship regime's ruling. We think that Karimov is a criminal after what has occurred both throughout his reigning period and the recent events in Andijan, and that he will stand before just court sooner or later. We also think there is no any imaginable excuse for officials, officers and soldiers who opened fire at children, seniors and women. They had the choice to disobey orders in this case!

Along with other democratic forces both in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and beyond, we urge the international community to immediately condemn Islam Karimov and his accomplices for using arms and violence against peaceful rally participants and innocent civilians, up to severing diplomatic ties with official Tashkent.

We urge all democracy-oriented groups within Uzbekistan to unite and adhere to non-violent means of fighting for democracy and freedom. The example of our country - Kyrgyzstan - suggests that democracy and freedom must be achieved via exclusively peaceful ways and methods with no violence or repression or whatsoever of this type being employed for doing so.

* * *

The community of Uzbeks of Kyrgyzstan was established in autumn of 2004 by young Uzbek-speaking Kyrgyz nationals who now live, work and study in different parts of the world. In spite of the fact that the bigger part of our community is away from our motherland at the moment, we attentively follow all processes there and do not remain idle observers. We are deeply affected by everything that has to do with Kyrgyzstan.

We aim to involve the youth in Kyrgyzstan, especially its Uzbek-speaking component, in the life of our country via exchange of information on events both at home and abroad; stimulate and encourage open discussion of problems in our country and the role of ethnic minorities in Kyrgyzstan in their solution.

Our activities are also aimed at increasing the knowledge of visitors/tourists in history, culture, traditions, the linguistic heritage, values and hopes of Uzbek-speaking Kyrgyz citizens.

The community of Uzbeks of Kyrgyzstan does not have narrow nationalistic or religious aims; it neither supports political parties and/or public unions nor vice versa; it is not financed by concealed and/or illegal sources.

Contacts for Uzbeks of KG:

uzbeks_of_kg@yahoo.com

uzbek_of_kg@yahoogroups.com

http://forum.uzbek.kg

+996 502 226306

+996 502 657567

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:43 0 comments links to this post

The leader of a group of rebels claiming to control this Uzbek border town said Wednesday that he and his supporters intend to build an Islamic state and were ready to fight if government troops attempt to crush their revolt.

"We will be building an Islamic state here in accordance with the Quran," Bakhtiyor Rakhimov told The Associated Press while leaning down from the back of a horse.

Tense but confident, the bearded 42-year-old farmer, wearing a traditional Uzbek embroidered black-and-white skull cup, snapped his fingers as he gave orders to an assistant. It was unclear how many people he commanded, but there was no sign of any Uzbek government officials in the town of about 20,000.

"The town is in the hands of people. People are tired of slavery," he said as he kept an eye on two roads converging at an intersection in Korasuv.

However, Uzbek Interior Minister Zakir Almatov shrugged off the militant's claims.

"It's all sheer nonsense, everything is normal there," he said when asked whether the government intends to move against insurgents in Korasuv. "If anything had happened there, I already would have been there."

President Islam Karimov blamed the unrest in Andijan on extremist Islamic groups that seek to overthrow his secular government and create an Islamic state.

At the Andijan protest, only social and economic demands could be heard as speaker after speaker complained about stark poverty and widespread unemployment and the government's stifling of private business. They denied having any Islamic agenda.

But observers of the impoverished Central Asia region have long feared that any social unrest could be used by Islamic groups to promote their own goals.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:25 0 comments links to this post

At the Tuesday briefing in the Prosecutor General’s Office President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov accused a number of foreign mass media in groundless highlighting of events in Andizhan, Kazinform correspondent reports from Tashkent.

In particular the NTV channel was whipped for incorrect interpretation of the events. Uzbekistani President denied the information spread by NTV about 500 people killed in Andijan and the death of 200 more people in Pakhtaabad district of Andijan oblast.

The President requested foreign media to refer to the data of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Uzbekistan. During the briefing the country’s Prosecutor General Rashitzhon Kadyrov informed 169 citizens had been killed, 32 being law enforcement agents. Several hostages – three women and two under-age children - were lost as well.

Islam Karimov flatly disproved the statements of foreign media about the command to shoot peaceful citizens allegedly given by the local authorities.
The information about the number of victims and the questions how peaceful citizens could have been killed is interpreted differently by world media. Some of them refer to Uzbekistani law forces whose information differs from that of Prosecutor General’s.

The main factor obstructing fair coverage of the events appears inefficient access of reporters to the spots of events. Uzbekistani authorities promise to provide a trip for representatives of the diplomatic corps and journalists to Andijan.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:26 0 comments links to this post

Last week the head of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), Nikolai Patrushev, accused Western nongovernmental organizations of plotting a government overthrow in Belarus during the 2006 presidential election. The Belarusian KGB swiftly and eagerly echoed these charges, claiming additionally that it has already thwarted specific steps taken by ill-wishers of the Belarusian government in this direction. The allegations of the Russian and Belarusian Chekists seem to have inaugurated an international publicity and propaganda campaign focused on Belarus's 2006 vote.


Speaking in the Russian State Duma on 12 May, Patrushev said the U.S.-based International Republican Institute held a meeting in Bratislava in April with the directors of its offices in CIS countries to discuss "the possibility of the continuation of velvet revolutions in the post-Soviet territory." In this context, Patrushev added: "$5 million has been allocated in 2005 for the implementation of programs by this nongovernmental organization to finance opposition movements in Belarus. [The organization] is currently considering involving the leaders of the Ukrainian 'orange' [activists] for training opposition members in Belarus and creating a network of opposition youth organizations."

The following day U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher rejected Patrushev's charges that U.S. nongovernmental groups are part of a Western conspiracy to unseat Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka as "completely false, most of them ridiculous." "The work that nongovernmental organizations do in terms of promoting democracy, educating people in democracy, helping the growth of civil society is open, is transparent," Boucher said. "Our election aid in Belarus and elsewhere is for civic participation in the election process, balanced media coverage, nonpartisan political party training, election monitoring, and election administration. These programs are nonpartisan, they are transparent, they are peaceful in nature and we'll conduct them in Belarus in order to support efforts to build civil society and democracy."

Whatever foreign NGOs may say about what they do in Belarus, they are surely unable to convince the Belarusian KGB that their activities are not tantamount to political subversion. It is simply because the mere ideas of "democracy" and "civil society" are highly subversive for the Lukashenka regime.

Belarusian Television, the main mouthpiece of the Lukashenka regime, noted on 13 May that "the strengthening of an anti-Belarusian campaign abroad and the holding of street protests by the Belarusian opposition" are being accompanied by more and more frequent shipments of narcotics, weapons, and money into Belarus. "This year alone more than 700 small arms pieces were confiscated in Belarus, including those manufactured in the West," a Belarusian Television commentator said over footage showing a stockpile of small arms and explosives.

"It is noteworthy that [law-enforcement bodies] have begun to detect caches with weapons in late April, when the opposition was calling for street protests," the Belarusian Television commentator went on. "On the eve of the so-called Chornobyl Way protest [on 26 April], in which foreign militants [editorial note: presumably, Russian and Ukrainian youth movement activists] took part, stores of small arms and explosives were seized near Minsk and in Brest. According to Interfax, the Interior Ministry is taking into account the possible preparation of terrorist acts and the organization of illegal shipments of arms into the country by opposition activists." In other words, the state propaganda machine has already begun portraying Belarusian oppositionists as dangerous maniacs who are getting ready to kill Belarusians or, as a minimum, to narcotize them during the 2006 presidential election.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:16 0 comments links to this post

A group of foreign diplomats have arrived in the Uzbek city of Andijan to get a first-hand look at the site of clashes between protesters and security forces on Friday that left hundreds dead.

The 36 diplomats, from countries including the United States, France and Russia, include ambassadors and other senior embassy staff, and are accompanied on the government-organised trip by a deputy foreign minister of Uzbekistan and 15 other officials, along with 30 journalists.

The diplomats visited the Andijan police headquarters before moving on to inspect a prison.

However the BBC reports that they will not be able to walk freely around the town or talk to local people without supervision.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has called on Uzbekistan to open its society and to reform.

"Nobody is asking any government to deal with terrorists," she said.

"The issue ... is that it is a society that needs openness, it needs reform."

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 08:54 0 comments links to this post

Prague, 17 May 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Belarus's Information Ministry has issued a warning to the only opposition daily, "Narodnaya volya," which is the second warning received by the newspaper this year, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reported yesterday.


Two official warnings issued to a publication within a year are sufficient for the authorities to close it.

The ministry said the daily released false information by publishing the names of five people under a manifesto of the opposition movement Will of the People, which was launched in February.

Simultaneously, the five people in question have sued the daily for libel, saying they did not sign the manifesto and demanding a total of 250 million Belarusian rubles ($116,000) in damages from the newspaper.

"Narodnaya volya" Editor in Chief Iosif Syaredzich told RFE/RL that the ministry effectively assumed the prerogative of a court by denying his newspaper a chance to publish a correction provided that it made a mistake, an option allowed by the media law.

Meanwhile, Will of the People leader Alyaksandr Kazulin suggested that the authorities might have resorted to pressure to make the five people revoke their signatures. "People supporting [our manifesto] are pressured to withdraw their signatures by way of threats and blackmail," Kazulin said.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:34 0 comments links to this post

Prague, 16 May 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Syarhey Skrabets, a member of the dissident Respublika group in Belarus's Chamber of Representatives from 2000-04, was arrested in Minsk on 15 May by men who introduced themselves as officers of a department for combating organized crime, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reported, citing Skrabets's wife.


Skrabets is reportedly suspected of giving a $30,000 bribe to an official in Brest, southwestern Belarus. Skrabets was transferred from Minsk to Brest on the same day, and searches were conducted in both his and his parents' apartment.

Belarusian television reported on 17 April that Belarus's law-enforcement agencies have detained a Lithuanian citizen who reportedly delivered $200,000 to finance Skrabets's political activities. Skrabets later said that the report was stage-managed by the KGB to embroil him into a trumped-up criminal case.

In October 2004, Skrabets asked Moscow for asylum, arguing that he was threatened with imprisonment for opposing Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's regime. The Russian presidential administration has reportedly denied political asylum to him, saying that Russia does not offer asylum to citizens of countries with which it has no border or visa controls.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:32 0 comments links to this post

The specific position of Belarus in Europe Belarus is the last remaining dictatorship in Europe in which basic European values, such as democracy, human rights and the freedom of the media, are repeatedly violated. This isolation is further entrenched by a lack of communication and co-operation with the EU: Belarus is the only Eastern European country that does not have a PCA (Partnership and Co-operation Agreement) with the EU; it is the only European country that doesn’t belong to the Council of Europe. Yet the importance of dealing with the issue of Belarus is now starkly apparent. Belarus is one of the few countries bordering the EU to the East after its enlargement in 2004, with more than 1000km of shared borderland, and three member countries (Latvia, Lithuania and Poland) as its neighbours. Furthermore, Belarus is an important transit country for Russian gas and crude oil on its way to the EU.

In the future, we can expect to witness new repressions by Europe’s last dictator and further deterioration of the situation in the coming months. Lukashenko will do everything in his power to oppress the political opposition, NGOs and the media in order to ensure the extension of his rule following the presidential elections scheduled for autumn 2006. The first step towards this was taken during the falsified referendum in October 2004 in which Lukashenko illegally extended his term of presidency. A Lukashenko presidency after 2006 will mean the conservation and intensification of his rule and the establishment of a strong and dangerous dictatorship along EU borders.

Politicians, experts and journalists in the EU very often identify Lukashenko’s anti-western and pro-Russian official policy with the opinions of Belarusian society. The reality, however, is different. Despite anti-western, anti-European official propaganda, more than 50 percent of Belarusians support close co-operation with the EU {whilst simultaneously, more than 50 percent are also in favour of closer relations with Russia). Closer relations with Europe, perhaps even the integration of Belarus into the EU, should remain an open question due to the support evident for such policy in a large part of Belarusian society.

The EU must formulate new policy towards Belarus as previous policy has been completely ineffective. The EU has to openly declare that the promotion of democracy and the gradual integration of Belarus into Europe are its priorities in EU neighbourhood policy. The EU should not only react to the current political situation in Belarus, but also elaborate its own strategy aimed at the democratization of the country. Such actions must be carried out with speed due to threatening political time frame in Belarus. The two strategies the EU requires towards Belarus are as follows:

A short-term strategy until the presidential elections in 2006
A medium and long-term strategy consisting mainly of support in the building of civil society.

The European Union should focus on the most important problem from a political point of view, namely the possibility of Lukashenko’s third term. The European Council should state that a third term is unacceptable according to European values, following European Parliament resolution no P6_TA(2004)0045 from October 28 2004. The EU should maintain a very clear position and be willing to communicate it to the Belarusian authorities in the event of possible future murders, disappearances and instances of further repression. This policy must be implemented with a clear distinction: that action is being taken against Lukashenko’s regime rather than against the country or Belarusian society.

Better co-operation must be developed and a common position forced concerning Belarus by the European Council, the European Commission, the European Parliament and EU member states. The neighbours of Belarus, the CEE-Visegrad group and other EU member states (for example Germany and the Scandinavian countries) must develop relationships of cooperation so as to build a broader coalition within the EU with a potential synergy effect. There must be a greater level of coordination between the EU and the United States. EU policy towards Belarus could be coordinated with US policy towards Minsk (Belarus Democracy Act) as both actors have as their final goal the democratization of Belarus. Ukrainian authorities and civil society should be involved in the Belarus issue as Ukrainian experiences are more valuable for Belarus than the experiences of other post-communist countries that joined the EU in 2004. The EU should discuss the issue of Belarus with Russia but cannot negotiate EU policy toward Belarus with Moscow as, unfortunately, Russia has no interest in changing either the situation or the regime. In the framework of the EU-Russia dialogue, the EU could call on Russia to not allow Moscow to support the Lukashenko regime.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:26 0 comments links to this post

Eight Uzbek soldiers and three Islamic militants died in a clash near the Kyrgyz border Sunday and more than 500 Uzbeks fled to safety across the frontier, villagers said, according to The Associated Press.

About 500 bodies were laid out in the nearby city of Andijan where troops fired on a crowd of protesters two days earlier, a doctor told AP.

Residents' accounts of the fighting in Tefektosh could not be independently confirmed, but blood stains were visible on the pavement, AP reported.

Villagers in the border town of Tefektosh said several troops were killed in a pre-dawn skirmish between armed men and government forces. One villager who declined to give his name said eight government troops were killed.

Troops in Uzbekistan have sealed off Korasuv, a town on the border with Kyrgyzstan, where locals took control from government officials on Saturday.
Korasuv residents have been meeting to discuss how to run their own affairs.

The unrest spread to Korasuv from nearby Andijan, where peaceful protests turned bloody on Friday after troops opened fire on the crowd.

Several hundred people are feared to have been killed in Friday's violence, according to local doctors and NGOs.

Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov said 10 soldiers and "many more" protesters were killed in Andijan, and blamed the unrest on Islamic extremists.

ARMED men fought government forces near the city of Andijan in eastern Uzbekistan yesterday as witnesses reported that up to 600 people were killed when troops had opened fire on demonstrators.
Rebels killed several troops in the border town of Tefektosh as thousands of refugees tried to flee over the closed frontier to Kyrgyzstan to escape the worst violence in Uzbekistan since its independence in 1991.

In Korasuv, a town 50km (30 miles) east of Andijan, government offices and police cars were set alight. Protesters forced the mayor to reopen two river bridges that link the Uzbek and Kyrgyz sectors. The crossings had been closed by the authorities two years ago.

GRAPHIC eyewitness accounts of the massacre of civilians by troops in the Uzbek town of Andijan emerged yesterday from fleeing refugees.

With human rights organisations reporting a death toll of up to 500 in Friday’s massacre, survivors told of soldiers machine-gunning women, children and their own police comrades.

