17 August 2011 News Digest
Tajikistan bans minors from entering mosques
3 August
Tajikistan's authoritarian leader has approved a law barring minors from praying in mosques as his secular government seeks to minimize the rising influence of Islam in the Central Asian nation. President Emomali Rakhmon signed the bill Wednesday despite vocal resistance from rights activists and the opposition Islamic Revival Party. The law also requires people under the age of 18 to study in secular schools thus barring thousands of students from attending mosque schools seen by authorities as a breeding ground of Islamism. The impoverished and predominantly Sunni Muslim nation shares a long and porous border with Afghanistan. (AP)
Four people killed during anti-Nato protest in Afghanistan
5 August
Afghan officials say Taliban fighters opened fire on Afghan police at an anti-NATO rally in southern Afghanistan today, sparking a gunbattle that killed three civilians and a police officer. Officials said the insurgents infiltrated the protest in the town of Qalat in the southern province of Zabul and fired at police. Police responded by firing at the insurgents in the crowd. The demonstrators had gathered to protest the reported deaths of civilians during a NATO operation overnight. (RFE/RL)
Tajikistan, Russia seek base lease deal
10 August
Talks on continued use of a base in Tajikistan by the Russian military are still in progress and agreement on a new, market-based lease of the facility will strengthen ties between the two countries, an adviser to Tajikistan's president said Wednesday. "Negotiations between the two sides on extending the [Russian military] presence in Tajikistan beyond 2014 are currently being held at the working-group level," Sukhrob Sharipov, director of the presidential Center for Strategic Studies in Dushanbe, told RIA Novosti. He said both sides agreed that it was time to review the terms of Russia's use of the base and now only the details of a new agreement had to be worked out. "Russia pays Armenia and Kyrgyzstan for its military bases and it is a normal practice in the world to pay for the services provided," Sharipov said. He denied earlier Russian media reports that Tajikistan was seeking $300 million from Russia to extend the use of the base, saying that "this figure was taken from nowhere and no one knows who the official was who cited it." A total of 7,000 Russian troops are serving at three Russian military units in Dushanbe, the southwestern city of Qurgonteppa some 100 km from Dushanbe, and Kulob, about 200 km to the southwest of the capital. Russian troops in Tajikistan constitute the Moscow's largest ground force deployed abroad. (RIA Novosti)
Uzbek court jails tajik citizen for espionage
11 August
A military court in Uzbekistan has sentenced a Tajik citizen to 12 years in prison on espionage charges, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports. Obloqul Rizoev told RFE/RL by phone from the northern town of Panjakent that his brother, Saidqul Ashurov, had been sentence in a closed trial. Rizoev said Ashurov was detained in March and accused of violating Uzbek laws relating to state secrets. Rizoev said his brother is a gold-ming professional with experience working in South Africa but is not a spy. Ashurov was employed by the British company Oxus Gold, which has a joint venture called Amantaytau Goldfields in which Oxus Gold and the Uzbek side each hold a 50-percent stake. Until his arrest, Ashurov was employed as Amantaytau Goldfields' chief metallurgist at its mining operations in Zarafshan, Uzbekistan. Oxus Gold's lawyer, Robert Amsterdam, said the conviction of Ashurov is a clear violation of human rights by the Uzbek authorities, and there is no legal basis for his arrest. Suhrob Ismoilov, a human rights activist and legal adviser to Oxus Gold, said Uzbek authorities have assessed as "classified" certain information found on a flash disk and Ashurov's personal computer. But he said the information is publicly available on Oxus Gold's website and is not classified. Ismoilov said the only classified information found in Ashurov's possession was a 2009 document about transporting gold. Ismoilov said the information is no longer of any relevance. He suggested two motives for jailing Ashurov: an ongoing dispute between Oxus Gold and the Uzbek authorities for control of the company or the so-called "spy war" between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The two countries have in recent years detained several of each other's citizens and charged them with espionage. (RFE/RL)
Uzbekistan expels 8 US missionaries
11 August
