Blogging the democratic revolution
Senators Bill Frist and Richard Lugar have taken the initiative in Congress and presented a resolution calling for the fair treatment of Sanjar Umarov, the Uzbek opposition politician who has presented the most reasonable challenge to President Karimov so far. He was detained in late October. Here’s the text of the resolution. The resolution prompted…
In its ongoing crackdown on pro-democracy reformists, the Uzbek government has arrested Sanjar Umarov, the leader of Sunshine Uzbekistan and a potential challenger to President Karimov. The New York Times has more, though a lot of the information seems to come from the Sunshine Uzbekistan website. MOSCOW, Oct. 23 ???????? The leader of an Uzbek…
With the trial of the 15 Andijon “terrorists” still ongoing, the West has decided that it isn’t interested in ongoing diplomatic talks with Karimov over the massacre. It’s more interested in isolating the regime. At the meeting of the OSCE, the U.S. fully condemned the Uzbek government for the actions that it took. Uzbekistan????????s disregard…
The trial of the 15 Andijon “terrorists” is underway, and the results are all too predictable. The defendants are admitting complete guilt, straight down the government line. Nathan is rounding up all the coverage of the trials, and describes it as, “a parade of confessions confirming every last detail of the Uzbek government????????s paranoid fantasies.”…
In the email, Elena Steiger sends this story of an activist in Uzbekistan whose very basic human rights are being breached outright by the government. Elena Urlaeva, well-known rights activist and member of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, was detained by security agents on August 27, 2005, while distributing flyers at a peaceful protest…
Samarkand may be showing itself to be the new hotbed of civil unrest after the Andijon massacre back in May. Protestors took the to streets after the government gave them only one week to clear out of their homes in preparation for a highway project. And more, the government offered them next to nothing in…
While the whole world, myself included, has been focused on the withdrawal of U.S. forces from its base in Uzbekistan, something interesting has been going on in the upper hierarchy of the Uzbek government relating directly back to the Andijon massacre. If you’ll recall, President Karimov blamed the entire uprising as being organized by radical…
With so much talk of the return of the Great Game in Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan’s maneuvers between the powers and its neighbors makes for one of the best case studies. The refugees who took flight from Andijon across the border to Kyrgyzstan following Karimov’s May massacre has been one of those issues that the new…
A few weeks ago when the Shanghai Cooperation Organization met in Kazakhstan, it called for the quick pullout of U.S. forces from its bases in Central Asia. The U.S. has bases in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, with special flight rights in Tajikistan, which are members of the SCO. Even Kyrgyzstan at the time was making statements…
On July 1 I wrote about the summit between Russia and China, in which they agreed to cooperate to exert their economic and political influence in the region between them; that is, Central Asia. Here is what I said: Perhaps it isn????????t explicitly stated, but most of the concern for both countries in recent months…
Still breaking and unconfirmed of yet, but (via: Registan) Reuters is being told that 600 people are protesting in Samarkand. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has picked it up too. TASHKENT, June 8 (Reuters) – Hundreds of opposition supporters in eastern Uzbekistan held a rally on Wednesday in a rare protest since a bloody crackdown last…
Thousands of people crowd the city square, moving as a singular mass. It stared upward, demanding liberalization and an end to corrupt governance. Looking back downward, with scorn, was another mass; armed with machine guns and a stake in using them if the situation out-stepped its bounds. And then they used them. Hundreds dead, multiples…
I can understand why the U.S. government has been hesitant to call shots on the events unfolding in Uzbekistan. Good information has been rare, and they are obviously waiting to see what political and strategic maneuvers to make. But come on, enough it enough. With every report indicating massive deaths in the hundreds, this is…
Before anything, make sure to read Nathan’s evening updates. Jim over at Gateway Pundit also has a great roundup with links to BBC video footage available. Earlier Saturday, people gathered in the same square that yesterday saw the bloody crackdown of Karimov’s regime. While the violence in Andijan appeared to have calmed Saturday, disturbances flared…
This is extremely rare for Uzbekistan, where Islam Karimov really puts the boot down. It seems that 4000 people have taken to the streets to protest the trials of several loca businessmen accused of “extremist activities.” More than 4,000 residents of Andijon demonstrated for a second consecutive day in a row on 11 May (see…
Earlier this week, Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky announced that he had offered 10 CDs of the Melnychenko recordings to Viktor Yushchenko. Now, the Parliament has denied Berezovsky an entry visa: KIEV, April 22 (Itar-Tass) – The Supreme Rada (parliament) of Ukraine has refused to support the request of MP Alexander Volkov to Ukrainian President Viktor…
Nathan’s weekend edition is up, and PORA is tranforming itself into a permanent think-tank. Vladyslav Kaskiv is one of the leaders of the Pora movement, whose demonstrations ???????? often laced with biting humor ???????? became a memorable feature of those exuberant winter days. Pora drew its inspiration from pro-democracy youth movements in Serbia and Georgia…
Nathan has got today’s update up with what’s going on there. And apparently Uzbekistan is developing a parliamentary opposition: Asliddin Rustamov, leader of the parliamentary faction of the People????????s Democratic Party, said at a press conference here on Wednesday that their faction regarded itself as the left wing of the political forces, represented in parliament,…
I noticed a trackback on one of my posts by Winds of Change and followed the link. Apparently, Nathan from The Argus does a monthly roundup of all the news from the Caucasus over there. Make sure to check that out. As I have noted before, love stuff like this.
I never thought that I’d see it on Instapundit before checking my blogroll, but Nathan has some pictures of demonstrators showing orange at protests in their respective countries. Alright, back to the game. I couldn’t wait to post that, but no more for today!
Nathan has posted a roundup of news concerning Central Asia. I’m such a whore for these kinds of things.
Nathan posts about the “not-so-veiled threats against NGOs” in Uzbekistan. I guess that is because they do engage in some pro-democracy, er, activities; but I’m obviously against blocking them out for that very reason. But it always makes me come to the conclusion that doing this will only further speed up the current regime’s downfall….
Nathan from The Argus has got some great commentary regarding the Bush inauguration speech. I don????????t know how to say it other than to once again say that democratization isn????????t new. Talking about it is. Doing it is bipartisan. Publicly supporting it seems to be something the right is much more concerned about. And why…
Transitions online has an interview with Islam Karimov, “President” of Uzbekistan entitled Not In My Country. Man, even the title describes the authoritarian attitude. Nezavisimaya Gazeta: But in theory “velvet” turnovers may be too mild and the country will find itself in the grips of a civil war… Islam Karimov: Everything depends on the preparations….
A very rare occassion, The Argus notes, that President Karimov of Uzbekistan will give an interview. Apparently, however, the leader holds a firm grasp of the potential for democracy and what it will do to his government if the people are unsatisfied. This is a good thing for the people of a nation to realize,…