By Mina Muradova (6/8/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Just two days after Amnesty International launched its Twitter campaign to call for the release of the journalist and editor Eynulla Fatullayev, his name was included in a list of prisoners to be pardoned ahead of the 93rd anniversary of the founding of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. Human rights activists in Baku believe that the release of Fatullayev is connected with Azerbaijan’s victory in the Eurovision song contest two weeks ago and numerous subsequent calls to improve the country’s human rights record ahead of hosting the event next year.

By Olof Staaf (6/8/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)

On May 29, the village of Terekli-Mekteb in the Nogaysky District of Dagestan hosted a congress dedicated to the problems of the Nogai people living in Russia. The delegates of the congress demanded that a decree, issued by the Supreme Soviet in 1957, should be declared unconstitutional since it divided the traditional territory of the Nogai people between Dagestan, Chechnya, the Astrakhan Oblast, and the Stavropol Krai.

By Alexander Sodiqov (5/25/2011 issue of the CACI Analyst)

As skyrocketing food prices become an increasingly salient trigger for social and political protests across the developing world, sharp rises in prices for basic foodstuffs in Tajikistan are contributing to a growing popular frustration with the government’s inability to control prices. The food costs in the country rose by up to 30 percent over the last two months, with meat and wheat flour prices jumping 50 percent in some areas. Although government officials expect a moderation in food prices later this year, analysts warn that the costs for major foodstuffs might rise again before Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, in August.