• KGS/USD = 0.01144 0%
  • KZT/USD = 0.00189 0%
  • TJS/USD = 0.09151 0.11%
  • UZS/USD = 0.00008 0%
  • TMT/USD = 0.28571 0.28%
  • KGS/USD = 0.01144 0%
  • KZT/USD = 0.00189 0%
  • TJS/USD = 0.09151 0.11%
  • UZS/USD = 0.00008 0%
  • TMT/USD = 0.28571 0.28%
  • KGS/USD = 0.01144 0%
  • KZT/USD = 0.00189 0%
  • TJS/USD = 0.09151 0.11%
  • UZS/USD = 0.00008 0%
  • TMT/USD = 0.28571 0.28%
  • KGS/USD = 0.01144 0%
  • KZT/USD = 0.00189 0%
  • TJS/USD = 0.09151 0.11%
  • UZS/USD = 0.00008 0%
  • TMT/USD = 0.28571 0.28%
  • KGS/USD = 0.01144 0%
  • KZT/USD = 0.00189 0%
  • TJS/USD = 0.09151 0.11%
  • UZS/USD = 0.00008 0%
  • TMT/USD = 0.28571 0.28%
  • KGS/USD = 0.01144 0%
  • KZT/USD = 0.00189 0%
  • TJS/USD = 0.09151 0.11%
  • UZS/USD = 0.00008 0%
  • TMT/USD = 0.28571 0.28%
  • KGS/USD = 0.01144 0%
  • KZT/USD = 0.00189 0%
  • TJS/USD = 0.09151 0.11%
  • UZS/USD = 0.00008 0%
  • TMT/USD = 0.28571 0.28%
  • KGS/USD = 0.01144 0%
  • KZT/USD = 0.00189 0%
  • TJS/USD = 0.09151 0.11%
  • UZS/USD = 0.00008 0%
  • TMT/USD = 0.28571 0.28%
15 January 2025

Viewing results 133 - 138 of 267

Bridging Continents: The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway – A Tale of Opportunities, Challenges, and Controversies

On June 6, 2024, an agreement was signed in Beijing to begin the construction of a railway between China and Uzbekistan which will pass through Kyrgyzstan, a strategic infrastructure project designed to create a new land transport corridor between Central and East Asia. For 27 years, this project remained a pipe-dream. Now, the presidents of the three countries have confidently declared that this railway, with a length of 523 kilometers, is extremely necessary and will be highly profitable for the entire region. However, such sentiments were not always the case, and doubts have long lived in the heads of multiple Kyrgyz presidents. Both Askar Akayev, who ruled the country from 1990 until the revolution in 2005, his successor Kurmanbek Bakiyev, also overthrown as a result of revolution in 2010, and Almazbek Atambayev, were not sure of the benefits of this project. Until 2017, that is, shortly before Atambayev’s resignation and the transfer of power to his, as it seemed to him at that time, reliable friend Sooronbay Jeenbekov, Atambayev was more or less consistent in defending the interests of his country, but later his focus shifted towards China. Why was there such a turn from Atambayev towards Beijing? This later became clear. On January 26, 2018, an accident occurred in the old part of the Bishkek Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHP), which was supposed to have been modernized by that time. This incident served to reveal large-scale corruption and financial violations at the CHP. The contract for implementation of the modernization was signed on July 16, 2013 between the owner of the CHP, Electric Stations OJSC, and the Chinese company, TBEA, in the amount of $386 million dollars. The financing was provided as a loan by a state fund of China, the Export and Import Bank of China (Eximbank), and Kyrgyzstan had to return approximately $500 million including interest. However, after the accident and the transfer of the case to court, it transpired that the real cost of the subhead modernization was a maximum of $250-260 million. Hence, the cost was hugely inflated; as an example, a pair of pliers was invoiced for $640, and fire extinguishers for $1,600. A similar situation occurred with the Datka-Kemin power line, the construction of which began in 2012, when Atambayev was president. The project was implemented by the same Chinese company, TBEA, which carried out work on modernization of the CHP, and the amount cited for the project was the same, $386 million. Again, the loan was issued by Eximbank. As a result of corruption scandals which were revealed in 2019, Atambayev was deprived of presidential immunity and paid with his freedom. Kyrgyzstan’s accumulated debt since its independence in 1991 is estimated at $6.2 billion - 45% of GDP - around $1.7 billion of which is owed to Eximbank. After Sadyr Japarov came to power in November 2020, issues surrounding the Kumtor Gold Mine came to the fore. Discovered by geologists in 1978, the largest open pit gold mine in Central Asia,...

