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Civic Leaders
From Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan Attend 10th Annual Session
of OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
From July 6 to July 10, Nurbulat Masanov,
one of Kazakhstan's leading and best-known independent
political analysts, Sergei Duvanov, an independent
journalist from Almaty and Iskandar Khudaiberganov,
chairman of Democratic Initiatives Center, a human rights
NGO from Uzbekistan, attended the 10th Annual Session
of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly at the invitation
of the International League for Human Rights.
Briefing
for Parliamentarians |
The
main purpose of their visit was to meet with parliamentarians
and brief them on the difficult political and social
situation in their countries and Central Asia as a whole.
The formal briefing took place on July 10 at the Hotel
Lutetia and was attended by several parliamentarians
from countries of East and West Europe and Asia, as
well as NGO and media representatives. The Central Asian
activists also had an opportunity to have brief meetings
with Freimut Duve, OSCE's Representative on Freedom
of Media, and Gert Weisskirchen, Chairman of OSCE's
General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian
Questions.
Masanov
and Duvanov described to the audience the worsening
human rights situation in Kazakhstan, which has recently
witnessed the closure of several of the remaining independent
media outlets. President Nazarbaev and his family are
tightening their grip on all levels of power in the
country, including mass media and the vast oil sector.
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Meeting
with Congressman Smith, Vice-Chairman of the House
Committee on International Relations and Co-Chairman
of the Congressional Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe
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Khudaiberganov
spoke about the wholesale attack on human rights in
Uzbekistan under the oppressive government of President
Karimov. The human rights situation in Uzbekistan has
worsened significantly in the recent years, as Karimov's
regime has exaggerated the threat of Islamic terrorism
and fundamentalism as an excuse to jail thousands of
Muslim believers and crack down on civil and political
rights.
Press-Conference
At Radio France |
While
in Paris, the activists also gave a press-conference
at Radio France; had meetings at the Foreign Ministry,
the Senate; attended a reception at the residence of
the U.S. Ambassador where they met with Senator Campbell
and Congressmen Hoyer and Smith; and gave an interview
to a journalist from Le Monde
For
more information contact Peter Zalmayev of ILHR, 212-661-0480,
ext. 100; pzalmayev@ilhr.org
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