[spectre] RFE/RL (Un)Civil Societies Vol. 6, No. 5, 15 March 2005

Wed Mar 16 13:25:35 CET 2005

RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL (Un)Civil Societies
Vol. 6, No. 5, 15 March 2005

"We must...create a life worthy of ourselves and of the goals we only
dimly perceive." (Andrei Sakharov, 1975 Nobel Peace Prize Lecture)

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HEADLINES:
	* ZUBR IN BELARUS: KILLING THE 'DRAGON OF FEAR' WITHIN
	* WALKING WITH PUTIN
	* KYRGYZSTAN YOUTH LEADER SPEAKS ABOUT OPPOSITION
	ORGANIZATION'S INTENTIONS
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IN FOCUS

ZUBR IN BELARUS: KILLING THE 'DRAGON OF FEAR' WITHIN

By Catherine A. Fitzpatrick

	Legend has it that during World War II, in the primeval black
forests of Belarus, the large, majestic bison, known as the "zubr,"
were mistaken for tanks and were able to frighten away Nazi occupiers
in some battles. The image of the Belarusian bison is associated with
the kind of stolid perseverance Belarusians have displayed over the
centuries facing various occupiers. Graphic representations of the
zubr can be seen today on everything from beer, vodka, and candy to
industrial products and computer software.
	When, in 1998 during a time of disappearances of political
figures, several hundred young democracy activists gathered deep in
the forest to strategize far from the prying eyes of the secret
police, they consciously chose as their symbol the bison, knowing
that it had a positive resonance in the public consciousness and
could serve as a rallying symbol.
	Originally concerned with environmental issues in the wake of
the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear disaster and deforestation of the
wilderness, Zubr expanded to take on a wide array of political and
social issues as a loosely knit broad movement of young people in
Belarusian cities and provincial towns. Its members are interested in
opposing the dictatorship of President Aleksandr Lukashenka, who has
wielded tight control over Belarus since 1996, jailing many of his
opponents and shutting down independent media, often targeting young
people, in particular for spray-painting graffiti messages such as
"Time's Up!" for the dictator. Zubr has emerged among the leading
civic groups in Belarus known for its willingness to engage in
nonviolent civil disobedience, i.e. to brave the heavy regulation of
public assembly in Belarus to stage peaceful protests on behalf of
political prisoners and other human rights issues. Like Otpor in
Serbia and Kmara in Georgia, Zubr has focused on drawing attention to
resistance to Lukashenka, who they say has long overstayed his
welcome with staged public referendums to remain in power.
	Zubr activists have made it their business to protest
disappearances, beatings, and jailing of opposition leaders, even if
they themselves are not affiliated with any of Belarus's major
opposition parties per se. They represent a range of political
opinion, but are within the broad coalition of Belarusian independent
democratic forces. Some of Zubr's members were once active in the
Belarusian Popular Front and its youth chapter, Mlady Front, but left
it when they found no leadership opportunities. Others are active in
local groups involved in a wide variety of single issues, but either
temporarily or permanently use the Zubr banner as an umbrella group
to participate in dissent against the government.
	This week, for example, 10 activists in the provincial city
of Borisov stood on a public square with portraits of jailed market
vendor activist Valery Levonevsky and Mikhail Marynych, former
ambassador to Latvia and minister who opposed Lukashenka in the past
presidential election. Marynych has been imprisoned on charges that
human rights groups believe to be fabricated. This time, by moving
about rapidly from place to place, the Zubr picketers avoided arrest
while maintaining visibility. Most of the time, however, their public
actions lead to the arrest of at least some leaders, usually with
10-15 days of administrative detention.
	Zubr recorded more than 650 incidents of human rights
violations related to street protest last year, 350 of which were for
distributing independent newspapers and leaflets. More than 200 Zubr
activists were detained for street protests; three faced criminal
charges, and 15 were expelled from university or dismissed from jobs.
Dozens faced unauthorized searches of their homes. Together, they
collectively spent 400 days in jail on misdemeanor charges for
protests. About 250 individuals suffered police or court action of
various types. Some Zubr participants are the children of parents who
themselves take part in protest movements in Belarus; others are from
ordinary working-class families. Some parents of activists,
especially those working in the government sector, have faced
harassment from officials for their children's actions. Still, by
and large, the group has found support in Belarusian society, judging
from independent public opinion polls, and has received public
recognition for actions ranging from clean-up projects to street
theater poking fun at Lukashenka's wackier antics.
	While Zubr is very much an indigenous movement coming out of
pre-existing movements ranging from the Popular Front to the United
Civic Party to Charter 97 to various social democratic parties, the
group has also contacted and received support from the more prominent
Serbian student movement Otpor, which helped to topple Slobodan
Milosevic in 2000.
	Zubr has also benefited from training organized by Western
democracy organizations and, in particular, has adopted some of Gene
Sharp's ideas on nonviolent protest. Sharp is the author of "The
Politics of  Nonviolent Action" (1973) and the booklet "From
Dictatorship to Democracy," first printed in Thailand for Burmese
dissidents and translated into 11 other languages. He is noted for
his theories on organizing positive movements that, on the one hand,
use street theater and comedy to discredit a dictator, while, on the
other, draw in support from police and soldiers who begin to question
their orders and identify with their fellow citizens who are
protesting. Nonviolent theories have sustained Zubr through some
years now as they have often faced violent suppression from the
Belarusian regime, including physical injury from beatings,
mistreatment in prison, and even a case involving a young man who
committed suicide allegedly under pressure to become a police
informer.
	Zubr has struggled to keep the movement alive, especially
after the successive failure of the democratic opposition in Belarus.
Similar movements in Ukraine and Georgia have enjoyed greater success
as well as sustenance from international media and funders. According
to a statement on Zubr's website: "Despite massive repression,
the movement's activists are prepared to continue the struggle.
We have before us the examples of Serbia, Georgia, Ukraine. By virtue
of their courage and solidarity, the youth of these countries have
passed through repression and have rid themselves of the yoke of
tyranny." Zubr also notes that it keeps records of those officials
who violate human rights and hopes to ensure that they are brought to
trial some day.
	In February, Zubr met in Slovakia with other movements such
as Serbia's Otpor, Georgia's Kmara, Ukraine's Pora in
order to compare notes on democracy movements in the region. Zubr
leaders say openly they borrowed greatly from the experience of Otpor
and Kmara and all of these youth groups were active in supporting
Ukrainian democratic youth groups in the Orange Revolution. They
represent a new kind of pan-regional solidarity movement that
stresses freedom, democracy, along with diversity and national
independence, unlike the pan-Slavic movement supported by past
regimes and more conservative elements of Russian leadership.
	While drawing on support from the West as well as the East,
the Zubr activists are realistic about their own tough row to hoe in
Belarus. "We are glad for our friends from other countries, but
Belarus is our country and no one can solve our problems for us.
History is bringing a lesson to Belarusians, but soon we must all
pass the test in solidarity, personal courage, and determination.
But above all, we must 'kill the dragon' in ourselves -- to
defeat fear -- the faithful fellow traveler of any dictatorship,"
Zubr said recently in a statement on the Bratislava meetings on their
website at zubr-belarus.com this month.

