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Warsaw, Poland The worsening human rights crisis
in Turkmenistan was the League's main focus during this
year's participation at the annual OSCE ODIHR (Office
for Democratic Initiatives and Human Rights) Human
Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw on October
6 to 19, 2003. "Dialogue with Niyazov [president
of Turkmenistan] is not possible," said League's
invitee and a Turkmen opposition leader in exile, Nurmuhammet
Hanamov, during his presentation to OSCE delegations.
"There have never been democratic elections in
Turkmenistan. Niyazov has betrayed his people and ignored
all international obligations… having appointed
himself the official dictator, he now wields sole power
over the legislative, judicial, and executive branches
of government."
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Warsaw, October 8, 2003: Leonid
Komarovsky Speaks at Press Conference on Turkmenistan
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Mr.
Komarovsky, a U.S. journalist and businessman who was
arrested and convicted of participating in the alleged
November 25, 2002 assassination attempt on President Niyazov's
motorcade,discussed the grave human rights abuses in the
country at a last- minute press conference which the League
organized jointly with the U.S. delegation. Numerous ODIHR
officials and NGOs from Central Asia attended the timely
event, including delegations from Sweden, the U.S., Switzerland,
Uzbekistan, Turkey, France, and Finland. In addition to
Turkmenistan, the League also invited human rights leaders
and NGO representatives from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus,
and the Caucasus. The League's colleagues met OSCE delegates
and gave oral and written recommendations on a variety
of critical human rights topics during the working and
plenary sessions of the conference. They also had a chance
to make presentations at the League-organized briefings.
The
first side meeting on "Freedom of Association"
featured Aslan Ismailov (Azerbaijan), Alexey Korotayev
(League's Geneva representative), Yevgeny Zhovtis (Kazakhstan),
and Zhanna Litvina (Belarus), who spoke on the restrictions
on free media and the harassment of NGOs in Belarus
and Central Asia.
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Warsaw, October 7, 2003: Aslan
Ismailov Speaks at Briefing on Azerbaijan's Elections
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On
Tuesday, October 7, the League hosted a briefing in
collaboration with the International Helsinki Federation
(www.ihf.org), entitled "Elections in the Caucasus."
The briefing was headlined by the League's invitee and
legal expert from Azerbaijan, Aslan Ismailov. Delegates
from the U.K., Finland, Switzerland, France, Norway,
the Netherlands, Sweden, Azerbaijan, and Belgium attended
the timely event, along with local NGOs leaders and
lawyers from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, and Belarus.
The briefing was chaired by Aaron Rhodes, Executive
Director of the IHF. Presentations were also given by
Open Society Institute invitees Saida Gojamanly, Chair
Person of the Bureau of Human Rights Protection; Fikret
Rzayev, Deputy Chairman of the NGO "For the Sake
of Civil Society"; and Fuad Hasanov, Chairman of
the Committee to Protect Constitutional Rights of Citizens.
The speakers addressed the upcoming and controversial
elections in Azerbaijan, the pre- election climate,
as well as related human rights problems. The IHF and
its NGO invitees from the Caucasus region discussed
the human rights issues in Georgia, including violations
of the rights of Chechen refugees, while their Azerbaijan
representatives stressed the problems regarding the
presidential elections, the media situation in the country
and other obstacles human rights defenders face in carrying
out their work.
On
Thursday evening, October 9, the League hosted its headlining
event: "Deepening Crisis in Central Asia: Can the
OSCE Really Make a Difference?" Alexander Kim (Kyrgyzstan),
Nurmuhammet Hanamov (Turkmenistan), Leonid Komarovsky
(Turkmenistan) and Yevgeny Zhovtis (Kazakhstan) made
statements on the deteriorating situation in Turkmenistan,
the extent to which western governments and the OSCE
are making human rights in Central Asia a priority,
and the setbacks facing local NGOs in the region. The
briefing took place in the main meeting room filled
with delegates from U.S., U.K., France, Italy (European
Union), Council of Europe, Belgium, the Netherlands,
and Sweden. Also in the audience were OSCE officials,
local NGOs from Caucasus and Central Asia, and prominent
human rights organizations, including Freedom House,
IHF, and its affiliates.
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