Uzbekistan has expelled eight American nationals from the Central Asian country on charges of making “unlawful” attempts to convert local Uzbeks to Christianity. Under the guise of businessmen or English language teachers, the eight US nationals "carried out unlawful missionary activity to attract Uzbek students” to Christianity, AFP reported, citing a report on the state-run Uzbek website, gorizont.uz. "Notably, the foreigners were fluent in Uzbek and called themselves with Uzbek names such as Jahongir, Husan, Jasur, Farhod," the report said. The US Embassy in the Uzbek capital Tashkent declined to comment on the incident. Uzbekistan previously deported another US citizen and seven South Koreans on similar charges. All religious missionary work is banned in Uzbekistan, which is a predominantly Muslim nation with 90 percent of its 28 million citizens practicing the Islamic faith. (presstv.ir)
Striking Kazakh oil workers quit ruling party
11 August
Thousands of striking oil workers have gone to the ruling Nur-Otan party's headquarters in western Kazakhstan to officially quit the party, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports. Striking OzenMunaiGaz company worker Roza Toretaeva told RFE/RL that nearly 3,000 workers went to the party offices in the town of Zhanaozen and filed papers to quit the party on August 11. The workers -- who have been on strike since May -- told RFE/RL that they had been forced to join the party anyway and since none of their strike demands have been met, they decided to quit it. The oil workers are demanding equal rights with foreign workers, a pay raise, no restrictions on independent labor unions in the region, and the immediate release of their lawyer, Natalya Sokolova. Sokolova, who provided legal support to employees at the Qarazhanbas oil and gas fields in the Manghystau region, was found guilty on August 8 of "igniting social unrest" and jailed for six years. Meanwhile, the leader of the Nur-Otan party branch in Zhanaozen, Koshbai Qyzanbaev, told RFE/RL that only 1,089 official applications to quit the party ranks had been registered. He said every application would be "researched separately and individual talks will be held with every person who decided to quit the party." On August 8, the striking workers gathered in front of Zhanaozen's administrative building and announced their decision to quit Nur-Otan, which is led by President Nursultan Nazarbaev. Nur-Otan officials announced the next day that reports about the workers' mass quitting of the party were false. They said that on the contrary, 882 people had joined Nur-Otan since the massive strike began in May. (RFE/RL)
Azerbaijan arrests three men suspected of religious extremism
12 August
Azeri special services have detained three men suspected of attempting to destabilize the situation in the country through propagating ideas of religious radicalism and other unlawful actions, the Azeri National Security Ministry and the Prosecutor General's Office said in a joint statement. Abgul Sulaymanov, Ramil Bayramov, and Arif Ganiyev are suspected of aiding and abetting hostile activities against Azerbaijan in favor of a foreign state, organizing clashes in the country, violating public security, and instigating disobedience. Security services have determined that Sulaymanov established the radical religious group Jafari, which is not registered with the state, and became its leader, with financial support from the Iranian cultural center in Baku. Members of this group promoted religious radicalism, printed leaflets calling for religious divisions and discord, and circulated them among believers, the joint statement says. To propagate its activities, the Jafari group also launched the website www.islam-azeri.az and tasked Bayramov with supervising it. The statement says that Sulaymanov and the members of the Jafari radical religious group maintained close relations with the Iranian culture center in Baku, religious communities, pro-Shiite radical groups and their leaders acting in Azerbaijan. Sulaymanov also maintained close ties with Iskandar Huseynov, the leader of the educational and cultural organization Haqq Yolu, who has been on the international wanted list since 2008 on charges of terrorism and high treason and who is currently staying in the Iranian city of Qom. These people received instructions to organize the Jafari group's activities, the statement says. The group was financed by its religious affiliates operating in Azerbaijan, who regularly attended meetings of the Islamic Party of Azerbaijan, which is not officially registered in the country, and openly called for setting up a state governed by the Sharia law in Azerbaijan. Sulaymanov also organized unsanctioned protests in front of the embassies of some Western countries in Azerbaijan. The criminal case against the three has been opened on charges of the illegal storage and carrying of firearms and illegal acquisition, storage, and transportation of illegal drugs. The court sanctioned their arrest. (Interfax)
