RFE/RL CAUCASUS REPORT
04.10.2013
WEEKLY QUIZ : This Year's Nobel Prizes Are About To Be Presented.
A review of RFE/RL reporting and analysis about the countries of the South Caucasus and Russia's North Caucasus region. |
 UN Urges Baku Over Rights Situation The United Nations' human rights agency has urged Azerbaijani authorities to "recognize and facilitate the work" of human rights and civil society activists in the run up to the October 9 presidential election. More A group of journalists from independent and opposition media outlets has been attacked by a pro-government mob during an opposition rally in the central Azerbaijani town of Sabirabad. More  Azerbaijan Journo Appeals To ECHR Khadija Ismayilova, an investigative journalist with RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service, has complained to the European Court of Human Rights about what she says is a slander campaign conducted against her by the government and the gross violations of her rights.More  Armenian Parliament Backs Prison Amnesty The Armenian parliament has given its support to a presidential proposal on a national prison amnesty. Last month, President Serzh Sarkisian proposed an amnesty for prison inmates to mark the 22nd anniversary of Armenia's independence, celebrated on September 21. More  Kyrgyz Man Wanted For 'Jihad' Video Authorities in Tbilisi have identified a man they believe was behind the so-called "jihad threat" video against Georgian troops. More  EU 'Concerned' By Azerbaijan EU officials have expressed concern over the "continued pressure" on Azerbaijani opposition activists, civil society, and independent media ahead of next week's presidential election.More  Report: Internet Freedom Declining Freedom House says Internet freedom has declined worldwide in the past year, sparked by broad surveillance, new laws controlling web content, and increasing arrests of social-media users. More  Azerbaijani Opposition Leader Gets To Play Spartan Hero (On YouTube At Least) A well-known opposition blogger in Azerbaijan has irked the authorities by creating a parody video using a scene from the Hollywood film "300." More  Daghestani Leader Solicits Support For Azerbaijani President In a further reflection of the new warming in Azerbaijani-Russian relations, Republic of Daghestan President Ramazan Abdulatipov has issued a statement calling on Daghestani ethnic minorities in neighboring Azerbaijan to vote for incumbent President Ilham Aliyev in the October 9 presidential ballot. More  Sarkisian Discusses Karabakh At PACE Session Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian has urged the Council of Europe to initiate direct contacts with authorities in Azerbaijan's breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region to help settle the protracted conflict. More  Azerbaijan Blogger Questioned Over Video A satirical video clip produced by a well-known pro-democracy blogger and photographer in Azerbaijan has apparently irritated the authorities. More  NATO Concerned Over Russia-Georgia Boundary NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has called on Russia to reverse its recognition of Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. More  OSCE Worried About Azerbaijan Press Freedom The OSCE's representative on freedom of the media says the situation regarding freedom of speech and the media in Azerbaijan is "quite worrying." More  'Send In the Helicopter!' -- Daghestan Anticipates Pension Fund Head's Arrest Daghestani bloggers anticipate -- with hope and schadenfreude -- the imminent arrest of Federal Pension Fund head and former Olympic wrestling champion Sagid Murtazaliyev. More  Oppositionist Hasanli Holds Baku Rally Supporters of Azerbaijan's united opposition presidential candidate, Camil Hasanli, have held a rally in the capital Baku.More  Azeri Court Jails Ethnic Paper's Editor Hilal Mamedov, the editor of the Baku-based "Tolisi Sado" (The Voice of Talysh) independent newspaper, was found guilty of high treason, incitement of ethnic, religious, and racial hatred, and drugs possession and sentenced to five years in prison. More  Interview: U.S. Ambassador To The OSCE Daniel Baer -- 'You Need Critical Voices' Daniel Baer is the new U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). During the organization's annual "human dimension implementation meeting" in Warsaw, Baer sat down with RFE/RL's Rikard Jozwiak to talk about the upcoming elections in Azerbaijan, the situation in Belarus, and what he, as one of very few openly gay American ambassadors, thinks about the latest developments in Russia. More  An Old Game With New Rules In Russia's Backyard Playing rough with its neighbors is nothing new for Russia. Moscow has been doing this almost from the moment the Soviet Union broke up. What is different now is that the neighbors are pushing back -- with an assist from Europe. More |
