[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 178 (Thursday, December 20, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2373-E2374]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HUMAN RIGHTS IN CENTRAL ASIA

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 20, 2001

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, on Friday, December 21, 
Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbaev will be meeting with 
President Bush. Sometime in January, Uzbekistan's President Islam 
Karimov is likely to arrive for his visit, The invitations to these 
Heads of State obviously reflect the overriding U.S. priority of 
fighting international terrorism and the corresponding emphasis on the 
strategic importance of Central Asia, which until September 11 had been 
known largely as a resource-rich, repressive backwater.
  As Co-Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in 
Europe, I have chaired a series of hearings in recent years focused on 
human rights and democratization in the Central Asian region.
  Clearly, we need the cooperation of many countries, including 
Afghanistan's Central Asian neighbors, in this undertaking. But we 
should not forget, as we conduct our multidimensional campaigns, two 
vitally important points: first, Central Asian leaders need the support 
of the West at least as much as we need them.
  Unfortunately, Central Asian presidents seem to have concluded that 
they are indispensable and that we owe them for allowing us to use 
their territory and bases in this fight against the terrorists and 
those who harbor them. I hope Washington does not share this 
misapprehension. By striking against the radical Islamic threat to 
their respective security and that of the entire region, we have 
performed a huge service for Central Asian leaders.
  Second, one of the main lessons of September 11 and its aftermath is 
that repression of political opposition and alternative viewpoints is a 
key cause of terrorism. Secretary of State Colin Powell and National 
Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice have declared that the war on 
terrorism will not keep the United States from supporting human rights. 
I am hopeful the administration means what they have said. But given 
the sudden warming of relations between Washington and Central Asian 
leaders, I share the concerns voiced in many editorials and op-eds that 
the United States will downplay human rights in favor of cultivating 
ties with those in power. More broadly, I fear we will fall into an old 
pattern of backing repressive regimes and then being linked with them 
in the minds and hearts of their long-suffering peoples.
  In that connection, Mr. Speaker, on the eve of President Nazarbaev's 
meeting with President Bush and in anticipation of the expected visit 
by President Karimov, as well as possible visits by other Central Asian 
leaders, I want to highlight some of the most glaring human rights 
problems in these countries.
  To begin with, corruption is rampant throughout the region, and we 
should keep this in mind as the administration requests more money for 
assistance to Central Asian regimes. Kazakhstan's President Nazarbaev 
and some of his closest associates are under investigation by the U.S. 
Department of Justice for massive corruption. Not surprisingly, to keep 
any information about high-level misdeeds from the public--most of 
which lives in

[[Page E2374]]

dire poverty--the Nazarbaev regime has cracked down hard on the media. 
Family or business associates of President Nazarbaev control most media 
outlets in the country, including printing houses which often refuse to 
print opposition or independent newspapers. Newspapers or broadcasters 
that try to cover taboo subjects are harassed by the government and 
editorial offices have had their premises raided. The government also 
controls the two main Internet service providers and regularly blocks 
the web site of the Information Analytical Center Eurasia, which is 
sponsored by Kazakhstan's main opposition party.

