Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

RFE/RL Central Asia Report 6/13/2011 8:23:56 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 .

 

Torrential Thunderstorms Hit Tajikistan One man was killed in a landslide near the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, which was caused by heavy rains in recent days. More   Kazakh Strike Supporters Threatened Several visiting activists who went to support striking oil workers in western Kazakhstan have been threatened with arrest if they don't leave the area. More   Self-Immolation Threats After Alleged Kazakh Prison Beatings Two inmates at the notorious Dolinka prison in central Kazakhstan threatened to self immolate themselves after allegedly being beaten by prison guards. More   Court Attacked Over Tajik Murder Case Tajik police have detained two men suspected of attacking a court and prosecutor's office in southwestern Tajikistan. More   U.S. Energy Envoy In Turkmenistan Richard Morningstar, the U.S. secretary of state's special envoy for Eurasian energy, is in Turkmenistan. More   Russia Arrests Accused Associate Of Bakiev's Son A close associate of Maksim Bakiev, the son of ousted Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev, has been arrested in Moscow. More   Uzbek Police Arrest Activists Marking Unrest In Kyrgyzstan Uzbek police today detained 15 rights activists staging a protest outside the Kyrgyz Embassy to mark last year's violence between Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks in southern Kyrgyzstan. More   Mr. Rahmon Goes To Europe Tajik President Emomali Rahmon was recently touring Europe but few seemed willing to meet with him. That was too bad for European officials, since Rahmon had an interesting comment. More   A Year After Kyrgyz Clashes, Some Signs of Peace In Ordinary Life It isn't hard to find anger still simmering in many corners of the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh. But in theaters, schools, and even the marriage bureau, there are plenty of signs that Kyrgyz and Uzbeks are bridging the divide left by last year's violence. More   Two Kidnapped Tajik Boys Released Two Tajik schoolboys kidnapped and taken to neighboring Afghanistan last week have been released and returned to Tajikistan without a ransom being paid. More   Kyrgyz President Calls For Harmony Kyrgyzstan's president has appealed for harmony in her Central Asian country as it marks the first anniversary of a deadly wave of violence between ethnic Kyrgyz and minority Uzbeks. Her appearance was not greeted with universal approval. More   Podcast: Impressions Of Osh, One Year After Deadly Violence; Under The Bridge In Kabul In this week's show, correspondent Daisy Sindelar has the story of two neighbors in southern Kyrgyzstan. Both women -- a Kyrgyz and an Uzbek -- lived through the brutal ethnic violence that erupted one year ago. For both, sadness and suspicions have yet to fade. More   Tajik Regional Officials Ordered To Read More Books Officials in southern Tajikistan have been ordered to enroll at local libraries and read more books. More   Uzbek Asylum-Seekers Extradited Kazakh officials say they have extradited 29 Uzbek asylum seekers to Uzbekistan. More   Uzbeks Arrest Tajik Border Guard Uzbek officials have said that an armed Tajik border guard was arrested in Uzbekistan's Surkhandarya region on June 7. More   A Different Osh The anniversary of the sad events in southern Kyrgyzstan is here. The tales of horror of the clashes on June 10-15, 2010 between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks are already being retold. More   A Year On, Osh Rape Victims Still Live In Shadows It is now fairly well-known how many people died and how much property was destroyed when clashes broke out between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in southern Kyrgyzstan last year. What is less certain is how many women and men were subjected to rape, a crime that casts a profound stigma on its victims. More   Slain Kyrgyz Journalist 'On Black List' The wife of slain independent Kyrgyz journalist Gennady Pavlyuk says he was told his name was on a "black list." More   In Osh, One Neighborhood, Two Histories -- And No Trust Two women, one Kyrgyz, one Uzbek, live side by side in the Osh neighborhood that saw some of the worst violence during Kyrgyzstan's June 2010 ethnic clashes. Both suffered in the violence, but one year later, neither appears prepared to forgive or forget. More   Interpreter Replaced In Trial Of Former Kyrgyz President The judge in the trial of former Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev and 27 of his former associates has ruled that the Kyrgyz-Russian interpreter being used in the case should be replaced, making her the seventh interpreter to be replaced since the trial resumed on March 18 after a four-month break. More   Kyrgyz Activists Protest Release Of Turk Suspected Of Assault Dozens of Kyrgyz youth activists have picketed the Supreme Court in Bishkek to demand an investigation into the release of a Turkish citizen accused of assaulting a Kyrgyz woman. More   Sons Of Tajik Journalists Claim Police Beat Them The sons of two prominent Tajik journalists say police in the southern city of Kulob have detained and beat them. More   The Arab Spring, Kyrgyzstan, And Reaping What We Sow As much as Kyrgyzstan may serve as a model for those nations in the Arab orbit undergoing unprecedented change, American policy toward the country offers important lessons for the future. More   Amnesty, HRW Say Kyrgyz Government Failing To Deal With Aftermath Of Osh Clashes International watchdog groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have issued dual reports criticizing the government of Kyrgyzstan for failing to provide justice for the victims of deadly 2010 clashes in the country's south or to stem a wave of rights violations that have followed. More   Soviet-Era Busts Found In