Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

RFE/RL Central Asia Report 3/28/2011 8:05:07 PM A review of RFE/RL reporting and analysis about the five countries of Central Asia. For more stories on Central Asia, please visit and bookmark our Central Asia page .

 

New Kazakh Inmate Mutilations Officials in Kazakhstan say seven inmates in a northern prison have maimed themselves against a backdrop of earlier reports that convicts were mutilating themselves to protest against prison conditions. More   Bakiev Mass Trial Postponed Again A defense lawyer said that none of those being tried in absentia -- including the former Kyrgyz president and several others -- has ever been questioned and no personal statements regarding the charges against them have been recorded to be considered by a court. More   Kazakh Activists Protest Election Dozens of civil rights and opposition activists from across Kazakhstan marched in Astana today to protest the upcoming early presidential election. More   Hunger Strikes In Kyrgyz Prison System Kyrgyz officials say about 10,000 inmates in prisons across the country are on hunger strike demanding better conditions in jails. More   Tajikistan's 'Returnee' Islamic Students Not Continuing Their Studies Only 60 of the some 1,200 Tajik students who recently abandoned their studies at Islamic universities and madrasahs abroad and returned to Tajikistan have been admitted to Tajik universities. More   Kazakhstan's Election Campaign That Wasn't From the outside, it looks like a normal presidential campaign. Three candidates from different parties stumping to unseat an incumbent. But the reality is different, and even the candidates themselves admit Kazakhstan's April 3 election will be anything but genuine. More   Kazakh Torture 'Declining' Kazakh Ombudsman Askar Shakirov says the situation regarding torture in the country has improved significantly, a statement many human rights activists dispute. More   Teachers Told To Help In Kazakh Vote Some school teachers in western Kazakhstan have been ordered to assist in preparations for the April 3 presidential election. More   Kyrgyz Inmates Declare Hunger Strike Inmates in four jails in Kyrgyzstan have announced that they have launched a hunger strike. More   Uzbek Activist 'Wins' Exit Visa Battle Uzbek rights activist Dmitry Tikhonov has been given an exit visa after months of rejections and litigation against Uzbekistan's Interior Ministry. More   Kazakhs Want Probe Of 1986 Protests Representatives of the political movement Zheltoqsan Aqiqat said on March 24 that they had collected more than 80,000 signatures in support of their call for the investigation into a deadly mass protest in December 1986 in Kazakhstan. More   Russia Increases Tajik Gas Tariffs Russia says it has decided to increase tariffs for oil and oil products exported to Tajikistan. More   Kyrgyz Human Rights Veteran Turns To Uzbekistan Tursunbek Akun has been a champion of human rights in Kyrgyzstan for a long time now. And not just in Kyrgyzstan. More   Kyrgyz Clerics Set Off On 'Peace Caravan' To South A group of 22 Islamic clerics has set off from Bishkek for southern Kyrgyzstan as part of a "Caravan Of Peace." More   Tajikistan Hosts Iranian Culture Festival Tajikistan today opened a festival showcasing Iranian culture that will continue through March 27. More   Kyrgyz Official Threatens Libel Suit Valery Khon, a former member of parliament, has called Omurbek Babanov "a liar who has taken over other people's property by force and who engages in dirty and illegal business." More   Kazakhs Reject Politics In Kyrgyz Murder Kyrgyz opposition journalist Gennady Pavlyuk was thrown with his arms and legs bound from a high-rise building in Almaty on December 16, 2009. He died in a hospital six days later. More   Tajiks Continue To Surrender Weapons About 350 firearms have been confiscated or surrendered to the Tajik Interior Ministry so far this year under an ongoing weapons collection program. More   'Too Much Politics' In Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan's President Roza Otunbaeva is confident the country's ruling coalition will survive, despite growing speculation that it is on the verge of collapse. More   Uzbekistan's Forgotten Uprising The silence that surrounds the 2005 Andijon massacre in Uzbekistan serves as a glaring reminder that some of the world’s most brutal regimes can get away with mass murder with the tacit support of Europe and the United States. More   Central Asia Stands To Gain As NATO Shifts Supply Lines Away From Pakistan Insurgent attacks on NATO convoys in Pakistan are a major concern for the U.S. and its NATO allies trying to move supplies into Afghanistan. As a result, NATO is shifting supply routes northward through the former USSR, with consequences for the entire region. More   Tajikistan Reimposes Electricity Rationing Tajikistan's state energy supplier has reintroduced electricity rationing on the eve of a major national holiday. More