Friday’s massacre began after the main square was occupied by thousands of opposition demonstrators. Many in the crowd had come along out of curiosity a day after armed rebels took control of the adjacent regional government building.

Without warning, groups of eight-wheeled armoured personnel carriers (APCs) rolled in.

Moving at high speed, one column raced into the square, and soldiers on board began shooting into the crowd.

"They shot at us like rabbits," a boy in his late teens said.

Panic broke out and the crowd scattered. The army units then advanced on a high school occupied by rebels.

Rebels forced captured policemen to leave the school and form a "human shield" in front of the soldiers, but the troops opened fire.

"About ten policemen were pushed ahead of the crowd as hostages," a 35-year-old businessman said.

"‘Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!’ they begged. But then the APC opened fire from about 150 metres away."

After the killing was over, the main square was littered with bodies and burning cars.

Some soldiers were also shot dead, apparently by rebels barricaded inside the government headquarters.

One of America's main allies in the fight against terrorism was accused yesterday of slaughtering women and children "like rabbits", placing the Bush administration in a quandary over its support for President Islam Karimov, the strong man of Central Asia.

Witnesses said that women and children were among the demonstrators shot by soldiers in Uzbekistan, a former Soviet republic which has become crucial for America's attempt to keep control in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, who faces criticism for British support of Uzbekistan's dictatorial regime, condemned its record.

He said the situation was "very serious" and there had been a "clear abuse" of human rights.

Mr Straw's remarks were in contrast to the near silence in Washington where the brutal crackdown in Uzbekistan has posed an acute dilemma.

The families of some of the estimated 500 people killed by Uzbek troops here buried their dead yesterday to the sound of continued sniper fire in the eastern town.

Two days after an uprising in the mostly Muslim Central Asian state's Ferghana Valley, wet blood and body parts hastily covered in soil coated the pavements, streets, and gutters in the centre of this city of 300,000 people.

Human rights campaigner Saidzhakhon Zainabitdinov estimated that up to 500 people might have been killed, which would make it the bloodiest incident in Uzbekistan's post-Soviet history.

Thousands of people fleeing a bloody crackdown against protests in an eastern Uzbek city gathered Saturday in a nearby border town where rioting erupted amid fears of another assault by government troops.

Police stations, tax offices, the prosecutor's office and the customs terminal were set ablaze in the town of Korasuv, on the border of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, the Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported. About 5,000 people had fled there Saturday from Andijon, 30 miles to the west, it said. Hundreds more fled to at least one other border-crossing site.

The violence in Korasuv was apparently triggered, at least in part, by anger that the border had been officially closed. Many residents have relatives on the other side, and some people fleeing Andijon were determined to escape from Uzbekistan.

Uzbek troops and police in Andijon fired into crowds of thousands of protesters Friday, which included armed militants and unarmed civilians. Human rights activists in Andijon put the death toll there at 300 to 500. This morning, a doctor told Associated Press that she had seen about 500 corpses laid out at a school guarded by soldiers.

The violence that has reportedly killed hundreds of protesters in eastern Uzbekistan appeared to be spreading to neighbouring towns last night, raising fears that the volatile Central Asian state could erupt into a full-scale revolution.
As human rights workers in the flashpoint town of Andijan warned that the death toll there could reach 500, an official from the neighbouring country of Kyrgyzstan said sporadic rioting had broken out in the border town of Karasu, with government buildings and police cars on fire and military helicopters circling overhead.

The unrest and violence have tested Mr. Karimov, a former Communist Party official who has ruled Central Asia's most populated republic with an iron grip since the Soviet Union disintegrated.

As journalists in the region reported that hundreds and perhaps thousands of Uzbeks moved toward and across the Kyrgyz border, at risk was the stability of the heart of Central Asia, already buffeted by an underdeveloped economy, ecological decline, a resurgence of Islam, a recent revolution in Kyrgyzstan and the conflicting pulls of China, Russia and the United States.

Mr. Karimov, an inaccessible and aloof autocrat, has long been criticized for persecution of opponents, intolerance of freedom of religion and expression, and the use of the police and torture, including the sexual assault and boiling of suspects.

His control had been almost absolute. He was last re-elected in 2000, with 91.7 percent of the vote, an election generally regarded as fixed.

His style has also fueled worries about the government's conduct. The reported violence over the past three days, emerging from a near information vacuum, has been chilling in part because Mr. Karimov has long made clear that in maintaining order, he has a high tolerance for blood.

"I am prepared to rip off the heads of 200 people, to sacrifice their lives, in order to save peace and calm in the republic," he told reporters in 1999, after a bus hijacking ended with a shootout that left nine people dead. "If my child chose such a path, I myself would rip off his head."

Mr. Karimov also has strengthened his relationship with the United States, as the interests of two nations have increasingly intertwined.

Hardened elements of his opposition, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, collaborated with Al Qaeda and trained in camps in Afghanistan. After the attacks in the United States in 2001, the Karimov government presented itself as a Bush administration partner in counterterrorism efforts, and the Pentagon opened a base in southern Uzbekistan.

Reports of mass shootings by Uzbek government troops of protesters in the east of the country, killing several hundred, ought to have drawn instant, sharp condemnation from around the world. No number of excuses about the need to be tough on so-called Islamists can justify a bloodbath, especially as the protesters were mostly unarmed civilians.

Hundreds of people who fled the bloodshed in Andijan to seek refuge in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan have been telling stories of coming under renewed gunfire as they tried to escape from Uzbekistan.

IWPR spoke to would-be refugees who had been desperate enough to push their way past Uzbekistan's rigorously-controlled frontier defences on May 14. Some were reportedly killed by their own country's border guards.

The fleeing civilians were not allowed to enter Kyrgyz territory after the government there ordered the border to be closed. But they were allowed to wait nearby, on the strip of neutral land that separates the two countries, and apparently beyond the reach of the Uzbek security forces.

"We can't return to our city, because death inevitably awaits us there," said a young man from Andijan who gave his name only as Kamil. "Kyrgyzstan must save us. If we return to our own country, our days will be numbered.

"The Kyrgyz authorities have treated us peacefully, and your soldiers are protecting us."

Heated criticism was growing last night over 'double standards' by Washington over human rights, democracy and 'freedom' as fresh evidence emerged of just how brutally Uzbekistan, a US ally in the 'war on terror', put down Friday's unrest in the east of the country.

Outrage among human rights groups followed claims by the White House on Friday that appeared designed to justify the violence of the regime of President Islam Karimov, claiming - as Karimov has - that 'terrorist groups' may have been involved in the uprising.

Critics said the US was prepared to support pro-democracy unrest in some states, but condemn it in others where such policies were inconvenient.

Russia has sided with Mr. Karimov, blaming Islamic extremists for attempting to create instability.

Vladimir Vasilyev, who heads the Security Committee in Russia's parliament, says Russia has been monitoring the situation closely because of concern about how events may develop, and will decide what to do depending on that.

Human-rights groups have long criticized Mr. Karimov's regime for abuses, including torture of prisoners and illegal detentions. They blame poverty and repressive policies for the situation, saying Uzbekistan is ripe for more unrest.

American soldiers have been based at an airport in southern Uzbekistan since 2001, but this is far from the scene of the unrest.

The Russian foreign minister said foreign radical forces, particularly Talibs, were behind uprising in Uzbekistan. Sergei Lavrov said Russia was still analyzing reports coming from Uzbekistan, and did not have a full picture yet. "I do not think any country will tolerate foreign forces seizing arms depots, staging violence, raiding administrative buildings, and taking hostages on its territory," Lavrov told a news conference in Vienna. Lavrov said every country with self-respect must take measures to exercise its right to self-protection. A group of gunmen seized administrative buildings and a prison in Andijan, a large city in eastern Uzbekistan, on Thursday night, while thousands of protesters filled the central square the next day, demanding the president and the government step down. The central government sent troops into the city and the uprising was suppressed.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 09:42 0 comments links to this post

Reporters Without Borders called today on the Ukrainian authorities to provide "clear proof" of the guilt of the suspected hitmen and masterminds in the 2001 murder of TV journalist Igor Alexandrov and said it hoped a new trial of four men in the case starting on 16 May would not be "another farce" pinning responsibility on "conveniently-found suspects."

It said "very serious mistakes and legal errors" had accumulated during the four-year official investigation into the killing. "The full truth must be established in this terrible death of an investigative journalist," it added. The appeals court in Luhansk will hear the case.

Thugs beat Alexandrov with baseball bats outside the offices in Slavinsk of the TV station TOR, of which he was director-general, on 3 July 2001 and he died of his injuries four days later. Volodymyr Tymoshenko, head of the anti-crime and anti-corruption department of the country's security services, said he was killed because of his reports on corruption and organised crime in the eastern region of Donetsk.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 08:16 0 comments links to this post

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Media Briefing

AI Index: EUR 50/003/2005 (Public)
News Service No: 122
11 May 2005

Ukraine: Songs, "revolution" and human rights
Ukraine's entry for Eurovision Song Contest, taking place in the capital Kyiv, is inspired by the "Orange Revolution", the mass protest that was sparked by the flawed presidential elections in the country in late 2004. Viktor Yushchenko, who emerged as the victor from the rerun of the elections, came to power over 100 days ago with the promise to improve life in the country for everybody, including to safeguard their human rights. On the occasion of his inauguration on 23 January 2005 as President of Ukraine, Amnesty International's Secretary General Irene Khan brought to his attention a number of human rights concerns that the organization believes merit his immediate attention. Amnesty International urged the new administration to significantly improve the protection of human rights in Ukraine, including by bringing relevant legislation in line with the Constitution of Ukraine as well as with international human rights law and standards.

Three months later, on 3 May 2005, Amnesty International wrote again to the Ukrainian authorities, this time to the Minister of Justice, Roman Zvarich, regarding two cases of torture and ill-treatment and made some recommendations to help protect the rights of people in police custody in line with international human rights treaties to which Ukraine is a state party.

In early 2004, police officers from Simferopol on the Crimean Peninsula detained six people - three men and two women, one of them with her 18-month-old son - in connection with an attack against an individual which had occurred the previous year. The police treated the three men as suspects for the crime. They allegedly repeatedly beat and threatened them and forced them to sign confessions which they later withdrew. The three men were released without charge. One of them had to be admitted to hospital with injuries to his back and kidneys. The two women were questioned as witnesses and allegedly beaten. The 18-month-old boy, who was ill and had a high temperature at the time, was taken away from his mother to force her to testify against the three men. None of the detained people had access to a lawyer while they were in detention. All of them complained to the public prosecutor of the Simferopol region, but to Amnesty International's knowledge, no action has been taken to this day to investigate the allegations or to suspend the police officers involved in the ill-treatment.

In 2001, officers from Chernihiv city police station allegedly beat and tortured a family of three over the disputed ownership of a Bosch drill and the possession of a gas pistol. The father, son and mother were allegedly initially beaten by plain-clothes policemen in front of their neighbours in their home, and later, the father and son were allegedly tortured in the police station and threatened with rape. They were admitted to hospital for their injuries and were treated for concussion, a broken rib, cuts, bruises and a burst eardrum. They were subjected to this ordeal at the hands of the police to make them surrender "voluntarily" an item, not as evidence, but allegedly for gain. To Amnesty International's knowledge, to this date the Chernihiv police officers have not been brought to justice and the victims have not been offered compensation.

Both the UN Human Rights Committee and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) have found that Ukraine falls short in its obligations to prevent torture. Last December, the CPT published the report of its visit to Ukraine in 2002. This report repeated the conclusions of previous ones that "people deprived of their liberty by the police run a significant risk of being physically ill-treated at the time of their apprehension or while in custody".

During last year's presidential elections Amnesty International urged the then Minister of Internal Affairs to ensure that law enforcement officers fully respect the rights to freedom of expression and assembly, and the principle of proportionality of force. However, opposition supporters were detained and some protesters were ill-treated by police.

Members of the youth opposition organization "Pora" (It is time) were arbitrarily detained and harassed. Aleksander Tsitsenko, for example, was detained by masked police on 21 October in Kirovograd as he was collecting leaflets and stickers. He was released without charge on 25 October. Twenty-year-old Andriiy Kulibaba was detained on 20 October in Vinnytsya and sentenced to 10 days in detention for "deliberate disobedience to police orders". The sentence was later reduced to a fine and he was released on 23 October.

Aleksander Pugach, aged 18, was detained in Vinnytsya on 21 October for refusing to give his name to the police, but was acquitted of that offence. Minutes later, as he stood on the steps of the courthouse, he was detained again for "hooliganism". All charges against all three men were subsequently dropped, but "Pora" members continued to be targeted prior to the elections.

The new Ukrainian President, Viktor Yushchenko, vowed in January 2005 to bring to justice those responsible for the "disappearance" in September 2000 of investigative journalist Georgiy Gongadze. On 2 March, the Prosecutor General announced that the murder had been solved and that two suspects had been detained, and that "colonels and generals" in the police and intelligence service were behind the murder. By 4 April the two suspects had allegedly confessed. However, progress has slowed recently, and on 19 April Parliament was not presented with the report of the Commission investigating the murder, allegedly on the order of President Yushchenko.

Amnesty International has also raised its concerns with the authorities in Ukraine regarding:

Refugees
In June 2004, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe recommended that Ukraine observe the fundamental principles of international law concerning the protection of refugees and asylum-seekers, and show commitment and political will in tackling the problems of migration. Refugee law in Ukraine breaches international standards by imposing a strict time limit of between three and five days after arrival during which asylum-seekers may submit applications.

Violence against women
Turkey and Russia continue to be the main destination countries for most of the women and girls trafficked from Ukraine for sexual exploitation. The government has taken steps to address the problem and prosecutions increased after Article 149 of the Criminal Code -- which establishes trafficking as an offence -- was introduced in 1998. However, conviction rates remain low. Judges often lack experience of the issue and witness protection is rarely offered to trafficked women and girls. Although a special department was established within the Ministry of the Interior to deal with trafficking, law enforcement officers often lack resources and training.

Discrimination
Anti-Semitic and racist attacks were reported in various parts of Ukraine. Members of the Jewish community in Donetsk, for example, reported a dramatic increase in anti-Semitic acts in 2004. Police continued to deny that attacks on Jewish cemeteries and places of worship were racially motivated. In Odessa attacks on foreign nationals, particularly those from Africa, increased; many were attributed to "skinhead" gangs.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 08:26 0 comments links to this post

The Russian security service claimed yesterday to have discovered spies working for the British, US, Saudi and Kuwaiti governments who were operating under the cover of non-governmental organisations.

The FSB comments, an unusually detailed reiteration of suspicions it has often voiced, came days after the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, hosted George Bush and other world leaders for the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow. The visit of Mr Bush, who described the Soviet occupation of Europe as one of the great wrongs of the 20th century, underlined growing mistrust of the west among Kremlin hardliners.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 08:21 0 comments links to this post

Officials of the government's religious affairs committee have claimed that the Sonmin Grace church in the northern town of Khujand has been ordered closed for violating the law, but have refused to explain their decision to Forum 18 News Service. Yet committee official Madhakim Pustiev admitted: "The activity of the church had annoyed Muslims and some of them asked for the Khujand branch of the church to be closed." Preacher Alisher Haidarov said the church is still open at the moment. "The most absurd thing is that we cannot even understand what specific legal violations we are accused of. Our church has existed in Khujand for 11 years and we have never broken any laws," he told Forum 18. The religion committee chairman has called for local authorities to supervise closely the activities of religious organisations.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 08:16 0 comments links to this post

Although the authorities have so far held off from closing down two religious communities eligible for liquidation under the restrictive 2002 religion law - the charismatic New Life church and the Hare Krishna community in Minsk – officials have warned both communities not to meet. "We're afraid to meet at our temple," Sergei Malakhovsky of the 200-strong Hare Krishna community told Forum 18 News Service, pointing out that constant police checks would result in "a huge fine equivalent to approximately 1,500 US dollars". New Life church and the Hare Krishna communities in Minsk and Bobruisk are among many religious communities denied compulsory re-registration and whose activity is therefore illegal. In April the pastor of an unregistered Baptist church was also fined.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 08:09 0 comments links to this post

On May 9 Alyaksandr Lukashenka was not present at the parade on the 60th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War. According to the official information, the Belarusian leader went back to Minsk on May 8 to celebrate Victory Day in Belarus. However, according to the sources in Moscow, and leading Russian and foreign mass media, Lukashenka was simply driven out from the Russian capital.