Tajik Parliament Building Workers renovating the Tajik parliament building were surprised to find four Soviet-era busts -- including one of Josef Stalin -- stashed away in a hidden room. More   Photo Gallery: One Year After The Violence -- Images Of Osh RFE/RL correspondent Daisy Sindelar is reporting all week from Osh, southern Kyrgyzstan, where residents and authorities are commemorating the victims of ethnically charged bloodshed a year ago that killed some 470 people. You can follow her tweets at @DaisySindelar. More   Kazakhstan Extradites Uyghur Journalist Arshidin Israil, a Uyghur refugee from China and a contributor to Radio Free Asia (RFA), RFE/RL's sister organization, was extradited on May 30 from Kazakhstan to China, where he faces charges of terrorism. In court documents, Israil wrote that he believed the charges were politically motivated, issued by the Chinese government in response to his reporting for RFA on Uyghur protests in western China in 2009. More   Behind The Gates, A Family's World Comes Slowly Back To Life Azyn Yusupov has lost nearly everything. But one of his biggest regrets involves the sparkling white gates that once secured his seven-room home in the Uzbek mahalla, or neighborhood, in the city’s northern Osh District. More   Kyrgyz Journalist's Murder Trial Opens In Kazakhstan At the June 6 hearing in Almaty, one of the defendants, former Kyrgyz State Committee for National Security agent Aldayar Ismankulov, pleaded not guilty and said the whole case is politically motivated. More   Detained Kazakh Oil Workers Go On Trial Hundreds of striking Kazakh oil workers have gathered in the western city of Aqtau to support 30 colleagues on trial for taking part in an "unsanctioned mass gathering." More   Tajik Policemen's Trial In Detainee's Death Resumes The trial has resumed in Dushanbe of two former police officers charged over the death of a detainee. More   Two Hospitalized After Oil-Worker Protest In Western Kazakhstan Two men are in hospital in western Kazakhstan after publicly slashing their stomachs when police set about arresting dozens of protesting oil workers. More   Striking Kazakh Oil Workers Call Meeting Fruitless Hundreds of striking oil workers in western Kazakhstan have met with the regional governor. More   Kyrgyzstan: Victims Identified The bodies of seven people killed in ethnic clashes between local Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in Kyrgyzstan's southern Osh and Jalal-Abad regions last summer have been identified. More   Trial Against Kazakh Doctors Suspended The criminal case against Kazakh doctors accused of falsely diagnosing ex-Health Minister Zhaqsylyq Dosqaliev as having suffered a stroke has been suspended. More   Kyrgyz Added To U.S. 'Drug Kingpin' List A Kyrgyz national added to a U.S. list of global drug kingpins is a reputed crime boss who is believed to have fled the Central Asian country. More   Second Kyrgyz Apology For Clashes Another Kyrgyz politician faulted over last year's deadly ethnic clashes in the south of the country has apologized for being unable to prevent the violence. More   Kyrgyz Apology Over Ethnic Clashes Former Kyrgyz Interior Minister Bolot Sher today apologized to the country for his role in not preventing the deadly clashes between Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks in southern Kyrgyzstan last year. More   Tajik Policemen's Murder Trial Postponed The trial of two former police officers charged with beating a Dushanbe resident to death opened today but was immediately adjourned. More   Striking Kazakh Oil Workers Picket Governor's Office Hundreds of striking oil workers in western Kazakhstan rallied today outside a regional governor's office to demand higher wages and the immediate release of a jailed trade union activist. More   Tajiks Ban 'Public' Hunger Strikes The lower house of the Tajik parliament has voted to ban hunger strikes in public places and in front of government buildings. More   Second Kazakh Suspect held In UAE Kazakhstan's Financial Police announced today that a second Kazakh citizen suspected in a high-profile smuggling case has been detained in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). More   New Charge For Jailed Kazakh Activist A jailed Kazakh trade union activist, who was due to be released, has had a new criminal case launched against her. More   Kyrgyz Man's 'Rights Violated' In Iran The Kyrgyz ombudsman's office said on June 1 that a Kyrgyz citizen has been held in Iran's notorious Evin prison since 2009. More   Kyrgyz Terrorism Trial Adjourned The trial of 10 alleged Kyrgyz members of the terrorist organization Jaishul Mahdi (The Messiah's Army) has been quickly adjourned shortly after proceedings started. More   Second Kazakh Blast Victim Identified Kazakh authorities say they have identified the second victim of a suspicious explosion near the National Security Committee (UKK) jail in Astana last week. More   Kyrgyz Minister Sacked Amid Protests Kyrgyz Prime Minister Almazbek Atambaev has dismissed State Property Minister Nurdin Ilebaev in response to a demand by hundreds of protesters in the south of the country. More   Turkmenistan Launching Into Space Turkmenistan's greatest contribution to the galaxy to date has been when its eccentric former ruler, Saparmurat Niyazov, sent a copy of his spiritual guide "Rukhnama" into space via a Russian rocket launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome located in neighboring Kazakhstan. More   Kazakhs Open Museum of Oppression A museum documenting political oppression during the Soviet era has formally opened in the central Kazakh town of Dolinka. More   U.S. Envoy: Kyrgyz Response Surprising The new U.S. ambassador to Kyrgyzstan has described as "surprising" Kyrgyzstan's reaction to the head of an international commission that investigated last year's deadly interethnic clashes in the south of the country. More