Depends Who You Believe...

The Ministry of Internal Affairs today announced that slain journalist Alisher Saipov was supported by the "U.S. National Center for Democracy." It's not clear exactly which organization this is, because directly translated from Russian this name does not exist, but it could mean the National Democratic Institute (NDI). It's highly probably Saipov attended some kind of NGO training sponsored by NDI, though hundreds of civil society types around the country can make that claim too.

The Ministry also announced Saipov had close links to "extremist" islamic groups, as well as Uzbek opposition groups. The two are often associated with each other by the Uzbek government. Ministry officials further announced they know who the killer is based on ballistic evidence found at the scene of the crime, but they did not reveal any names and did not claim to know where this suspect is.

All of this information comes out after Ministry agents scoured Saipov's hard drive and apartment for information. Journalists and activists fear the Ministry will use this murder investigation as an excuse to trump up unrelated charges against them and opposition groups. Undoubtedly Saipov had links to these groups, especially when his raison d'etre was to expose the repressive activities of both the Uzbek and Kyrgyz governments. How far they supported him materially and used him as a propaganda tool we may never know, for it's hard to truly believe the Kyrgyz government, not to mention Uzbek authorities. Are Kyrgyz authorities now trying to lambast Saipov through accusations of treasonous associations in order to please the Uzbek government? Surely the Uzbek's are pushing for this, but whether the Kyrgyz are caving in to this pressure only time will tell.

Meanwhile, Journalists Public Union of Kyrgyzstan is calling for all journalists in the country to unite and boycott coverage of the Kyrgyz police in light of their failure to solve any of the dozen or so cases of violence against journalists tallied so far this year. Certainly the Saipov case prompted this call, and a seemingly random case of a local tv reporter getting bitten on the face at the Osh Bazaar by an angered (and apparently hungry) drug dealer only adds to the siege mentality they all must be feeling. Is it now open season on journos in the KR? Well, they shouldn't feel intentionally neglected by police, since local police seem to neglect investigating all but a few high profile crimes. Unless you can pay the right price, and then the police will turn into heroic private investigators for you.

Another voice silenced; Respected Uzbek Journalist Killed in Osh

Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov; probably not a fan of Saipov's work...


The paranoia level in Kyrgyzstan was high enough in the wake of Bakiev’s rigged referendum. Journalists, and fans of the truth in general, have been especially wracked by fear and loathing as the government flexes its increasingly heavy hand. Besides the fact that Kyrgyz media outlets generally feel intimidated to openly discuss the widespread allegations of election violations from Sunday’s referendum on the constitution, the print run of an opposition party’s newspaper was also seized recently by Kyrgyz internal security forces due to the paper’s “extremist” opinions.

And now this; ethnic Uzbek journalist, Alisher Saipov, a Kyrgyz citizen living a few kilometers away from the border of Uzbekistan in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh, was murdered. For a 26 year-old journalist, he was remarkably well known and respected around Central Asia. He founded a newspaper that openly questioned the policies and human rights violations of the Uzbek government, both in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Seipov also broke the story about Uzbek agents kidnapping Uzbek refugees, who had fled to Kyrgyzstan from the brutal Andijan crackdown in 2005. These same agents may have played a role in silencing Saipov’s critical voice.

According to a BBC TV report, just days before his death Seipov told friends he was being followed. He knew his life was in danger because of his reporting, even though he lived in a country with a relatively high degree of press freedom. And though President Kurmanbek Bakiev has publicly hinted that the journalist’s murder may have been the result of “foreign interference,” a pretty brazen hint to air publicly in light of Kyryzstan’s usual reticence about any actions of the Uzbek government, his promise of a full investigation has been met with skepticism.

While President Bakiev’s promise has been met with skepticism, the fact that he mentioned the possibility of “foreign interference (meaning Uzbekistan)” as the cause of a Kyrgyz citizen’s death is significant. The Kyrgyz government almost never rocks the boat when it comes to its far more populous and powerful neighbor to the west.

So will Bakiev push through this investigation, either as a move to strengthen domestic support at a time of rapidly rising food prices and discontent, or as a way to poke a rare stick at Uzbek President Islam Karimov? Karimov’s power is thought to be on the wane as he reputedly seeks a successor before he steps down due to his current battle with leukemia (not that it matters, but Karimov’s term ended at the beginning of this year). Bakiev surely knows he’s politically and physically weak. And Karimov reputedly slighted Bakiev at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit last August in Bishkek when he badgered Bakiev about the region’s water problems in a disrespectful way. Don’t expect a Central Asian man to ignore an insult.

One thing is certain; Bakiev’s action or inaction will foreshadow the long-term direction of the Kyrgyz government when it comes to the precarious state of press freedom in the country. Let’s hope Saipov’s life, and death, are not soon forgotten, for the sake of truth and its survival in Central Asia.