“The rumour runs that in reality the situation was more difficult. In fact, Lukashenka has been expelled from Russia. And it was the American side who insisted on that. Its representatives allegedly stated that George Bush does not want to see “dictator Lukashenka” close to him,” the “Moskovskiy Komsomolets” writes.

“Lukashenka’s haste leaving for Minsk was caused by the wish of the Kremlin to avoid a scandal between the hot Belarusian leader and the American leader, who had censured the official Minsk for its policy recently,” the German newspaper “Financial Times Deutschland” wrote.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:46 0 comments links to this post

The overthrow of the regime of President Askar Akaev in Kyrgyzstan in March has rekindled EU interest in the entire Central Asian region. However, although most EU actors agree the region has great strategic importance, there appears to be no strategic vision of how to promote political and economic reforms in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg today, EU officials painted a bleak picture of the current situation in the region and said instability and turmoil are a real threat.

Everyone in the European Union agrees that the bloc has an enormous stake in the stable and democratic future of Central Asia.

At a debate at the European Parliament in Strasbourg today, that case was made most incisively by Elmar Brok, chairman of the parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee. In the debate, Brok also represented the most populous political family in the chamber, the conservatives.

"It is a region that today has great strategic significance. It has strategic significance when it comes to gas and oil and other such matters to do with energy provision -- [given the backdrop] of a growing Chinese interest in the region; rising Islamic fundamentalism; and also because of the drug-trafficking routes that pass through parts of these countries," Brok said.

Pointing to Kyrgyzstan, Brok warned that one of the greatest sources of instability from the point of view of EU interest is presented by repressive regimes. As long as these regimes persist, the threat of instability and large-scale unrest remains.

"I believe that we must try and work out a common interest with these countries in which they are considered something more than just a short-term basis camp for Afghanistan," Brok said.

Although Kyrgyzstan has played a major role in galvanizing EU interest in Central Asia, officials had little to say about the country's prospects. It appears the EU has no information regarding the longer-term intentions of the new leadership of the country.

The situation in the other four Central Asian states is even bleaker.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:39 0 comments links to this post

The historical synagogue in Malakhovka, a village outside Moscow, was looted this past Sunday - and set on fire today. The 1932 wooden building did not survive the fire.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 08:13 0 comments links to this post

An unprecedented demonstration has taken place in the central Asian nation of Uzbekistan.

At least 1,000 people gathered in the eastern town of Andizhan to demand justice for a group of 23 young men accused of being Islamic extremists.

Long lines of protestors stretched down the streets around the courthouse - women on one side, men on the other.

Tuesday's unprecedented call for justice was extremely well organised.

The protesters were dressed in their best clothes, and the scene was peaceful and good humoured.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:57 0 comments links to this post

TO: Elyor Ganiev
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
9 Uzbekistanskaya Street
Tashkent 700029
Republic of Uzbekistan

Via Facsimile: + 998 (71) 139 15 17



Dear Mr. Ganiev:

The Committee to Protect Journalists is greatly dismayed by your ministry's repeated and unfair denial of press accreditation to Marina Kozlova, Tashkent correspondent for United Press International (UPI).

Kozlova has worked as a journalist in Uzbekistan for 10 years and was officially accredited by the Foreign Ministry from 1998 to 2003, first as a correspondent for the Russian weekly Obshchaya Gazeta and since 1999 as a correspondent for UPI. Kozlova has faced repeated harassment in retaliation for her reporting on the mistreatment of journalists, human rights abuses by police, and torture in Uzbek prisons.

The Foreign Ministry, which is responsible for accrediting correspondents for international news agencies, denied accreditation to Kozlova in November 2003. The decision has obstructed her ability to report on political developments in Uzbekistan by barring her from attending presidential, parliamentary, and foreign ministry meetings and press conferences.

UPI sought accreditation on her behalf again in February 2005, but Foreign Ministry press secretary Ilkhom Zakirov told Kozlova on April 27 that the ministry would not accredit her because she does not have a journalism degree.

The Foreign Ministry's Web site does not list a journalism degree as a requirement for accreditation. It cites only one criterion for denial or suspension of accreditation: breaking the law. When CPJ contacted Zakirov by telephone on May 4, he would not provide any information about the accreditation process nor would he explain the decision against Kozlova. The Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the United States did not return numerous phone messages seeking information.

The record shows a pattern of unfair treatment of Kozlova. The Foreign Ministry briefly denied her press accreditation in May 2001 on grounds that she dressed inappropriately, had the wrong hairstyle for a journalist, and engaged in defiant behavior. Kozlova was issued accreditation 10 days later, after UPI and the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent protested.

In August 2003, before her accreditation was officially pulled, Zakirov prevented Kozlova from attending the opening session of Parliament. Zakirov told Kozlova that her presence was unwanted, but he did not elaborate. The move came shortly after a press conference at which Kozlova asked then-Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov about the fate of Ruslan Sharipov, an independent journalist and human rights activist imprisoned on politicized charges.

The Foreign Ministry's actions in this case come against a troubling backdrop. In May 2003 and October 2003, the Foreign Ministry denied accreditation to the Tashkent bureau of the London-based Institute of War & Peace Reporting in retaliation for its reporting on human rights abuses and criticism of government policies.

Mr. Ganiev, we believe that your ministry has unjustly denied accreditation to Marina Kozlova in retaliation for her reporting on human rights abuses and other sensitive topics. We call on you to reverse this decision and accredit Kozlova immediately.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. We await your reply.



Sincerely,

Ann Cooper
Executive Director

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:55 0 comments links to this post

"We are living in historic times when freedom is advancing, from the Black Sea to the Caspian, and to the Persian Gulf and beyond," Mr. Bush said. "As you watch free people gathering in squares like this across the world, waving their nations' flags and demanding their God-given rights, you can take pride in this fact: they have been inspired by your example and they take hope in your success."

The Georgians did not disappoint. On a hot spring day, the boisterous, largely youthful crowd - said to be one of the largest ever to gather in Georgia - seemed unaware or did not care that the Bush administration steadfastly backed Mr. Shevardnadze in 2003, refusing to meet with the pro-democracy forces until after the former Soviet foreign minister had fled. Mr. Saakashvili, a 37-year-old lawyer who studied at Columbia and was the main benefactor of Mr. Bush's visit, estimated that as many as 150,000 people had come to see Mr. Bush, the first American president to visit his country.

Mr. Bush's warning to Mr. Putin, his host only 24 hours before at the 60th anniversary celebration of the defeat of Germany, was focused on two separatist enclaves within Georgia's borders, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, that are aligned with Moscow. Earlier in the day, at a joint news conference with Mr. Saakashvili in the Parliament building, Mr. Bush embraced the Georgian president's plan for the enclaves to become autonomous and self-governing, but not independent. He noted with approval that Mr. Saakashvili wanted the country "to remain intact."

In his remarks, Mr. Bush warned Georgians that for all their recent success, elections were only the beginning. "While peaceful revolutions can bring down repressive regimes, the real changes and the real challenge is to build up free institutions in their place," Mr. Bush said. "This is difficult work, and you are undertaking it with dignity and determination."

Mr. Saakashvili has been praised for attacking the country's long-term corruption, modernizing the military, increasing tax collection and instituting standardized testing in schools, but his country has also been criticized by Human Rights Watch for the use of torture and a plea-bargaining system that allows defendants in criminal cases to pay the government to avoid a trial.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:50 0 comments links to this post

President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia will make no further apologies for dictator Josef Stalin's secret World War II pact with Hitler that led to the Soviet annexation of the Baltic states, declaring it ``a closed issue.''

Putin said Moscow was ready to reach border agreements with Estonia and Latvia if the two countries, which gained independence after the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991, approach talks in a ``mature'' fashion, without ``foolish preconditions.''

Putin was further angered when President Bush visited Latvia on his way to Moscow for the most important day on the Russian political calendar. In addition Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, have become members of NATO, bringing the Western alliance to the Russian frontier.

Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga was the only Baltic leader to accept an invitation to attend the commemoration in Moscow, while the heads of Lithuania and Estonia said they could not attend because of five decades of occupation.

Putin insists the three Baltic states willingly joined the Soviet Union on the basis of the pact, but the Latvian president said Putin was ``lying through his teeth.''

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:42 0 comments links to this post

change of regime and subsequent upheaval in the Kyrgyz capital has changed the attitude of many local residents towards the country's police force.

Prior to the fall of deposed Kyrgyz president Askar Akayev's regime on 24 March, many Bishkek residents considered law enforcement officials inefficient and corrupt. As night fell on the city at the end of that day, many Bishkek residents found themselves without police protection. Officers kept a low profile and looters ransacked the city.

In April, illegal land seizures around Bishkek were a cause of great concern to residents of the capital and tension was increase by the distribution of leaflets allegedly targeting ethnic minorities. These events highlighted the need for a strong, transparent police service, accountable to the people.

"We need the police, which will protect people's interests, not their own," Almaz, a Bishkek resident and a student of the Kyrgyz Technical University, told IRIN in the capital.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:39 0 comments links to this post

First, we must work together to support the consolidation of democracy in our own countries. Georgia regained its freedom in the Rose Revolution only 18 months ago. Though we have made great strides, much remains to be done in building a lasting democracy. Two significant portions of our territory -- South Ossetia and Abkhazia -- remain untouched by the freedom the rest of Georgia enjoys. We can and must peacefully resolve these disputes to better the lives of Georgians.

Ukraine's Orange Revolution succeeded only five months ago. My friend Viktor Yushchenko faces real challenges in rebuilding his country's economy and in ending the corruption and criminality that are the legacy of decades of repression and misrule.

Second, we must extend the reach of liberty in the Black Sea region and throughout wider Europe. Moldova, like Georgia, faces a separatist region that maintains itself with cast-off Soviet weaponry and the profits from an illicit economy based on trafficking in weapons, drugs and women. These are the last razor-sharp splinters of the Soviet empire.

In Belarus, 10 million people remain in a more regimented captivity. The regime of Aleksander Lukashenko rules by fear, yet fears its own people. The world can do much more to aid the Belarusan people in the quest for freedom. The new Yalta Conference will press for liberty in Belarus through increased travel restrictions on government officials, expanded financial and material support to the opposition, and enhanced training for civic society in the methods of peaceful protest that helped free the people of Georgia and Ukraine.

Third, we seek to expand the frontiers of freedom far beyond the Black Sea. Our message to the oppressors and their subjects is unequivocal: Free peoples cannot rest while tyranny thrives. Just as we benefit from the blessings of liberty, we have a duty to those who remain beyond its reach. In Zimbabwe, Cuba, Burma and elsewhere, millions live under cruel tyrants. Too many governments and international organizations appear willing to sacrifice freedom for what they mistakenly believe will be stability. We know that only the consent of the governed brings stability. And we know that if the world's democracies make liberty the priority of their policy, the days of the dictators are numbered.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:36 0 comments links to this post

The following day, the ruling Yeni Azerbaycan Party (YAP) extended an invitation to several prominent opposition parties to attend a roundtable discussion of the political situation on 4 May. (Insofar as the nucleus of YeS is comprised of individuals, rather than political parties, it was not invited to that roundtable.) But despite YAP's stated readiness for dialogue, recent statements by both Azerbaijani officials and Council of Europe experts suggest that the former are reluctant to remove possible restrictions on the holding of democratic elections.

In the eyes of the opposition, the primary obstacle to fair elections is the current election law, in particular those paragraphs that specify the composition of the Central Election Commission and parallel regional-level bodies. That issue was the subject of protracted and heated arguments in the run-up to the October 2003 presidential ballot not only between the opposition and the authorities but also between individual opposition parties (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," 23 May 2003 and "RFE/RL Newsline," 10, 11, and 13 June 2003).

Representatives of opposition parties are far outnumbered on the Central Election Commission by members of YAP, which has a majority in the present parliament, and on lower-level commissions by district officials who may not necessarily be YAP members but who owe their positions to their loyalty to the authorities.

In recent months, Azerbaijani officials have made conflicting statements, some suggesting that the composition of the Central Election Commission could be changed, while others rule out any such changes. President Ilham Aliyev made clear on 27 April that he considers such changes unnecessary and potentially destabilizing. The website day.az quoted him as saying that "we should act in such a way as to ensure that destructive forces do not appropriate a mechanism which would enable them to disrupt the conduct of the election." But two days later, the same website quoted presidential administration Social-Political Department head Ali Hasanov as saying that "we are ready introduce into the Electoral Code any amendments" that will contribute to fair and democratic elections.

A second obstacle to free elections is the restrictions currently in force on the freedom of assembly, especially in Baku. Parliament deputy Alimamed Nuriev was quoted by the online daily exho-az.com on 30 April as saying that the Baku municipal authorities will soon issue a list of venues where the opposition may convene "large-scale gatherings." Some parliament deputies, however, advocate amending the existing legislation on freedom of assembly, which they reportedly consider "excessively liberal."

Finally, the opposition and the Council of Europe are perturbed at the repeated delay in launching an independent national public broadcaster. That station was supposed to be operative by June, but its director, former parliament deputy Ismail Omarov, told journalists last week that it will not be ready to begin broadcasting before August-September at the earliest, according to zerkalo.az on 28 April.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:56 0 comments links to this post

Bush's stop is the first visit by a U.S. president to the impoverished country of 4.5 million nestled between Russia and Turkey, a point that Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili says proves Georgia's "special role and special mission."

Educated at Columbia University, fluent in English and just 37, Saakashvili is something of a poster boy for what Bush calls the march of freedom. Saakashvili led the nonviolent protests against rigged parliamentary elections in November 2003 that eventually toppled then-president Eduard Shevardnadze, a veteran communist who had lost U.S. support because of his government's corruption.

Wildly popular with his rose-waving supporters, Saakashvili went on to a landslide victory in presidential elections in January 2004. He staffed his cabinet with pro-Western colleagues, nearly all in their 30s, and ordered radical reforms, including a war on corruption, designed to ready Georgia for membership someday in NATO and the European Union.

White House National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley described the revolution as a "landmark in the history of liberty," a point Bush is likely to stress.

The reality does not always match the ideals, though. Human Rights Watch recently accused Georgia of continuing to practice torture, while Western diplomats worry Saakashvili is concentrating too much power in his own hands.

However, Washington strongly supports its new ally with military and economic assistance. A new aid package worth up to $200 million may be announced shortly, U.S. and Georgian officials indicate.

The country's shift in allegiance has increasingly sidelined Russia, which in one form or other ruled Georgia for most of the last two centuries.

Relations between Moscow and Tbilisi have soured to the point that Saakashvili boycotted Monday's World War II victory parade in Red Square, which more than 50 world leaders attended. He said the trip was impossible while Moscow refuses to agree on withdrawal of its last two army bases in Georgia, bases he calls a "legacy of Soviet totalitarian domination."

Meanwhile, it appears Georgia's "rose revolution" was only the beginning.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:43 0 comments links to this post

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Michael Goldfarb
212-514-8040 x12

KAZAKHSTAN: DISMISS ANTI-NGO LAWS

NEW YORK, May 9, 2005 -- In a letter sent to the chairman of Kazakhstan's parliament, a group of leaders of human rights and pro-democracy organizations today urged the government to dismiss two draft laws that threaten democracy.

