Weekly news wrap

Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht, current chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), called on Kyrgyzstan to do more to ease ethnic tensions in the country and said Bishkek needed a comprehensive action plan for national minorities, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported on Wednesday. Earlier in the week, De Gucht, on a one-week tour of Central Asia, was in the Kazakh capital, Astana, where he called on the Kazakh authorities to conduct a thorough and open investigation into the murder of opposition leader Altynbek Sarsenbayuly. The politician was killed in February outside the commercial capital, Almaty. He also said that if key political reforms are undertaken, Kazakhstan has the chance of assuming the OSCE presidency in 2009 and pointed to the country’s sustained economic growth, stability and tolerance, RFE/RL reported. But the OSCE chairman’s regional tour did not feature Uzbekistan, a country the organisation has been critical of since the government violently quelled anti-government protests in the eastern city of Andijan last May. Tashkent estimated that 187 people were killed, but rights activists say up to 1,000 civilians were shot dead by Uzbek security forces. The decision not to visit seems to have been OSCE’s and not the other way around, RFE/RL reported. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Tuesday that Uzbekistan would be granted loans worth US $300 million over the next three years, the Russian news and information agency RIA Novosti reported on Thursday. The ADB’s strategy for the country aims at helping the underprivileged and stimulating economic development as well as boosting agriculture, private sector development, regional transportation, customs transit cooperation and social services. The ADB has granted loans worth $915 million to Uzbekistan since 1996, according to RIA Novosti. The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the government of Turkmenistan have agreed to the procurement of life saving vaccines, drugs and other medical supplies for the population. With the signing of the agreement, the government has reiterated its commitment to protect children from various forms of vaccine-preventable diseases. During the next four years, UNICEF will assist the former Soviet republic in producing vital immunisation supplies for vaccination against measles, tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B and poliomyelitis to children under two years old. Since 2002 the country has been fully self-sufficient in vaccine procurement and has reportedly sustained 98 percent of immunisation coverage for its children. RFE/RL said on Wednesday that it had again lost contact with its two local Turkmen journalists who were released from custody on 16 March. They were arrested on 7 March for alleged hooliganism at a local community meeting in the eastern Turkmen province of Mary and sentenced to 15 days “community service”. There are concerns over one of the journalists’ condition as he has a serious kidney illness and no phone, RFE/RL reported. Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday urged the Kazakh government to investigate the forced return of Uzbek nationals who sought refuge in Kazakhstan. In November 2005, nine Uzbek men living in southern Kazakhstan, including registered asylum seekers, “disappeared”. They were later acknowledged to be in Uzbek custody. HRW said there is new evidence that points to the involvement of Kazakh law enforcement and security agents in the seizure and return of four of the men, something Kazakh officials adamantly deny. The forcible return of Uzbek dissidents to Uzbekistan places them at risk of torture, according to the watchdog group. The organisation also points out that it is a violation of international law to extradite people to a country where they may suffer persecution and torture.