[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 22798-22799]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       KAZAKHSTAN'S REGIME SHOULD FREE JOURNALIST SERGEI DUVANOV

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. DANA ROHRABACHER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 14, 2002

  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, the despotic regime in Kazakhstan has 
imprisoned one of that country's best known journalists and human 
rights activists, Mr. Sergei Duvanov. I have joined a number of Members 
of the House International Relations Committee in writing a letter to 
President Bush urging the Administration to strongly speak to President 
Nursultan Nazarbayev and his regime to release Mr. Duvanov.
  The campaign for the release of Mr. Duvanov, who has previously 
testified before our International Relations Committee on the need for 
human rights in Kazakhstan, has been joined by international human 
rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty 
International, as well as by numerous Members of the European 
Parliament.
  I am including for the Record a copy of an article titled, ``Central 
Asia Resists Pressure From West To Improve Human Rights,'' that 
appeared in the November 11, 2002 Wall Street Journal. I join the many 
voices of advocates of democracy and human rights from around the world 
who strongly urge the immediate freedom of Sergei Duvanov.

    Central Asia Resists Pressure From West To Improve Human Rights

                           (By Steve Le Vine)

       Almaty, Kazakhstan--Several recent steps taken by Central 
     Asian republics suggest an increasing boldness against 
     Western pressure by the region's autocratic leaders, most of 
     whom are key U.S. allies in its war against terrorism, 
     Western officials say.

[[Page 22799]]

       Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the U.S. 
     began using Central Asia as a jumping-off point for its war 
     to dislodge the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan. The U.S. 
     established military bases in three of the countries, 
     Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and obtained Air Force 
     landing rights in Kazakhstan. U.S. aid to the region more 
     than doubled.
       In recent months, however, the U.S. and Europe have been 
     increasingly outspoken about the region's poor human-rights 
     record, and in response, the region's leaders have begun to 
     publicly resist those pressures.
       The Kazakh government says it officially charged a well-
     known opposition journalist with raping a 14-year-old girl, 
     an accusation Western officials suggest may be politically 
     motivated. The journalist, 49-year-old Sergei Duvanov, had 
     been planning a trip to the U.S. for speaking engagements on 
     Kazakhstan's human-rights record. He says the charges against 
     him are fabricated.
       It is the third time Mr. Duvanov has accused the government 
     of harassment since he wrote a story earlier this year for an 
     Internet site about Swiss bank accounts allegedly belonging 
     to President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The accounts are part of 
     separate money-laundering investigations by the U.S. and 
     Switzerland. In July, the Kazkah government charged Mr. 
     Duvanov with criminal libel for the story, and in August--two 
     weeks before he was to attend a human-rights conference in 
     Warsaw--he was beaten and a cross carved into his chest by 
     unidentified men.
       In a statement last week, the Organization for Security and 
     Cooperation in Europe said, ``The pattern of incidents 
     involving Mr. Duvanov, their coincidence with his planned 
     trips abroad to discuss publicly the situation in Kazakhstan, 
     and the disputed circumstances of the latest case trigger 
     concerns that these incidents may be politically motivated.''
       The U.S. and Europe are increasingly critical of President 
     Nazarbayev, particularly regarding a series of attacks on 
     journalists. Mr. Duvanov's beating was the eighth unexplained 
     assault on a local reporter in the country this year. The 
     government has denied any role in the attacks, and last week 
     Mr. Nazarbayev admonished diplomats in a yearly meeting that 
     he ``categorically rejects recommendations and advice aimed 
     at unnaturally speeding up democratic processes.''
       Mr. Nazarbayev's neighbors also appear increasingly brash, 
     some analysts say. In Kyrgyzstan, President Askar Akayev has 
     faced a drawn-out test of wills with his political opposition 
     since police shot dead six demonstrators last March. More 
     recently, Mr. Akayev said it is time for deeper democratic 
     changes, yet critics complain that a Kyrgyz judge recently 
     overturned an election victory by an opposition figure, 
     saying his papers weren't in order, and gave the triumph to a 
     challenger who received just 19% of the vote.
       Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov recently used a news 
     conference with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan 
     to assail critics of his human-rights record. And in 
     Turkmenistan, the European Bank for Reconstruction and 
     Development has blocked new loans for public projects because 
     of President Saparmurat Niyazov's poor record on political 
     and economic change.
       ``The key question is whether Washington's new relationship 
     with these countries has increased its leverage with them. 
     The tenor of the leaders in the region seems to indicate it 
     hasn't,'' said Anthony Richter, director of the Central 
     Eurasia Project at the New York-based Open Society Institute.

     

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