WALKING WITH PUTIN

By Julie A. Corwin

	The pro-Putin youth movement Walking Together announced on 1
March that it has created a new youth movement called Nashi (Ours).
According to a press release published on pravda.ru, which quotes
Walking Together founder Vasilii Yakemenko, the goal of the new
"anti-fascist" movement is to put an end to the "anti-Fatherland
union of oligarchs, anti-Semites, Nazis, and liberals." Several
Moscow-based newspapers reported the goal of the new group is
actually a bit more specific: to eventually replace the party of
power, Unified Russia.
	The movement's rallying cry is preventing the
introduction of foreign control in Russia. "Moskovskii komsomolets"
on 24 February reported that it obtained documents outlining a
"grandiose plan for the creation of a new youth movement" whose goal
is to save the motherland from colonization by the United States. The
daily quotes Walking Together leader Yakemenko as saying that
"organizations in Russia are growing, on the basis of which the U.S.
will create groups analogous to Serbia's Otpor, Georgia's
Kmara, or Ukraine's Pora. These groups are Eduard Limonov's
National Bolshevik Party and Avant Garde Red Youth."
	Yakemenko, 33, initially denied in interviews with Ekho
Moskvy and "Kommersant-Daily" on 21 February that a new youth
movement was in the works. However, later reports detailed
Yakemenko's speeches at meetings in cities across Russia, such as
Kursk, Orel, and St. Petersburg. According to "Moskovskii
komsomolets," Yakemenko told students in Kursk that "Europe long ago
asked itself the question: Who will be working at European gas
stations, Turks or Ukrainians? This question now has been decided in
favor of the Ukrainians. In the final analysis, for practically its
entire history, Ukraine has been a colony. It's just that
previously it was a Russian colony and now it is an American colony."
	On 26-27 February, Yakemenko spoke to about 200 assembled
youths at the Senezh sanatorium in Moscow Oblast for what some news
reports called Nashi's "founding congress" and what Yakemenko
described as a conference called "Russia's New Intellectual
Elite." According to "Kommersant-Daily" on 28 February, the meeting
was held in a building owned by the presidential administration. The
daily's correspondent, Oleg Kashin, and the leader of
Yabloko's youth movement Ilya Yashin managed to sneak in to the
meeting, since only first names were used at the conference and no ID
was required for checking in. However, when the two men were
recognized, Yakemenko ordered his security guards to throw them out.
Yashin told TV-Tsentr on 28 February that they were driven out of
town, where he was thrown headfirst into a snow bank and kicked in
the stomach several times. Yakemenko initially denied that he ever
saw Yashin at the meeting. Later he said that security guards did
remove Yashin from the conference hall but only after he kept trying
to enter the proceedings to which he was not invited.
	In an interview with "Vremya novostei" on 1 March,
Yabloko's Yashin suggested that "one of the tasks of the
'Nashisti' is to intimidate the opposition youth so that they
are afraid to attend public meetings. He said that in the last couple
of months there have been several clashes between the members of the
political opposition and unaffiliated people. Yashin told gazeta.ru
that former members of Walking Together along with skinheads in
athletic clothing were the main attendees at the Nashi congress.
"Kommersant-Daily's" Kashin described the participants, who were
allegedly attending a conference on "Russia's New Intellectual
Elite," as "very simple folk," who "when they are riding in
elevators, laugh when they go up and down."
	According to the Moscow-based newspapers, the real architect
of Nashi is not Yakemenko but deputy presidential-administration head
Vladislav Surkov. Surkov reportedly met with some 35-40 youths in St.
Petersburg along with Yakemenko on 17 February to talk about setting
up Nashi, according to "Kommersant-Daily" on 21 February. RosBalt
confirmed that Surkov was indeed in St. Petersburg on 17 February;
however, Yakemenko denied everything. Surkov was widely credited with
masterminding Unified Russia's victory in the 2003 State Duma
elections. He has now reportedly become disillusioned with his old
creation as well as with Motherland, which was originally created to
take votes away from the Communist Party. If Surkov is indeed seeking
an alternative to Unified Russia, then that might explain the secrecy
surrounding Nashi's creation. The presidential administration
still needs obedience from Unified Russia members in the State Duma
and elsewhere, which may be less forthcoming if they realize that
their political careers are about to be cut short.
	In an interview with kreml.org on 1 March, Viktor Militarev,
vice president of the National Strategy Institute, said that he
thinks that Walking Together faltered as an organization because it
was held together only by money and not by an ideology. Similarly,
Unified Russia could have been a "powerful pro-presidential party
that served as a repository of the people's hopes for the
president and hostility for the thieves, oligarchs, and corrupt
bureaucrats. Instead of this, we have a parody," he concluded.
However, with Nashi, Yakemenko has recently been taking a smarter
approach, according to Militarev. "For example, Yakemenko has given
lectures to youth activists in which he described the American
authorities as our geopolitical opponent and said that Russia needs
to defend itself." According to Militarev, this is a more effective
doctrine than "Putin is our president and he is always right."
	Writing in politcom.ru on 22 February, Tatyana Stanovaya
suggests that the Kremlin's presidential campaign in 2008 may
assume the features of Yeltsin's 1996 race when Yeltsin managed
to come from behind because of the "Red threat." "In 2008, the
Kremlin might also motivate citizens to vote not 'for' (an
unpopular president) but 'against' (this time against the
Orange threat) and the 'geopolitical appetites of the West'
and 'the powerful subversive network within the country.'"
However, if INDEM foundation analyst Yurii Korgunyuk is correct, then
Nashi proponents are not pursuing a cynical election ploy. He told
"The Moscow Times" on 25 February that the "Kremlin has a paranoid
fear of what happened in Ukraine happening here."

