Tag Archives: human rights

UN chief’s visit disappoints human rights activists

ALMATY, JUNE 15 2017 (The Bulletin) — UN Security general Antonio Guterres completed a tour of all five Central Asian states, his first since taking the job six months ago, although human rights activists complained that he had taken too soft a line on a regional crackdown of journalists and dissenters.

Mr Guterres’ main message was that the governments of the region need to remain engaged with international organisations to reach their full potential.

“Kazakhstan has been a symbol of dialogue, a symbol of peace, a symbol of the promotion of contacts between cultures, religions and civilizations; and with its presence in the (UN) Security Council, an extremely important dimension in mediation, in relation to conflict,” he said in Astana.

In Ashgabat, a few days later, after attending a counter-terrorism conference Mr Guterres, a former Portuguese PM and UN high commissioner for refugees, took a tougher line on rights.

“Upholding the rights of freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly in this region are fundamental to countering the threat that violent extremism poses,” he said.

Even so, with media freedoms and human rights on the retreat in the region, after a series of arrests of journalists and a crackdown on workers’ unions, activists accused Mr Guterres of going soft on the issue in favour of developing nodes of engagement.

Hugh Williamson, director of the Central Asia division at New York- based Human Rights Watch, said Mr Guterres had failed to meet members of local civil rights movements on his tour of the region and that describing Kazakhstan as a “pillar of stability” and Kyrgyzstan as a “pioneer of democracy” was sending out the wrong message.

“Central Asian leaders also pay close attention to what high-level visitors like Guterres focus on, also in public,” he said in a statement.

“Not only did Guterres fail to set clear expectations on human rights improvements across Central Asia, his praise for his largely authoritarian audience risks sending the message that trampling over human rights is fine.”

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(News report from Issue No. 333, published on June 19 2017)

Gulen-linked arrested asks for asylum in Georgia

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JUNE 7 2017 (The Bulletin) — Supporters of Mustafa Emre Cabuk, a manager of a school linked to the Gulen network, protested against his detention by the Georgian authorities last month. A court is considering his appeal for asylum after Turkey asked for Mr Cabuk to be extradited on charges that he was a so-called Gulenist, a group it blames for an attempted coup last year. Turkey has been pressuring countries in Central Asia and the South Caucasus to close down Gulen education networks and extradite the teachers.

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(News report from Issue No. 332, published on June 12 2017)

Quitting EITI has not hurt, says Azerbaijan’s minister

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JUNE 8 2017 (The Bulletin) — Quitting the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) has not dented Azerbaijan’s ability to attract international investments, Azerbaijan’s deputy economy minister, Sahil Babayev, said during a conference. Azerbaijan quit the EITI earlier this year after a row over media freedom and human rights. Analysts had said that quitting the transparency group would hit Azerbaijan’s ability to pull in major loans. The EBRD and other lenders, though, have signalled that they are still prepared to lend to Azerbaijan on certain projects.

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(News report from Issue No. 332, published on June 12 2017)

Georgia accused of helping to kidnap Azerbaijani journalist

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TBILISI, MAY 31 2017 (The Bulletin) — NGOs and dissident Azerbaijani journalists accused the Georgian government of helping to kidnap an opposition journalist and handing him over to the authorities in Azerbaijan.

Allegations that Georgia had allowed masked men to bundle investigative journalist Afgan Mukhtarli into a car and drive him to the border with Azerbaijan shocked Azerbaijani dissidents living in Tbilisi. Many have sought refuge in Georgia over the past five or so years as the Azerbaijani government clamped down on journalists it considered troublesome and opposition activists.

Georgian officials denied the allegations and ordered an investigation, but that has not lifted suspicions that its security services were complicit in the kidnapping.

Tural Gurbanli, an Azerbaijani journalist who fled from Baku to Tbilisi said dissidents were worried.

“I chose to take refuge in Georgia,” he told the Bulletin. “Georgia is now cooperating with Azerbaijan to pressurise Azerbaijani journalists and activists living here.”

On Friday, roughly 60 protesters gathered outside the Georgian parliament, criticising the government.

In response, the Georgian government released a terse statement. “The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia launched an investigation under the Article 143 of the Criminal Code of Georgia regarding the case of Azerbaijan journalist Afgan Mukhtarli, which pertains to illegal deprivation of liberty,” it said.