The draft laws, currently before the Kazakh parliament, or Majilis, would place significant restrictions on the activities of foreign and domestic nongovernmental organizations, especially those supporting local human rights activists.

The two laws -- "On the Activities of Branches and Representative Offices of International or Foreign Non-commercial Organizations in the Republic of Kazakhstan" and "On the Introduction of Amendments and Additions into Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Matters Related to Non-commercial Organizations" -- will severely hinder international assistance to Kazakhstan. Kazakh citizens will therefore be deprived of the valuable services and experience of the international community.

The timing of the draft law submissions is of particular significance as the Bush Administration decides whether to certify that Kazakhstan has made significant improvements in the protection of human rights.

The text of the letter follows:


TO: Chairman of the Majilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan

As members of the international community of donors in Kazakhstan we strongly urge you to dismiss the current draft laws -- "On the Activities of Branches and Representative Offices of International or Foreign Non-commercial Organizations in the Republic of Kazakhstan" and "On the Introduction of Amendments and Additions into Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Matters Related to Non-commercial Organizations."

We are concerned that the draft laws do not follow recognized international legal standards and best practices. The official commentary to these laws cites numerous foreign laws but takes these out of context and misconstrues them. These laws are intended to place unnecessary burdens and restrictions on the activities of foreign and domestic NGOs. While there are many troublesome provisions in the new laws, the following are of particular concern:

Re-registration of all branches and representative offices for international and foreign NGOs with the Ministry of Justice

Notification of all events by the local executive government bodies

Sanctions on NGOs for failure to notify or for providing late notification to local government authorities prior to events conducted by NGOs

Mandating attendance of local government executives at events

Annual reporting on receipts and expenditures, as well as sources of income

Local government body approval of any financial assistance to Kazakh NGOs

Prohibition of any assistance that expresses the political will of the people

Requirement for Kazakh citizens to be the heads of representative branch offices

We believe that the draft laws in their entirety are so flawed that they cannot be fixed. They not only contradict the 2001 pledge by President Bush and President Nazarbaev for cooperation and democracy but will cut off much-needed assistance to Kazakhstan.

We thank you for your consideration of these requests.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Windsor, Executive Director, Freedom House

Lorne Craner, President, International Republican Institute

Kenneth Wollack, President, National Democratic Institute

Jeanne Bourgault, Vice President for Programs, Internews Network

Richard W. Soudriette, President, IFES

Natalia Bourjaily, Vice President- NIS, International Center for Not-For-Profit Law

Elizabeth Andersen, Executive Director, American Bar Association / Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative

Aryeh Neier, President, Open Society Institute

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:35 0 comments links to this post

Leader of Belarus opposition Anatoly Lebedko, who chairs the United Civil Party, arrived in Tbilisi on May 9 on the personal invitation of Vice-Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Mikheil Machavariani.

Reportedly, Lebedko wants to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush during the latter’s visit to Georgia on May 10.

In a recent interview with the Rustavi 2 television Vice-Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Mikheil Machavariani confirmed that he personally invited Anatoly Lebedko to visit Tbilisi in an attempt to meet with George W. Bush.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:33 0 comments links to this post

Action of Zubr movement dedicated to the sixth anniversary of kidnapping of one of oppositional leaders ex-minister of internal affairs general Yury Zaharenka resulted in mass arrests. Belarusian police arrested more than 60 people.

At 5 p.m. [on 7 May] about hundred activists of Zubr lined up along Skaryna avenue. They were holding portraits of Yury Zaharenka, Victar Gonchar, Anatoly Krasovsky, Dmitry Zavadsky who were kidnapped in 1999-2000, Gennady Karpenko who had died under unrevealed circumstances and political prisoners Mihail Marinich, Valery Levaneusky, Aliaksandr Vasilieu and Andrey Klimau.

After the action began two riot-police vehicles arrived and people in civil started to grab its participants. 51 participants of the action were detained. Among them coordinators of Zubr Mikita Sasim, Aliaksey Levkovich, Pavel Yuhnevich and one of coordinators of Council of civil initiatives Dmitry Borodko. At the moment (6.45 p.m.) the detained people are at Leninsky district police department.

Twelve more Zubr activists were detained in Mahiliou. Peoples with portraits of disappeared politicians lined up near local KGB department. The action here did not last long too. In several minutes its participants were detained by police.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 08:00 0 comments links to this post

Unidentified vandals smashed 20 gravestones in a Jewish cemetery in the Belarusian town of Mikashevich (Brest region), according to a May 3 report by the AEN news service.

Local Jews criticized police for failing to arrest any suspects and pointed out that the cemetery is located a few meters from a police station and that the act of vandalism must have created noise. But police are said to have dragged their feet investigating the crime.

In the history of post-Soviet Belarus, Jewish cemeteries have been frequently desecrated but vandals have almost never been arrested.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:58 0 comments links to this post

Women who participated in demonstrations that shook the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, this week, were prevented by authorities from marching on a regional centre in southern Uzbekistan, protestors said on Friday.

"We were planning to march to the administrative centre of the [Kashkardarya] region demanding the release of our men who were arrested in Tashkent after police broke up our protest outside the US embassy," Zulayho Charieva, 29, told IRIN. "But all women were taken away to the police office on Thursday morning and kept for a whole day," she added.

More than 50 protestors, including women and children, began occupying land outside the US embassy on Tuesday, demanding the government return their farms and property in the southern Kashkadarya region. Other demonstrators called for the right to asylum in the US to escape what they describe as a campaign of harassment against them by the authorities. They also demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyaev, along with other officials.

More than a hundred special police broke up the protest camp at midnight on Tuesday, assaulting some of those involved and then busing them back to their hometowns.

"We begged them not to beat us saying to the police that we were ready to stop the demonstration, but there was no mercy. All men and women were repeatedly beaten by police and plain clothes security people armed with truncheons. Our children were thrown into the buses like animals," said Charieva. "We were insulted and humiliated all the way down to Kashkadarya. Since then we haven't seen our men and don't know what happened to them," she added.

Most of the protestors were relatives of entrepreneur Bahadir Chariev, whose lucrative farm had been repossessed by the state. Chariev himself was granted asylum in the US in January after being harassed and arrested several times as a result of efforts to get his farm back, which he acquired in 1999.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:53 0 comments links to this post

Newly-elected Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko inherited a Soviet style broadcasting system that is dependent on the state, Tatiana Lebedeva, Chairman of the Board of National TV and Radio Broadcasting Council of Ukraine, told a recent RFE/RL audience. Yushchenko has declared his support for the changeover to a public broadcasting model for Ukrainian state television. However, the group charged with creating the model for Ukrainian public service broadcasting is facing some unexpected challenges, Lebedeva said.

Currently, Ukraine does not have a public service broadcaster. The national television station, UT-1, reaches about 99 percent of the population of Ukraine, but provides its viewers news coverage that is vulnerable to political pressure and government control. UT-1 and the national radio stations, UR-1, UR-2, and UR-3, comprise a comprehensive network of media "all financed by the national budget, run by government appointment managers, and staffed by journalists who consider themselves to be civil servants reliant on the government for job security," said Lebedeva. "The media has one point of view -- the government's point of view," she said, "it is very much censored externally by the government, and internally because the staff is accustomed to the tradition of working under oppression."

In order to create a successful new system of public broadcasting, Lebedeva said, the new government needs "political will," consistent and joint action by members of civil society, diligent work by media specialists and lawyers, constant monitoring, and support from the international community. Lebedeva also thinks that the existing laws on media are insufficient and will need reform. She noted that a public relations campaign will be needed to explain the importance of an independent media to the public, because "the tax payers are scared of a transition that would leave them paying for changes that they are unsure of."

NGO's such as her own Independent Association of TV and Radio Broadcasters, Internews-Ukraine, Telekritika, the Ukrainian Press Academy, the Ukrainian Journalists' Trade Union, and several others, have formed a Public Service Broadcasting Coalition to develop proposals for both public education and legislation. This coalition is united by their desire for independent media, which Lebedeva called "a proven indicator of a truly democratic society." To attain this goal, they advocate non-state budget funding, transparency and public control, responsible editorial policy, and programming that serves the public.

Lebedeva noted, however, that support for public service broadcasting is not universal in Ukraine. She pointed to three primary groups that are standing in the way of a transition.One

has coalesced around government officials who believe that cosmetic changes to the current radio and television stations are sufficient and that no radical changes are necessary. A second group consists of close allies of President Yushchenko, who have recently asserted that "the new State needs new state-owned media" and have called for the current state system to be expanded. Lastly, a number of lobbyist groups advocate the creation of a commercial television broadcaster on the basis of UT-1, similar to what was done in Russia.

"The idea of state-owned and public-owned media co-existing seems absurd. I feel badly for those who don't see that the old system of broadcasting is actually hurting the government," Lebedeva said. Her hope is that Ukrainians will create an environment where commercial broadcasters and public service broadcasters can both thrive, thereby assuring "a truly democratic society, which is a requirement for Ukraine's European integration."

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:46 0 comments links to this post

Despite a worsening political situation and a poor economy, a popular uprising similar to those that have recently occurred in Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan is unlikely in Tajikistan, according to RFE/RL Tajik Service Director Massoumeh Torfeh. Torfeh told a recent RFE/RL audience that, in contrast to the political events in these post-Soviet countries, change in Tajikistan is more likely to occur along "a slow road to democracy."

Torfeh explained that Tajikistan "already had its street revolution" in April and May, 1992, when the "Tajik opposition staged the longest-lasting street demonstration ever seen in the region -- 53 days." Torfeh said this "street revolution" led to a "civil war that people hated," and now the people of Tajikistan are "against politics, especially the youth." They would rather accept almost any situation other than war and as a result are "silently suffering," she said.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:42 0 comments links to this post

PRESIDENT George W Bush praised the spread of democracy among Russia’s neighbours yesterday, heightening tensions with the Kremlin ahead of VE Day celebrations in Moscow tomorrow.
“I will continue to speak as clearly as I can to President (Vladimir) Putin that it is in his country’s interest that there be democracies on his borders,” Bush said during a visit to the former Soviet republic of Latvia.

“Democracies are peaceful countries. Democracies don’t fight each other. Democracies are good neighbours.”

In comments bound to irritate Putin, the American president described the post-war Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe as “one of the greatest wrongs of history”, which brought “communist oppression” to Latvia and its neighbours, Estonia and Lithuania.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:38 0 comments links to this post

President Bush said on Saturday there should be free elections in Belarus and ruled out any secret U.S. deal with Moscow to let President Alexander Lukashenko keep power.

"The only deal that I think is a necessary deal for

people is the deal of freedom. They should be allowed to express themselves in free and open and fair elections in Belarus," Bush told a joint news conference with the leaders of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia in the Latvian capital.

There are fears in Belarus' neighboring Baltic countries that Lukashenko will cut a deal to remain in power. Russia and the United States have clashed over Belarus with Moscow rebuffing calls by Washington for change.

Bush, on his way to Moscow for Monday's ceremonies marking the end of World War II in Europe, stressed during his stop in Latvia that for the Baltics the end of the war meant the start of decades of Soviet occupation.

Asked about the possibility of striking a deal to help Lukashenko, Bush said: "Can you make a deal to determine somebody else's fate?

"I think that's what we're lamenting here today about what happened to the Baltics -- one of those secret deals among large powers that consigns people to a way of governing. No, we don't make secret deals," he said.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:32 0 comments links to this post

The opposition remains weak and divided. At a recent gathering in neighboring Lithuania, a frustrated American expert working with the opposition candidates played the Elvis Presley hit with the lyrics "A little less conversation, a little more action please" and told the candidates, "It's going to be the theme song for all of you."

It will also be an uphill battle. The presidential elections next year are expected to be rigged to give Lukashenko a massive majority. "It's not Election Day; it's the day after that's important," says a senior European diplomat. "It's a tossup between Lukashenko staying in forever and a violent overthrow where unpredictably people say they've had enough. [But] there has to be something that is the last straw."

For now, many Belarussians seem to prefer the status quo to the possible alternative, the kind of economic turmoil they have seen befall other former Soviet states. Products here are cheap, the official unemployment rate is low, and the government pays pensions regularly and relatively amply. "Lukashenko has given us a good life," says pensioner Maria Balzevich, 61, who lives in a dilapidated village an hour from the capital. When asked if she misses the Soviet Union, Balzevich looks around her two-room dacha, smiles, and replies, "What do you mean? I still live in the Soviet Union."

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:29 0 comments links to this post

Belarus, its president denounced in Washington as Europe's last dictator, accused its Baltic neighbors and the United States on Saturday of interfering in the country's internal affairs.

Bush, speaking after talks with Baltic leaders in neighboring Latvia earlier on Saturday, said there should be free elections in Belarus and ruled out any secret U.S. deal with Moscow to let Lukashenko keep power.

This drew an angry response from the foreign ministry in Minsk, saying any U.S. attempt to "thrust a wedge between the fraternal peoples of Belarus and Russia will fail" and that Belarus would determine its own path of democratic development.

"The Baltic states are embarking on a dangerous path of interference in Belarus's internal affairs. This is unacceptable and can create regional tensions," it said in a statement.

"Attempts by certain countries to implant democratic values in Belarus 'through the back door' are at variance with the building of civilised and pragmatic relations," it said.

Lukashenko separately poured scorn on the Riga talks and suggested the leaders of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were well advised "to study a map and show their boss (Bush) where Belarus is located."

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:23 0 comments links to this post

President Bush stepped into the middle of an escalating fight between Russia and the Baltic nations tonight as he arrived in the capital of Latvia at the start of a five-day trip to Europe.

Mr. Bush's trip, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Allied defeat of Nazi Germany with more than 50 other world leaders in Red Square on Monday, has brought forth an angry exhuming of post-World War II arguments in the region. The now-independent Baltic nations see the anniversary as the beginning of their unlawful annexation by the Soviet Union, and today Latvia stepped up demands that the Russians apologize for five decades of occupation.

The president added to the fire tonight. In an interview with the Lithuanian state television network that the White House released shortly before Air Force One landed in Riga, Mr. Bush said he had spoken to Mr. Putin about the Baltics at their last meeting in February. Mr. Bush also complained at the time about what he considered Mr. Putin's retreat from democracy.

"I said, do you understand, friend, that you've got problems in the Baltics?" Mr. Bush said, adding that he told Mr. Putin that "the remembrances of the time of Communism are unpleasant remembrances and you need to work with these young democracies."

Mr. Bush then said, "I don't know if I made any progress with him or not, but I have made my position clear."

Daniel Fried, the assistant secretary of State for the European and Eurasian Affairs bureau, went further with reporters on Air Force One, saying that the only "true narrative" of World War II is "ours" and that what the Russians "don't like to remember is what they were doing from 1939 to 1941," which he said was forging a secretive alliance with Hitler. The action is known to history as the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, the non-aggression treaty between the Nazis and Stalin that led to the Soviet occupation of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

The White House first publicly inserted itself into the quarrel when Mr. Bush sent a letter ahead of his trip to the Baltic leaders that noted that he was coming to commemorate the defeat of Hitler, but that the end of World War II "also marked the Soviet occupation and annexation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and the imposition of Communism."

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 11:31 0 comments links to this post

Says Wallace, "There was a time when the regional governors were elected, correct? And all of the sudden, Putin says, 'No, no, no. I shall appoint the governors.' That's democracy? That's not democracy the way I understand it."

"The principle of appointing regional leaders is not a sign of a lack of democracy," Putin retorts. "You're absolutely wrong. For instance, India is called the largest world democracy. But their governors have always been appointed by the central government and nobody disputes that India is not a democracy."