KYRGYZSTAN YOUTH LEADER SPEAKS ABOUT OPPOSITION ORGANIZATION'S
INTENTIONS

By Gulnoza Saidazimova

	KelKel (New Epoch) is a youth organization in Kyrgyzstan that
was established before the February 27 parliamentary elections. Many
observers, particularly those who know what role Otpor, Kmara, and
Pora played in Serbia, Georgia, and Ukraine, respectively, say KelKel
will become a driving force behind political changes in this Central
Asian country, where the opposition is weak and fragmented but is the
most active compared to other countries in the region. Alisher
Mamasaliyev, the main leader of KelKel, spoke about the organization,
its political positions, and its collaboration with Ukrainian and
other Central Asian youth organizations in an exclusive interview
with RFE/RL.
	KelKel organized its first public event on 11 January after
Roza Otunbaeva, leader of the Ata-Jurt (Fatherland) opposition party,
was not allowed to register as a candidate for parliament. A group of
young people from Bishkek went to a protest meeting organized in
Otunbaeva's defense and distributed lemons to all attendees. They
simply said that the lemons would help keep protesters healthy during
a flu epidemic.
	"For the first time for 15 years of independence," said
thirty-year-old KelKel leader Alisher Mamasaliyev, "the Kyrgyz youth
made an initiative and created a precedent of attempt to change the
situation."
	Mamasaliyev told RFE/RL that the young people who make up the
largest part of the Kyrgyz population should be more active in the
political life of the country, and he said that is one of
KelKel's goals. A KelKel leaflet reads: "We don't fight for
power, we fight for our rights.""For the first time for 15 years of
independence, the Kyrgyz youth made an initiative and created a
precedent of attempt to change the situation."
	Despite the declaration, the political position of KelKel is
very clear: they want President Askar Akaev to step down at the end
of his term in October. Mamasaliyev:
	"Yes, Akaev must step down," Mamasaliyev said. "But we want
it to happen peacefully in accordance with the law. This is our right
under the constitution. Yes, we stand for a change of power in the
White House [eds: the name of the Kyrgyz president's office]."
	Under the current constitution, Akaev cannot run for another
term as president. But opposition members fear he may decide to stay
in power and try to change the constitution in order to allow him to
run once again.
	The Kyrgyz authorities have impeded KelKel's work on
several occasions, said Mamasaliyev: "We had an office, but it was
taken away. At the moment, we don't think about developing
further, but rather about surviving."
	The government attempted to stop KelKel's activity by
creating its own organization, also named KelKel. Unlike
Mamasaliyev's KelKel, the other organization was registered by
officials very quickly. The government version of KelKel does have a
different slogan: "They threaten us with lemons. We simply squeeze
them."
	Many observers believe KelKel can play the same role as
Otpor, Kmara, and Pora did in the "velvet revolutions" in Serbia,
Georgia, and Ukraine, respectively.
	Mamasaliyev said KelKel does have contacts with Ukraine's
Pora organization. "Yes, I would like to say that we contacted Pora,"
he said. "Our friends from Ukraine came [to Kyrgyzstan], did some
training for us. They gave us recommendations on how to correctly
establish an organization, so that one part of the organization is in
charge of the website, the other one is in charge of security; they
told us how to deal with the media, which international donors to
contact. Of course, we would like to become a serious organization
like Otpor, Kmara, or Ukrainian Pora. But at the moment we have a
priority of tasks regarding the presidential elections."
	KelKel plans to organize summer courses for young people with
the purpose of raising the political awareness of a young electorate
and to train election observers ahead of October's presidential
ballot.
	KelKel also collaborates with a youth organization in
Kazakhstan. However, cooperation with organizations in Uzbekistan or
Tajikistan is not possible at the moment. "At present, we collaborate
with the Kazakh youth organization Kakhar, which has a very developed
system because they get assistance from Kazakh businesspeople,"
Mamasaliyev said. "As for cooperation with Tashkent, to be honest, we
didn't even think about it. We know what the situation in