  In addition, libel remains a criminal offense in Kazakhstan. Despite 
a growing international consensus that people should not be jailed for 
what they say or write, President Nazarbaev on May 3 ratified an 
amendment to the Media Law that increases the legal liability of 
editors and publishers. Furthermore, a new draft religion law was 
presented to the Kazakh parliament at the end of November without 
public consultation. If passed, it would seriously curtail the ability 
of individuals and groups to practice their religious faith freely.
  Uzbekistan is a wholesale violator of human rights. President Karimov 
allows no opposition parties, permits no independent media, and has 
refused even to register independent human rights monitoring groups. 
Elections in Uzbekistan have been a farce and the Organization for 
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) rightly refused to observe 
the last presidential ``contest,'' in which Karimov's ``rival'' 
proclaimed that he was planning to vote for the incumbent.
  In one respect, however, Karimov is not lacking--brazen gall. Last 
week, on the eve of Secretary Powell's arrival in Tashkent, Uzbek 
authorities announced plans to hold a referendum next month on 
extending Karimov's tenure in office from five years to seven. Some 
members of the tightly controlled parliament urged that he be made 
``president for life.'' The timing of the announcement could have had 
only one purpose: to embarrass our Secretary of State and to show the 
United States that Islam Karimov will not be cowed by OSCE commitments 
on democracy and the need to hold free and fair elections.
  I am also greatly alarmed by the Uzbek Government's imprisonment of 
thousands of Muslims, allegedly for participating in extremist Islamic 
groups, but who are probably ``guilty'' of the ``crime'' of attending 
non-government approved mosques. The number of people jailed on such 
dubious grounds is estimated to be between 5,000 and 10,000, according 
to Uzbek and international human rights organizations. While I do not 
dismiss Uzbek government claims about the seriousness of the religion-
based insurgency, I cannot condone imprisonment of people based on mere 
suspicion of religious piety. As U.S. Government officials have been 
arguing for years, this policy of the Uzbek Government also seems 
counterproductive to its stated goal of eliminating terrorists. Casting 
the net too broadly and jailing innocent people will only inflame 
individuals never affiliated with any terrorist cell.
  In addition, Uzbekistan has not only violated individual rights, but 
has also implemented policies that affect religious groups. For 
example, the Uzbek Government has consistently used its religion law to 
frustrate the ability of religious groups to register, placing them in 
a ``catch-22''. By inhibiting registration, the Uzbek Government can 
harass and imprison individuals for attending unregistered religious 
meetings, as well as deny property purchases and formal education 
opportunities. As you can see, Mr. Speaker, Uzbekistan's record on 
human rights, democratization and religious freedom is unacceptable.
  I am not aware that Kyrgyzstan's President Askar Akaev has been 
invited to Washington, but I would not be too surprised to learn of an 
impending visit. Once the most democratic state in Central Asia, 
Kyrgyzstan has gone the way of its neighbors, with rigged elections, 
media crackdowns and repression of opposition parties. At a Helsinki 
Commission hearing I chaired last week on democratization and human 
rights in Kyrgyzstan, we heard from the wife of Felix Kulov, 
Kyrgyzstan's leading opposition figure, who has been behind bars since 
January 2001. Amnesty International and many other human rights groups 
consider him a political prisoner, jailed because he dared to try to 
run against President Akaev. Almost all opposition and independent 
newspapers which have sought to expose high-level corruption have been 
sued into bankruptcy.
  With respect to the proposed religion law the Kyrgyz Parliament is 
drafting, which would repeal the current law, significant concerns 
exist. If the draft law were enacted in its current emanation, it would 
categorize and prohibit groups based on beliefs alone, as well as allow 
arbitrary decisions in registering religious groups due to the vague 
provisions of the draft law. I encourage President Akaev to support a 
law with strong protections for religious freedom. Implementing the 
modification suggested by the OSCE Advisory Panel of Experts on 
Religious Freedom would ensure that the draft religion law meets 
Kyrgyzstan's OSCE commitments.
  Mr. Speaker, this morning I had a meeting with Ambassador Meret 
Orazov of Turkmenistan and personally raised a number of specific human 
rights cases. Turkmenistan, the most repressive state in the OSCE 
space, resembles North Korea: while the people go hungry, megalomaniac 
President Saparmurat Niyazov builds himself palaces and monuments, and 
is the object of a Stalin-style cult of personality. No opposition of 
any kind is allowed, and anyone who dares to express a view counter to 
Niyazov is arrested. Turkmenistan is the only country in the OSCE 
region where places of worship have been destroyed on government 
orders--in November 1999, the authorities bulldozed a Seventh-Day 
Adventist Church. Since then, Niyazov has implemented his plans to 
provide a virtual bible for his benighted countrymen; apparently, he 
intends to become their spiritual as well as secular guide and 
president for life.

  Turkmenistan has the worst record on religious freedom in the entire 
55-nation OSCE. The systematic abuses that occur almost weekly are an 
abomination to the internationally recognized values which undergird 
the OSCE. Recent actions by Turkmen security agents against religious 
groups, including harassment, torture and detention, represent a 
catastrophic failure by Turkmenistan to uphold its human rights 
commitments as a participating OSCE State. In addition, last January, 
Mukhamed Aimuradov, who has been in prison since 1995, and Baptist 
pastor Shageldy Atakov, imprisoned since 1999, were not included in an 
amnesty which freed many prisoners. I hope that the Government of 
Turkmenistan will immediately and unconditionally release them, as well 
as all other prisoners of conscience.
  Rounding out the Central Asian countries, Tajikistan also presents 
human rights concerns. A report has recently emerged concerning the 
government's religious affairs agency in the southern Khatlon region, 
which borders Afghanistan. According to reliable sources, a memorandum 
from the religious affairs agency expressed concern about ``increased 
activity'' by Christian churches in the region, calling for them to be 
placed under ``the most stringent control.'' Tajik Christians fear that 
this statement of intolerance could be a precursor to persecution. 
Keston News Service reported that law enforcement officials have 
already begun visiting registered churches and are trying to find 
formal grounds to close them down. Additionally, city authorities in 
the capital Dushanbe have cracked down on unregistered mosques.
  Mr. Speaker, as the world focuses on Central Asia states with 
unprecedented energy, I wanted to bring these serious deficiencies in 
their commitment to human rights and democracy to the attention of my 
colleagues. All these countries joined the Organization for Security 
and Cooperation in Europe soon after their independence from the Soviet 
Union a decade ago. By becoming OSCE participating States, they agreed 
without reservation to comply with the Helsinki Final Act and all 
subsequent agreements. These documents cover a wide range of human 
dimension issues, including clear language on the human right of 
religious freedom and the right of the individual to profess and 
practice religion or belief. Unfortunately, as I have highlighted, 
these countries are failing in their commitment to promote and support 
human rights, and overall trends in the region are very disturbing.
  The goals of fighting terrorism and steadfastly supporting human 
rights are not dichotomous. It is my hope that the U.S. Government will 
make issues of human rights and religious freedom paramount in 
bilateral discussions and public statements concerning the ongoing 
efforts against terrorism. In this context, the considerable body of 
OSCE commitments on democracy, human rights and the rule of law should 
serve as our common standard for our relations with these countries.

                          ____________________