The Russian leader then points to what he believes are drawbacks to America's own brand of democracy, including the Electoral College system.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 11:19 0 comments links to this post

Problems discovered during the monitoring can be classified as follows:
1. Rejection of registration on irrelevant grounds;
2. Failure of the Ministry of Justice to keep to the timelines of the registration
process;
3. Prolongation of periods for consideration of documents for up to 30 days
without showing of any grounds;
4. Centralized registration of NGOs by the central registration body of the
Ministry of Justice located in Baku.

The authors recommend the following:
1. NGO registrations should be carried out not only by the central registration
office but also by regional departments of the State Register of Legal
Entities.
2. The registration procedure should be significantly simplified and the
amount of documents required for submission limited.
3. A preliminary review by the registration body should be carried out to
provide an opportunity for the applicant to submit missing documents and
correct obvious shortcomings in the submissions.
4. The following amendments to the Law on State Registration and State
Register of Legal Entities are necessary:
a. The law should clearly and correctly specify in which cases it
should be possible to rectify the shortcomings, and which are the
reasons for the rejection of a registration. Shortcomings which can
be rectified during the registration procedure and grounds for
rejection should be provided separately in the law. Such an
amendment would not allow the registration body to consider a
shortcoming which could be corrected as a ground for rejection.
b. Deadlines set for the registration process should be considerably
shortened. If the initial period for the examination of documents is
specified as 30 days, then an extension of the period by 15 days
rather than 30 days should be considered more reasonable. This
suggestion would prevent formal answers and unnecessary
prolongations of consideration periods. Furthermore, it would be
reasonable to set shorter deadlines for the correction of
shortcomings. i.e., rather 10 days than 20, since 10 days will be
sufficient to correct an inaccuracy. In addition, there is no serious
rationale to ignore non-working days in the Law when calculating
timelines of registration. (In other laws non-working days are not
counted. That this is not done in this Law results in a bureaucratic
extension of time which is incompatible with the principle of
consistency.)
c. This Law does not specify the exceptional cases which may reason
a prolongation of the consideration period. This deficiency in the
law allows the registration body to extend the consideration period
each time. From this view we consider that the Law should clearly
specify what the exceptional cases are.
5. The Ministry of Justice should prepare a handout that describes in easy
language the requirements for NGO registration.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 11:10 0 comments links to this post

The fear of a Ukrainian-style revolution in Belarus is surely one of the main motives behind Lukashenka's tough approach to street demonstrations in Minsk. "You see, today they are working on what we will be doing in 2006. Ukraine is forming camps -- so to say, we will sent you revolutionaries from there," Lukashenka said in a somewhat paranoid stream-of-consciousness passage of his 19 April address. Whatever it meant, it is clear the Belarusian president believes Ukraine's Orange Revolution may prove infectious to some Belarusians.

But there may also be some other, less obvious reasons behind Lukashenka's dislike of Ukraine and Ukrainians under the rule of President Viktor Yushchenko. In mid-April, Ukraine backed a UN resolution condemning Belarus' human rights record. Earlier that month, in a visit to Washington, Yushchenko issued a joint statement with U.S. President George W. Bush pledging "to support the advance of freedom in countries such as Belarus and Cuba."

Lukashenka is not a man likely to take such things lightly. The Belarusian Interior Ministry on 5 April ordered that the five Ukrainian detainees be deported from Belarus after serving their jail terms and banned for five years from re-entering the country.

"The dialogue between Lukashenka and Belarus' western neighbors is developing very dynamically. Will breaking diplomatic ties be the next step?" the Belarusian independent weekly "Nasha Niva" commented sarcastically on Lukashenka's 19 April address, in which he accused Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine of working jointly to destabilize Belarus, and unspecified Western embassies of channeling "bagfuls" of money into Belarus to support the opposition.

Breaking diplomatic relations with Kyiv may not be an option for Minsk in the near future, but we need to remember that it is still more than a year until presidential election in Belarus. Lukashenka has amply proved in the past that he is capable of taking bewildering measures to counteract what he sees as threats to his rule.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 11:07 0 comments links to this post

Turkish Gambit, a Russian-made epic in Hollywood style filmed by an expatriate Uzbek, could have been expected to be one of the hits of the year in Uzbekistan. But the film never made it to Uzbek cinemas. Why is not clear. No official reason has been given. But, according to reports in the independent media, once again a “recommendation” by officials was enough to stop any showings.

What authorities find troubling in a film about the 19th-century wars between the Russian and Ottoman empires is, then, just a matter of speculation. The talk on the street, though, is that the authorities fear war films could stimulate the population out of its passivity. The effects of the revolution in Kyrgyzstan work in mysterious ways. A far-fetched explanation? Just possibly – but when the authorities have also said that they will not show any war films to mark Victory Day on 9 May, it is clear to ordinary Uzbeks that the regime of President Islam Karimov is anxious to ensure their adrenalin levels are kept low.

Karimov’s fear of a copy-cat revolt might seem overstated. The only official coverage of the Kyrgyz revolution was the briefest of notifications that President Askar Akaev had left the country and that a new government was in place. What state-owned television is now willing to divulge is that the president is happy with the new leadership in Kyrgyzstan. It also proudly shows a trainload of aid sent to Kyrgyzstan.

But Uzbeks know about the revolution. However tight Karimov’s control of the media, Uzbeks have other sources of information. Russian television is widely viewed – and its state-appointed managers followed a very different policy from their Uzbek counterparts, by giving the revolution prominent coverage and lingering on scenes of looting. Those with access to the Internet – around 800,000 people in a country of 25.5 million – managed to find out what was going on (though most connections are from state-run organizations). In the bazaars, some feel comfortable enough to state quite openly that a change would be good for Uzbekistan.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 11:01 0 comments links to this post

May 6, 2005

Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of State
US Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20212

Dear Secretary Rice,

We are writing to ask you to encourage the government of Kyrgyzstan to promote political stability and respect for fundamental rights in that country. It is particularly important that the new Kyrgyz government take early action to ensure that the presidential election scheduled for July 10, 2005 is free and fair and not marred by violence.

During the Akaev era, people lost faith in their government. A widespread sense of disenfranchisement fed the discontent expressed in mass protests that led to a change in government. The new administration of President Kurmanbek Bakiev must now restore democratic institutions and the rule of law in Kyrgyzstan.

Successful transition to an accountable and rights-respecting government will depend in part on the political will of those now in power. During a recent ten-day mission to Kyrgyzstan, Human Rights Watch met with senior members of the new government to present our concerns, which we detailed in a letter to President Bakiev. We are confident that there is a genuine desire on the part of some officials to create conditions for free and fair elections. However, the government faces numerous challenges. The role of the U.S. government will be critical to the Bakiev government’s success in meeting these challenges. We therefore call on the United States to provide appropriate resources and expertise to help ensure that all Kyrgyz citizens will be able to exercise their right to political participation and that the vote will truly represent the will of the electorate.

The following are priority goals that the Bakiev government must achieve to establish a level playing field and safe environment during the crucial election campaign period and beyond.

Personal Security
Areas of the country remain unstable, and violence has been reported in conflicts between supporters for different parliamentary candidates from highly contested districts. There have been reports of protestors beating judges and disrupting the courts. In some districts, Human Rights Watch has received complaints that persons allegedly associated with criminal groups have illegitimately claimed administrative posts. This has put additional constraints on the activities of local authorities and civil society. It is imperative that the government take necessary and appropriate action to ensure the personal security of all political candidates and their supporters. We ask that the U.S. government emphasize to the government of Kyrgyzstan the importance of personal security and prevention of violence and other means of intimidation of voters and candidates and their supporters. This will be especially important during the politically sensitive period leading up to elections, and will be essential for a free and fair vote.

Freedom of Assembly
We strongly recommend that President Bakiev issue a presidential decree affirming the right to freedom of assembly as provided in Kyrgyzstan’s constitution and article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The decree should include guidelines clarifying the notification requirement for public assembly, including the agency that should receive notifications and the form these notifications should take.

It is important also that the government articulate clearly the parameters of the right to freedom of assembly well in advance of the presidential vote. This is vital to the exercise of a free and fair election and as a precaution against violence and unrest. Following recent changes in the law, the rules for legitimate peaceful assembly remain unclear to many in Kyrgyzstan, including activists, law enforcement agents, and judges.

Freedom of the Media
In order to guarantee free and fair elections, it is essential that the government allow the mass media to function without interference. We have received disturbing and credible reports of intervention by the executive branch regarding the content of the national broadcasts of television news on KTR. The Bakiev government needs to receive the message loud and clear from the United States administration that censorship of the media, including government-owned media, damages the credibility of the new administration and future elections and must stop.

Election Observers
The new government of Kyrgyzstan has pledged to cooperate with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in preparation for the upcoming presidential elections. As an OSCE participating state, the U.S. should work to ensure that a sufficient number of long-and short-term election observers are seconded to Kyrgyzstan.

Electoral Reform
The U.S. government should strongly encourage the Kyrgyz government to initiate specific reforms to ensure free and fair elections in July.


The government should issue a public statement instructing the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) not to interfere in the elections process on behalf of any party or candidate.

It should ensure that the composition of electoral commissions reflect a reasonable balance of representation by the government, non-governmental organizations, and political parties. Civil society groups should be allowed access to information regarding the composition of such commissions.

The government should make available new, complete, and up-to-date voter lists, ensuring in particular that election monitoring groups are given full access to such lists. Voter lists should be prepared enough in advance to allow for scrutiny by election monitors.

The Bakiev government should denounce publicly and unequivocally the practice of vote-buying. It should also support legislation reversing existing restrictions that prevent Kyrgyz diplomats who worked abroad from running for office.


Engagement with Civil Society
The U.S. government should encourage the Bakiev administration to engage with civil society groups regarding implementation of the above recommendations, making decisions in consultation with such expert and activist groups.

The U.S. government has the opportunity now to exercise leadership and to pass on its knowledge and expertise to the new government of Kyrgyzstan. In order to avoid violence and social unrest that could derail or undermine the upcoming presidential elections, and in the interest of instilling in people a confidence in the integrity of the electoral process, we urge you to act early to support the provision of free and fair elections in Kyrgyzstan.

Thank you for your attention to these important issues, we would be happy to meet with you and your staff to discuss these matters further,


Rachel Denber
Acting Executive Director
Europe and Central Asia division

Tom Malinowski
Washington Advocacy Director

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:55 0 comments links to this post

Kazakhstan has ordered the closure of one of the central Asian state's few newspapers that criticises the president, in the latest sign of a crackdown ahead of a possible election in December.

Respublika, a weekly that supports the opposition, showed reporters a copy of an order from the Culture, Information and Sports Ministry saying the paper had been "liquidated" without giving a reason.

"We consider the ministry's actions illegal and will lodge an appeal," said deputy editor Galina Dyrdina.

The paper has been shut down several times in the past, prompting it to re-open under another name. Its editor, Irina Petrushova, fled to Russia in 2002 after intimidation and an arson attack on the paper's offices.

She was detained for two days last month by Russian police, acting on a request from Kazakh prosecutors investigating tax evasion. Police released her, saying the charges were too old.

Respublika is one of the few papers to report on a long-stalled U.S. court case in which prosecutors have alleged that Nazarbayev received more than $60 million in bribes from a businessman acting as a go-between for Western oil companies.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:51 0 comments links to this post

Belarus under Alexander Lukashenko is the last dictatorship in Europe, US President George W Bush said ahead of his arrival in the region for VE Day.
Speaking to Lithuanian television, he said America would work with other states to ensure the next elections in the ex-Soviet republic were free.

Belarus accused the US of meddling in its affairs last month when its top diplomat made similar comments.

Condoleezza Rice met Belarussian dissidents on her visit to the region.

"One of the roles the United States can play is to speak fairly about the need for Belarus to be free... and make sure that the elections are free," Mr Bush told the TV station in Washington.

The next presidential election in Belarus is set for 2006.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:49 0 comments links to this post

Most of the media is under tight state control. Even rock music, which buoyed opposition crowds during the uprising in Kiev, has faced a crackdown. Lyavon Volski, a singer in the band NRM, who are barred from concerts and the radio for their opposition support, said: "Banning us was a big mistake by the authorities as they force [our fans] who were indifferent to politics to join the opposition. We will go underground."

He said a new law requiring 75% of music on the radio to be Belarussian in origin had taxed DJ playlists. "Now they are starting to look for Belarussian roots among western singers. Apparently, Aerosmith's Steve Tyler has some."

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:45 0 comments links to this post

"Today Ukraine - tomorrow Belarus," cried Igor Guz as he marched with hundreds of protesters in Minsk, the Belarussian capital, on last month's 19th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. It wasn't much of an outburst by the Ukrainian town councillor, but it led to his arrest by riot police. Yesterday he was still in jail and on hunger strike with 12 others, including four of his countrymen.
"They were not the first such arrests in Belarus, and they won't be the last," said Artur Finkevich, 20, the organiser of the protesters, who complained of the state's poor healthcare response to Chernobyl.

The arrests, for an "unsanctioned rally", have sparked furious protests from Kiev and the Ukrainian president, Viktor Yushchenko. It has also fuelled calls for a Belarussian version of the "Orange revolution" that led to the electoral defeat of neighbouring Ukraine's authoritarian government last December.
Such calls have been loudest in Washington. The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, recently gave Belarus's fragile opposition a boost by meeting key members in neighbouring Lithuania.

"I hope Bush will say something in Riga," said Svetlana Zavadskaya, whose husband, Dmitry Zavadsky, a television cameraman, was one of four opposition figures allegedly murdered by Mr Lukashenko's regime in 2000.

Ms Zavadskaya, who met Ms Rice in Lithuania, added: "Lukashenko deserves the same fate as [Serbia's Slobodan] Milosevic."

However, any White House effort to export democracy to Belarus would put an extra strain on Mr Bush's fraught relationship with President Vladimir Putin.

The Russian leader, who is still reeling over the recent fall of the former Ukrainian administration that he supported, will meet Mr Bush on Monday during Moscow's Victory Day celebrations. The encounter could be tense. Sergei Yevtushenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian foreign minister, said he was "sure" Mr Bush would speak about the detention of the Ukrainian demonstrators in Belarus.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:41 0 comments links to this post

In "Open Poem To President Karimov," English poet Richard McKane addresses the fate of Sobirjon Yoqubov, a 22-year old journalist arrested in Uzbekistan last month on charges of unconstitutional activity. Through his poetry, McKane has in his own way joined those who have come to Yoqubov's defense in the belief that he is innocent and the charges against him are politically motivated.

In his poem "Open Poem To President Karimov," McKane calls on Karimov to use his powers to "uphold the spirit of freedom of expression in Uzbekistan":

"I continually think on the fate of Sobirjan / a fine journalist but only a young man: / there he is in the Tashkent can, / we have to unite forces and do what we can."

Yoqubov also wrote about the killing of Ukrainian journalist Heorhiy Gongadze: "Mr. President of Uzbekistan, / in your fine residence, do you understand / what your regime's doing in imprisoning this young man? / With all due respect, the process seems underhand."

To show his support, McKane in April penned another -- this one an ode to Yoqubov -- in which he wrote that although the journalist is young, he is "not too young to know and show a world corrupt and bent."

McKane said such poems can send a more powerful message to Uzbek authorities than letters.

"I write this dialogue for the Uzbek peoples' profit / and for the freedom and future of Sobirjan / and the writers and journalists you have unjustly imprisoned, / including Mamadali Makhmudov and Muhammed Bekjon, / for none other than their fight for freedom of expression."

In his open poem, McKane calls on President Karimov to "let [his] regime begin to uphold the spirit of freedom of expression in Uzbekistan, long awaited -- while it still can!"