Tashkent is like; we listened to the recent interview of [Uzbek]
President Islam Karimov. I don't think it is realistic to speak
of a possible partnership with the [Uzbek] youth organization.
Neither do we have contacts with Tajiks."
	Mamasaliyev said that despite all the difficulties, KelKel
continues to operate. Some 300 young people have joined the movement
since the first meeting in January. It opened a new branch in Aksy a
few days ahead of the elections.

UKRAINE'S PORA TO SET UP PERMANENT THINK TANK

By Jeremy Bransten

	The time for street demonstrations has passed, but Pora, the
Ukrainian youth movement that played a key role in the country's
recent Orange Revolution, plans to transform itself into a permanent
think tank. The Kyiv-based center will offer training and advice to
all those seeking their own peaceful revolutions.
	As Ukraine's revolutionary leaders make the transition
from leading street protests to governing the nation, the Orange
Revolution's youth activists are also seeking a new mission.
	Vladyslav Kaskiv is one of the leaders of the Pora movement,
whose demonstrations -- often laced with biting humor -- became a
memorable feature of those exuberant winter days. Pora drew its
inspiration from pro-democracy youth movements in Serbia and Georgia
that also helped topple authoritarian regimes.
	Kaskiv told RFE/RL he and his colleagues planned to
institutionalize their experience by setting up an international
center in Kyiv to offer assistance and practical advice to democracy
advocates throughout the region.
	"We are now in a very active phase of establishing this
center," Kaskiv said. "Unfortunately, we have not yet come up with
its official name, but the idea is that this center will function as
an international organization, with its central office in Kyiv. The
center's priority activities will be to support democratic
movements in the countries of the region -- above all, in the
countries of the former Soviet Union."
	Kaskiv explained the center's mission in more detail:
"[The center's task] will be to gather the collective experience
of the successful democratic movements, beginning with Poland's
Solidarity movement, Slovakia's OK '98, [Serbia's] Otpor,
[Georgia's] Kmara, etc. We hope that this will become a genuine
organization with a very influential board of overseers. We have
invited a whole range of famous democracy leaders, including Vaclav
Havel, Lech Walesa, and other influential democratic leaders [to join
us.]"
	Kaskiv said he hoped financial and moral backing for the
project would come from the Ukrainian government as well as
international organizations and possibly foreign governments.
	"We're very much counting on the [financial] support of
the Ukrainian government," he said. "We even hope that part of the
future development of this center will include the creation of a
Ukrainian agency for international development as a government body.
Of course, these are related issues but not mutually exclusive. We
have already held a series of talks with representatives of
international organizations about possible cooperation. We hope for
support from the democratic countries of Europe and America."
	Kaskiv said Pora activists had made contact with
pro-democracy youth groups in several CIS countries and that he hoped
a more formal relationship -- through the center -- could be
established.
	"Representative offices will be opened in all countries that
are interested in having such a center -- Moldova, Belarus,
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, perhaps Kyrgyzstan if we find good partners
there, etc.," Kaskiv said.
	Mindful of accusations by government officials in those
countries that Pora and other NGOs are part of a Western plot to
destabilize the post-Soviet region, Kaskiv said he and his colleagues
were consulting with legal experts to ensure the center's
activities were transparent and conformed to international standards.
	"We are working out very clear criteria based on the
legislation of these countries and based on international law about
possible cooperation with local partners, since we want to clearly
define our mission and want to avoid possible accusations of
interference in the domestic affairs of these countries," Kaskiv
said.
	Responding to recent charges by Kyrgyz officials of alleged
foreign interference in the country's election campaign, Kaskiv
said Pora activists had no activities at this time in Kyrgyzstan and
had not had any contacts with pro-democracy groups from the country.

