BISHKEK/Kyrgyzstan, NOV.12 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The human rights officer, a veteran who has done her time in several tense capitals, singled out with annoyance one major European country for its relative inaction on human rights matters in Central Asia — Germany.

“Germany’s approach is one of soft diplomacy, which has its strengths, but to what end in Central Asia?” she asked rhetorically. “All of my meetings with German officials have been worthless. It’s impossible to get Germany to take a stand on human rights in the region.”

This is, of course, a criticism that many Western governments have to contend with — that they look for strategic military or business deals over human rights.

The Bishkek-based human rights activist attributed Germany’s unwillingness to criticise human rights failures in Uzbekistan to the airbase it maintains in Termez. Last month it agreed an extension on this base.

But more generally — and against its otherwise strong international reputation on human rights matters — the German government has applied relatively little pressure on Central Asian governments on questions of human rights.

All this is a particular disappointment for human rights advocates in the EU and beyond.

Germany has a large business stake in each of the five former Soviet Central Asian countries. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have been especially lucrative for Germany. Today Germany is also home to hundreds of thousands of repatriated ethnic Germans, mostly from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

But whatever the explanation of Germany’s inaction — financial interest, concerns about remaining ethnic Germans in the region, or deference to the idea of a Russian sphere of influence — the lack of direction does no favours to those non-governmental organisations trying to raise the profiles of political prisoners and the lack of a free press in the region.

ENDS

Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)