|
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
By STEVE LEVINE
ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Several recent steps taken by
Central Asian republics suggest an increasing boldness
against Western pressure by the region's autocratic
leaders, most of whom are key U.S. allies in its war
against terrorism, Western officials say.
Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the
U.S. began using Central Asia as a jumping-off point
for its war to dislodge the Taliban in neighboring
Afghanistan. The U.S. established military bases in
three of the countries, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and
Tajikistan, and obtained Air Force landing rights in
Kazakhstan. U.S. aid to the region more than doubled.
In recent months, however, the U.S. and Europe have
been increasingly outspoken about the region's poor
human-rights record, and in response, the region's
leaders have begun to publicly resist those pressures.
The Kazakh government says it officially charged a
well-known opposition journalist with raping a
14-year-old girl, an accusation Western officials
suggest may be politically motivated. The journalist,
49-year-old Sergei Duvanov, had been planning a trip
to the U.S. for speaking engagements on Kazakhstan's
human-rights record. He says the charges against him
are fabricated.
It is the third time Mr. Duvanov has accused the
government of harassment since he wrote a story
earlier this year for an Internet site about Swiss
bank accounts allegedly belonging to President
Nursultan Nazarbayev. The accounts are part of
separate money-laundering investigations by the U.S.
and Switzerland. In July, the Kazkah government
charged Mr. Duvanov with criminal libel for the story,
and in August -- two weeks before he was to attend a
human-rights conference in Warsaw -- he was beaten and
a cross carved into his chest by unidentified men.
In a statement last week, the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe said, "The pattern
of incidents involving Mr. Duvanov, their coincidence
with his planned trips abroad to discuss publicly the
situation in Kazakhstan, and the disputed
circumstances of the latest case trigger concerns that
these incidents may be politically motivated."
The U.S. and Europe are increasingly critical of
President Nazarbayev, particularly regarding a series
of attacks on journalists. Mr. Duvanov's beating was
the eighth unexplained assault on a local reporter in
the country this year. The government has denied any
role in the attacks, and last week Mr. Nazarbayev
admonished diplomats in a yearly meeting that he "categorically
rejects recommendations and advice aimed at
unnaturally speeding up democratic processes."
Mr. Nazarbayev's neighbors also appear increasingly
brash, some analysts say. In Kyrgyzstan, President
Askar Akayev has faced a drawn-out test of wills with
his political opposition since police shot dead six
demonstrators last March. More recently, Mr. Akayev
said it is time for deeper democratic changes, yet
critics complain that a Kyrgyz judge recently
overturned an election victory by an opposition figure,
saying his papers weren't in order, and gave the
triumph to a challenger who received just 19% of the
vote.
Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov recently used a
news conference with United Nations Secretary-General
Kofi Annan to assail critics of his human-rights
record. And in Turkmenistan, the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development has blocked new loans
for public projects because of President Saparmurat
Niyazov's poor record on political and economic change.
"The key question is whether Washington's new
relationship with these countries has increased its
leverage with them. The tenor of the leaders in the
region seems to indicate it hasn't," said Anthony
Richter, director of the Central Eurasia Project at
the New York-based Open Society Institute.
Write to Steve LeVine at
steve.levine@wsj.com
|
