MCC Considering USD 100-150 mln Aid for Georgia
17 March
The U.S. government foreign aid agency, Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), is considering an estimated USD 100-150 million for a new grant package for Georgia, according to MCC chief executive Daniel W. Yohannes.
In January MCC board of directors selected Georgia and Ghana eligible to develop proposal for package of grants under its aid program for the second time. The first USD 295.3 million aid program [1] under the MCC was signed between Georgia and the U.S. in September, 2005. An additional USD 100 million was allocated under the program in 2008. The program will be completed this year. Yohannes told the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on March 16, that Georgia and Ghana were selected because of “their continued strong policy performance, their status as important emerging markets, their strategic importance both globally and regionally, and their successful implementation of their first compact.” The major part of the first MCC aid was allocated for Samtskhe-Javakheti road [2] rehabilitation (USD 209 million); North-South gas pipeline [3] rehabilitation (USD 49.5 million) and various regional infrastructure development [4] projects (USD 57.7 million). MCC chief executive said that the second aid package would focus on solidifying an economic growth path to attract private investments and eventually to reduce the need for aid. “New MCC investments with countries that have successfully concluded their first compacts – are expected to target constraints to private investment,” Yohannes said. Yohannes said that Georgia “is recognized globally as one of the best investment climate reformers, even though 30% of its population still lives on less than USD 2 a day.” During his visit to the United States in February, Georgia’s Prime Minister Nika Gilauri said he expected new MCC aid package would be from at least USD 150 million to USD 250 million. He said that Georgia’s package of proposal for funding, which has yet to be drafted, would include establishment of the Institute of Technology in Batumi, as well as rehabilitation of a road via Goderdzi pass, linking Samtskhe-Javakheti region with the Black Sea coast in Adjara Autonomous Republic and construction of, as the PM put it, “an American hospital” in Georgia. (Civil Georgia)
U.S. ambassador visits Tajik-Afghan border
18 March
The U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan has said the United States is working with Russia and the European Union to strengthen control over Tajikistan's southern border with Afghanistan, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports. Ambassador Kenneth E. Gross made the comment during a visit to the border at Nizhny Pyanj, in Khatlon province, on March 17. Gross inspected a bridge built with U.S. funding across the Pyanj river that marks the border and took part in a graduation ceremony for 24 Tajik and Afghan border guards and customs officers trained under a special program organized by the United States. Gross noted that Russian border guards were deployed for a long time along that border and Russian military advisers remain there. Speaking on March 17 in Dushanbe, Nikolai Bordyuzha, the secretary general of the CIS Collective Security Treaty Organization, said Afghanistan is incapable of neutralizing the threat posed to Central Asia by Islamic insurgents. He said for that reason, international forces should remain in Afghanistan as their withdrawal would create further problems for the entire region. (RFE/RL)
Turkmenistan set to allow foreign-educated graduates to work in state bodies
19 March
Turkmenistan's president told the government to start recognizing foreign educational qualifications, state television reported Saturday, indicating a reversal of an isolationist policy that barred graduates of international universities getting state jobs. President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov said foreign-educated graduates are needed to carry out ambitious reform programs in the energy-rich Central Asian nation. Turkmenistan has for several years actively sought to prevent it citizens from pursuing studies abroad. Critics say the unofficial policy has left state bodies desperately lacking adequately qualified personnel, a shortcoming tacitly recognized by Berdymukhamedov. "Graduates should be provided with jobs, their skills are required for the implementation of ongoing large-scale reforms in the country," he said at a government meeting Friday. Some of the country's most widely attacked education policies date back to the