AFGHANISTAN

NORTHERN AFGHAN GOVERNOR CALLS DEMONSTRATORS 'STUPID.' Balkh
Province Governor Ata Mohammad Nur, in an interview with the
state-run Balkh Television on 7 March, said that those who staged a
demonstration in the provincial capital of Mazar-e Sharif were
"stupid people" who were misusing democracy. Between 500 and 1,000
protestors staged a demonstration in Mazar-e Sharif on 7 March
demanding Nur's resignation for allegedly taking people's
land, and also called for the dismissal of a senior health official,
Sayyed Habib, who according to the demonstrators illegally fired a
number of doctors (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 March 2005). In his
interview, Nur dismissed the land-grab charges and said that the
doctors who have been dismissed were lazy. Nur contended that the
demonstrators came from neighboring provinces and have "links with
thieves" from Mazar-e Sharif. "This demonstration will never ever
affect us," Nur added. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 9 March 2005

PROTESTERS IN SOUTHERN AFGHAN CITY DEMAND SECURITY... A large
demonstration took place in the center of Kandahar city on 7 March,
RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan reported. "The aim of our
gathering and demonstration today is to raise our voice against the
lack of security in the city of Kandahar and the province," an
unidentified protester said. Peshawar-based Afghan Islamic Press
(AIP) estimated the number of protesters at thousands and in several
reports from the scene on 7 March reported that up to 100 people were
injured during the clashes between demonstrators and Afghan security
forces. Some of the demonstrators were chanting slogans against the
United States and in support of the ousted Taliban regime. An
eyewitness told AIP that the police took control of the situation and
the rally ended. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 8 March 2005)

...AS INTERIOR MINISTRY WANTS TO INVESTIGATE CAUSES FOR RALLY. In a
statement issued on 7 March in Kabul, the Afghan Interior Ministry
said that it has dispatched a "high-ranking" delegation to Kandahar
to "to investigate the cause of demonstrations and the recent
increase in criminal activities" in Kandahar Province. According the
statement, the 7 March protests in Kandahar city were over "concerns
of security issues and child kidnapping." The government also intends
to send another delegation to Kandahar to "take any necessary
measures to ensure that local residents have faith in their law
enforcement officials." The personal security situation in Kandahar
Province has recently deteriorated. According to a BBC report on 7
March, one child is kidnapped per week in Kandahar, and there are
fears that the actual number of kidnappings is higher as many parents
do not report the disappearance of their children, fearing reprisals.
It was the lack of personal security that propelled the Taliban into
the Afghan political scene in Kandahar in 1994. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 8
March 2005)

ARMENIA

U.S. NOTES HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN ARMENIA. In its annual report
on human rights world-wide that was released on 28 February, the U.S.
State Department noted that despite unspecified improvements in 2004,
the Armenian government's human rights record "remains poor,"
RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported. The report noted persistent
police brutality, including against participants in protest
demonstrations last spring; arbitrary arrests and detentions; and
some unspecified limits on press freedom. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 1 March
2005)

AZERBAIJAN

POLL SUGGESTS 'VELVET REVOLUTION' UNLIKELY IN AZERBAIJAN.
Experts from the PULS-R sociological service unveiled in Baku on 1
March the findings of an opinion poll conducted among 1,000 residents
of 15 Azerbaijani regions and 12 towns in December 2004, Turan and
zerkalo.az reported on 1 and 2 March, respectively. Those findings
suggested a very slight improvement in the economic situation,
insofar as the percentage of respondents who considered that their
families live in acute financial hardship declined to 14.4 percent
compared with 19.2 percent during an analogous poll conducted by the
same organization in 2003. Respondents identified as their primary
focus of concern the unresolved Karabakh conflict (61.9 percent),
corruption and incompetence within the government bureaucracy at all
levels (16.2 percent), and crime (7.5 percent). Both in 2003 and in
2004 some 64 percent of respondents said they trust the country's
president. But in 2004 the number of respondents who predicted mass
disturbances in Azerbaijan more than doubled, to 4.7 percent compared
with 2 percent the previous year, while the number who said such
disturbances are possible rose from 8.1 percent in 2003 to 13.9
percent in 2004. Rasim Musabekov, who conducted the poll together
with a representative of Germany's Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung,
noted that Azerbaijanis are not used to responding to such polls, and
that the findings cannot therefore be regarded as a wholly accurate
reflection of popular perceptions. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 8 March 2005)

HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION WORSENS IN AZERBAIJAN. The U.S. State
Department registered a worsening of the human rights situation in
Azerbaijan in 2004 following the disputed presidential ballot in
October 2003, Turan reported on 1 March. The State Department's
annual report noted that Azerbaijani police failed to investigate
four deaths in police custody and numerous complaints of torture and
ill-treatment in detention. It said that the judiciary in Azerbaijan
remains "corrupt and inefficient" and is strongly influenced by the
executive, which generally fails to observe the constitutional
prohibition on arbitrary arrest and detention. The report further
criticized police harassment of members of religious minorities and
restrictions on media freedom, including the government's failure
to act on its pledge to create a public television channel. Finally,
the report noted that the number of political prisoners in Azerbaijan
now exceeds 100, and it expressed concern at pressure on ethnic
Armenians to emigrate. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 1 March 2005)

BELARUS

BELARUSIAN VENDORS STRIKE FOR EIGHTH DAY. Nearly half of all non-food
market vendors in the provinces and 30 percent in Minsk continued on
8 March their nationwide strike over value-added tax (VAT) on Russian
imports (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 March 2005), Belapan reported.
Alyaksandr Lapotka, deputy leader of the Perspektyva small business
association that called the strike, told Belapan that many vendors
have refused to pay not only the controversial VAT tax but also the
so-called single tax (fixed sum irrespective of profits). In an
attempt to stave off losses and lure the striking vendors back,
market administrations have reportedly allowed them to reopen their
stalls without paying the taxes. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 9 March 2005)

U.S. SAYS BELARUS HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION WORSENING. The United States
said in its annual human rights report released on 28 February that
the situation in Belarus worsened in some areas (for full report see
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/). It stated that the
Belarusian government "continued to deny citizens the right to change
their government through a transparent democratic process; opposition
political parties and movements were subjected to increased pressure
through both judicial and extrajudicial measures." The report noted
that press freedoms were restricted and that law enforcement
officials "used excessive force" against individuals and journalists
peacefully protesting election processes. The trafficking of women
and children was also mentioned, although the reports noted that
Belarusian authorities have not had intensified efforts to stop such
activities. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 1 March 2005)

IRAN

IRANIAN STUDENTS DISRUPT CAMPAIGN SPEECH. Students in Isfahan,
central Iran, disrupted a campaign speech by Mustafa Mo'in, a
hopeful in the presidential election set for June, and forced him to
give up and leave, Radio Farda reported on 7 March. Mo'in, a
former higher education minister, is favored by the Participation
Front and Organization of the Islamic Revolution Mujahedin, two
reformist groups. Members of the Islamic Association of Isfahan
Universities and Medical Faculties, an umbrella student group,
reportedly sang and shouted slogans against Mo'in as he spoke,
and waved placards denouncing the now stagnant reforms initiated in
1997 by President Mohammad Khatami. The placards displayed calls for
a referendum instead on Iran's form of government, a recent
demand made by some Iranians (see "RFE/RL Iran Report," 1 March
2005). The student group had issued two previous statements telling
Mo'in not to come, stating in one that the presidential elections
will be "neither genuine nor free" but a means of "ridiculing the
intelligence" of Iranians, Radio Farda reported. Prospective
electoral candidates must be approved by the Guardians Council, a
vetting and supervisory body, before they can run for public office.
("RFE/RL Newsline," 8 March 2005)

RIGHTS BODY TAKING MUNICIPALITY TO COURT. The Society of Defenders of
Human Rights (Kanun-e Modafe'an-e Hoquq-e Bashar) is taking the
Isfahan municipality in central Iran to court for building a
high-rise tower block next to a 17th-century complex of buildings,
considered a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO, Radio Farda reported
on 6 March. The municipality is hastening construction despite
complaints by Iranians, and UNESCO, and two court orders to stop the
building, Society member Mohammad Ali Dadkhah told Radio Farda. He
said the judge who had ordered the construction stopped has been
replaced by a judge who overturned his ruling. Dadkhah said the
action being taken against municipal authorities, the provincial
governor's office and the provincial prosecutor-general, "will
certainly get somewhere, though it may take time." The building would
have to be reduced by three stories, he said. Separately, Harvard
University experts are to visit Iran in May or June to study
antiquities in Golestan Province, near the border with Turkmenistan,
"Aftab-i Yazd" reported on 6 March. The university has signed an
agreement with the state heritage organization, it added. ("RFE/RL
Newsline," 7 March 2005)

STATE DEPARTMENT CRITICIZES IRAN'S HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD. Iran
figured prominently in the U.S. State Department's annual country
report on human rights released on 28 February
(http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41721.htm). "The
government's poor human rights record worsened, and it continued
to commit numerous, serious abuses," the Iran country report stated.
The report described abuses such as summary executions; torture;
floggings and amputations; arbitrary arrest and detention; and a
frequent absence of fair trials. Politically motivated killings and
executions were cited. Also noted is that the Iranian people's
right to change the government is restricted -- the Assembly of
Experts, a body of clerics, selects and can dismiss the Supreme
Leader, and the Guardians Council vets candidates for elected office.
("RFE/RL Newsline," 2 March 2005)