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 08:10 0 comments links to this post

Gennadii Zyuganov, for example, head of the Communist Party (KPRF), warned, in a September 2003 interview, that Russia was threatened by ‘zionization’, which he blamed for the “mass impoverishment and annihilation” in Russia after the fall of the Soviet regime. Second on the party list Nikolai Kondratenko, former governor of Krasnodar region, tried to draw a distinction, during a visit to Orenburg in October 2003, between ‘good’ Jews and ‘bad’ Zionists, and linked Zionism to Nazism. In Volgograd, where he traveled in early November and met Communist Party activists, regional officials, representatives of the media, and students of the Volgograd Agricultural Academy, he blamed ‘Zionism’ and Jews in general for Russia’s problems. On 12–13 November 2003 he visited Astrakhan, where he denounced Jews once again. A KPRF political ad from November quoted him as accusing “Zionist capital” of “sucking all the living juice out of Russia and Russians” and of planning to “kill through hunger, cold and moral torture no fewer than 70 million more people” in Russia. They were joined by General Albert Makashov, who in 1998 publicly called for the mass murder of Russian Jews and claims at every opportunity that he is fighting the 'Yids'. After having being stricken from the voting rolls before the 1999 elections, he won his old seat back in the 2003 elections. The KPRF won 13 percent of the vote, which gave it almost 11 percent of the seats in the Duma (48 deputies).

The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), headed by Vladimir Zhirinovskii (former deputy speaker of the Duma), who has frequently made antisemitic and racist comments over the years, almost doubled the number of its seats. In late October, Zhirinovskii stated his support for former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Muhammad, who claimed that Jews ruled the world (see Arab Countries): “He told the truth,” Zhirinovskii commented. The LDPR received 11 percent of the vote, which gave it 8 percent of the seats (38 deputies).

While President Vladimir Putin publicly denounced nationalist ideology and supported legal action against antisemitic publishers and skinheads, lower level officials turned a blind eye to antisemitic incidents. Shortly after the 2003 elections, President Putin condemned nationalist politicians as “either indecent people, simply idiots or provocateurs” during a live annual question-and-answer broadcast on TV and radio. He also threatened to prosecute politicians who used nationalist slogans, but no such actions have been initiated.

Since the first booby-trapped sign exploded on a Moscow highway in May 2002, there have been several similar incidents in various Russian locations. Approximately half were fake bombs while the other half were real explosives. At the beginning of 2003 firecrackers were thrown at the balcony of the apartment of the Rostov region rabbi, Elyashiv Kaplun. As a result, the balcony was set on fire. A few days earlier, unknown persons had smeared swastikas at the entrance of the building. On 1 August, a booby-trapped antisemitic sign was discovered in the suburbs of Moscow. On 21 September, another such sign was placed in a playground in Kaliningrad. It exploded while being dismantled and a 14-year-old boy was injured. On 9 October, an antisemitic sign with a dummy charge attached to it was found in southern Moscow.

On 15 and 22 August, the grave of the Jewish actor Veniamin Zuskin (a member of a Jewish intelligentsia group connected to the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, who was murdered on 12 August 1952) in Penza was vandalized. Cemeteries were also desecrated in Kaliningrad, Samara, Makhachkala (42 gravestones on 3 April; 10 on 4 June; and several more on 4 August), Volgodonsk (40 gravestones on 11 April), Moscow (12 gravestones in May), Tambov, Yaroslavl, Pyatigorsk (19 gravestones on 28 June), and Kostroma.

About one hundred newspapers that publish anti-Jewish and xenophobic texts are sold openly. Russkoe Veche, a Nizhnii Novgorod newspaper, regularly publishes antisemitic articles.

Cemetery desecration and antisemitic graffiti on the facades of synagogues and other Jewish buildings are categorized in Ukraine mostly as vandalism. On 20 January, ink was sprayed on the door of the Jewish charity organization Irgun Khesed in Lviv, and a partly burnt Ukrainian flag with a Star of David left there. In Belaya Tserkov, the entrance to the tomb of Tsadik Rabbi Mordekhai of Chernobil was desecrated in April. In the same month, unknown persons entered the dormitory of a Jewish school in Kharkiv and painted swastikas on the staircase. On 12 June, a Jew was attacked in Dnepropetrovsk by a group of unidentified persons, who beat him and shouted antisemitic remarks. Antisemitic graffiti was painted on the Jewish Agency’s building in Kanatov on 19 June. On 23 June the word ‘Yids’ was scrawled on a poster of the exhibition “Ann Frank – A Lesson in History,” held in Kiev. On 4 July, antisemitic slogans were painted on buildings in the center of Sevastopol. On 25 July, a Jewish organization in Drogobych received an anonymous fax threatening a pogrom in August by an organization of skinheads. On 30 July 2003, a young man was attacked on the street apparently because of Hebrew text on his T-shirt. A swastika was painted on a memorial for Holocaust victims in Sevastopol on 7 August. On 13 August, and again on 26 August, swastikas, an antisemitic caricature and antisemitic slogans were painted at the entrance to a synagogue in Mukhachevo. On 28 August, Rabbi Uri Fainshtein was severely beaten near the Brodsky central synagogue by three unidentified persons. On 5 December, stones and a plaque at the Babi Yar memorial, dedicated by Israeli President Moshe Katzav in 2001, were damaged.

On 10 November, a nationalist, anti-Jewish demonstration was held in the central square of Lviv. The participants held posters branding Jews as parasites. Other posters read: “Living close to the Jews means a betrayal of God and of Ukraine.” In the same month an antisemitic article was published in the newspaper Idealist, warning against the ‘Yids’ who want to destroy the Ukrainian people. Earlier issues of this newspaper contained articles calling for the deportation of all Jews.

At the beginning of May 2003, the Grazhdanskaya Oborona band held concerts in four Belarus cities. Some of the group’s songs contain National Bolshevist content as well as anti-Christian and anti-Jewish motifs, such as a call to re-open Buchenwald and Auschwitz.

Several acts of cemetery desecration were perpetrated in May 2003, including in Gomel (15 May), Bobruysk (26 May) and Timkovich (23 May). In Borisov the same graves were vandalized two years in a row. Memorials to Holocaust victims were desecrated repeatedly. In the last three years, the Holocaust memorial at the center of Borisov was damaged four times. On 27 May, swastikas and antisemitic slogans were painted on the monument at the Yama memorial site to Holocaust victims in Minsk. On 12 October, just two months after it was inaugurated (13 August 2003), the monument in memory of Holocaust victims in Lida was desecrated with blue paint. The perpetrators were not caught.

Although religious antisemitism, i.e., the use of Christian antisemitic myths to inflame anti-Jewish feelings, has not been observed in recent years, such materials are imported from Russia and can be bought freely in stores of Pravoslav churches and at kiosks that sell religious articles. One such kiosk is located at the entrance to the National Science Academy (Natsionalnaya Akademiya Nauk) in Minsk.

The Orthodox Church also has some antisemitic tendencies. For example, the Minsk Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul issued an ‘Orthodox Calendar’ marking the date 3 January 2003 as the anniversary of the killing of ‘Martyr Baby Gavriil’, allegedly by Jews in 1690. The calendar included the prayer to be cited on this day, which contains the words: “Martyr Gavriil, beasts, Jews, have stolen you… pierced your ribs… for you bleed, and are racked with severe wounds.”

At a spontaneous meeting called in Dubasary in summer 2003, a citizen, G. Drotjev, claimed that non-Jewish pensioners had not received their pensions because “Jews and the Jewish authority have pocketed everything and stolen from the old people.” This was said at a time when pensioners had not gotten welfare payments for several months while Jewish pensioners regularly received aid packages and other social help from Jewish organizations. Following a complaint from the Jewish community of Dubosary, the regional prosecutor opened a criminal case against Drotjev for incitement of interethnic hatred. Drotjev apologized to the head of the Jewish community.

About the same time, the antisemitic book of Paul Goma (a descendant of Bessarabia who lives in Paris), Red Week: 28 June–3 July 1940, or Jews and Bessarabia, was published in Chisinau and distributed widely among bookshops and libraries, and among colleges and universities in Moldova. Goma tries to prove that the Jews themselves were to blame for their own extermination on the territory of the Romanian protectorates of Bessarabia (now part of Moldova), Bukovina, Transnistria, and the south of Ukraine, because they supported the Soviet regime and formed partisan groups. The author supports the thesis of Hitler that all Jews are communists, and distorts the Holocaust. Stefan Sacareanu, a member of parliament from the Christian Democratic People’s Party, promoted the book in the country.

The Christian Democratic People’s Party, led by Iurie Rosca, is one of the leading propagators of anti-Jewish and anti-Islamic, as well as Holocaust denial, ideas, despite Rosca’s claim that the party fights communism and totalitarianism. The party renders active support to historians who write textbooks for schools and universities without a single word about the Holocaust, although it is known that more than 400,000 Jews and many thousands of Roma were massacred by Antonescu’s collaborators in Bessarabia and Transnistria.

In June, antisemitic letters were posted on the door of the Jewish Agency building in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia. On 15 June, swastikas and antisemitic slogans were painted on the building for the third time that year. On 23 July, the newspaper Mdzleveli published an article claiming that Jews were killing Christians as part of a religious ritual.

Militants from the illegal Islamic organization Hizb ut-Tahrir and other antisemitic groups have been operating in the republic, where they have found supporters among the authorities and, especially among opposition parties such as Ar-Namys (Dignity), which accuse the authorities of using Hizb ut-Tahrir for political cleansing purposes.

There has been an increase in anti-Jewish feeling since the beginning of the second intifada in 2000. From May to October 2003 an antisemitic note accompanied legal proceedings concerning a book for schoolteachers, A Healthy Way of Life, written by a group of authors headed by Boris Shapiro, chairman of Menorah (the Society for Jewish Culture of Kyrgyzstan) and director of the country’s anti-AIDS center. Akin Toktaliev and Aziz Abdrasulov, acting on behalf of the Committee for the Protection of the Honor and Dignity of the Kyrgyz People, accused the book’s authors of inciting moral degeneration among the nation’s youth and sued Shapiro for one million US dollars. Criticism of the book published in oppositional newspapers revealed the antisemitic views of some of the figures involved. They presented Shapiro first as a Jew and head of the Jewish community and only afterwards as a doctor and claimed that he had maliciously circulated his book in thousands of schools.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:51 1 comments links to this post

An independent media does not exist under the iron rule of "President-for-Life" Separmurad Nyazov. Journalism amounts to blatant propaganda for the dictatorship based on a cult of personality around Nyazov, who calls himself "Turkmenbashi" (the Father of all Turkmen).

Turkmens have to make do with government-controlled TV that only broadcasts writings and poems by the president, whose gilded profile appears permanently in a corner of the screen.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:45 0 comments links to this post

Tajikistan's Islamic Revival Party has suspended its membership in the country's presidential Public Council in protest over undemocratic conditions in the country's recent parliamentary elections, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reported.

The Islamic Revival Party is the second opposition party to withdraw from the presidential body in two days. President Imomali Rakhmonov heads the Public Council, which brings together representatives of all the country's political parties, nongovernmental organizations, and cultural societies.

Yesterday, the Democratic Party said it has backed out of the president's council because their leader was arrested and because the last elections in the country were undemocratic.

Tajik authorities have arrested Democratic Party leader Makhmadruzi Iskandarov on charges of alleged terrorism, illegal arms possession, and embezzling state funds.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:43 0 comments links to this post

Elections in Central Asia continue to pose challenges and foster change, but perhaps nowhere more so than in the neighboring countries of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Analysts say the activity stems from the recent popular unrest in Kyrgyzstan, which led to the ouster of long-time leader Askar Akayev. Fearing the possibility of similar unrest, Kazakhstan last week amended its election code, in a move opposition critics say is designed to head off a peoples' revolution.

Officials in Kazakhstan, which has never held an election judged free or fair by the West, have published a new law banning street rallies during and after elections.

But the new election law is drawing immediate ire from opposition political parties. They say it aims to prevent a repeat scenario of the popular electoral uprisings witnessed over the past two years in Ukraine, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan.

The Director of Moscow's Heritage Foundation, Yevgeni Volk, tells VOA the recent political demonstrations, and questions and fears they raise, highlight a whole new way of thinking in Central Asia.

"This unrest shows that even in the most traditional societies of the Central Asian region, where people obey their superiors and where revolutions were not an ordinary thing, where the potential for subordination is very traditional, I would say even in those countries people understand that something is to be changed that the ruling elite are corrupt, that they lead the countries nowhere, that really some kind of radical shift toward a kind of new system is badly needed," concluded Mr. Volk.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:39 0 comments links to this post

The March 2005 popular revolt ended President Askar Akaev's increasingly authoritarian fourteen-year rule and gave political and economic progress a chance. However, the new leaders face significant obstacles. If the situation is mishandled, and people conclude nothing has changed except the names at the top, Kyrgyzstan could become seriously unstable.

As they prepare for presidential elections in July 2005, Kyrgyzstan's new leaders face critical challenges that risk undermining the country's important step toward real democracy:

the need for political reform, particularly to redress imbalances created by Akaev's centralisation of power in the presidency and the weakness of state institutions;

a looming economic crisis that could be worsened by tax collection problems and weak administration;

a crisis over land seizures, squatters and enduring problems with land tenure;

and the growing security risk from criminal groups with economic and political power.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:35 0 comments links to this post

MOSCOW, May 4 (Itar-Tass) - Six activists of the Union of Rightwing Forces (SPS) and Yabloko parties have been detained in the Russian capital for an attempt to hold an unsanctioned protest rally at the Belarussian embassy, the city main police department told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.

A group of young people began the demonstration at 14:00 pm, Moscow time, unfolding placards with the demand to free Ukrainian and Belarussian citizens placed in a detention facility in Belarus for participation in the Chernobylsky Shlyakh (Chernobyl Path) action. There were 25-30 protesters participating in the rally.

“Police officers detained six participants in the action, they have been taken to the Basmanny district police precinct,” the police spokesman said. According to the official, “After making up administrative protocols and conducting a corresponding investigation they will be freed. They are facing fines for the organisation of the unsanctioned demonstration.”

It is not the first incident of the kind in Moscow. A similar action took place near the Belarussian embassy on April 28. Then police detained deputy chairman of Yabloko Sergei Mitrokhin and three his brothers-in-arms. They were freed after an administrative protocol was drawn up.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:33 0 comments links to this post

KIEV — Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko accused Belarus of employing a double standard Wednesday after a court released 14 Russian pro-democracy activists who were detained during an opposition rally in Minsk but refused to let five Ukrainians go.

Pro-democracy activists and their supporters, meanwhile, rallied outside the Belarussian embassies in Moscow and Kiev on Wednesday to protest the continued detention of the five National Alliance youth movement activists.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:31 0 comments links to this post

Minsk city court has not complied with a request of the consul of Ukrainian Embassy in Belarus t release five Ukrainians detained for participation in unsanctioned protest action on April 26. This ruling has been made today at the court hearing.

As the chairman of Minks city court Mikhail Ardyako told to Interfax, “the appeal of the Ukrainian Embassy has been considered, however no reasons have been found for complying with their request”.

Thus, Ukrainian citizens are to be released after the expiration of the sentence (on May 5 and 6). The hearing of the appeal was to take place yesterday, on May 2, but the court postponed its revision without stating the reasons.

Five Ukrainian citizens still remain detained in the special detention center and continue hunger strike protesting against their illegal arrest.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 08:10 0 comments links to this post

Threats, harassment and intimidation against those who defend and protect human rights are unacceptable. The rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly are fundamental human rights, Amnesty International said on World Press Freedom Day.

The Russian Federation, Belarus, Turkmenistan and Turkey are among the countries in Europe and Central Asia with the poorest record of government harassment and persecution of people for peacefully exercising these rights. Amnesty International is concerned that the activities of human rights activists are being criminalized by the state, and that state officials are harassing, arresting and torturing them without fear of repercussions.