The office of Azerbaijan’s Prosecutor confirmed that Mr Mukhtarli was in its custody. It said that he had been charged with crossing the border illegally.

Last week, a few days after a visit by Turkish PM Binali Yildirim, police detained Emre Cabuk, a manager at a school in Tbilisi linked to the Gulen network, and started procedures to extradite him to Turkey. Turkey is pursuing Gulen networks across the world. It accuses them of links to terrorism and plotting a coup.

Over the last few months, Georgia has boosted its military, diplomatic and trade relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey and commentators suggested this alliance may be influencing its stance on human rights.

Ani Wandaryan, a commentator on the South Caucasus, said in a tweet: “In one week, Georgia has allowed both Azerbaijan and Turkey to take dissidents. A big civil rights surrender for an EU-hopeful country.”

Georgia wants to join both the EU and NATO, which both place an emphasis on improving human rights and free speech.

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(News report from Issue No. 331, published on June 5 2017)

Comment: Georgia needs to prove it cares about human rights

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JUNE 5 2017 (The Bulletin) — The Georgian authorities need to act and act fast if they are going to salvage their reputation from the mystery surrounding the kidnapping of an Azerbaijani journalist. He was kidnapped in Tbilisi on Tuesday evening, driven to the border with Azerbaijan and handed over to the authorities.

Human rights activists are, rightly, outraged at the kidnapping and have accused the Georgian government of being complicit, although it is still unclear who the kidnappers actually were.

Levan Asatiani from Amnesty International said the Georgian government allowed Azerbaijani security forces to kidnap Afgan Mukhtarli.

“Georgia must promptly and impartially investigate what happened and hold accountable all those involved in this gruesome operation,” he said.

Asatiani is not the only one to suggest that the kidnapping of an outspoken Azerbaijani journalist from Tbilisi must have had the backing of the Georgian authorities and the European Union and the United States, two key allies of Georgia, have also lodged strongly worded statements.

The timing is also important here.

A week before Mukhtarli’s disappearance, Georgia detained Emre Cabuk, a manager at a school in Tbilisi known to have links to the Gulen movement. Turkey has been trying to shut down the Gulen movement worldwide, ever since a coup attempt last summer, and this has included schools and universities its members had set up in Central Asia and the South Caucasus in the 1990s.

Azerbaijan, as expected, immediately fell into line with the demands from Turkey, its key ally but Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan ducked them.

Georgia had also been expected to avoid being dragged into the Gulen witch-hunt. Apparently not, though.

Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey from an energy pipeline axis that will be vital to European gas needs, adding to the oil pipeline the triumvirate already host. The gas will be produced in Azerbaijan and pumped through pipelines in Georgia and Turkey into Central Europe.

The dividends are likely to be high, drawing Georgia closer towards Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Both Azerbaijan and Turkey have, to put it mildly, a different perspective on human rights and media freedom to the European ideals that Georgia professes to yearn for. It wants to be part of the EU and NATO. There is no point in just paying lip service.

Georgia has to prove that it is worthy of meeting the high criteria demanded of EU and new NATO members.

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(News report from Issue No. 331, published on June 5 2017)

Uzbekistan’s senate ratifies cotton deal with the European Union

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TASHKENT, MAY 30 2017 (The Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s Senate ratified a deal with the European Union over textile exports, paving the way for an expected boost in one of the country’s most important revenue earning products.

The senate’s processing of the protocol was routine but it came only a week after an EU delegation visited Uzbekistan to discuss progress it had made on human rights. At the end of last year, the European Parliament voted to renew a 1999 deal to drop tariffs on cotton imports from Uzbekistan.

It had been suspended in 2011 over concerns about Uzbekistan’s use of child labour to pick the cotton.

During its visit the European Parliament’s human rights subcommittee had said that it was impressed with Uzbekistan’s openness.

“Our impression now, after a three-day visit, is of a country where change is in the air, the road to openness and modernisation lies open if the political resolve to choose the path is strong and consistent,” the group said in a statement.

Human rights groups have said that normalising trade deals over Uzbek cotton has come too early but for Uzbekistan it will be a boost.

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(News report from Issue No. 331, published on June 5 2017)

Kazakh human rights defender quits

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ALMATY, MAY 22 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Civil rights activists and opposition journalists in Kazakhstan blamed the authorities for pressuring human rights campaigner Olesya Khalabuzar into quitting an anti- government party she established a few years ago.

