Catherine Putz
Monday, May 16, 2016 - 08:34
Dushanbe says the right things in international forums, but hasn’t made measurable progress in fulfilling its rights commitments.
Thursday, May 12, 2016 - 07:13
A number of countries offered clear criticisms of Tajikistan’s human rights record. The focus of the deepest criticisms emanating, notably, from Western countries were on Dushanbe treatment of political opposition–the IRPT, Group 24, and their lawyers–as well as crackdowns on media, and use of torture.
Tuesday, April 26, 2016 - 06:39
Last Friday the U.S. State Department’s spokesperson, John Kirby, began the daily press briefing with a note regarding the department’s annual designation of “countries of particular concern.” The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent commission, each year makes recommendations to the State Department regarding countries that routinely violate religious freedoms.
Friday, April 15, 2016 - 07:30
It’s not a good week for Central Asian PR. Not only did Freedom House release their Nations in Transit report–in which the Central Asian countries scrape the bottom of the proverbial democracy barrel–but the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor released its 2015 country reports reviewing the human rights practices of nearly every country in the world. Central Asia, again, doesn’t come off well.
Friday, March 25, 2016 - 07:11
The Defense Department has taken a leading role in conducting foreign policy on its own: primarily through providing security assistance to countries around the world, sometimes contrary to State’s recommendations. This will come as no surprise to Central Asia watchers, who have sharply criticized the U.S. for providing military assistance to governments which are habitual human rights violators.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - 06:17
Tuesday, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan Nicholas Haysom briefed the UN Security Council on Afghanistan. He launched his remarks by noting that the country is “being as severely tested as it was in 2015.”
Friday, March 4, 2016 - 07:19
The good news in Afghanistan is that for the first time since 2009, the area estimated by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to be used in illicit opium poppy cultivation has decreased. But of course, it’s not that simple.
Friday, January 29, 2016 - 07:11
Kazakhstan isn’t particularly known for its defense industry — the infrastructure for which it largely inherited from the Soviet Union — but with a deal to sell tanks to Jordan the Central Asian country continues pushing into a new industry.
Tuesday, January 12, 2016 - 07:14
A new Crisis Group report points to opposition crackdowns as indicative of an unstable state.
Tuesday, December 22, 2015 - 08:12
With the signing of the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA) between the European Union and Kazakhstan on December 21 in Astana, the EU has elevated its relations with Central Asia’s largest economy.