IRAQ

U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT LISTS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES BY IRAQI GOVERNMENT.
The U.S. State Department's annual human rights report released
on 28 February lists a number of abuses carried out by the interim
Iraqi government, including rape, torture, and illegal detentions by
police and security forces (for full report see,
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41722.htm). The document,
titled "2004 Country Reports On Human Rights Practices," said that
Iraqis "generally respected human rights, but serious problems
remained." It went on to cite reports that "coerced confessions and
interrogation continued to be the favored method of investigation by
police." The document also cited "occasional reports of killings
particularly at the local level by the [interim] government or its
agents, which may have been politically motivated. In early December,
Basrah police reported that officers in the Internal Affairs Unit
were involved in the killings of 10 members of the Ba'ath Party."
It also cites a Human Rights Watch report that documents torture and
ill treatment of detainees by police in 2004 (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
25 January 2005). The State Department report also notes "allegations
that local police sometimes used excessive force against both
citizens and foreigners," and abuses allegedly carried out by members
of the Iraqi National Guard. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 2 March 2005)

KYRGYZSTAN

KYRGYZ OPPOSITION KEEPS UP ELECTION PROTESTS. Protests related to the
first round of Kyrgyzstan's parliamentary elections continued in
various parts of the country on 8 March, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service
reported. Three hundred supporters of Duishenkul Chotonov, who lost
in the 27 March elections in Karakulja District, marched toward Osh.
The marchers met with Roza Otunbaeva, co-chairman of the Ata-Jurt
bloc, in Uzgen, where 500 supporters of second-round parliamentary
candidate Adakham Madumarov continued to demand the resignation of
President Askar Akaev. Protests continued in Jalal-Abad for a fourth
day. And Bektur Asanov, a member of the outgoing parliament, said
that 40 legislators now support the opposition's initiative to
hold an emergency session of parliament on 10 March (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 7 and 8 March 2005). ("RFE/RL Newsline," 9 March 2005)

KYRGYZ AUTHORITIES PROMISE TO PUNISH ORGANIZERS. Kyrgyz Prime
Minister Nikolai Tanaev told a press conference on 5 March that the
government is playing a "waiting game" with protestors, but warned
that the instigators will be punished, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service
reported. ITAR-TASS quoted Tanaev as saying, "The organizers of these
actions will be brought to account and we will not slip a single case
of violation of the laws of this country." Bolot Januzakov, deputy
head of the presidential administration, told a news conference in
Bishkek on 5 March that the protests were a pre-planned power grab by
the opposition and claimed that demonstrators were paid to
participate in protests, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported.
("RFE/RL Newsline," 7 March 2005)

RUSSIA

LEADER OF EURASIAN YOUTH MOVEMENT SAYS HE WILL STOP 'ORANGE
REVOLUTION.' Speaking at a roundtable devoted to Russian
political youth subculture, Pavel Zarifulin, leader of the Eurasian
Youth Union, said on 4 March that the main goal of his organization
is "to prevent an Orange Revolution in Russia," RosBalt, the
organizer of the roundtable, reported. Zarifulin said his
organization -- which is the youth branch of the Eurasia movement led
by Aleksandr Dugin -- is an organization of "direct action" that is a
counterpart to the radical left National Bolshevik Party, led by
Eduard Limonov. Zarifulin said the Eurasian Youth Union will use
"coercion" when needed. Oleg Bondarenko, the leader of the Motherland
youth organization; Darya Mitina, leader of the Communist Party youth
organization Komsomol; Iliya Yashin, the leader of Yabloko's
youth division; and Roman Dobrokhotov, the head of the Moscow branch
of the youth group Walking Without Putin, also attended the
roundtable and discussed their organizations' programs. ("RFE/RL
Newsline," 7 March 2005)

OFFICIAL URGES DEPOLITICIZATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS... Human rights
ombudsman Vladimir Lukin told ITAR-TASS on 5 March that the human
rights situation in Russia "is more complex than the West thinks." He
said improving the public's legal education and awareness is the
most important goal for long-term improvement in the human rights
situation. Lukin also urged that the fight for human rights be
"intensified and depoliticized." He added that about one-third of the
complaints received by his office relate to alleged abuses by law
enforcement personnel. Lukin also announced on 5 March that
Bashkortostan's Supreme Court has invalidated 172 police
protocols related to the detentions of civilians in Blagoveshchensk
during a December police operation (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24
February 2005). The court has recognized 120 people as victims of
police excess during the operation, Lukin said. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 7
March 2005)