rule of eccentric former President Saparmurat Niyazov, who died suddenly in late 2006. Under Niyazov, official recognition was only granted to degrees obtained at select foreign state universities. Under a government quota, 200 students per year have been allowed to study in universities that had sealed bilateral agreements with Turkmenistan. Berdymukhamedov has introduced limited educational reforms since coming to power, but Turkmens have still actively been stopped from studying abroad. In 2009, Turkmenistan barred hundreds of students from leaving the country to take up courses at the American University of Central Asia, in Kyrgyzstan, and the American University in Bulgaria. The American University of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan has traditionally been particularly popular with Turkmen students as it offers Western-style education and is located relatively close to their home country. Rights activists say the government's strict rules on education are part of a broader attempt to maintain a tight ideological hold over the population. (AP)
President Nazarbayev congratulated Kazakhstan on Nauryz holiday
22 March
The President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev congratulated Kazakhstan citizens on the coming Nauryz holiday when delivering speech in honor of Nauryz meyramy on the square near Kazakh Eli monument, Kazakhstan Today reports. "Taking the opportunity I would like to congratulate the residents of Southern Kazakhstan and all Kazakhstanis on the holiday of Nauryz, wish spring mood, a good year, happiness, peace and well-being to each family", N. Nazarbayev said, Kazinform reported. "This great holiday is called the Great day of people for a reason," the President stressed. He outlined that Nauryz is a holiday of renewal, friendship and warmth. This day the Kazakhstanis congratulate each other on New Year, hold various festive events. The head of state reminded that the Kazakhstanis celebrate Nauryz holiday in the year of 20th anniversary of independence. "20 years ago I decreed Nauryz meiramy as a public holiday," the President said emphasizing that Nauryz meyramy became an international holiday in accordance with the UN decision. (Kazakhstan Today)
Two militants killed in Dagestan’s counterterrorist operation
22 March
Two militants who are believed to murder a bailiff in Dagestan late on Monday were killed in a counterterrorist operation, the investigative committee told Itar-Tass on Tuesday. During the operation police blocked a private house with three militants inside in the village of Kani, Dagestan’s Kulinsky district, who opened fire when asked to lay down arms. Two militants were killed in the shootout. The investigation is underway. Police take efforts to detain a third militant. The body of a 33-year-old bailiff Gadis Bagdayev with gunshot wounds was found near his car on a road between the villages of Shara and Shovkra, the Laksky district, late on Monday. Soon after this police tracked down the criminals, who were blocked in a private house in the village of Kani. (Itar-Tass)
Bakradze on 'Gradual Sectoral Integration with EU'
23 March
Georgia’s eventual goal is membership in the European Union, but it is not on the government’s immediate agenda, Davit Bakradze, the Georgian parliamentary speaker said, adding that the authorities were instead making focus on “gradual sectoral integration” with EU. “Eventually we see our place in Europe; it also means being part of the [EU’s] political institutions,” he told the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s 76th Rose-Roth Seminar [5], which opened in Tbilisi on March 23. “But we understand that at this point talking about immediate membership into the political institutions may be counterproductive, because we understand that EU is in a difficult situation in itself and at the moment there are lots of internal problems which EU has to deal with. So we do not put this issue on the agenda,” Bakradze said. “Our strategy is little bit different. Our strategy is gradual sectoral integration [with EU],” Bakradze said, adding that part of the strategy was Georgia’s integration to EU’s economy through free trade agreement.
He also said that deepening links in various sectors would eventually “make it much easier to speak about further political integration.” (Civil Georgia)
Russia and Kyrgyzstan in dispute over airbase
23 March
Russia and Kyrgyzstan are wrangling over Russia's Kant Airbase in the former Soviet republic.
Kant is Russia's first international military facility established after the Soviet Union collapsed in December 1991.
