Freedom Of Speech Index for 2012

Reporters Without Borders has published its annual Freedom of the Press Index for 2012:

Uzbekistan occupied 164th place out of 179 countries. From last year’s index Uzbekistan moved down seven notches which shows the deterioration of the situation journalists face in the country. Uzbekistan remained a nightmare for journalists. Dictatorship of President Islam Karimov controlled the Internet, pressured the media and punished independent journalists using courts.

It was a good news to hear, that The UNHCR in Kyrgyzstan granted refugee status to Uzbek journalist Elena Bondar. Pressure on Bondar – threatening phone calls and aggressive treatment by law enforcement officers – forced the young journalist to flee Uzbekistan and seek refugee status.

The worse situation is only in Turkmenistan with the regime of President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov. Turkmenistan came 177th on the index, along with Eritrea and North Korea which came on the bottom of the index.

Kazachstan occupied 16oth, Tajikistan 123rd and   Kyrgyzstan 106th place.

Russia came 148th, falling six notches from last year which is explained by repressions and the suppression of protests after Vladimir Putin came to power.

Moldova, Armenia and Georgia fared the best coming 55th, 74th and 100th.

Personality cult in Turkmenistan. President Berdymukhamedov introduced minimal reforms but heaped honours upon himself. For his 50th birthday, he awarded himself the Watan (Motherland) Order, a gold and diamond pendant weighing about 1 kilogram for his “outstanding achievements” in his barely six months in office.

Russia’s Secret ‘Visa Blacklist’ Longer Than America’s

Russia’s list of U.S. citizens unwanted in the country is longer than the U.S. “visa blacklist” of officials involved in the case of Sergei Magnitsky’s death, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

According to Lavrov, Russia reserves the right to unilaterally amend the blacklist to make it longer or shorter.

When asked if U.S. congressmen known for their criticism of Russia are on the list, Lavrov said all the necessary details have already been reported.

“The names won’t be disclosed.”

Book About Russian Opposition Politician Eduard Limonov

A biographical book about Russian opposition politician and writer Eduard Limonov has received a literary award in France. The Renaudot Prize was awarded to the book’s author Emmanuel Carrere.

The book is not just a biography of a man, but also a historical-political research of the context.
Limonov’s name is firmly associated with scandals. A writer and a journalist, Limonov has always drawn attention to his persona by his radical political views and organization of unauthorized meetings and marches. He is also one of the main activists behind the Strategy 31 initiative, defending Article 31 of the constitution, which guarantees the freedom of assembly.
After having read the book, Eduard Limonov posted on his blog saying “Sometimes friendly, sometimes hostile. I can feel that the author is an intellectual and a bourgeois.”
“I wonder what the critics will have to say. Will any Russian publisher dare to let out this book? …Oh, I would be amused!” Limonov writes.

The Renaudot Prize was established back in 1926 by journalists and critics as an addition to the Goncourt.

Russia: Putin Awards Opposition Journalist

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has announced state awards to opposition journalists including Mikhail Beketov, who was left disabled after a severe beating following a confrontation with the Khimki city administration about a Putin-backed road construction.

The move comes two weeks after a U.S. State Department official traveled to Khimki to speak with local activists, promising to “redouble” U.S. efforts to press Russia on human rights.

The list also includes Yelena Petrovskaya of the liberal Novaya Gazeta newspaper; Fyodor Lukyanov, editor-in-chief of the Russia in Global Affairs journal and a contributor to The Moscow Times; and the outgoing editor-in-chief of the Vokrug Sveta travel magazine, Sergei Parkhomenko.

The award comes with a cash prize will be handed out on Jan. 13, Russian Press Day, which marks the date that the first Russian newspaper was published on Peter the Great’s orders in 1713.

Russian Journalist Deported From Belarus, Deny Acces For 3 Years

Moskovsky reporter Igor Karmazin, who arrived in Minsk to report on the imprisoned opposition politicians, was deported from the country.

The reporter met with Nikita Likhovidov, who was found guilty and then pardoned by President Alexander Lukashenko and with journalist Irina Khalip, a wife of former presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov.
After interviewing Khalip two men came up to Karmazin and asked him to follow them. He was taken to a police station, searched and had all the files on his voice recorder erased. They questioned him about what he was talking to Khalip about and fingerprinted him.
Then the Russian journalist was given a paper barring him from entering Belarus, under threat of three years in prison if he was to do so.
His deportation was recorded in his passport. The journalist was then put on a train back to Moscow.

ECHR: Tashukhadzhiyev v. Russia

Case Tashukhadzhiyev v. Russia

Russian authorities failed to effectively investigate young man’s disappearance in Chechnya.

Then 26-year-old son, Elbek Tashukhadzhiyev, was working as a petrol tanker driver when he was stopped and detained in February 1996 by a group of military servicemen near the village of Berkat-Yurt in Chechnya; he has not been seen since.

The European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 2 (right to life:obligation to conduct an effective investigation) and of Article 13 (right to an effective remedy)in conjunction with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Court further held, by a majority, that there had been a violation of Article 5 (right to liberty and security).

