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Regional Experts Call On US to Bolster Civil Society- NGOs - Global policy Forum Regional Experts Call On US to Bolster Civil Society
By Alisher Khamidov
EurasiaNet
October 2, 2002
As the first anniversary of the American-led bombing campaign in Afghanistan approaches, US soldiers have settled in at bases in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Yet questions about Americans’ influence on their Central Asian hosts remain as raw as they were before the soldiers arrived.
The international war on terrorism that ostensibly began in October 2001 in Afghanistan now looks murkier, as the United States threatens to attack Iraq and Osama bin Laden’s whereabouts remain a mystery. Yet American presence in Central Asia remains a potentially huge lever for an international antiterrorism coalition – if the United States guides its allies toward broader democracy and commitment to the rule of law.
At a panel at the Open Society Institute’s Washington, DC office on September 19, board chairs of the Soros Foundations in the Central Asian countries agreed that American aid could foster civil society organizations in the region. But these experts stressed, as analysts have warned since the terrorist strikes of September 2001, that governments must promote reform and affirm human rights without “double standards” to make an international campaign against terrorism succeed. In particular, experts noted that Presidents Askar Akayev of Kyrgyzstan and Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan are exploiting the United States' preoccupation with containing terrorism by casting domestic political opponents and unsanctioned religious activists as potential security threats.
Kyrgyzstan, once viewed as one of Central Asia’s more progressive states, has descended into turmoil since allied troops arrived there in December 2001. Mirgul Smanalieva, who runs a foundation for international legal cooperation called Ukuk there, described the current political and economic crisis in Kyrgyzstan as a power struggle between discontented political factions and a small elite group. To Smanalieva, American deployments of personnel and aid have noticeably stunted human rights issues, even though the State Department urged Akayev to protect rights shortly before his September 23 visit to Washington. "In recent months, the US collaboration with the Akayev administration lessened US attention on human rights in Kyrgyzstan. This has apparently emboldened local authorities to target political opponents.” After dissident members of parliament found themselves demonized, Smanalieva said, citizens rallied to support them and violence resulted. The allied base near Manas airport, which houses roughly 2000 troops, has reflected this broader struggle in her view.
The general public feels that economic activity from contract services and supplies are benefiting only a handful of people, she said, including Akayev’s family. "The antiterrorism troops have already spent several million dollars in Kyrgyzstan since December. But many people question where the money is," she said. Smanalieva also portrayed recent political reforms as concentrated and cosmetic. Akayev declared a Constitutional Council of cabinet members and opposition groups on August 26; the council submitted reform recommendations to him on September 27. However, leading public figures have criticized the council for failing to represent the general public, civil society institutions and the media. Several prominent civil society leaders have also refused to join the Council.
Uzbekistan has also seen some upticks in human rights recognition amid a broader crackdown since allied soldiers arrived. Mikhail Gasanov, Deputy Director of the Uzbek Parliament’s Institute for Legislative Monitoring, traced new restrictions on capital punishment to pressure from American and international observers. Parliament reform is underway, Ghasanov said, and political parties feel strongly encouraged to play a more prominent role in political processes. Official censorship of mass media has also ended, he noted. But he warned listeners that many obstacles, including cumbersome registration and licensing regulations, continue to hamper the development of a civil society sector. “There is an urgent need to reconsider existing government procedures,” he said, because laws make it hard for grassroots groups to conduct outreach while complying with paperwork requirements. In a related development, he noted that civil society groups tend to cluster in large cities. “We cannot create strong civil society if we continue to focus only on one segment,” he said.
Evgeniy Zhovtis, Director of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law, worried about a different sort of concentration. While Kazakhstan does not host a meaningful number of foreign troops, it does control airspace and oil reserves that could carry some weight with American strategists. Observers have suggested that Kazakhstan’s strategic importance has muzzled criticism of corrupt business practices by President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his family. “In their effort to protect the riches accumulated during the past decade, the Kazakh authorities are becoming increasingly repressive,” Zhovtis noted. An investigation into the possibility that Nazarbayev accepted a payment from ExxonMobil has been going on for months in the United States, with scant signs of a breakthrough. [For more background, see the EurasiaNet Business archive]. Zhovtis observed that the Bush administration is generally condoning official corruption and has softened its tone on show trials and other human rights violations. “Diplomats have often focused on the oil industry and contracts,” he said.
Unlike Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan has a vocal opposition, led by acolytes of former Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin. Zhvotis acknowledged an audience member’s warning that some “civil society leaders” can look from afar like former officials and opportunist politicians. "We [civil society representatives] must be pragmatic and remain devoted to political process and change rather than on personalities,” he said.
In Tajikistan, according to Onihol Bobonazarova, civil society lacks even self-serving leaders. Bobonazarova, Human Rights Advisor to the Tajikistan mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, linked her country’s grave record on religious persecution and democratic defilement with its precarious position near Pakistan and Russia. “Some countries,” she said, “do not have an interest in seeing Tajikistan develop along democratic lines.” But the Tajik media apparently does not tow the US line: Bobonazarova reported that local media have in recent months “focused on depicting human suffering and loss of innocent lives in Afghanistan as the result of the US-led antiterrorist campaign." Muslims in particular, she said, are growing less charitable toward American messages.
That seems like a grim anniversary conclusion, but panelists agreed that American emissaries can bolster civil society in the region – and must do so if they want to see the region stabilize. The United States was reeling from attack when it sent troops to Central Asia in 2001. Now, regional experts say, it needs to firmly guide governments toward reform if it wants to reduce the risk of future crises.
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