Kyrgyzstan is the only post-Soviet country to host both a Russian and U.S. airbase. Besides the former, the United States has access to the Manas Transit Center near the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek. The disputes include fuel deliveries to the base. Following a two-day working visit by Kyrgyz Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev to Moscow, Russia lifted its Kyrgyzstan export duties on petroleum products. In return, the Kyrgyz government agreed to free Russia from paying rent for the Kant military base, Kazakh Zerno reported Wednesday. The issue of Russia's ongoing military presence in Kyrgyzstan has been contentious. Russian Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Valentin Vlasov said, "The issue of a unified Russian military base in the republic was considered at Kyrgyz Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev's negotiations in Moscow on March 18 and there were different opinions." Atambayev said, "The (Russian) military base is needed in Kyrgyzstan. Russia is our strategic partner. We share a common past and common future and this year we will celebrate a number of significant events, such as 150 years of voluntary accession of Kyrgyzstan to the Russian empire. "This arrangement is not about money. Through the elimination of customs duties on petroleum products imported into the country, we could save more than $200 million." Kyrgyzstan and Russia have been discussing the administration of the Kant Airbase with two other Soviet-era military facilities controlled by Russia within the two nations' membership of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, with Russia proposing concluding a rent agreement for 49 years with a possible 25 year extension with a clause prohibiting the abrogation of the agreement. Noting the difficulty of the negotiations Vlasov told journalists, "Kyrgyzstan is not agreeing to accept this deal in its current form, citing international experience and its record of concluding agreements but we are saying: 'Let's not make a decision tomorrow but let's not drag it out either.'" The U.S. base outside Bishkek has also frequently been a source of contention. Since its establishment in late 2001 the Manas Transit Center has come to play an increasingly important role in provisioning the more than 100,000 U.S. troops serving in Afghanistan in Operation Enduring Freedom, which began a decade ago. (UPI)
Islamabad wants energy ties to Uzbekistan
25 March
Islamabad aims to buy surplus electricity from neighboring Uzbekistan under a series of bilateral trade initiatives, the Pakistani prime minister said. Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani [6] met in Tashkent with his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev to sign various memorandums of understandings on trade. Gilani said the emphasis on the trade initiatives was on further cooperation in the energy sector. Islamabad is keen to buy more electricity from Uzbekistan to allay energy issues at home, Pakistan's International News Network reports.
The countries could also work closely in the oil and natural gas sectors, he added. Islamabad is undertaking a broad-reaching strategy that includes domestic oil and natural gas production, renewable energy options and gas pipelines from its Asian neighbors. The government handed out nearly 40 licenses to foreign and domestic companies for work in Pakistan. Islamabad is pursing two natural gas pipelines from neighboring countries. A pipeline from the South Pars gas field in Iran could start carrying gas by 2012 and another from Turkmenistan could start deliveries in 2015. (UPI)
Hunger strike begins in reformatory schools in Kyrgyzstan
25 March
A massive hunger strike began in six reformatory schools of Kyrgyzstan on Friday, a representative of the Kyrgyz State Service for the Execution of Punishment told Itar-Tass. “Four of those six reformatory schools are maximum-security institutions,” he said. According to his information, the inmates are demanding the improvement of living conditions. The State Service reports that the protest action was planned in advance and was organised by “negatively-minded inmates.” At the same time, officers of the Kyrgyz law enforcement agencies say with reference to the current information, that the hunger strike is the result of the activization of police efforts, aimed at destroying organised crime groups. Some 100 active members of the organised crime groups were arrested by the Kyrgyz police over the past three months. Several days ago the police confiscated a money reserve of the crime groups in a privately owned house, in the outskirts of Bishkek. It amounted to 20,000 dollars in various currencies. The personnel of the State Service for the Execution of Punishment was put on high alert in connection with the incident. A special task group was created for settling the conflict. Representatives of the Service say that they have enough resources for bringing the situation back to normal. Massive riots of inmates took place in some reformatory schools of Kyrgyzstan five years ago, but they were rigorously suppressed by the special task force of the Service and the Interior Ministry. (ITAR-TASS)
German defence minister visits Afghanistan
26 March