More articles:
Human Rights Watch
BBC

Kleptocracy in Action: Kyrgyzstan Officially Drops All Pretenses of Democracy

When I first moved here I was under the impression that Kyrgyzstan was a democracy. A very flawed democracy, but a struggling democracy nonetheless, with a relatively active civil society and relatively free press (relative to the world-class dictatorships flanking the country on all sides: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, China, Turkmenistan and Russia) I have been disabused of this notion after this weekend. Now it's official: the stunningly corrupt and self-serving leadership of this country, led by "Big Bucks" Bakiev, is determined to come out of the closet of feigned democracy and openly declare its identity as an unashamed autocratic regime like all its neighbors.

On October 21, according to the Kyrgyz government, the citizens of Kyrgyzstan flooded polling stations across the country to vote on a referendum deciding the fate of the national constitution. Over 80% of the electorate, well past the 50% threshhold needed to validate the vote, went to the polls that soggy autumn day to decide whether to accept a new constitution, drafted in secret by a Presidential committee, which is widely considered to give the president even greater control over judiciary, parliament, and other key positions in the ministries. And the masses of civic-minded voters, frothing at the chance to exercise their democratic right to choose the fate of their resource-poor, inflation-battered country, overwhelmingly (76%) chose to adopt President Bakiev's constitution. The people have spoken, and the last flicker of democracy shines on in Central Asia!

Or, not really. For starters, the referendum was announced just one month before the voting day (international standards call for a four month warning), so international election monitoring organizations had no time to prepare the voting public and set up election observation teams. The National Democratic Institute team in Bishkek, funded by USAID, did manage to send out observer teams to polling stations, as well as make a last minute public service announcement to inform voters about their rights and responsibilities and about the referendum itself. The powers that be made sure this did not get aired. NDI's observer teams did get to the polls, along with local civil society groups and the ever-impartial observation teams from the Commonwealth of Independent States (former Soviet Union states) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (made up of most of the autocracies of Asia). Of course the CIS and SCO teams declared the whole affair 'free and fair' and slapped Bakiev on the back for a sham election well-run.

A friend of mine on the NDI observer team could barely talk about the gross violations he observed, he was so incensed. In-your-face ballot stuffing by election officials was commonplace. When questioned about it by the observers, the polling agents matter-of-factly stated that they had orders from their authorities to make sure a certain number of votes were placed in the boxes, whether they were real or not. Quotas had to be filled! Stories like these have been flying all over town and over the online discussion boards. Men were seen voting once, leaving, changing clothes, and voting again, and again. Independent estimates put the voter the real voter turnout at around 30%.

The strangest aspect of this is that they didn't even try to hide their massive-scale deception. Why waste brain-power trying to outfox the public when no one cares anymore? Most stories echo the first one, where polling agents just brought in hundreds of pre-marked ballots and shamelessly stuffed them in the ballot boxes as if the election monitors didn't even matter. And essentially that's the attitude most people have about the whole political process anyway; it doesn't matter. It's all pre-ordained. Democracy is a fable. It's a fantasy clung to by people on other continents, not this one. Just stop the runaway inflation on food prices and let the economy grow so we can keep feeding our families. Just leave us out of these dirty politics and let us work.

To it's credit, even the typically spineless U.S. Embassy in Kyrgyzstan issued a damning statement on the referendum urging the Kyrgyz Government to get it's act together for the upcoming Parliamentary elections in December, which were called for the day after the referendum. Bakiev dismissed Parliament on October 22 using a clause in the old constitution that remained in force at the time. Parliament members were given three days to pack up their stuff, fill up their flash drives and get out of their offices in the Jogorku Kenesh before the secret service locks it down completely.

Anyway, the U.S. Government always has to walk a tightrope here because of the presence of the airbase, the only rear-supply base in the region that supports operations in Afghanistan. Besides Kyrgyzstan, there is nowhere else to put the base, and the Kyrgyz use that to their fullest advantage, jacking the annual 'rent' for the base up from $2 million to $150 million dollars last summer. Now that's inflation for ya. Word has it the Kyrgyz suddenly want to renegotiate again before the ink on the last deal has even dried. Welcome to Central Asia.

So is there hope that the new party list system called for in the constitution will bring about a more balanced and effective Parliament? Not likely. It copies the Kazakhstan model very closely, which is exactly what Bakiev wants. He is Kazakh President Nazarbaev's 'mini-me,' and he would love nothing more than to turn Kyrgyzstan into a tightly controlled fiefdom like Uncle Nazzy has with Kazakhstan. Essentially that's what Bakiev has done already with alarming efficiency, much faster and smarter than ousted President Akayev ever did in his 15 years in power.

So the pincher grip on politics tightens, and soon the already endangered press freedoms in this country will be crushed, as well as any real dissent or opposition movement. Maybe it's good for Kyrgyzstan. Maybe the people are right, stability takes primacy over everything else. Look at the Russians (who many Kyrgyz would like to re-confederate with), look at the Kazakhs (who are practically buying up the whole country anyway), look at the Chinese. Their 'unique' paths to development have nothing to do with democracy, and they're doin' just dandy. Does freedom matter, when your whole family is relying on you to feed 'em? I guess we'll find out here as the last flicker democracy in Central Asia gets snuffed out. Matches anyone? Spichki?