"Officials at every level of the state apparatus, including law enforcement officials, must respect the legitimacy of the work of people who defend and protect human rights and allow them to act without hindrance or harassment. They should publicly promote respect for and protect the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly," Nicola Duckworth, Amnesty International's Director of the Europe and Central Asia Programme, said.

In Belarus, the authorities do not tolerate any public criticism or dissent and have virtually monopolized the media -- critics of the regime risk imprisonment at the hands of a procuracy and judiciary under the control of the government. Amnesty International's latest report Belarus: Suppressing the last voices of public dissent presents how the authorities use controversial legislation to restrict the possibilities for non-governmental organizations, political parties, trade unions, journalists and individuals to express their personal opinion. Harassment, intimidation, excessive force, mass detentions and long-term imprisonment are increasingly employed as methods to quash any civil or political dissent.

In Turkmenistan -- as documented in Amnesty International's new report Turkmenistan: The clampdown on dissent and religious freedom continues that was issued today -- anyone the authorities suspect of any form of dissent is at risk of being subjected to unfair trials, torture and ill-treatment. Their relatives are in many cases evicted from their homes, their property is confiscated and they are sacked from their jobs. Independent civil society groups find it impossible to operate and several activists have been forced into exile. The authorities control all media. They have taken a series of measures to curb access to independent sources of information within the country and to prevent critical information from reaching the international community including by cracking down on journalists who cooperate with foreign media outlets known to be critical of the authorities. The President-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov and self-proclaimed Turkmenbashi (Father of all Turkmen) dominates all aspects of life in the country.

In the Russian Federation, activists trying to disseminate information about the human rights situation in the North Caucasus, as well as victims seeking justice at the European Court of Human Rights find themselves increasingly the targets of harassment and human rights abuses - several of them have even been killed. The Russian authorities appear to be tightening their control on the media to the point where information about the human rights situation in Chechnya and its neighbouring republics in the North Caucasus is stifled through censorship or self-censorship.

"The work of an independent human rights movement is crucial to any society, in order to safeguard the human rights of all people and in the construction of a just society," Nicola Duckworth said.

"Governments must ensure that killings, 'disappearances', torture and ill-treatment of and threats against human rights activists are thoroughly and impartially investigated and those responsible must be brought to justice."

Amnesty International calls on the international community to exert pressure on the governments of the Russian Federation, Belarus, Turkmenistan and Turkey to stop the intimidation of human rights activists and to ensure that everybody can enjoy their rights to the freedoms of expression, association and assembly.

Background
On 16 January 2004, the mutilated body of 29-year-old Aslan Davletukaev was found near the town of Gudermes in Chechnya. He had been working with the human rights organization Society for Russian-Chechen Friendship, which documents violations including "disappearances", torture and unlawful killings in the North Caucasus. Aslan Davletukaev had reportedly been detained by Russian federal forces on 9 January 2004. An investigation into his death has been opened and closed several times but nobody has yet been found responsible for his death.

On 30 September 2004, the editor of the Belarusian independent weekly Birzha Informatsii, Elena Rovbetskaia was fined the equivalent of US$600 for criticizing the referendum which allowed President Lukashenka to serve more than the previous limit of two terms. In November the same year, the weekly was ordered to close down for three months for the same alleged offence. Due to the lack of independent printing houses the publication is still not available in print.

In July 2004, Radio Liberty correspondent Saparmurat Ovezberdiev was forced into exile from Turkmenistan because of his work for the Turkmen Section of the radio station. He had been under close surveillance for many years and pressurized to stop his work. Members of his family have also been targeted in an attempt to silence him even after his departure.

For further information please see:

Appeal Case: The Russian-Chechen Friendship Society under threat http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engeur460172005

Russian Federation: Concerns over reports of "disappearances" of relatives of Aslan Maskhadov http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engeur460042005

Russian Federation: Human rights group threatened by security forces http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engeur460012005

Russian Federation: The Risk of Speaking Out: Attacks on Human Rights Defenders in the context of the armed conflict in Chechnya http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engeur460592004

Belarus: Suppressing the last voices of peaceful dissent http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engeur490042005

Belarus: Chernobyl commemorations end in large-scale arrests http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engeur490052005

Turkmenistan: The clampdown on dissent and religious freedom continues http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engeur610032005

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 08:04 0 comments links to this post

President Lukashenko's authoritarian regime tightened its grip in 2004, substantially reducing freedom of all kinds and including a systematic crackdown on the independent press. The information minister used bogus bureaucratic reasons to suspend a dozen newspapers in the run-up to parliamentary elections and a referendum on 17 October. The independent press is fighting to survive and is overshadowed by government media that mostly spouts propaganda.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 08:00 0 comments links to this post

While the European Union has spent plenty of money in Belarus since it gained independence from the Soviet Union—developing "civil society" and organizing educational trips, among other things, according to the EU Web site—it's unlikely that a single euro has been spent directly on the democratic opposition.

An internal EU document on assistance to Belarus shows that the authorities in Minsk watch carefully how money is spent. The document notes that "international assistance projects must undergo a registration procedure [in Belarus] and be scrutinized by a ministerial level Committee for tax exemption and a formal approval before they can be started." While the document further notes that Belarus will be eligible for additional funds under the new "Neighborhood Programs," those funds—assuming they are sanctioned by the regime—won't be available until 2007, after the presidential election.

The critical point is that the United States and Lithuania, which joined the European Union last year and is trying to change its foreign-aid policy, believe that Belarusians want to govern themselves and that it is their government that is preventing them from doing so. The only way to achieve democracy is to circumvent Lukashenko.

The Western Europeans tend to believe that circumventing Lukashenko and aiding opposition leaders—say, giving them conference-room facilities in Vilnius and paying for their room and board—is tantamount to shoving democracy down the Belarusians' collective throat. Change must be "evolutionary, not revolutionary," as some put it.

Many Belarusian activists are perplexed by the European Union. Lukashenko's is a regime that has killed off democratic reformers, indiscriminately jailed demonstrators, and cultivated farmland in the still-radioactive Chernobyl zone despite skyrocketing cancer rates.

Janna Litvina, head of the Belarusian Association of Journalists and an attendee at the Vilnius gathering, said democracy would come only after Belarusians transcend their isolation and fear, a fear that has been sown into the national psyche by a century of war, murder, and authoritarianism. "People believe they are absolutely helpless in the face of the government machine," Litvina said.

This is not a machine that can be reformed. It must be dismantled. Perhaps the new EU commissioner of external affairs, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, will help her colleagues in Brussels see through the fog of "dialogues" and "cultural exchanges" to the real Belarus, the Belarus that can't be helped along but must be unleashed from its Soviet past.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:55 0 comments links to this post

A small group of demonstrators has held an angry, illegal protest in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.

About 60 people got through tight government security to the United States embassy, where they called for justice.

Furious protestors lined the railings opposite the US embassy, an unprecedented scene in Tashkent.

They came from one of the poorest regions of the country, slipping through formidable city security in taxis and on the metro.

Nearly all were women with small children, a safety measure against being taken away by the plain-clothes agents who stood ready.

At one point security men did move in, but the women screamed and beat them back.

The protestors are demanding justice from the government which they say unfairly took possession of their profitable farm, rendering them destitute.

Asked why the US Embassy was chosen, protesters replied that they could not count on the local authorities' goodwill or on help from Russia and nearby countries and therefore wanted to attract attention of the US Department of State, international organizations, and the media.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:47 0 comments links to this post

The administrative cases of Ukrainian citizens detained in Minsk on April 26 for participation in the protest action, are to be reconsidered in Minsk city court on Tuesday, May 3, told press-attaché of Ukrainian embassy in Belarus Leonid Yesinsky to the Charter’97 press center. Five Ukrainian citizens are still jailed in the pre-trial detention center of Interior Affairs Department of Minsk executive committee. They continue hunger-strike protesting against illegal arrest.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:55 0 comments links to this post

Accusation was made for the MP of the Supreme Soviet of the 13th convocation, Andre Klimov, on charges relating violation of the article 342 of the Criminal Code (organizing group actions violating public order, or active participation in them) for organizing a protest action of opposition on March 25 in Minsk. The term of detention for Andrei Klimov has been extended until June 22, told Andrei Klimov’s assistant Timofey Dranchuk.

As said by Dranchuk, on April 22 A.Klimov was detained and taken to the investigation committee of the Interior Affairs Department of Minsk executive committee. The politician was detained for organizing a protest rally of opposition on March 25. A criminal action has been brought up against A.Klimov, for violation of the Article 342 of the Criminal Code (organizing group rallies violation public order, or active participation ion them).

At the moment the politician is placed to the pre-trial detention center of the Interior Affairs department of Minsk executive committee. The case is to be read by Klimov on May 6. Most probably the lawyer of A.Klimov is to be changed in the nearest future.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:45 0 comments links to this post

Amnesty International is concerned about the grave human rights situation in Turkmenistan.

Civil and political rights are severely restricted. Independent civil society groups are unable to operate openly and independent political parties do not exist. Religious minorities are under tight state control. Civil society activists, political dissidents, members of religious minority groups as well as their families have been subjected to human rights violations including harassment, arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment, and imprisonment after unfair trials. At least one man has been forcibly confined to a psychiatric hospital solely to punish him for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression. Many dissidents, members of religious minorities and their families have been forced into exile in recent years and thousands are believed to be on a "black list" preventing them from leaving the country. According to credible reports, Turkmen Secret Service agents have in many cases tracked down exiled dissidents, in particular in Russia, to silence them by way of intimidation and assaults.

Amnesty International is also concerned that failed asylum-seekers forcibly returned to Turkmenistan might be at risk of being regarded as "traitors" simply because they left the country and applied for asylum abroad. As a result they would be at risk of arbitrary detention, torture, ill-treatment and imprisonment following unfair trials, to punish them for their actual or imputed political opinion.

Freedom of movement inside the country has been severely restricted. For example, since the year 2000 Turkmen citizens have had to obtain special permission from the police to travel to the regions bordering on neighbouring Uzbekistan. Procedures to obtain permission were tightened in September 2004 after a relative of an exiled opposition politician managed to obtain permission to enter the border regions and then fled to Uzbekistan.

Ethnic minorities such as Uzbeks, Russians and Kazakhs are discriminated against including through dismissal from their workplaces and through denial of access to higher education. President Niyazov stated in a speech broadcast in December 2002 that in "order to weaken the Turkmen, the blood of the Turkmen was diluted in the past. When the righteous blood of our ancestors was diluted by other blood our national spirit was low… Every person has to have a clean origin. Because of that it is necessary to check the origin up to the third generation." Over the last few years scores of senior officials belonging to ethnic minorities have been removed from their positions. Reportedly, people applying to institutions of higher education are checked to ensure that for the last three generations of their family there has been no non-ethnic Turkmen relative. It is practically impossible for anyone with a non-Turkmen relative in their family to be admitted to university.

Many foreign companies appear to fuel the personality cult, for example, by presenting President Niyazov with translations of the Rukhnama in the languages of their countries of origin. The French construction firm Bouygues has been engaged in the construction of a series of monumental buildings which reinforce the President's personality cult, such as a mausoleum in his native village of Kipchak for the December 2004 reburial of the alleged remains of the President's parents and two brothers.

As Turkmenistan pursues a policy of denying access to independent human rights monitors to the country, Amnesty International has been unable to conduct a fact-finding mission to Turkmenistan to obtain information for this report. None of the UN special mechanisms who have requested to visit the country have so far been able to do so and Professor Emmanuel Decaux, who was the rapporteur on Turkmenistan appointed by the OSCE in 2003, was refused a visa. Amnesty International is still awaiting a reply from the Turkmen authorities to its letter dated 21 December 2004 requesting to visit Turkmenistan. This report is therefore based on information published or made available to the organization by a wide range of sources including Turkmen civil society activists, journalists, exiled opposition politicians, members of religious minorities, relatives of prisoners, governmental sources, and representatives of the diplomatic community.

In violation of their international obligations, the authorities of Turkmenistan have subjected political opponents to several waves of repression since the country became independent in 1991. Many political opponents have been forced into exile; many have faced house arrest, arbitrary detention, imprisonment following unfair trials, and torture and ill-treatment by police and officers of the Ministry of National Security. Several of those that were later released had to publicly repent on television, promising not to engage in political activities and in many cases had to swear an oath of loyalty to the President. Reportedly, many of those who remain in the country are under close surveillance. In many cases the family members of dissidents have been targeted as well including through harassment, arbitrary detention and dismissal from their workplaces. Thousands of dissidents and their relatives are included in a "black list" of people banned from leaving the country.

In December 2002 and January 2003 at least 59 people were convicted in unfair trials to sentences ranging between five years' imprisonment and life imprisonment for their alleged involvement in what the authorities described as an assassination attempt on the President in November 2002; three of them were sentenced in absentia.(27) Amnesty International received credible reports that many of the defendants were tortured and ill-treated in pre-trial detention.(28) No investigation has been opened into these allegations and it is believed that no one has been brought to justice for these alleged human rights violations.

All these prisoners continue to be held incommunicado, without access to families, lawyers, or independent bodies such as the International Committee of the Red Cross. According to unconfirmed reports, the large majority of them are held in the new maximum-security Ovadan Depe prison near Ashgabat while those sentenced to life imprisonment and possibly also those sentenced to particularly long prison terms continue to be kept in cells at the Ministry of National Security in Ashgabat. In April 2004 the Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan informed the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights that no access would be granted to any of these prisoners for five years.

The lack of access heightens Amnesty International's concern that the prisoners continue to be at risk of torture and ill-treatment. There are strong indications that at least two prisoners -- Tagandurdy Khalliev and Amanmukhammet Yklymov -- died in custody in 2003 as a result of torture, ill-treatment and harsh prison conditions. There have been allegations of further deaths. However, in the absence of any reaction by the government to any allegations of deaths in custody it has been impossible to verify such reports.

The Turkmen authorities have heavily clamped down on media freedom. All domestic media is state-controlled and the authorities have taken a series of measures aimed at preventing access to alternative sources of information. For example, subscriptions to Russian language newspapers were banned in 2002. In July 2004 Turkmenistan took the Russian radio station Mayak (Beacon) off the air in a move that was evidently aimed at further limiting access of people in Turkmenistan to information that is not controlled by the Turkmen authorities. All internet service is provided by the state monopoly, Turkmentelekom, since the last independent service provider, Ariana, was closed down in 2001. The authorities routinely block websites that publicize "unwanted" information, and have been known to pay intimidating house calls on individuals whom they identified as visiting such sites. Even government-run internet access is prohibitively expensive and the state stopped opening new email accounts in 2004. The few internet cafes that existed in Ashgabat were closed down in 2002. The US Government sponsors open internet access at so-called "American Corners" in four Turkmen cities, but their use is believed to be closely monitored.

The international community should:

Act on the strong recommendations by the reports of the UN High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, the report of the United Nations Secretary-General to the Millennium Summit in September 2005, and the statement of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in March 2005, to take effective action to protect human rights, e.g. by establishing an effective mechanism for encouraging and monitoring implementation of the recommendations for protection of human rights in Turkmenistan and to report back to both the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the United Nations General Assembly.
Ensure that Turkmen nationals who have been recognized as refugees under the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees or by national authorities in countries of asylum are given effective and durable protection, including resettlement as an instrument of protection and a durable solution in cases where s/he is at risk of being targeted by Turkmen Secret Service agents in the countries of asylum.
Ensure that asylum claims of Turkmen nationals are carefully considered in fair and satisfactory procedures in accordance with international refugee law and standards in order to ensure that nobody is returned to a situation where s/he would face serious human rights abuses.
Ensure that procedures include a careful examination of circumstances which might give rise to a "sur place" refugee claim as a result of real and imputed actions in the country of residence.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:28 0 comments links to this post

Russian President Vladimir Putin, a KGB careerist before he switched careers and entered politics, has favored the growing power of the KGB's successor, the FSB. Small wonder then, that the FSB is worried about the political impact of the Internet, and is floating ideas about how to tame it lest it be used to undermine Putin's administration and create a cyberspace Russian "velvet revolution." At a roundtable discussion devoted to questions of legislative support for activities in the spheres of telecommunications and Internet technologies in the Federation Council held last week in Moscow, FSB Information Security Center representative Dmitrii Frolov proposed Internet curbs -- in the interests of democracy, of course. Frolov said that the FSB is proposing new regulations for Internet on provider companies "in order to prevent the dissemination of extremist ideas on the Internet, to record illegal Web activity, and also to be able to obtain databases and registers of telephone subscribers with an indication of their Internet addresses -- both static and dynamic," a necessary step because the Internet is "gaining an ever larger audience, becoming a serious player on the information field capable of shaping public opinion." Frolov then tipped his hand to the administration's real concerns, commenting that groups with differing political agendas can nonetheless use the Internet to "mobilize political forces against the authorities in their state. An example of this can be provided by the recent events in Yugoslavia, Georgia, and Ukraine."