Uzbekistan Adopts Law to Protect Prisoners’ Rights

Uzbekistan has introduced a new law to protect prisoners' rights. The new piece of legislation is formally called the law “On amendments and supplements to the Criminal-Executive Code of Uzbekistan aimed at ensuring the rights and legal interests of prisoners.” The Criminal Executive Code defines prisoners' rights to appeal to the ombudsman through the appeals box. Appeal boxes to the ombudsman will be installed in each residential sector of the Uzbekistan penal institutions, industrial zones, and buildings intended for holding short- and long-term meetings, where it is convenient for prisoners to leave appeals. In addition, appeal boxes for the children's ombudsmen will be installed in the educational colonies. It is reported that the boxes are opened only by the ombudsman, the children’s ombudsman, or the staff of their secretariats.

Kyrgyzstan’s Culture Ministry Wants to Fine People for Spreading “Disinformation” Online

Kyrgyzstan's Ministry of Culture, Information, Sports, and Youth Policy has proposed issuing fines to people who promote 'disinformation' online. According to the proposed amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses, citizens who are found to have spread false information through media, websites, or social networks could be fined up to 100,000 KGS (about $1,200). For legal entities, the amount will be 200,000 KGS (about $2,400). The ministry emphasized that in recent years there has been an increase in cases where false information on the internet has led to conflicts and a deterioration in public sentiment. However, this has sparked debate in society and among human rights activists, who fear that such measures could limit freedom of expression and lead to the control of journalists and internet users. The ministry had previously proposed other amendments, which would allow fines to be imposed for libel and slander in the media and online.

Deadly Attacks in Russia Spark Fears of Extremism Amid Ethnic Tensions

On August 23 2024, four prison employees were killed after several prisoners staged a revolt in the remote IK-19 Surovikino penal colony in the southwestern Volgograd region of Russia. Special forces stormed the facility and “neutralized” the attackers, whom the Russian media named as Temur Khusinov, 29, and Ramzidin Toshev, 28, from Uzbekistan, and Nazirchon Toshov, 28, and Rustamchon Navruzi, 23, from Tajikistan. In a mobile phone video released by the perpetrators, the attackers identified themselves as members of Islamic State, claiming their actions were fueled by a desire to avenge the mistreatment of Muslims. The footage starkly depicted prison officials lying in pools of blood, while other clips showed the attackers moving freely through the prison courtyard. With the twentieth anniversary of the Beslan school massacre - perpetrated by members of a Chechen separatist group called the Riyad as-Saliheen Martyrs’ Brigade - drawing near, tensions in Russia are running high, with the perceived threat from extremism leading to a wave of xenophobia. The Crocus City Hall attack, which allegedly involved Tajiks, served to stoke ethnic tensions in Russia, leading to backlash by nationalists. Faced with such conditions and prejudice, an exodus of migrant workers during a time of war has left Russia with a dearth of human capital. Through the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Russia is working with the C5 to detect and combat violent extremists, some of whom are illegally entering Central Asia before traveling to Russia. The Central Asian states, which are secular, are meanwhile trying to balance rights to religious freedom with blocking the malinfluence of oppressive and potentially violent ideologies. Three Central Asian countries border Afghanistan, and both the U.S. and the UNODC are working with Tajikistan to counter terrorism and violent extremism. While some extremist groups see Central Asia as a fertile recruiting ground, a UN report from 2023 noted that “Regional Member States estimated current ISIL-K strength at between 1,000 and 3,000 fighters, of whom approximately 200 were of Central Asian origin.” Despite these low numbers, however, the fact that some observers continue to link Islamic State Khorasan Province to the countries of Central Asia - even though the terrorist organization has purely Afghan roots - means that Central Asia once again finds itself at the center of a nexus of international security challenges.