Known for her forthright statements, Ms Khalabuzar had been viewed as something of a superstar in Kazakhstan’s small activist scene. She was head of the Justice party that she set up in 2015.

“She’s been pressurised by the authorities,” said one journalist in Almaty who asked to remain anonymous. “The anti-government space is getting smaller and smaller here. This is just another instance of the state pressuring an activist to give up their work.”

Rights campaigners have said that the authorities have taken an increasingly tough line on dissenters, cracking down on people who challenge the authorities.

On May 17, in a surprise announcement, Ms Khalabuzar wrote on Facebook that she had decided to give up politics.

“Probably, people will think that I am giving up because of a criminal case against me this is not the case – these people do not understand my situation,” she wrote. “I am leaving public activity. I want to become an ‘ordinary citizen’ and devote the remaining time to my family. This is the most sacred thing.”

In her post she also said that she regretted some of her actions which she described as “counterproductive” and “short-sighted”.

This year, police have detained Ms Khalabuzar for involvement in what they described as an illegal protest. They have also searched her office and she has been the subject of a civil complaint.

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(News report from Issue No. 330, published on May 28 2017)

Amnesty International accuses Tajik government

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MAY 23 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Amnesty International accused the Tajik government of cracking down on civil rights activists and people critical of the government. The accusation came a week after human rights lawyer, Fayzinisso Vohidova, was prevented from leaving the country.

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(News report from Issue No. 330, published on May 28 2017)

UN rights chief praises Uzbekistan

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MAY 10/11 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, finished a tour of Uzbekistan by saying that in general he was confident that the country, often derided as one of the worst in the world for human rights, had started to mend its ways.

Mr Zeid’s visit was the first by a UN Human Rights Commissioner to Uzbekistan since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. It has been viewed as a turning point in Uzbek relations with international institutions and a major PR victory for Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev who has been looking to woo global institutions.

In a statement at the end of his two night trip to Uzbekistan, Mr Zeid said that he had been impressed by the new Uzbek administration’s endeavor setting up a series of units to improve human rights.

“Uzbekistan is, in my view, at a crossroads. The volume of constructive human rights related proposals, plans and new legislation that has emerged since President Mirziyoyev took up the office is remarkable,” he said.

“It is going to be a long and difficult road to get near that point [improved human rights], with obstructions and setbacks, but I do believe the journey has begun.”

The New York-based Human Rights Watch issued a statement afterwards saying that Uzbekistan’s rhetoric now needed to be turned into action.

Mr Mirziyoyev, inviting Mr Zeid to tour Uzbekistan was a risk. In the end, though, he appears to have impressed Mr Zeid. He wants to improve Uzbekistan’s image to give it access to finance, which is increasingly linked to human rights, and gain more acceptance.

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(News report from Issue No. 329, published on May 20 2017)

Azerbaijan forces OSCE to close office in Yerevan

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YEREVAN, MAY 4 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The OSCE will close its office in Yerevan, its last in the South Caucasus, after Azerbaijan refused to agree to an extended remit.

The closure of the OSCE’s office is a reflection of worsening relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia and increased tension around the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Each week both sides accuse the other of breaking a ceasefire. Last year, the worst fighting since 1994 killed dozens of people.

The OSCE, Europe’s democracy and conflict watchdog, said it had no choice but to close the office.

“We regret that after months of negotiations compromise on the extension of the mandate proved impossible. The Chairmanship has exhausted all possibilities to resolve the impasse,” it said.

“The Office is expected to close in the coming months.”

For the OSCE to maintain its office in Yerevan it needed the consensus of all 57 its members. Azerbaijan refused to endorse it because of its de-mining operation in Nagorno- Karabakh which it claimed legitimised Armenia-backed rebels’ rule over the disputed region. The US has accused Azerbaijan of deliberating using the issue of de-mining to close the OSCE office.

Azerbaijan closed down the OSCE’s Baku office in 2015 and in 2008, after a Georgia-Russia war, Russia forced the OSCE to close its office in Tbilisi.

Richard Giragosian, director of the Regional Studies Centre based in Yerevan, said the closure of the OSCE office made the West look weak.

“This decision only reaffirms the weakness and lack of Western resolve in the face of a direct challenge from an authoritarian country,” he told The Conway Bulletin.

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(News report from Issue No. 327, published on May 5 2017)