Germany's Defence Minister Thomas de Maiziere arrived in Afghanistan for a two-day visit Saturday, the day after lawmakers in Berlin backed providing German crews for surveillance planes there, his office said. It was de Maiziere's first trip to Afghanistan since taking over from Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, who quit in disgrace on March 1. The German parliament Friday agreed to a NATO request to supply air crew for AWACS aircraft operating in Afghanistan to free up NATO resources for enforcing the no-fly zone in Libya. Germany is the third-largest provider of troops to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan in a mission that polls show is deeply unpopular at home. Berlin decided not to participate in the military action against Moamer Khadafi's regime and abstained on the United Nations resolution that established the no-fly zone. Parliament decided up to 300 German servicemen can be deployed to operate the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) planes as long as the 5,350-troop limit on Germany's Afghanistan contingent is not exceeded. De Maiziere's ministry said he would have talks during his stay with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the commmander of the international forces battling the Taliban insurgency, General David Petraeus. (AFP)
Turkmen president arrives in Iran
27 March
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov [7] has arrived in the Iranian capital, Tehran, to attend a ceremony celebrating Nowruz, which marks the beginning of the new Iranian calendar year, Press TV [8] reported. Upon his arrival on Sunday, the Turkmen president, who is heading a high-ranking delegation, was welcomed at Tehran Mehrabad International Airport by Iranian Minister of Housing and Urban Development Ali Nikzad [9]. Presidents of Afghanistan, Iraq and Tajikistan are also in Tehran to take part in the International Nowruz Celebrations along with senior officials from 20 countries. On Saturday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad held separate meetings with the Afghan, Iraqi and Tajik chief executives, the Pakistani speaker of the National Assembly, the Secretary General of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), the Indian health minister, the vice president of Zanzibar and the Kyrgyz culture minister. High-ranking officials from the Persian-speaking states of Tajikistan and Afghanistan will join representatives from the countries that celebrate Nowruz such as Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Iraq, Albania, and Turkey. The International Day of Nowruz was registered on the UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on February 23, 2010. (Trend)
Kazakh activists march in Astana against elections
28 March
Dozens of civil rights and opposition activists from across Kazakhstan marched in Astana today to protest the upcoming early presidential election, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports. The rally is the latest in a series of protests against the April 3 election that is all but certain to return incumbent Nursultan Nazarbaev to power [10]. Opposition parties and movements have been calling on voters to boycott the poll, calling it "a tool to illegally prolong Nazarbaev's term in office again" and complaining that they had no time to launch a proper campaign. The protesters today demanded to meet Nazarbaev in order to hand over a petition urging him to call off the election.
They gathered first near Bayterek Tower in central Astana before marching towards the president's residence led by opposition leader Zhasaral Quanyshalin. Dozens of police blocked their way to the presidential residence. When the protesters started chanting "Nazarbaev, Come Out!” police gave them a verbal warning, but allowed Quanyshalin and four other activists to approach. They later told journalists that their petition was accepted in the presidential chancellery. The petition was initiated by the "Let Us Defend The Constitution" public committee, the protesters say. Nazarbaev, 70, who has been running Kazakhstan for more than 20 years, called the snap poll earlier this year almost two years ahead of time. Three other candidates officially registered by the Central Election Commission are propresidential politicians, considered "pocket candidates" by the opposition. (RFE/RL)
AZAL: Armenia has no right to operate airport in Khankendi
28 March
Armenia has no right to operate the airport in Khankendi [11], built in the Azerbaijani occupied territories. This contradicts all international conventions and will not be allowed by any international organizations, including an influential organization such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO [12]), AZAL [13]spokesman Maharram Safarli [14]said on Monday. It is necessary to obtain relevant documents and approval from the ICAO to operate the airport. Azerbaijan has already informed the organization about inadmissibility of carrying out flights from this airport. The Armenian side plans to open the airport in Khankendi in May. (Trend)
Contract serviceman killed in Dagestan
28 March
A contract serviceman of the Interior Troops of the Russian Interior Ministry was killed in Dagestan’s Kizlyar region. According to the information of the Interior Ministry, “unidentified people shot a serviceman in the yard of his own house at about 23.45 Moscow time on Sunday. He died from bullet wounds on the spot.” Thirty cartridge-cases of 7.62 mm calibre and nine cartridge-cases of 9 mm calibre were found at the site of the incident. According to the preliminary information, two criminals were involved in the attack. A search for them is being held. Criminal proceedings were instituted. (Itar-Tass)
Senior advisor to Afghan president charged with embezzlement
29 March
Afghanistan's attorney general today announced that a senior adviser to President Hamid Karzai has been arrested on embezzlement charges. The arrest of Noorullah Delawari is the second this week of an Afghan official or former official from Karzai's government. On March 28, the attorney general's office said Enayatullah Qasimi was being charged with mismanagement of public funds. Qasimi was Karzai's transportation minister from 2004 to 2006.