Banker’s Murder: Former-FBI Director Speaks in Kazakhstan Over High-Stakes Tokmadi Parole Case

Louis Freeh, former director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), will speak at a hearing of the Almaty Oblast Court on August 23 on the case to review the early release of businessman Muratkhan Tokmadi, who in 2018 was sentenced to ten and a half years for the 2004 murder of the BTA Bank chair, Yerzhan Tatishev. On August 9, it was ruled that Tokmadi should be released on parole after serving six and a half years. In 2017, Freeh led a team of U.S. investigators and forensic experts who were brought in by the Tatishev family to look into the death of Yerzhan Tatishev, one of the founders and co-owners of what was at the time Kazakhstan's largest bank. On the morning of the 23rd, Freeh, who served as a U.S. district judge before becoming the fifth director of the FBI, leading the agency from September 1993 to June 2001, shared details of his investigation with the media in Kazakhstan. "In 2018, Murakhan Tokmadi admitted that he killed Tatishev and said that he did it because Mukhtar Ablyazov promised to pay four million dollars. Ablyazov's goal was to gain control of BTA Bank," Freeh told reporters. "His accidental shooting is impossible... The gun didn't go off by itself." The probe and the findings of investigative firm Freeh Group International Solutions (FGIS), part of the law firm Freeh Sporkin & Sullivan LLP (FSS), since acquired by Alix Partners LLP, formed the basis of the original indictment against Tokmadi, after FSS and FGIS staff accessed documents which proved the banker's death was willful. The court hearing into Tokmadi's parole was initiated by the family of the deceased. On December 19, 2004, Yerzhan Tatishev died on a hunting trip whilst driving an SUV in the Zhambyl Region. At the car's wheel pursuing prey across the steppe, Tatishev handed a 12-gauge shotgun to Tokmadi, who was sitting beside him. According to the defense, the SUV suddenly hit a bump, and the gun fired accidentally, with Tatishev receiving a gunshot wound to the head, the bullet passing through his left eye. At the time, the killing was ruled to be an “accident,” with Tokmadi sentenced to one and a half years for manslaughter. One of the witnesses to the incident was the banker's security guard, Sergei Kozlikin, who swiftly fled Kazakhstan, saying he feared for his life. In 2017, the case was reopened, and Tokmadi was charged with extortion and the illegal possession of firearms. In his 2018 testimony, Tokmadi stated that he was fulfilling an order from fugitive oligarch Mukhtar Ablyazov, who was the co-owner of BTA Bank at the time. “Each time I met [Ablyazov] he argued that Yerzhan could not at any instant keep or sustain his word," Tokmadi testified. "He proposed to deal with the problem through the physical elimination of Yerzhan. This would happen during a hunting trip and look like an accidental death. And so it happened.” Some of the documents relating to the investigation -  which...

Tajikistan Urged to Reconsider Ban on ‘Alien’ Clothing

The International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) has called on the Tajik authorities to repeal recent amendments to the law imposing restrictions on “foreign” clothing. According to activists, such restrictions violate international human rights, particularly the right to freedom of expression and freedom of religion. In a statement issued on August 19, IPHR emphasized that since clothing is an important element of personal identity as well as religious and cultural beliefs, states have an obligation to protect people's right to choose what they wear. According to amendments to the law “On the Ordering of Traditions, Celebrations and Rites”, enforced in June this year, Tajikistan prohibits “importing, propagandizing and selling clothes that do not correspond to the national culture.” Although a precise definition of such has  yet to be provided, there has been a clear focus by authorities on “Islamic” clothing, and in particular, the issue of a fatwa by Tajikistan's Ulema Council urging women to avoid wearing “tight, black or see-through clothing.” Violations of the law are punishable by heavy fines or imprisonment for up to three years. IPHR continues to stress that restrictions based on religious, cultural, or traditional values cannot justify the violation of human rights The amendments were earlier condemned by The League of Muslim Scholars and other international organizations, and the Taliban even declared “jihad” against Tajikistan. In response to international criticism, Tajik authorities reiterated that the new law aims to protect national values and prevent extremism.