Weekly news wrap

This week in Central Asia, the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticised Kazakhstan over the transfer of a Muslim cleric back to Uzbekistan, claiming that it was not living up to its obligations under international law to protect those fleeing persecution. Imam Rukhiddin Fakhrutdinov and 16 other Uzbeks were taken by Kazakh security agents and placed in custody in Uzbekistan last November, according to HRW. Fakhrutdinov faces charges related to religious extremism and terrorism. Russia's Prosecutor-General’s office confirmed media reports that it had ordered the deportation to Uzbekistan of 12 Uzbeks and one Kyrgyz for their alleged participation in last year’s anti-government protests in the southeastern Uzbek city of Andijan. Rights groups believe Uzbek security forces killed up to 1,000 people during the bloody crackdown in Andijan, but Uzbek officials maintain the death toll was 187. The Prosecutor-General's office said it had received written assurances from Uzbek officials that the group would not be sentenced to death or tortured. On Tuesday, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned the dismissal of six journalists from state-owned news media in Uzbekistan for freelancing for independent or foreign outlets. Jamilya Aipova and Olga Fazylova, journalists for the government-owned Pravda Vostoka newspaper, were among those fired. The media watchdog said that Alisher Usmanov, the newspaper’s editor, was summoned by a presidential aide during the first half of July and was told he had to fire certain staff. In Kazakhstan, AP reported that Rustam Ibragimov, one of the alleged murderers of Kazakh opposition leader Altynbek Sarsenbayev in February, said during his trial on Wednesday that the killing was a part of a coup plot against President Nursultan Nazarbayev, which involved Nurtai Abykayev, the senate speaker, and Nartai Dutbayev, the former security chief. Ibragimov also told the court in Taldykorgan, a town 300 km from the Kazakh commercial capital, Almaty, that Abykayev and Dutbayev were planning to overthrow Nazarbayev within the three years. A Kazakh news agency reported on Saturday that citizens of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) who were illegally working in the country could legalise their positions in the next six months. The new law only applied to labour migrants who entered Kazakhstan before 31 May. Washington said on Wednesday that two Kyrgyz diplomats were to be expelled from the US – retaliation for Kyrgyzstan throwing out two American diplomats last month, AP reported. In Turkmenistan, the Turkmen opposition said it doubted whether human rights legislation courses held last month in the country were useful because they were mainly attended by representatives of law-enforcement bodies, claiming that law-enforcement officials systematically violate human rights in the most reclusive Centtral Asian state. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's centre in the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat, initiated the courses, with the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights hosting a two-day roundtable.