Those charges are linked to his approval of contracts during 2004 for the purchase of four aircraft for the state-owned Afghan Ariana airlines. Prosecutors say the government was overcharged $9 million for the planes. (RFE/RL)
Taliban fighters seize district in Afghanistan’s remote east
29 March
Taliban insurgents seized a district in Afghanistan's remote northeast after a brief battle with police, provincial officials said on Tuesday, underscoring the difficulty Afghan and foreign forces face in securing the increasingly violent region. Hundreds of Taliban fighters had captured the Waygal district center in mountainous Nuristan province in the pre-dawn hours on Tuesday, said Mohammad Zarin, a spokesman for the provincial governor. Nimatullah Mazabyar, the head of the Nuristan provincial council, also confirmed sparsely populated Waygal was under control of insurgents. Zarin said government forces were being prepared to launch a counter-offensive to retake the district. Violence in Afghanistan has spiraled in the past year, with Taliban-led militants stepping up their fight against the Afghan government and its Western backers as Kabul prepares to take security responsibility gradually from foreign forces. In a statement emailed to the media, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the Islamist militants had hoisted their flag in the district center and that 12 policemen had been captured, along with arms and ammunition. Mujahid said the success of the operation would prove wrong recent remarks by U.S. General David Petraeus, commander of all foreign forces in Afghanistan, that NATO-led troops had made gains against the Taliban and other insurgents. Nuristan and neighboring Kunar province have witnessed an increasingly violent struggle as insurgents spread out of traditional Taliban strongholds in the south over the past two years. They are close to the porous border with Pakistan, across which insurgents launch attacks from safe havens in Pakistan's largely lawless tribal areas in the northwest. Last week, the Taliban abducted about 50 police recruits during an ambush in Kunar's Chapa Dara district. The policemen were stationed in Waygal but went through Kunar to collect their salaries. Taliban fighters and other insurgents have seized other districts in Nuristan and Kunar in the past, only to abandon them before security reinforcements arrived. (Reuters)
Abkhazia Releases Preliminary Census Results
29 March
Population of Abkhazia stands at 242,826, according to preliminary figures of a February census released by the breakaway region’s statistics office on March 28. According to the previous census, held in Abkhazia in 2003, about 214,000 people lived in the breakaway region. The figures, however, have always been a source of controversy with various estimates ranging from 180,000 to 220,000. Based on number of voters registered in Abkhazia for 2005 elections, the Brussels-based think-tank International Crisis Group suggested that population in Abkhazia was between 157,000 and 190,000. The breakaway region’s statistics office said that final results of 2011 census, including ethnic breakdown of the population would be available by the end of this year, according to the Abkhaz news agency Apsnipress. The preliminary results provide breakdown of population by the region’s districts and towns with capital Sokhumi representing the largest one with 64,478 people (plus 12,000 people living in rural areas, which are part of the entire Sokhumi district). 30,437 people reside in pre-dominantly ethnic Georgian populated district of Gali, according to the released figures. Breakdown of population by other districts is as follows: Gagra district – 39,342; Gudauta district – 37,143; Ochamchire district – 25,235; Gulripshi district – 18,146 and Tkvarcheli district - 16,000. (Civil Georgia)
Ex-Georgian MP to stand trial
29 March
Ex-Georgian MP Sandro Bregadze [15], who is accused of hooliganism, will today stand trial. He is currently kept an investigation center in Tbilisi. Bregadze is accused of starting a brawl at a petrol station in Tbilisi in February. According to information, the incident took place between Bregadze and an employee of a Visol gas station on Vaja Pshavela Avenue. Earlier, the Tbilisi City Court sentenced Bregadze to pretrial detention for 40 days. He was found guilty of hooliganism involving firearms. The court refused an appeal to release the accused on bail of 3,000 lari ($2,100). Bregadze left the Freedom party of Konstantine Gamsakhurdia in 2010 and was going to organize a new political union with the former party members, who also left the Freedom Party. Currently, Bregadze is not a member of any political party. (Trend)
Russia's bin Laden dead?