The response from Russian information technology (IT) experts was predictably skeptical that authorities could -- even if they wanted to -- effectively filter the torrent of information flowing over the fiber optic cables and satellites linking Russia to the Internet. Igor Ashmanov, general director of the Internet company Ashmanov and Partners, told gazeta.ru on 28 April that "the Chinese model is possible only in those countries where all spheres of communication are totally controlled." All of Russia's Internet service providers (ISPs) would have to route their traffic to a single server, he said. And if state officials tried to implement such a program, private ISPs would drag the responsible government agency through the courts, Ashmanov explained in an earlier interview with the website on 26 January.

For forces hoping to prevent any repetition of what happened in Serbia or Ukraine, the important role played by mobile phones and the Internet has already been duly noted. In his remarks to the Federation Council this week, Frolov noted that various groups have used the Internet to mobilize political forces against authorities and cited the examples of Yugoslavia, Georgia, and Ukraine. And in his comments to gazeta.ru, Ashmanov spoke not only about the impossibility of reining in the Russian segment of the Internet but he also speculated that Frolov's declaration is the FSB's reaction to the recent "colored" revolutions. Ashmanov also noted that a new department within the presidential administration, headed by Modest Kolerov, formerly of regnum.ru and polit.ru, was created around the time of these revolutions (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 March 2005). So far, Kolerov has kept a low profile, but with Frolov's recent pronouncements, Internet watchers will be on the lookout to see whether Russia will try to follow in China's footsteps.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 07:21 0 comments links to this post

The most closed theme for Uzbek media is, certainly, the country’s president. Journalists are strictly prohibited to touch upon his personality, criticize the rules he introduces or doubt anything he initiates.

His title is always written with a capital letter, although titles of his colleagues may be written with a lower-case letter.

No one can also compare him to any other president or statesman or anybody else or call simply Karimov or use his initials (live VVP for Russian president Vladimir Putin).

It has to be acknowledged that there is no personality cult in the country as such – Islam Karimov prevented all attempts to create it right from the start. This, however, does not stop the official media from constantly praising him.

One can also never say that the government violates the Constitution or other laws, even when this is evident.

Political analyses can only be made if they reflect the leading role of the president in building the bright future. Thoughts about the structure of the authorities, society, economy and possible perspectives have no chances to be published.

Such an important issue as introduction of the Latin alphabet instead of the Cyrillic one was never raised in the media of Uzbekistan. In the same way, most of the urgent matters are never discussed in the country.

The second most important “sacred cow” for Uzbek media is the country’s independence. None of them can say that something has worsened after the country had attained independence. Independence Day is the main holiday in the republic. Each year, huge money is spent for grand celebrations in the country’s capital and all major cities, but nobody can ask how much is spent for these purposes.

Nobody can doubt that “Uzbekistan is a country with a great future”.

Speaking about secrets, it has to be said that in Uzbekistan it’s also hard to know what is a secret. Article 5 of the Law “On protecting state secrets” states that “Classification and declassification of information is done in accordance with the present Law, Regulations on the order of defining and establishing data secrecy level and the List of data subject to classification in Uzbekistan, which are approved by the Cabinet of Ministers”. However, these regulations and the list themselves are kept secret.

There are no materials about the opposition in the country. Similarly, no news on demonstrations or protests can be found in the local media.

Names of opposition parties and their leaders are under the ban. Well, some of them may be named, but only as famous terrorists.

Another banned theme is the vertical of power. For example, one cannot ask why the regional governors or other officials, including judges, are not elected but appointed by the president.

And the last and the most secret theme is censorship. Notably, even the president himself is censored when he says something unintentionally. What he says is immediately reported by the BBC, Deutsche Welle, AP and other agencies, but the skilled editors of the Uzbek TV or radio stations know that this cannot be aired.

Issues like poverty and unemployment, untimely payment of salaries and low living standards are also banned.

Thoughts about the general business atmosphere in the country are prohibited. No newspaper can publish in-depth materials on this topic, since any attempt of analysis will reveal economic problems.

One of the most closed themes is child labor. Each year, tens of thousands of school and university students and their teachers pick cotton. The children in villages are in the worst situation – they cannot study for months, working in the cotton fields instead.

Low salaries of teachers lead to widespread corruption in the universities. Articles on this are not only prohibited in the press, but are also blocked on the Internet.

One of the peculiarities of the national history is that all famous personalities that have lived on the territory of modern Uzbekistan are named “our great ancestors”. Their ill deeds are never mentioned. Thus, according to modern historians, Tamerlane was an extremely kind and humane statesman. The official doctrine states that he had built cities and united the country, but says nothing about the fact that those cities were built by slaves from the conquered states.

Whole epochs like the so-called “colonial period” have fallen out of the history and are evaluated mostly negatively.

Bolsheviks, October Revolution as well as names like Lenin, Stalin and Marx are under the ban.

One journalist told the author about a case when the TV company management ordered to cut out all parts of a French film about the events in the early 20th century containing the word “revolution”.

The World War II, according to official mythology, started in 1941. To avoid using the Soviet term “The Great Patriotic War”, the Cabinet resolutions state: “World War II of 1941-1945”. This is why, when writing about that period, journalists have to say either “World War Two” or “war with fascism”. Only the history textbooks say that the World War II started in 1939.

Homosexualism is a secret theme in Uzbekistan and is never raised. The country’s Criminal Code contains an article prosecuting homosexuals.

Mahalla (neighborhood) committees are never criticized in the country, although most agree that they have turned from an organ of citizens’ self-governance into a controlling body.

Family violence is a theme that is sometimes raised in the press. However, there is no statistics on family violence in the republic. The same is with data on suicides, crime, abortion and sexually transmitted diseases (except for HIV).

Papers cannot publish caricatures on real politicians or officials and write critically about the state-supported kinds of sports – kurash (national wrestling) and tennis. The ban on billiard clubs remained unreported in the country’s media.

Below is a small list of words which are banned from use in the newspapers, on the radio and TV:

shahid (terrorist should be used instead),
despotism,
tyranny,
clans,
communist party,
rebels, and
revolution.

The following words can be used but only when the materials is not about Uzbekistan:

corruption,
dictatorship,
mafia,
nationalism,
slavery,
torture,
poverty,
opposition,
human rights,
women’s rights,
speech freedom, and
free world.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:56 0 comments links to this post

Seven months before Sept. 11, 2001, the State Department issued a human rights report on Uzbekistan. It was a litany of horrors.

The police repeatedly tortured prisoners, State Department officials wrote, noting that the most common techniques were "beating, often with blunt weapons, and asphyxiation with a gas mask." Separately, international human rights groups had reported that torture in Uzbek jails included boiling of body parts, using electroshock on genitals and plucking off fingernails and toenails with pliers. Two prisoners were boiled to death, the groups reported. The February 2001 State Department report stated bluntly, "Uzbekistan is an authoritarian state with limited civil rights."

Immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks, however, the Bush administration turned to Uzbekistan as a partner in fighting global terrorism. The nation, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia, granted the United States the use of a military base for fighting the Taliban across the border in Afghanistan. President Bush welcomed President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan to the White House, and the United States has given Uzbekistan more than $500 million for border control and other security measures.

Now there is growing evidence that the United States has sent terror suspects to Uzbekistan for detention and interrogation, even as Uzbekistan's treatment of its own prisoners continues to earn it admonishments from around the world, including from the State Department.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:52 0 comments links to this post

The authorities in Uzbekistan have a robust policy on birth control, but evidence is emerging that in pursuit of a smaller population they are abusing women's rights by conducting hysterectomies and implanting contraceptive devices against their will.

IWPR has interviewed healthcare experts and mothers who accuse the authorities of using coercive family planning measures that are often brutal in their implementation, and that allow for neither consultation nor alternative options.

Although the methods are shrouded in secrecy, there is mounting evidence that this is a coherent state policy rather than misguided imposition of voluntary methods.

According to one doctor, there is a secret order from the health ministry dating from 2000 to reduce the birth rate among women in rural areas. One of the methods recommended for achieving this goal is to perform hysterectomies on young women who have already given birth.

As well as hysterectomies, the other main practice is the implanting of intrauterine devices, IUD (commonly known as "the coil") immediately after a mother has given birth. Again, both mothers and health professionals say this is often done without consent.

The way both types of intervention are carried out leads to heightened health risks, medical experts say.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:49 0 comments links to this post

A group of visiting Ukrainian local government officials said reform is now lagging at the local government level, despite the election last December of a reform-minded president. The panel told a recent RFE/RL audience that a "paradox" exists because the executive branch at the national and oblast (or regional) level is dedicated to reform and decentralization of decision-making, while local structures are unprepared for it.

According to Vyacheslav Kozak, a senior official with the Association of Ukrainian Cities and Communities, the major challenge is "revenue and budget reform." "The central government will have to give local governments the power to find funding, he said, which involves constitutional changes. But, according to Kozak, the key question is "when to implement reforms at the local level -- before or after the 2006 parliamentary elections?" Although the presidential elections showed that Ukrainians want change, Kozak asked, should it be implemented in a short period through shock therapy or gradually?

Kozak noted that U.S. foreign assistance programs are helping to retrain local government employees and "this is very important." Kozak, "as an Easterner" from the city of Luhansk, said that he saw "no repression or selective negative pressure" from the new central government. He was worried about the new government's ability to "educate Easterners" about the benefits of European Union membership and getting rid of "old Soviet-era stereotypes."

Stemkovskyy also expressed concern about the future of reform in Ukraine, because "the new opposition" still controls the media outlets in the country and can undermine the reforms of the central government. He expects "lots of those political technologies [i.e. dirty tricks in the presidential campaign] will be played again in 2006" during the parliamentary elections.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:47 0 comments links to this post

Russia won't follow Ukraine's democratic "Orange Revolution," former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev said Friday.

"I believe the chances for such processes to develop are little," Gorbachev said. But then he added, "I think something of the sort might happen here as well. This is possible if the government continues to act like this. The country has been stirred up, and protests have broken out in different regions."

The ex-Soviet leader criticized the Russian parliament and the law replacing social benefits with monetary compensation. "There is no opposition in the parliament today, and United Russia (the faction of President Vladimir Putin) has thrown aside all restraint. Proposals to have medical and educational services be made (only) half-paid (by the state) have been considered, which is against the constitution," he said.

"The people's patience can't be endless, though the Russian people are super-patient," Gorbachev said.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:45 0 comments links to this post

Authorities in Tajikistan are resorting to repression and intimidation as they try to contain what they view as the Kyrgyz contagion.

A central element to the Tajik government’s strategy appears to be an effort hamper the ability of foreign diplomats and international aid workers to interact with local non-governmental organization activists and independent journalists. On April 14, the Tajik Foreign Ministry announced that foreign diplomats and representatives of international organizations must provide prior notice of public contacts with Tajik citizens who are affiliated with political parties, NGOs and mass media outlets.

"Due to recent events in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan’s government has decided to take the situation under control," said Shokirjon Khakimov, deputy head of the Tajik Social-Democratic Party. "Such [actions] are intended to prevent repetition of [revolutionary] events in Tajikistan." Rahmonov is especially keen to keep the lid on dissent these days, given that he will be running for re-election in 2006, Khakimov added.

The diplomatic response to the Foreign Ministry announcement has been generally restrained, with representatives of various embassies using rhetoric seemingly designed to reassure Tajik officials. US diplomats, for example, stressed that long before the announcement of the new rule, the lines of communication between the American Embassy and the Tajik government were open and strong.

Meanwhile, Rahmonov’s administration is clamping down on its domestic political opponents. On April 27, Tajik Prosecutor-General Bobojon Bobokhonov announced that the leader of the Democratic Party, Mahmudruzi Iskandarov, was being held in Dushanbe on charges of engaging in subversive activity.

About a week after his release in Moscow, Iskandarov disappeared from public view. How he ended up in a Dushanbe detention center remains a mystery. Bobokhonov said that authorities arrested Iskandarov on April 22, but provided no details on where he was taken into custody. Some local observers believe that Iskandarov may have been effectively kidnapped in Moscow and returned to Dushanbe.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:40 0 comments links to this post

As he tries to build a legacy of promoting democracy around the globe, Bush has run headlong into Fortress Russia. Increasingly, he's fending off the kind of Russian accusations that once dominated the Soviet era of geopolitics: of covert action on Russia's borders, competing spheres of influence and zero-sum games. Bush wants to visit Latvia and Georgia to show the world what young democracies look like. Instead the Russians see his tour as yet more American interference in their backyard. Putin refuses to move his troops out of Georgia and opposes Bush's support for a new democratic government in repressive Belarus. The Russian president also is flexing his muscle in the Middle East, confirming last week that he would sell antiaircraft missiles to Syria. "We didn't appreciate that," Bush explained to reporters at his Thursday-night White House press conference, "but we made ourselves clear."

Inside the Bush administration, though, democracy is just one item on the agenda with Moscow. U.S. officials tell NEWSWEEK that pushing democracy onto Putin is a lower priority than winning his help to halt the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea. They are taking a relaxed approach to Russian troops in Georgia, and suggest that Putin's backsliding on democracy is less dramatic than it seems. Overall, Bush's strategy is to keep open his channel of communication with Putin, which means stopping short of a confrontation.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:37 0 comments links to this post

The Minsk City Court is to hold a hearing on May 2 to consider complaints by Ukrainian citizens about their jail sentences. Five young Ukrainian men were arrested in Minsk on April 26 during the Belarusian police`s crackdown on an attempt by a few hundred anti-Lukashenko protesters to stage a march to mark the 19th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident.

The following day, the Ukrainians, members of the National Alliance youth movement, were sentenced to nine to 15 days in jail. In particular, Ihor Huz, a member of the Lutsk City Council, was sentenced to 10 days, Andrei Bokach to 15 days, Oleksandr Hrymalyuk and Oleksandr Mishlai to 10 days each, and Oleksey Panasyuk to nine days.

Along with the Ukrainians, the police seized some 10 Belarusians and 14 Russian citizens. The Russians were granted an early release by the Minsk City Court on Saturday. They left for Moscow on the same day and the jailed Ukrainians continued to be held in a detention center in Minsk despite repeated appeals by Ukrainian officials to release them.

On May 3, National Alliance members plan to start a "blockade" of the Belarusian embassy in Kyiv unless their arrested comrades are released.

Ukraine’s foreign minister said that the Belarusian authorities have not bowed to public calls for the release of five Ukrainians jailed over a Chernobyl anniversary demonstration because of their “special attitude” toward Ukraine.

While 14 Russian nationals arrested during the protest have already been granted early release, the Ukrainian activists have remained in jail, the Interfax Ukraina news agency reported with reference to Minister Boris Tarasyuk on May 1.

# posted by Volodymyr Campaign @ 10:27 0 comments links to this post