Tag Archives: Uzbekistan

OSCE snubs Uzbek election

DEC. 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The OSCE said it does not expect the Uzbek parliamentary election on Dec. 21 to be either free or fair and that it will be sending only a small group to the vote.

In total the OSCE will send 20 observers to cover the election in Uzbekistan, a country with 30m people and 135 electoral districts.

The Uzbek government, though, had a slightly different way of interpreting the OSCE’s perceived snub. It said that the OSCE’s limited observation mission was because there had been large improvements in the process.

“There is a unanimous opinion that no problems are expected,” the Uzbek government said in a statement. The OSCE has never judged an election in post-Soviet Uzbekistan to be either free or fair.

Of course, in a way, the Uzbek government is correct. There are no problems expected in terms of the result.

The Uzbek government made sure that only four pro- president political parties were allowed to run for the 135 seats. The Uzbek Central Election Commission rejected the unofficial Erk opposition party’s registration application.

The importance of these parliamentary elections is not that they will, or even could, trigger a change in how Uzbekistan is run, instead they are an indicator ahead of presidential elections in 2015.

Signals from Uzbekistan have suggested that President Islam Karimov’s position has been weakened by a prolonged power struggle over the past year. If any strong contenders emerge out of the parliamentary elections, even from the pro-presidential parties, it could make for a more dynamic presidential vote.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 211, published on Dec. 3 2014)

Uzbekistan bans drone flights

DEC. 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan has taken the unusual step of banning drones from its airspace, media reported. The official reason for the ban is to secure its airspace and improve civilian flight safety. The real reason could be Uzbek paranoia about spying by neighbouring countries.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 211, published on Dec. 3 2014)

HRW urges pressure on Uzbekistan

NOV. 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged a US delegation flying to Tashkent for bilateral talks to push for the release of political prisoners. HRW has criticised the US for relaxing its pressure on Uzbekistan’s human rights record because it needs to transport military kit from Afghanistan across Uzbek territory.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 211, published on Dec. 3 2014)

Uzbek President travels to Astana

NOV. 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek President Islam Karimov made a rare trip to Astana where he met Kazakh leader Nursultan Nazarbayev to discuss plans by Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to build extra hydropower capacity, an issue that has threatened to destabilise the region. Uzbekistan relies on water from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to feed its important cotton fields.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)

OSCE to limit team at Uzbek election

NOV. 20 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The OSCE, Europe’s election monitoring watchdog, said it will send a limited observation mission to Uzbekistan’s parliamentary elections on Dec. 21. The OSCE has never judged an election in Uzbekistan to be free and fair and has said it is pointless sending a larger team to the vote.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)

Swiss president visits Tashkent

NOV. 21 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – As part of a tour of Central Asia, Swiss President Didier Burkhalter travelled to Uzbekistan. This was a rare trip to Uzbekistan by a Western leader, who are keen to avoid the Uzbek stigma of human rights abuses.

In a meeting, Uzbek President Islam Karimov and Mr Burkhalter discussed “mutual ties, the situation in the world, bilateral business relations and international organizations’ roles,” the official Uzbek media dryly report.

Although little official information is available about Mr Burkhalter’s visit, it is clear the Uzbek side had a few topics to discuss with him.

One issue was the $1b sitting in Swiss bank accounts that allegedly belongs to Gulnara Karimova, the Uzbek president’s daughter. Swiss banks froze that money after prosecutors launched a criminal investigation into suspected money laundering activities.

Ms Karimova is believed to be under house arrest in Tashkent, while other people the Swiss prosecutors wanted to interview have been jailed by Uzbek courts. The Uzbek side will probably use the Swiss president’s visit to attempt to salvage the frozen assets.

Another matter the official Tashkent would have been eager to discuss is the parliamentary elections in December, because Mr Burkhalter is also OSCE Chairperson- in-Office. The OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) sent a mission to Uzbekistan late October to assess elections monitoring needs. The ODIHR assessors recommend sending a limited observation mission due to a lack of competition.

Perhaps to incline Mr Burkhalter toward benevolence, President Karimov signed a decree on introducing amendments to a Swiss-Uzbek agreement on avoiding double taxation.

Telenor worries in Uzbekistan

NOV. 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Norway’s government summoned the head of Telenor, the telecoms company in which it owns a 54% stake, to explain newspaper reports which have alleged that VimpelCom, a part-owned subsidiary, paid bribes in Uzbekistan to win business, Bloomberg reported.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)

EU and Uzbekistan talk human rights

NOV. 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan and the EU held the eighth round of bilateral talks focused on human rights in Brussels. Uzbekistan’s minister for justice, Nigmatilla Yuldashev and the EU’s head of human rights, Silvio Gonzato, headed the delegations. The EU said Uzbekistan had made progress eradicating child labour in the cotton industry.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 210, published on Nov. 26 2014)

Uzbek authorities use forced labour

NOV. 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – n a rare public protest against the Uzbek authorities, students at Uzbekistan’s National University published an open letter on a website which said they had been forced to pick cotton during the harvest season. Campaigners around the world have criticised Uzbekistan for using forced labour in its cotton harvest.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)

Food prices rising in Uzbekistan

NOV. 12 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Uzbek sum currency has fallen to its lowest levels against the US dollar in independent Uzbekistan’s 23 year history, pushing up the price of food and threatening social stability.

On the Black Market, an essential measure of currency rates, the exchange rate in Tashkent hit the 3,450 sums to $1. The skyrocketing currency price is a mirror of Russia’s economic troubles.

A Tashkent resident told the Conway Bulletin that a kilogram of mutton now costs between 25,000 and 30,000 sums, compared to 20,000 sums in the summer.

Prices of bread, sugar and grain-based cereals have also risen by roughly 25% over the past three months, he said.

“As if the recent increase in utility costs was not frustrating enough, the government’s inaction to stem price increases because of a foreign currency adds insult to injury,” the source said.

The Tashkent resident was referring to a 10% increase imposed by the government on utility prices on Oct. 1.

This insight is important because it provides a first- hand snapshot of how frustration is building in Uzbekistan over food price increases and the rising cost of utilities.

Ordinary Uzbeks have also had to put up with fuel and gas shortages. Social pressure is building.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 209, published on Nov.19 2014)