Two Decades Since USSR Broke Up. What Happened To Soviet Countries?

Twenty years on from the Soviet coup gave birth to 15 new states. Guardian data team mined statistics from sources ranging from the World Bank, the UNHCR, the UN Crime Trends Survey and the Happy Planet Index to compare the performance of the countries, combed through the OSCE’s reports on every election in each country since 1991 to see where democracy was taking hold – and where it was not wanted.

THE BALTIC REPUBLICS
Democratic records are exemplary, but the countries sit surprisingly low on international measures for wellbeing and happiness.

THE EU BORDERLANDS UKRAINE, BELARUS and MOLDOVA
Ukraine and Moldova sustained catastrophic economic contraction.. Belarus, under the autocratic rule of Alexander Lukashenko since 1994, suffered less. The troika has the weakest economic figures of all post-Soviet regions. Moldova has the best record of free and fair elections, BUT with return a communist (Vladimir Voronin) to power. Moldova also hosts to one of the post-Soviet space’s many frozen conflicts of the Transdniestr region Ukraine’s democratic turning point – the orange revolution of 2004 – rapidly gave way to paralysis and stalemate… In Belarus, Lukashenko has faced lengthy international isolation for crushing opposition and dissent.

THE CAUCASUS
Azerbaijan’s oil dividend makes it one of the strongest performing economies. Armenia and Georgia have both seen incipient growth through the 2000s rudely interrupted by the global recession of 2008/09. The frozen conflicts of Nagorno-Karabakh (Azerbaijan and Armenia) and Abkhazia (Georgia) ..Georgia and Russia has resulted in the only war between former Soviet republics (2008). Armenia suffers from the worst unemployment of all 15 republics, and democratic breakthroughs have been few – only Georgia has held free and fair elections.

CENTRAL ASIA
A mixed economic story: Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have expanded their economies more than 400 %. And although these are the happiest post-Soviet republics not one has held a genuinely free or fair election since 1990; central Asia is where elections are deferred or else won with 99 percent of the vote by dictators who lock up their opponents and even ban ballet and name a month of the year after their mother (Turkmenistan). Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are not post-Soviet at all: they have simply stuck with the strongmen who led them out of the Soviet Union. Turkmenistan the leader died in 2006, while Tajikistan’s Emomali Rahmon has run his republic uncontested since 1992. Only in Kyrgyzstan Soviet-era leader Askar Akayev was ousted in 2005.

RUSSIA
Russia has reversed its dramatic economic decline. .its life expectancy persisting below 70 on account of, among other factors, chronic problems with drug and alcohol abuse. Russia has the highest HIV rate (along with Ukraine), the highest homicide rate and the highest prison population of the former Soviet Union. Elections are once again foregone conclusions; governors, once elected, are now appointed. The ‘vertical’ of power centred on the Kremlin appears as strong as it was in Soviet times.

Russia Bans Entry To U.S. Officials

Russia has banned entry to dozens of U.S. officials allegedly involved in human rights violations in response to Washington’s blacklisting of Russian officials involved in the prison death of Sergei Magnitsky.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was blacklisting unspecified U.S. officials it claims were involved in the abductions of alleged terrorism suspects, the torture of inmates at Guantanamo prison, the killings of civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq, and abductions or abuse of Russians in the United States.

In July, the U.S. State Department banned entry to dozens of unidentified Russian officials allegedly involved in the death of Magnitsky. Magnitsky, an attorney who was jailed after accusing Interior Ministry officials of involvement in a massive corruption scandal, died in pretrial detention in 2009 after suffering abuse and medical neglect.

The Russian Foreign Ministry today said the U.S. move was a “political provocation”. It said Russia will expand the list of banned U.S.officials if the United States keeps pushing for the prosecution of those involved in Magnitsky’s death.

Russia: 16 Years Old Schoolgirl Convicted In Chechnya For Helping Militants

A 16-year-old schoolgirl from Ingushetia was convicted by the court in Chechnya for assistance to participants of the armed underground, of committing a crime under Part 5 of Article 33 and Part 2 of Article 208 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (aiding members of illegal armed formations). The investigators revealed that, in the period from last July to this June, a schoolgirl of the 11th class was engaged in supplying food to militants.
Allegedly the girl repeatedly travelled to Chechnya, where she received money from militants. For this money she purchased food at the market in Ingushetia, then transported it to Chechnya.

The court sentenced her to four months of imprisonment with restriction of freedom for a term of one year. After completion of her sentence, the girl shall be specially registered and shall be under the control of the law enforcement agencies.

ODIHR Accepts Russian Rules – Reduce Quotas Of International Observers

The OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights has agreed to reduce quotas of international observers for Russia’s December parliamentary elections from 260 to 200. The body has already accepted an official invitation from Moscow.
A first group of observers, which will monitor the election campaign and administrative preparations, is expected to arrive at the end of October. The mission will include 40 long-term and 160 short-term observers.

