1. Home
  2. Americas
  3. Canada
  • News

Weekly news wrap

The Supreme Court trial of 15 men allegedly involved in an anti-government uprising in eastern Uzbekistan in May continued this week in the capital, Tashkent. On Wednesday, prosecutors screened a video in which the defendants’ alleged spiritual leader testified he had ordered them to mount an insurgency, AFP reported. “I ordered the launching of a jihad [holy war],” said Akram Yuldashev, alleged leader of the Akramiya Islamist movement, on a video filmed in his prison cell in July. Authorities have said 187 people died in the violence. However, rights groups say upwards of 1,000 people, mainly unarmed civilians, were killed by Uzbek security forces after they violently suppressed an anti-government protest. The defendants have all pleaded “fully guilty” to multiple charges, including terrorism and killing state officials. But human rights activists have labelled proceedings a show trial, saying the defendants have been tortured in order to confirm the official account. A UN human rights investigator on Tuesday cast doubt on the fairness of the trial. Leandro Despouy, UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, called for access to the defendants and courtroom, saying torture and mistreatment of detainees was common in the former Soviet republic. “We want to interview the accused, know the exact charges and observe the fairness of the trial ... Otherwise it could be a fiction of a trial,” Despouy said in Geneva following a mission to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Uzbek security forces have removed land mines from about 20 percent of its border with Tajikistan. Rashid Haitov, deputy chief of border guards, told AP on Thursday complete de-mining would depend on various border issues, including drug trafficking. Tashkent mined its 1,370 km border with Tajikistan, as well as its border with Kyrgyzstan, after Islamic militants tried to enter in 1999. Also on Thursday, international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) launched its press freedom report for 2005, in which Turkmenistan, along with North Korea and Eritrea, featured as the world’s worst abusers of press freedom. RSF described them countries as “black holes”, where privately owned media and freedom of expression do not exist. “Journalists there simply relay government propaganda. Anyone out of step is harshly dealt with. A word too many, a commentary that deviates from the official line or a wrongly spelled name and the author may be thrown in prison or draw the wrath of those in power. Harassment, psychological pressure, intimidation and round-the-clock surveillance are routine,” the report said. Thousands of people in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are being denied basic rights by their governments after being forcibly displaced, according to the Global IDP Project. “The governments of both Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have used forced displacement as a means of controlling their citizens and maintaining their grip on society,” Raymond Johansen, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council that runs the Swiss-based Global IDP Project, told AFP on Tuesday. In Kazakhstan, an opposition leader was arrested on Monday and immediately taken to court to be tried for taking part in an unauthorised demonstration. Opposition bloc For a Just Kazakhstan told AFP that Bolat Abilov was arrested after a news conference in which he repeated charges the ruling party was putting pressure on the opposition ahead of a presidential election on 4 December. In Kyrgyzstan, a law-maker visiting a prison near the capital, Bishkek, was reportedly killed on Thursday. Tynychbek Akmatbayev, who chaired the parliament’s law enforcement committee, was visiting the Moldovanovka prison when he was shot dead as he was about to leave after talks with inmates, the country’s prison administration body said. Akmatbayev was the brother of Rysbek Akmatbayev, who allegedly had criminal links. Tajikistan has received US $61 million in aid over the first nine months of 2005, Tajik Avesta news reported on Tuesday. More than 40 countries provided humanitarian aid to Tajikistan in January-September, according to the Tajik State Statistics Committee, the bulk of it coming from the US (41.3 percent) and Germany (18.9 percent).

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

Share this article

Get the day’s top headlines in your inbox every morning

Starting at just $5 a month, you can become a member of The New Humanitarian and receive our premium newsletter, DAWNS Digest.

DAWNS Digest has been the trusted essential morning read for global aid and foreign policy professionals for more than 10 years.

Government, media, global governance organisations, NGOs, academics, and more subscribe to DAWNS to receive the day’s top global headlines of news and analysis in their inboxes every weekday morning.

It’s the perfect way to start your day.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian today and you’ll automatically be subscribed to DAWNS Digest – free of charge.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian

Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

Join