FEB. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Baku ordered the pre-trial detention of human rights activist Arif Yunus to be extended by five months, local media reported. Mr Yunus is the husband of Leyla Yunus who has also been arrested on accusations of treason. Both have denied the charges and said that they are politically motivated.
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(News report from Issue No. 220, published on Feb. 25 2015)
FEB. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The EU’s special envoy for human rights, Stavros Lambrinidis, flew to Azerbaijan for a visit that is expected to culminate in a critical evaluation of the Azerbaijani government. Human rights groups urged Mr Stavros to use his trip to pressure the authorities into releasing various prisoners.
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(News report from Issue No. 220, published on Feb. 25 2015)
FEB. 11 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Swiss television reported that Emin Huseynov, a journalist and critic of Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, has been hiding in Switzerland’s embassy in Baku for six months. It said Mr Huseynov took refuge in the embassy to avoid being arrested. Human rights groups criticise Azerbaijan’s recent record.
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(News report from Issue No. 219, published on Feb. 18 2015)
>>Releases linked to election in March>>
FEB. 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The authorities in Uzbekistan unexpectedly released Khayrulla Khamidov a sports commentator imprisoned in 2010.
As well as being a soccer commentator, Mr Khamidov was a popular religious speaker who had a large following. He produced CDs and spoke at weddings on social issues.
When he was arrested, on charges of setting up an illegal religious organisation, his supporters said it was an attempt by the authorities to dampen a popular social commentator who they considered was a growing threat to stability. He was imprisoned for six years.
Mr Khamidov’s release, then, appears to be a large concession. Human rights groups have long criticised Uzbekistan for its harsh record against religion. Perhaps, though, this is beginning to change.
The Tashkent-based Initiative Group of Independent Human Rights Advocates of Uzbekistan has said 16 other religious prisoners were released alongside Mr Khamidov.
No official reason for the release has been given although ordinary Uzbeks believe it is linked to a presidential election set for March 29.
Uzbekistan is in flux at the moment. Islam Karimov, who has ruled over the country since the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, is increasingly frail. The election in March and what goes before and after it are increasingly important to monitor.
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(News report from Issue No. 219, published on Feb. 18 2015)
EDINBURGH/NEW YORK, FEB. 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Civil freedoms in Central Asia and the South Caucasus took a turn for the worse in 2014 as governments moved closer to Russia and worried that street demonstrations in Ukraine may spread, Freedom House said in an interview.
The sharpest deterioration in civil rights in 2014, according to the US-based lobby group, came in Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan.
“Governments restricted freedom of assembly and speech to prevent ‘maidans’ and Russian encouragement of separatism,” Nate Schenkkan, a Eurasia Programme Officer at Freedom House, said in an interview with The Bulletin. Schenkkan’s reference to so-called maidans was to Ukrainian street demonstrations which morphed into a full scale revolution.
The interview was conducted over twitter with questions also taken from viewers.
At the end of last year Azerbaijani police raided the office of the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. In the interview with The Bulletin, Schenkkan said the police raid was the culmination of a tough year for media and government critics in Azerbaijan.
“There was a full-scale crackdown. Now (there are) 90 plus political prisoners, all independent media shuttered in Azerbaijan,” he said. “Sanctions for Azerbaijani officials should be on the table and EU leaders should skip the European Games.” Azerbaijan is hosting the inaugural European Games later this year.
As for Kyrgyzstan, Schenkkan said new legislation had dented Kyrgyzstan’s image.
“Kyrgyzstan is the most disappointing because it is a reversal after relative gains recently,” he said. “Copycat attempts at Russian legislation against LGBTI and NGOs nearly passed.”
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(News report from Issue No. 218, published on Feb. 11 2015)
JAN. 28. 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Wrapping up a mission to Kazakhstan, the UN’s special rapporteur Maina Kiai said he was disturbed to hear from Kazakh officials that they had decided to clamp down on protests because they worried about a Ukraine style rebellion.
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(News report from Issue No. 217, published on Feb. 4 2015
JAN. 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Samad Seyidov, a pro-president Azerbaijani MP, said Azerbaijan hasn’t imprisoned anybody for their political beliefs. Mr Seyidov was countering criticism of a crackdown on human rights by Azerbaijan. The day before another opposition journalist had been jailed for so-called hooliganism.
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(News report from Issue No. 217, published on Feb. 4 2015)
>>The US says Azerbaijan has made the issue political>>
JAN. 28 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Azerbaijani government cancelled a property agreement with the US on construction of a new embassy building in Baku because of criticism of its election in 2013, a US State Department report released this month said.
Relations between Azerbaijan and the US have nose-dived recently. Last month, Azerbaijani police raided the office of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which is funded by the US government.
The State Department’s report adds more evidence that relations between the two countries has worsened.
“The mission’s top management priority is the construction of a new embassy building to replace the overcrowded and physically vulnerable 100-year-old chancery and a separate commercial annex one mile away,” the US State department report wrote.
“The Azerbaijani Government has frustrated at least seven US site acquisition efforts over the past decade. Most recently, the government cancelled a signed property agreement after the United States criticised the 2013 election.”
Azerbaijan has pressured human rights activists and independent media over the past few years, attracting heavy criticism from the US and Europe.
Azerbaijani political analyst Zardusht Alizade agreed the Azerbaijani authorities were using the row over the building of a new US embassy in Baku to frustrate the US.
“The Azerbaijani government does not want American embassy to extend here and to hire more people,” he said.
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(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)
JAN. 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan extended the pre-trial detention of journalist Khadija Ismayilova, prompting criticism from Europe’s democracy watchdog, the OSCE. Ms Ismayilova is a critic of the government. She is accused of coaxing another journalist into suicide.
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(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)
JAN. 24 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police detained several journalists as they left their homes to travel to an unauthorised protest against the closure of the Adam Bol news magazine, media reported quoting associates of the journalists. The UN also said that the freedom to protest in Kazakhstan has worsened recently.
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(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)