Golden Horde-era mausoleum discovered in Kazakhstan
12 August
Archeologists in Kazakhstan have discovered a large mausoleum dating back to the 14th century, the expedition leader said on Friday. The 20-meter high Golden Horde-era mausoleum is one of the largest historic buildings in the territory of the Saryarka (Yellow Range) steppe in central Kazakhstan, Timur Smagulov said. A skeleton of a man believed to have been a representative of the local ruling elite was found inside the mausoleum. Archeologists also discovered golden and copper coins from Eastern Europe and China, a number of medieval workshops and an irrigation network at the site. "One of the most interesting things is the decorative tiles on the mausoleum walls," Smagulov said. "They are decorated with a geometric ornament consisting of mysterious symbols, which have yet to be decrypted." (RIA Novosti)
Uzbekistan eases Internet blockade
12 August
Internet users in authoritarian Uzbekistan say some international news websites that had been blocked this week are now accessible. Several major news sites, including those of Reuters and Bloomberg, had been blocked for two days. But three Uzbeks contacted by The Associated Press on Friday said the sites had been opened. They asked their names not be used due to concern over official retaliation. Information is strictly controlled in Uzbekistan, where many people rely on foreign online resources for independent reporting. A handful of Russian news sites made unreachable this week could still not be accessed. Uzbeks have been barred for several years from visiting the websites of the BBC and German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, which produces programs on Central Asia. (AP)
Suicide bombers, gunmen kill 22 in Central Afghanistan
14 August
Taliban suicide bombers killed at least 22 people in a bold attack on a governor's compound in central Afghanistan during a security meeting Sunday, officials said, with gunbattles and several blasts heard before the assault was put down. A Reuters witness and others nearby reported hearing at least five explosions as Afghan security forces inside the compound of Parwan governor Abdul Basir Salangi fought back. Afghanistan's Interior Ministry said 22 people were killed and 34 wounded. The dead included 16 government employees and six police, it said in a statement. Parwan lies about an hour's drive northwest of the capital, Kabul, another worrying sign of the reach of the Taliban and other insurgents. Eight days ago, a rocket-propelled grenade fired by the Taliban brought down a NATO helicopter in another central Afghan province near Kabul, killing 30 U.S. troops and eight Afghans in the worst single incident for foreign forces in 10 years of war. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the Parwan attack. Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Islamist group, said the assault began when a suicide car bomber detonated his explosives at the gate of the compound. He said five other bombers made it inside the compound, where he claimed U.S. officials were taking part in a meeting. "Many people were killed, including Americans, but we still don't have the exact information," Mujahid said by telephone from an undisclosed location. The Taliban often exaggerate incidents involving Afghan government targets or foreign troops. The twisted wreckage of what appeared to have been the car bomb lay outside the gate of the compound as Afghan police and soldiers swarmed around the scene. Sharafuddin Rahimi, an adviser to the Parwan police chief, said a meeting involving the police chief, the governor "and some foreign advisers" was under way when the attack was launched but said the attackers did not reach the meeting room. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul confirmed several of its members were attending a shura, or meeting, in Salangi's office at the time of the attack but said none was injured. Rahimi said one of the police chief's bodyguards was among those killed, as well as women and children. (Reuters)
Turkmenistan sets Feb date for presidential vote
15 August
Turkmenistan has set presidential elections for Feb. 12 in the rigidly-controlled, energy-rich nation in Central Asia.
