Tag Archives: rights and freedoms

Comment: Trial of economy minister for murder is an opportunity to improve women’s rights

>> The trial of a former economy minister in Kazakhstan for murdering his wife is a chance to improve the country’s shaming domestic abuse record, says James Kilner

APRIL 15 2024 (The Bulletin) –It’s not just the law’s view of domestic violence in Kazakhstan that has stained the country’s reputation. Attitudes need to change too.

It has taken the heinous murder by Kuandyk Bishimbayev of his wife last year to force Kazakh lawmakers to toughen punishment around domestic violence, but these laws will be no good if they are undermined by a system that doesn’t want women to speak out.

The UN has demanded change. It said that 62,000 women in Kazakhstan reported abuse last year, although it has also said that the real number of victims is much higher.

Women are not encouraged to speak out in Kazakhstan’s strongly patriarchal society.

They are expected to accept their beatings and to remain quiet and this means that progress on improving women’s rights is stunted. It’s one thing toughening punishment for men who abuse their wives or children, it is quite another to create a culture where women feel safe enough to speak out.

The case of Bishimbayev is a case in point.

He is an ugly, corrupt and pathetic man who took his frustrations out on the women in his life by beating them. He hasn’t been convicted yet of the murder of his wife, Saltanat Nukenova, in November at a restaurant owned by a family member – but evidence is mounting.

CCTV film shows him hitting Nukenova that evening. Her lifeless body lay on the floor of the restaurant for hours while Bishimbayev callously schemed over how to shift blame.

He ordered the CCTV film to be wiped clean and for a chauffeur to drive Nukenova’s smartphone around Astana in the hope that it would fool people into thinking that she had been alive.

None of it appears to have worked. Bishimbayev’s only hope of avoiding years in prison appears to be pressuring the judge and using his privileged position as a member of the Kazakh elite to push for a light sentence.

He’s pulled the trick before. In 2027, shortly after resigning as Kazakhstan’s economy minister, he was sent to prison for a decade for corruption but managed to walk free after only three years.

Now, Kazakhstan has a chance to right these wrongs. It needs to sort out its terrible domestic abuse record, setting an example for the rest of the region, and it needs to imprison Bishimbayev for a long time.

ENDS

— This story was published in issue 564 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on April 15 2024

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2024

Comment: Tajikistan complains of torture to Russia

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APRIL 15 2024 (The Bulletin) –Don’t underestimate the importance of Tajikistan complaining to the Kremlin about the torture of four of its citizens, arrested for a terror attack in Moscow in March.

Dushanbe has been incensed at the cruelty shown by Russian security forces to the four men who were captured relatively unharmed but appeared later in court bruised and battered, their eyes hollow.

Of course, the Tajik government feels shame that its citizens are involved in terrorist incidents but they also link the torture of the men to humiliation felt by the thousands of Tajik workers who are now being stopped and searched on Russian streets and often deported for infractions.

Remittances are vital to the Tajik economy and it is important that Russia keeps welcoming Tajiks. It’s also a worry that Turkey has suspended visa-free access for Tajiks after the terror attack.

Policymakers’ reaction to the terror attack in Moscow may be to shun and discriminate against Tajiks. This would be entirely wrong and it is good to hear the Tajik government standing up for its citizens.

ENDS

— This story was published in issue 564 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on April 15 2024

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2024

Police raid Bishkek bars

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APRIL 14 2024 (The Bulletin) — Police in Bishkek raided two popular Bishkek bars, Ailan and Plur.Plur.Plur, and detained several people for drug tests, witnesses said. Analysts have said that the raid may be linked to the Kyrgyz government’s drive to clamp down on liberal segments of society. It has introduced a “foreign agents” law to monitor more closely NGOs and media that received funding from the West.

ENDS

— This story was published in issue 564 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on April 15 2024

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2024

Tajikistan accuses the Kremlin of ordering torture of terror suspects

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DUSHANBE/APRIL 12 2024 (The Bulletin) — Tajikistan accused the Kremlin of ordering the torture of four of its nationals after arresting them for a terror attack at a Moscow concert hall last month.

The rare criticism of the Kremlin by Tajikistan reveals the anger felt at seeing the men paraded in a Russian court with serious injuries.

“The use of torture against them in the form of bodily mutilation is unacceptable. The price of confessions obtained in this way is well known to everyone,” Tajik foreign minister Sirojiddin Mukhriddin told his CIS counterparts at a meeting in Belarus.

The four men were captured relatively unharmed outside Moscow the day after 144 people died in the terror attack on March 22. Videos, though, showed them being beaten and tortured with electric shocks.

The Afghanistan-based ISIS-K terror group has claimed the attack but the Kremlin has blamed Ukraine. It said that Ukraine had actively recruited the attackers from Dushanbe, an accusation Tajikistan has rejected as having “no basis” in fact.

And analysts have now warned that the Tajik economy will be hit by the fallout from the attack.