...AND CALLS FOR PROSECUTION OF HIGH-LEVEL OFFICIALS IN
BLAGOVESHCHENSK CASE. Lukin added that it seems officials in
Bashkortostan are trying to blame the incident on low-level officers,
and he said "those really responsible, the people who gave that sort
of order or did not properly control the implementation of their
correct orders, must be punished," RBK-TV reported. RBK-TV also
reported that Blagoveshchensk police have threatened to hold a 10-day
strike to protest what they call violations of their civil rights.
Such a strike is illegal under a federal law that forbids police and
other civil servants from taking such actions. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 7
March 2005)

FOREIGN MINISTRY SLAMS U.S. HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT AS 'POLITICALLY
BIASED.' The Foreign Ministry's press department told
Interfax on 2 March that the U.S. State Department's annual
report on human rights is "politically biased" and "in no way can be
described as objective." The report, according to the ministry, is
"mainly based on arbitrary interpretations of the facts and sometimes
even rumors." The ministry also noted that "the ambiguous 'track
record' of the United States itself, which arouses serious
concern among international human rights organizations, has been
ignored." In the report, the list of countries where the problem of
human rights is most urgent was expanded this year to include Russia.
Other countries in that category are North Korea, China, Cuba, Iran,
Saudi Arabia, and Belarus. The report noted that in contrast to a
number of other countries that increased direct public control over
government, the Russian authorities further strengthened the power of
the executive branch and imposed greater restrictions on the media.
("RFE/RL Newsline," 3 March 2005)

TURKMENISTAN

U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT HIGHLIGHTS CENTRAL ASIA RIGHTS PROBLEMS.
The U.S. State Department painted a grim picture of the human rights
situation in Central Asia in its annual country reports on human
rights practices, which were released on 28 February. The reports
recorded few changes in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, describing the
situation in the former as "poor" and in the latter as "extremely
poor." The State Department saw some improvements in Kyrgyzstan and
Tajikistan, although it evaluated the overall environment in both
countries as "poor." Some improvements were also noted in Uzbekistan,
but against the backdrop of a "very poor" situation. The report on
Turkmenistan noted that a number of RFE/RL correspondents suffered
arrest in Turkmenistan, and one correspondent was "brutally beaten"
in Moscow by agents from the Turkmen National Security Ministry.
("RFE/RL Newsline," 2 March 2005)

TURKMEN PRESIDENT RETURNS TO WORK, SACKS RIGHTS HEAD. Saparmurat
Niyazov returned to work on 28 February after undergoing a successful
operation on his left eye on 22 February, Turkmen Television
reported. Niyazov met with his cabinet at his residence and briefed
them on the operation. Also on 28 February, Niyazov issued a decree
removing Rashit Meredov as director of the National Institute of
Democracy and Human Rights, the official Turkmen government website
(http://www.turkmenistan.gov.tm) reported. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 1
March 2005)

UKRAINE

U.S. REPORT CITES LATE IMPROVEMENT IN UKRAINIAN HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD.
The U.S. State Department stated in its 2004 human rights report
released on 28 February that the Ukrainian government's human
rights record "remained poor and worsened in a number of areas," but
added that "there were also improvements in some areas, particularly
toward the end of the year." The report, titled "Country Reports On
Human Rights Practices," is submitted to Congress every year (for
full report see http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/). It
stated that Ukrainian citizens' "right to change their government
peacefully was restricted during most of the year," adding that the
Orange Revolution in November and December did much to change this.
The report also criticized Ukrainian authorities for interfering
"with the news media by harassing and intimidating journalists,
censoring material, blocking interregional broadcasts of independent
media, closing down independent media outlets, and pressuring them
into practicing self-censorship." ("RFE/RL Newsline," 1 March 2005)

UZBEKISTAN

UZBEKISTAN CANCELS VISIT BY BRITISH OFFICIAL OVER RIGHTS FOCUS.
Uzbekistan's Foreign Ministry cancelled a planned visit to
Uzbekistan on 2 March by British Foreign Office official Bill
Rammell, the BBC reported. The ministry stated in a press release
that the visit could not take place in light of Rammell's
"unacceptable and impolite comments...which are an attempt at direct
interference in the internal affairs of independent Uzbekistan,"
tribune.uz reported on 2 March. Although the Uzbek Foreign Ministry
laid the blame for the visit's cancellation on the British side,
a British Foreign Office spokeswoman said "it is the Uzbek
government's decision in response to the minister's
undertaking to continue to press over human rights," scotsman.com
reported. On 26 February, uzreport.uz quoted Rammell as saying: "The
issue of human rights in Uzbekistan is of serious concern, and I
believe that critical engagement is the best way to improve the
situation. I will be pressing the Uzbek government about human
rights." Rammell had planned to meet with a number of independent
human rights organizations in Uzbekistan, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service
reported. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 3 March 2005)

"RFE/RL (Un)Civil Societies" is prepared by Julie A. Corwin on the
basis of reports by RFE/RL broadcast services and other sources. It
is distributed every Wednesday.

Direct comments to Julie A. Corwin at corwinj at rferl.org
For information on reprints, see:
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