29 March
Doku Umarov, the man dubbed the Chechen version of Osama bin Laden [16], may have been killed in an attack by Russian forces, a regional leader suggested. Russian investigators announced Tuesday that charges were filed against Umarov and others for organizing the January attack at the Domodedovo Airport in Moscow. The attack killed more than 30 people at the busy terminal. Moscow said those charged for the January attack could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted, state-run news agency RIA Novosti reports. More than a dozen rebels in the Chechen region were killed in an attack on a suspected terrorist training camp in Ingushetia. Leaders of the republic suggested Umarov may be among those killed, though there was no official confirmation and none of the bodies were identified, the Russian report adds. Umarov claimed responsible for the 2010 bombing of a Moscow subway station that killed 40 people. False reports of his death circulated early this year following airstrikes in Chechnya.
Russia's predominantly Muslim North Caucasus republics Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia have seen an upsurge of violence recently. Russia has been fighting the insurgency for many years following two bloody conflicts in Chechnya in the 1990s. (UPI)
Turkey supports Azerbaijan's position over airport to be built in occupied Khankendi
30 March
Turkey supports Azerbaijan’s position over an airport to be built by Armenia in the Azerbaijani occupied region of Khankendi, as this contradicts all international conventions. "We have always supported Baku’s position," Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan Hulusi Kilic [17] told journalists on Wednesday. "We are always close to Azerbaijan in all spheres and support its right fight. This issue must be addressed in the framework of the international law."
Kilic believes no steps disturbing Azerbaijani people must be taken. Armenia has no right to operate the airport in Khankendi, built in the Azerbaijani occupied territories. This contradicts all international conventions and will not be allowed by any international organizations, including an influential organization such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), AZAL spokesman Maharram Safarli said on Monday. It is necessary to obtain relevant documents and approval from the ICAO to operate the airport. Azerbaijan has already informed the organization about inadmissibility of carrying out flights from this airport. The Armenian side plans to open the airport in Khankendi in May (Trend)
Afghan President condemns U.S. “Kill Team”
30 March
Afghan President Hamid Karzai spoke out publicly today for the first time about a rogue U.S. army unit accused of deliberately killing Afghan civilians for sport. Karzai said he wants to ensure that ordinary Americans learn that "Afghans old and young [were] being oppressed in their name" by the alleged rogue "kill team" that is accused of murdering Afghan civilians and mutilating their corpses. “Rolling Stone” magazine this week published a series of graphic images and a long story, including extensive details of allegations against the U.S. soldiers. Karzai, who says he read the article, described the report as "heart-rendering." The U.S. military has apologized, while the Pentagon said the photographs were "in striking contrast to the standards and values of the United States Army."
