Weekly News Wrap

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) Fund for International Development have launched a US $4 million project to improve HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment among drug users and prisoners in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. The region has one of the fastest growing HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in the world, particularly among injecting drug users and prisoners. Intravenous drug users in the region are estimated at more than half a million and account for between 60 and 80 percent of all HIV/AIDS infections in Central Asia. UNODC and the OPEC fund will contribute $2 million each over the next four years, and Kazakhstan, the wealthiest nation in the region, will donate $1.2 million to the project. Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev arrived in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, on 19 March, for a three-day meeting with Uzbek president Islam Karimov, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported on Tuesday. The two leaders discussed regional security. Although Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan signed a ‘Treaty of Eternal Friendship’ in 1991, when they became independent from the Soviet Union, the two countries have long been rivals – competing for foreign investment and favourable relationships with Russia, US and China. Agreements on science, technology, intellectual property, international road networks, radio frequencies and cooperation in fighting agricultural pests were signed during the meetings. Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the European Parliament on 21 March to halt a key trade agreement with Turkmenistan due to its poor human rights record. The proposed interim agreement with Turkmenistan would regulate trade until a full Partnership and Cooperation Agreement is ratified, HRW said. Twice already, in 2001 and again in 2003, the European Parliament agreed not to forge an interim trade agreement with Turkmenistan because of the government’s poor human rights record. However, the parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee cited abolition of the death penalty, a new law regulating child labour and a recent visit by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) as signs of progress in Turkmenistan, according to HRW. The European Union (EU) has expressed concern over the arrest, conviction and sentencing of Mahmadruzi Iskandarov, leader of the opposition Democratic Party of Tajikistan, Breaking News reported on Wednesday. Iskandarov was sentenced to 23 years in prison in October 2005 by Tajikistan’s Supreme Court. The EU is particularly concerned about the treatment of Iskandarov during pre-trial detention and also the rejection of his appeal in January this year. Iskandarov’s defence team said the recent appeal procedure was not open to the press. The EU has urged the Tajik authorities to ensure his family and lawyers have regular access, in accordance with Tajik law. The two local Turkmen journalists working for RFE/RL sentenced to 15 days community service for abusive behaviour were released after 10 days in custody on Tuesday in the Mary Province in southeastern Turkmenistan. The two told RFE/RL that they had been forced to sign confessions to obtain their release. Turkmen authorities warned the journalists not to speak out against government policies and not to cooperate with RFE/RL, saying the international broadcaster was working with traitors and drug addicts. A cabinet meeting in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana has agreed on a new transport strategy for the country. The plan is to integrate the country’s transport system into the European and Asian systems and to position Kazakhstan in the international arena as a link between Europe and Asia, Itar-Tass reported on Tuesday. Kazakhstan plans to build 50,000 km of new roads by 2015 and 1,600 km of railways. The cost is estimated at $26 billion. The ambitious project would enable freight traffic from China and South East Asian countries to easýly connect with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and on to Europe, according to Itar-Tass.