“Two hundred observers is, unfortunately, a bit less than planned. Lower numbers will have a negative impact on our ability to work efficiently… I really try to avoid the 2007 scenario,” said ODIHR spokesman Jens Eschenbaecher. Back then, the ODIHR failed to agree on the format of their mission with the CEC. As a result, the international body boycotted Duma and then presidential elections in 2008. The Central Election Commission has repeatedly accused the OSCE of double standards and of politicizing the election process.

Money-laundering Case Against Khodorkovsky Opened In Germany

German investigators accidentally found accounts under Khodorkovsky’s name worth between 15 million euros and 20 million euros ($20 million to $27 million) during a tax evasion raid. The details of the account, found on a CD-ROM containing data of Swiss private bank Julius Baer, may be evidence that Khodorkovsky did not pay taxes.

Khodorkovsky is serving a 13-year sentence in a prison on tax evasion, fraud and money-laundering charges that he and his supporters call politically motivated punishment from Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for his political and commercial ambitions. The prison sentence stems from two trials, one in 2005 and the other in 2010.

The European Court of Human Rights has cleared Russia of political motivation in the first trial, it has ruled the Yukos trial unfair.

A money-laundering case would deal a blow to human rights activists who have rallied around Khodorkovsky, said Alexander Rahr, a Russia expert with the German Council of Foreign Relations. “An investigation would be a shock for those who said the money-laundering [charge] was Putin’s fantasy.”

Ukraine: Sentenced Tymoshenko To Face More Trials

Ukraine’s former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was sentenced to 7 years for abuse of office and inflicting nearly $200mln of damage to the state.
Tymoshenko’s lawyers were about to appeal the ruling when the ex prime minister faced a new lawsuit. In the 1990s, Urkaine’s Unified Energy Systems, headed by Yulia Tymoshenko, owed the Russian Defense Ministry $405mln but Tymoshenko allegedly put the debt on the country’s budget.

Political analysts and ordinary people in Ukraine say that the Tymoshenko case is a political, not economic, one. For President Yanukovich, Tymoshenko is a major political foe of the past and the main rival in the present. The EU High Commissioner for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton has warned about her intention of reviewing EU policies regarding Ukraine depending on Kiev’s handling of the Tymoshenko case.
Yulia Tymoshenko counts on the European Court of Human Rights.

Russia needs stable neighbors.. “Russia will gain nothing from Ukraine being in conflict with the EU..The court ruling is unlikely to affect gas relations between Russia and Ukraine.Even if Tymoshenko signed these contracts in order to throw her rivals out of the lucrative gas projects, it is Ukraine’s domestic issue which has nothing to do with Russia.”

President Viktor Yanukovich called for decriminalizing economic crimes. He said that Ukraine’s legislation doesn’t meet European requirements and that Tymoshenko’s action should no longer be considered a criminal offense. Those amendments to Ukraine’s Criminal Code could be considered by parliament on October 18th .

Russia: Echoes of Magnitsky In Principal’s Death In Prison

Andrei Kudoyarov, 48, died in jail of an apparent heart attack. He had been held since May on charges that he took a 240,000 ruble bribe in exchange for accepting a student into Moscow School No. 1308.
Kudoyarov, who had worked in education for nearly 20 years, had insisted he was innocent, and many parents of children at his school came forward in his defense. The money in question had been used for repairs at the school and that Kudoyarov had been framed.

Kudoyarov’s sudden passing bears certain similarities to that of Magnitsky, a 37-year-old lawyer whose 2009 death while in pretrial detention sparked international outrage.

Authorities initially ruled that Magnitsky died of heart failure while awaiting charges on embezzlement and tax evasion, but human rights groups argued that he had been refused medical treatment even as his health deteriorated in custody. An independent, Kremlin-ordered investigation found this summer that Magnitsky was badly beaten by prison guards shortly before his death.“This situation is exactly the same as with Magnitsky.”

“This is yet another symptom of improperly using the justice system as a weapon and it must be changed,” said Borshchyov, a veteran lawyer and human rights activist.

Russian Court To Question Mayor of Grozny On Case “Kadyrov vs. Orlov”

The Khamovniki Moscow Court began its consideration of the appeal of Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, against the acquittal of Oleg Orlov, the head of the HRC “Memorial“.

On October 4 in the court of appeal Oleg Orlov, the head of the HRC “Memorial” once again made a statement pleading not guilty on charges of slandering Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya.

The leader of the Chechen Republic failed to appear at the hearing, live video bridge with the city of Grozny was also absent. Kadyrov’s interests were represented in the court by his lawyer Andrei Krasnenkov, who stated that “the leader of Chechnya strongly disagree with the acquittal”; however, being very busy, he could not attend the court session.

Council of Europe Anti-torture Committee Talks In Russia

Representatives of the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) held talks beginning of September in Russia with the federal authorities.
The discussions were focused on the findings made by the CPT during its April-May 2011 visit to the North Caucasian region, in particular concerning the activities of law enforcement agencies and investigations into possible ill-treatment by members of those agencies.