Realizing how helpful these are in making the Regional Briefings, I’m working a litte harder at resuscitating the weekly roundup.
Before I begin, I want to officially and publicly thank P F for joining as a contributor. The Viking post shows why I’m happy to have him on board. I saw the story, and I would have probably just linked it, said “cool,” and moved on to the same old politics and war news. Heaven forbid we actually get some color in this place every now and then.
First, in an absolutely unprecedented move, Uzbekistan allowed foreign forensic experts to investigate torture allegations. Dr. Michael Pollanen, a forensic pathologist for the province of Ontario took part in a second autopsy of Andre Shelkovenko. Police claimed he hanged himself, but his family said the body showed signs of torture. Pollanen said the police are telling the truth.
Dr. Michael Pollanen, a forensic pathologist for the province of Ontario, Canada, who observed a second autopsy on the body Thursday, said earlier alleged injuries “were related to understandable misinterpretations of changes that occur in all bodies after death.”Both external and internal examinations of Shelkovenko’s neck showed “findings compatible with hanging and did not reveal evidence of strangulation,” said Pollanen, also an associate professor of pathology at the University of Toronto.
Read the whole thing. This is by no means a closed-book case, but I’m inclined to agree with the U.S. and Canadian experts on this one. I don’t, not for a minute, find it too hard to believe that a middle-aged Russian who murdered someone in a botched robbery would hang himself. I also find it well within the realm of reasonable possibility that his cellmates didn’t intervene. (Something similar happened with a local case).
With the earlier announcement aimed at increased transparency in the prison system, it looks like the Uzbeks are trying to bring in the disinfecting power of sunlight to separate the fact from fiction. Surely, there’s an interest in guaranteeing that they continue to receive aid from the U.S. as well. It will be interesting to see how this all turns out.
Now the rest of the news.
Tajikistan has a new extremist group called Bayat.
Hizb ut-Tahrir members intervened to save Uzbek and Kyrgyz police from an angry mob.
A UK Air Force Hercules was involved in a mid-air collision over Turkmenistan, but landed safely in Baku. The plane is part of the ISAF mission in Afghanistan.
Uzbekistan and Kazakstan have nearly completed border delineation.
Radio Free Europe is being sued by the producers of Akhborot, an Uzbek government mouthpiece, for broadcasting a report saying an Akhborot reported fabricated parts of a story.
Uzbekistan’s Karakalpak autonomous region (Karakalpakistan), ignored by the Uzbek government, is trying to develop its tourism industry by looking to art and ancient tombs.
Mongolia, too, is experiencing a tourism boom that is helping to revive traditional, nomadic lifestyles.
For those with an interest in economic scandals and whatnot, TOL has a big story on the upcoming trial of James H. Giffen, accused of paying $78 million in bribes to the President and Prime Minister of Kazakstan between 1995 and 2000 to secure oil contracts for Western countries.
IWPR reports that the removal of Turkmenbashi posters was ordered by the president himself in response to harsh criticism from the United States. It seems we’ve embarassed him and he wants to improve his image. So, should we stop lauging at Turkmenbashi? (I think maybe we should, at least officially. I actually would like to do a larger post on this a little later.)
Georgia is boosting troops along its border with South Ossetia, but quickly withdraws them after Russian protest.
President Saakashvili has publicly proposed political settlements to reincorporate Abkhazia and South Ossetia into Georgia.
Did Hamid Karzai trade cabinet posts for support in the upcoming election?
Speaking of President Karzai, he will receive the 2004 Philadelphia Liberty Medal. I feel it is my duty to attend. Not sure if this is a ticketed function or not (it was outdoors last year). Anyone who’s still reading down this far got a way to get me press credentials?
For a number of reasons, the Afghan disarmament program is failing.
Combat between US and Taliban forces is on the increase.
UPDATE: I neglected an encouraging story on Kazakstan. An opposition party has been officially registered to operate. Democratic Choice of Kazakstan claims a membership of 70,000 and will be able to compete in this autumn’s parliamentary elections. If the link doesn’t work, let me know and I’ll post the whole story.
Also, here’s an informative interview on the US military presence in Central Asia that probably deserves a post of its own (but won’t get one from me).
This post was written by...
Nathan Hamm – author of 2973 posts on Registan.net.
Nathan is the Founding Editor and Publisher of Registan.net, which he launched in 2003. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan 2000-2001 and received his MA in Central Asian Studies from the University of Washington in 2007. Since 2007, he has worked full-time as an analyst, consulting with private and government clients on Central Asian affairs, specializing in how socio-cultural and political factors shape risks and opportunities and how organizations can adjust their strategic and operational plans to account for these variables. Nathan is currently seeking research, analysis, and consulting opportunities. He can be contacted via Twitter or email.
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