Remittances sent back to Tajikistan from Russia are vital but Russian police have cracked down on migrant workers and many now want to leave. Turkey, an important destination for migrant workers from Tajikistan, has also dropped visa-free entry for Tajiks since the attack.

ENDS

— This story was published in issue 564 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on April 15 2024

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2024

Kazakhstan strengthens domestic violence punishments

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ALMATY/APRIL 11 2024 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Senate approved a bill to toughen punishment for domestic violence as the trial of a former economy minister for murdering his wife grips and horrifies the nation.

Kassym Jomart Tokayev, the Kazakh president, is expected to sign the bill into law this week.

Lawmakers in Kazakhstan have been motivated to toughen domestic abuse laws because of the public outrage triggered by the trial of Kuandyk Bishmbayev for beating to death his wife, Saltanat Nukenova, in a restaurant in Astana in November.

Activists have said that attitudes of men and officials towards women’s rights also need to change to cut domestic abuse rates.

ENDS

— This story was published in issue 564 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on April 15 2024

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2024

Thousands of Georgians protest against “foreign agents” law

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TBILISI/APRIL 11 2024 (The Bulletin) — — Thousands of people protested in Tbilisi against the Georgian Dream government’s attempt to re-impose a Kremlin-inspired “foreign agents” law.

Its move to impose the law a year after riots forced it to abandon its first attempt came as Kyrgyzstan adopted its own version of the law that crimps Western-funded NGOs and media groups.

“This is a Russian law,” said one of the protesters gathered in central Tbilisi. Many waved the blue and gold flag of the European Commission and accused the Georgian Dream of being a Kremlin stooge.

Although Georgia fought a war against Russia in 2008 over its breakaway territories, the Georgian Dream has kept Georgia officially neutral over the Russia-Ukraine war and has even improved some business and education-related ties with the Kremlin

Salome Zurabishvili, Georgia’s pro-West president, called the “foreign agents” law a betrayal of Georgia’s newly won EU candidate status.

“This is a Russian dream,” she said in a dig at the Georgian Dream’s name

The EU said that the “foreign agents” bill was “incompatible” with Georgia’s push to join the bloc and Freedom House, a US human rights group, said that Georgia was becoming a “semi-consolidated authoritarian regime”.

The Georgian Dream has said that the law is needed to reduce foreign influence in its politics and to promote funding transparency. It also said that opposition parties had misled people last year by misrepresenting the law to score political points, a charge rejected by opposition leaders.

Opposition activists have accused the Kremlin of using its 2012 law to stamp out dissent.

Kyrgyzstan has also been criticised for adopting its own version of the “foreign agents” law.

“The legislation that restricts civil society organisations’ ability to operate freely could have a negative impact on the Kyrgyz society and their cooperation with international partners,” said the EU.

ENDS

— This story was published in issue 564 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on April 15 2024

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2024

Prison guards in Kyrgyzstan accused of beating jailed reporter

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APRIL 6 2024 (The Bulletin) — Human rights activists in Kyrgyzstan accused prison guards of beating Makhabat Tajibek-kyzy, a journalist, in her cell. They told RFE/RL that Ms Tajibek-kyzy, had bruises on her face, her hands and under her left arm when they saw her last week. She was arrested in January for allegedly calling for a “mass riot”. The US and the EU have criticised Kyrgyzstan’s media crackdown.

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— This story was published in issue 564 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on April 15 2024

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2024

Attackers firebomb Kazakh journalist’s car

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JAN. 13 2023 (The Bulletin) — Unknown attackers firebombed a car belonging to Kazakh journalist Dinara Yegeubaeva on the anniversary of anti-government protests across Kazakhstan. Ms Yegeubaeva interviewed dozens of protesters who were detained and tortured by the police and broadcast them on social media channels. She had received several threats before her car was attacked.

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— This story was published in issue 532 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Jan. 16 2023

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2023

Repressive leader of Azerbaijan’s Nakchivan retires

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DEC. 21 2022 (The Bulletin) — Vasif Talibov, the repressive leader of Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan exclave, quit after 26 years for health reasons. He had been given the job by Heydar Aliyev, father of the current Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev. Human rights groups had highlighted Nakhchivan under Mr Tabilov as being particularly repressive and corrupt. Analysts had said that Mr Aliyev would want to exert more direct control over Nakhchivan after his victory over Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020. Shahin Mirzayev, the emergencies minister, was appointed head of the region (Jan. 17).

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— This story was published in issue 532 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Jan. 16 2023

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2023

Kazakh police arrest investigative journalist

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DEC. 19 2022 (The Bulletin) — Police in Kazakhstan arrested investigative journalist Mikhail Kozachkov for allegedly taking a bribe from a crime boss to smear and blackmail business leaders. His supporters have said that he is being targeted in retaliation for his investigations into corruption in the police. They also said that Mr Kozachkov is being denied proper legal assistance.

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— This story was published in issue 532 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin, on Jan. 16 2023