Turkmen state media published a parliament decision Friday setting the date for the vote. The elections will be a mere formality extending the rule of authoritarian President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov. Last month, he challenged exiled opposition leaders to return and take part in the vote, but the law only allows those permanently residing in Turkmenistan for the past 15 years to run for president. Berdymukhamedov has led the ex-Soviet nation since the 2006 death of his eccentric autocratic predecessor Saparmurat Niyazov. Berdymukhamedov has introduced some reforms, but Turkmenistan remains a one-party state. (AP)
Iran declines comment on Baku’s Islamic Activist Accusations
15 August
The Iranian Embassy in Baku has declined to comment on Azerbaijani allegations that Islamic activists arrested last week had set up a radical religious group with financial support from Baku's Cultural Center of Iran, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports. A court in Baku on August 13 remanded the three members of the banned Islamic Party of Azerbaijan in pretrial detention for two months on weapons- and drug-possession charges. The three men -- party Deputy Chairman Arif Qaniyev, party member Abgul Suleymanov, and Ramin Bayramov, editor of the news website islam-azeri.az -- were arrested on August 11. They have been charged with illegal possession of weapons and drugs, crimes that are punishable by up to three years in prison. But according to a joint statement on August 12 by the National Security Ministry and the Prosecutor-General's Office, they are also suspected of unspecified "hostile activity against Azerbaijan." According to the National Security Ministry, Suleymanov created a radical Islamic group called Jafari with financial help from the Baku-based Cultural Center of Iran. The ministry alleged that "members of this unregistered group promoted religious radicalism and distributed leaflets among believers. Those leaflets encouraged hostility towards adherents of other faiths." A spokesman for the Iranian Embassy told RFE/RL on August 15 that the ambassador has "no comment on the issue." The men's lawyer, Anar Qasimov, told RFE/RL that the three are currently being held illegally at a National Security Ministry detention facility. Qasimov said that detention there is against the law because investigating drugs and weapons charges is the prerogative of the police, not of that ministry. Qasimov also noted that the joint statement refers to charges other than those formally brought against the three men. He said separate investigators have been assigned to each case. Qasimov linked the arrests to statements made in court by Islamic Party of Azerbaijan Chairman Movsum Samadov. Samadov and six other party members went on trial on August 4 on charges of calling for the overthrow of Azerbaijan's secular government. Natiq Karimov, chairman of the Committee to Defend Believers' Rights, told RFE/RL on August 12 that "detaining believers on such fabricated charges does not befit a state." The arrests and accusations of Iranian involvement came the same week that Baku summoned the Iranian ambassador to protest "irresponsible" comments attributed to Major General Hassan Firouzabadi, the chairman of Iran's joint chiefs of staff. Firouzabadi was quoted as saying on August 6 that Baku's government had taken measures "that go against Islamic principles." (RFE/RL)
Beaten Kazakh tourist dies in Kyrgyz Hospital
15 August
A Kazakh tourist who was robbed and severely beaten near Kyrgyzstan's Lake Issyk-Kul has died in Bishkek while undergoing surgery, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. Health Ministry spokesman Shabdan Ryskulov told RFE/RL that Erlan Balmakhaev's body was given to his relatives, who transported it to Kazakhstan on August 14 for burial.
Interior Ministry officials told RFE/RL that Balmakhaev's attackers have not yet been found. Balmakhaev, 32, was severely beaten by a group of men on August 7. He was hospitalized but fell into a coma and underwent brain surgery in a clinic in the resort town of Cholpon-Ata. Following consultations between Kyrgyz and visiting Kazakh doctors, Balmakhaev was transported to a hospital in Bishkek on August 13. He died of cardiac arrest on August 14 while undergoing a second brain operation. On August 10, Interior Ministry spokesman Rakhmatillo Akhmedov told RFE/RL that 129 attacks on foreigners were registered in Kyrgyzstan during the first six months of this year. The total number for 2010 was 100. President Roza Otunbaeva told Interior Minister Zarylbek Rysaliev last week to personally monitor the investigation into Balmakhaev's case. Most of the foreign tourists who visit Issyk-Kul are from Kazakhstan. (RFE/RL)
15 August
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev will not attend the forthcoming CIS summit of the heads of state in Dushanbe, said Novruz Mamedov, chief foreign affairs official in the Azeri presidential administration. "At this summit, our country will be represented by Azeri Prime Minister Artur Rasi-zade," Mamedov told the republic's official media outlets on Monday. The summit is due to be held in early September. (Interfax)
Caspian states review oil spill response
16 August
Five littoral states to the Caspian Sea agreed to new mechanisms for responding to and monitoring potential environmental pollution, the United Nations said. Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan, which border the Caspian Sea, agreed during a meeting in Kazakhstan to new protocols regarding potential oil pollution. The U.N. Environment Program described the step as a "milestone" for the region. Once the mechanisms are ratified, littoral states will work to introduce an emergency response system for addressing potential oil spills.
UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said environmental stewardship is one of the foundations of international relationships. "Addressing concerns related to potential adverse environmental trans-boundary impacts is the best recipe for preventing such impacts and safeguarding peace and stability," he said. The Caspian Sea holds some of the largest oil and natural gas deposits in the world. It also is the largest enclosed body of water in the world. (UPI)
FM: It would be logical to hear Iranian Armed Forces Staff Chief's call to Armenia to withdraw occupying forces from Azerbaijani territory
16 August
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has not received an official response to a note of protest delivered to Iranian ambassador in connection with the statements of the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Seyyed Hassan Firouzabadi. He spoke about the Azerbaijani leadership and people through the Iranian news agency FARS, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry official representative Elkhan Polukhov told Trend. Commenting on Firouzabadi's statements, Polukhov said that it was strange to hear the military's political appeals toward the country, which he calls a friendly country. It is also strange to see how his ministry cooperates with Armenia, which holds 20 percent of the Azerbaijani territories under occupation. "It would be logical to hear Firouzabadi's call and demand to Armenian militarists to withdraw occupying forces from Azerbaijani territory and to restore the violated rights of more than one million Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced persons," Polukhov said. He said that in this case, Firouzabadi would perform a role more corresponding to his position. Azerbaijan delivered a note of protest to Iran due to unreasonable statements made by the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Seyyed Hassan Firouzabadi toward the Azerbaijani leadership and people posted on Iranian Fars news agency’s issue, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said. Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan Mohammad Bagher Bahrami was summoned to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. Receiving Bahrami Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Nadir Huseynov delivered the Azerbaijani side’s protest note to him. The Foreign Ministry’s note expresses strong protest against Iranian official’s irresponsible slanders and notes that publication of statements on the Iranian press against the Azerbaijani people and government, which are contrary to Azerbaijan’s national interests and security and distort domestic and foreign policy, contradicts the existing friendly relations between the two countries and their mutual obligations.
Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry demanded the Iranian side to prevent further spread of such slanders, take the necessary steps so shat such a situation was not repeated any more, and demanded an explanation on the matter. (Trend)
Protest action against Judges Selection Council in the capital of Kyrgyzstan
16 August
Members of the social movement are holding a protest action against the work of the Judges Selection Council in the capital of Kyrgyzstan. 10-15 people are holding posters staying near the building where the Council will hold a meeting, news agency "24.kg" reported. They are speaking against corrupted judges and members of the Council. "We are demanding re-election of members of the Judges Selection Council and express distrust in its work. Contenders they chose to the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Chamber don’t have spotless reputation and cannot work in the judiciary," think members of the movement. Recall, the Judges Selection Council approved 11 candidates for the Constitutional Chamber and 29 for the Supreme Court. Yesterday, August 15, the Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic approved two candidates for the Constitutional Chamber - Emil Oskonbaev and Klara Soronkulova. (24.kg)
Eighty-Three Candidates declare for Kyrgyz Presidential election
16 August