Altogether a dozen U.S. soldiers are accused in connection with the killings. (RFE/RL)
Uzbeks shut religious bookstores
30 March
Uzbek security services have closed down bookstores specializing in religious literature in Tashkent, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service reports. Twenty bookstores in the Kitoblar dunyosi (World of Books) book trading center have been raided by Uzbek National Security Service (NSS) agents, police, tax officers, and representatives of the government Committee for Religious Affairs in the past week and closed. Kitoblar dunyosi was the only place allowed to sell books on religion, primarily on Islam and mainly published in Uzbekistan. A source close to the bookstores' owners who saw one of the raids told RFE/RL that officials were searching for specific Islamic books that were no longer published in Uzbekistan. He said that storeowners believe the exercise was directed against the sale of all kinds of religious literature. Photos sent to RFE/RL show the door to one of the stores, Flinta Books, taped shut with a paper seal bearing the signatures of an Interior Ministry officer, an NSS officer, and the store's director. There has been no official comment on the raids. The U.S. State Department's 2010 report on religious freedom says that in Uzbekistan possession of literature by authors deemed to be extremists, or of any literature illegally imported or produced, may lead to arrest and prosecution. The government categorically prohibits leaflets on the banned group Hizb ut-Tahrir and literature on Nur, a Turkish Muslim group deemed extremist. The Committee for Religious Affairs (CRA), a government agency accountable to the Cabinet of Ministers, must approve all religious literature. According to RFE/RL's source, bookstore owners were selling only books approved by the state. Local human rights activists say authorities have intensified their already tight grip on religion in the wake of the recent antigovernment uprisings in the Middle East. Employees in various sectors have reported they have come under pressure not to perform the five daily Muslim prayers, including Friday Prayers, during working hours. Women working in offices and markets have complained they are being told by employers not to wear the hijab, or Islamic head scarf. At the same time, the government is continuing its crackdown on what it calls radical groups willing to overthrow the constitutional order.
Human rights groups have criticized the authorities, saying many people have been labeled "extremists" and jailed for peacefully practicing their religion. The government is also getting tougher on activities such as proselytizing and importing and disseminating religious literature. Officials have confirmed around 15,000 Bibles have been confiscated in the past year. On March 13, Uzbek police raided a Sunday worship service led by Baptists in a retirement home in Tashkent. According to the Forum 18 News Service, police claimed they were on a counterterrorism operation and are preparing a criminal and administrative case against the Baptists. (RFE/RL)
Inmates in Kyrgyz Prisons stop hunger strikes
30 March
Inmates at Kyrgyz prisons have stopped the mass hunger strike, which began on March 25, the State Penitentiary Service (GSIN) of the republic told Itar-Tass on Wednesday. "The authorities have been educating the participants during the protest all this time. As of now, all the inmates have begun to take meals and are complying with the regulations," GSIN said. Unofficial reports said the action involved almost 80 percent of inmates. The hungerstrike was staged in 11 penitentiaries and six remand prisons. The children's and women's penitentiary did not participate. GSIN officials said the inmates had brought forward a number of demands, including better prison conditions, quality medical assistance and an end to reprisals of criminals by the law-enforcement bodies. Relatives of the inmates rallied in Bishkek's central square to support their kin. The participants insisted on a meeting with Prime Minister Almazek Atambayev and even tried to force their way into the building accommodating the government. However, police prevented them from entering. Indignant at these actions, Kyrgyzstan public representatives threatened to call an alternative rally and demanded that the authorities toughen the penalty for criminals. Kyrgyzstan's Interior Ministry reported that police had detained 125 criminals in the past few months. During the hungerstrike, the Interior Ministry, together with GSIN, were working on a plan to intervene by using force. During mass riots in Kyrgyz prisons five years ago, several people were killed. Law-enforcement bodies suppressed the mutiny by tough actions. (Itar-Tass)
Three jailed for attack on Kazakh opposition activists
30 March
Three young men have been jailed for seven days for attacking Kazakh opposition activists protesting next month's presidential election, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports. The three, all aged 19, were found guilty of hooliganism on March 29 over the March 11 incident in the northern city of Pavlodar. The trio attacked a group of activists from the unregistered Algha (Forward) party as they headed to the city center to take part in a flash mob. The chairwoman of Algha's branch in Pavlodar, Perizat Qasymova, told journalists that the three cut several balloons the activists were holding. The balloons had inscriptions saying "I will not go to the polling station!" The attackers also insulted the activists verbally, threatened to beat them, and tried to break a video camera they had with them. Algha has been holding various gatherings calling on voters to boycott the April 3 early presidential election. President Nursultan Nazarbaev, 70, who has been running the country for more than 20 years, called the snap poll earlier this year almost two years ahead of schedule. Opposition groups have criticized the early election as "a tool to illegally prolong Nazarbaev's term in office again," and are calling for a boycott. (RFE/RL)