More than 80 people have put themselves forward to take part in Kyrgyzstan's upcoming presidential election, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports. The Central Election Commission announced on August 16 that 83 individuals expressed their intention to run in the October 30 election by today's deadline. Only 16 candidates were nominated by political parties by the end of the nomination period, while the rest nominated themselves. The candidates must now collect at least 30,000 signatures, pay a deposit of 100,000 soms ($2,239), and also pass a live, televised state-language test for their name to go on the ballot. The commission will announce the shortlist of candidates in late September. Among the most prominent are Prime Minister Almazbek Atambaev, opposition Ata-Meken (Fatherland) party leader Omurbek Tekebaev, former Emergency Situations Minister Kamchybek Tashiev of the Ata-Jurt (Native Land) party, and former Prosecutor-General Kubatbek Baibolov. Others include former Supreme Court chief Kurmanbek Osmonov, former Bishkek Mayor Nariman Tuleev, former parliament speaker Marat Sultanov, and former State Security Council Secretary Adakhan Madumarov. The October election will determine a successor for Roza Otunbaeva, who became president following the ouster of Kurmanbek Bakiev in a popular uprising in April 2010. Meanwhile, activists with the Progress Foundation movement urged Prime Minister Atambaev today to temporarily step down from his post before the official start of the presidential campaign on September 25. The activists say Atambaev's current activities can be seen as using administrative resources to promote his candidacy. Atambaev told RFE/RL on August 14 that he would step down temporarily as prime minister for the duration of the election campaign. The election law requires government officials running for public office to do so. Since Atambaev's candidacy was proposed by his ruling Social Democratic Party on August 14, he has made several public statements regarding his programs to raise monthly salaries to secondary-school teachers and increase pensions. (RFE/RL)
Starting immediate construction of Rogun HPP is not recommended – WB
17 August
The Panel of Experts of the World Bank says that starting immediate construction of an initial stage of the proposed Rogun HPP is not recommend, Asia-Plus reported. A World Bank Team of experts has completed its 10-day visit to Tajikistan to review the progress of the Assessment Studies for the proposed Rogun Project. The team was accompanied by the two independent Panels of Experts - the Engineering and Dam Safety Panel and the Environment and Social Panel, whose role is to ensure that international standards of design, risk evaluation and impact assessment are met, the WB said in its press release posted on www.worldbank.org. Among other findings and discussions, the international consultants undertaking the Techno-Economic Assessment Study concluded that starting immediate construction of an initial stage of the proposed Rogun HPP with an intermediate height dam of 120 meters (up to El. 1110 m) is not recommended, primarily due to the heavy sediment load carried by the Vakhsh River. "The Panels of Experts and the Bank Team concurred with this assessment and recommended to move forward expeditiously with the comprehensive technical, economic, environmental and social assessment of the full-height dam. In this regard, the good progress of the on-going assessment studies provides a solid basis for comprehensive assessment of the full height dam, which could take from 6 to 8 months to complete," the WB said in the release. "The Bank Team has concluded that the Assessment Studies, which started in March 2011, are making notable progress. In a period of about five months, the international consultants have collected and analyzed a large amount of available data and studies, and have produced several initial assessments and reports," the release says.
The work on the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment has, in general, progressed well and disclosure of the full assessment is expected during the first half of 2012 for further discussion and consultation. The Bank Team acknowledged the Government’s commitment and efforts in relation to resettlement, noted several elements of good practice in this work, and looks forward to continued progress to meet international standards. This visit was part of the process to carry out the two Assessment Studies for the proposed Rogun HPP - the Techno-Economic Assessment Study and the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment. (Asia Plus)
Female Afghan government worker, four security guards killed in Afghanistan
17 August
Officials say a female employee of the local administration and four Afghan security guards were killed in two separate incidents in the southern city of Kandahar. Provincial government spokesman Zalmai Ayoubi said Radia Sadat was gunned down as she left home in central Kandahar to go to work early today. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the provincial spokesman blamed the killing on "enemies of Afghanistan," a phrase often used by officials to refer to insurgents. Separately, police said three suicide bombers attacked a private security company on August 15, killing four Afghan security guards and injuring eight. The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack. (RFE/RL)
