Tajikistan Says Citizen Killed in Eastern Ukraine Conflict

KHATLON, Tajikistan — Tajik authorities say a Tajik national has been killed while fighting alongside pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

 

Tajikistan Says Citizen Killed in Eastern Ukraine Conflict.

Torture still widespread in Tajikistan 20 years after the country acceded to anti-torture treaty / February 10, 2015 / Reports and Publications / OMCT

The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Convention against Torture) came into force in Tajikistan on 10 February 1995. By acceding to the treaty, the authorities of Tajikistan pledged to protect everybody under their jurisdiction from torture and other forms of ill-treatment, to reflect in law and practice the principles enshrined in the Convention, to cooperate with the Committee against Torture and to implement its recommendations.

But twenty years later, torture and impunity for it remain widespread in the country. From 2011 to 2014, members of the NGO Coalition against Torture in Tajikistan documented more than 100 cases of men, women and children who were allegedly subjected to torture or other ill-treatment. Perpetrators were brought to justice only in exceptional cases. The human rights groups jointly issuing this statement believe that many victims of torture did not file complaints for fear of reprisals.

Heightened international attention to torture in Tajikistan in recent years and thorough study of the situation by international human rights bodies and mechanisms including the Committee against Torture and the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (Special Rapporteur on torture) resulted in the issuing of a set of recommendations to the authorities.

On the twentieth anniversary of the treaty entering into force in Tajikistan, the human rights groups jointly issuing this public statement published a briefing, entitled “Tajikistan needs to do more to end torture,” which provides an up-to-date overview of the current situation of torture or other forms of ill-treatment, including in the army.

Noteworthy positive steps taken by Tajikistan in recent years include introducing an article on torture in the Criminal Code (Article 143) with a definition of torture that is in line with that contained in the Convention against Torture. As a result, by 2014, four criminal cases under this article were opened; and the courts ordered compensation to the families of two men who had died as a result of torture.

Torture still widespread in Tajikistan 20 years after the country acceded to anti-torture treaty / February 10, 2015 / Reports and Publications / OMCT.

Silk Road Reporters

Since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March, Western nations have imposed sanctions on Russia, including on its financial and energy sectors, as well as on a number of Russian nationals in President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. In response, on Aug. 6 Putin imposed year-long food bans on the United States, European Union member states, Australia, Canada and Norway. Russia has also banned the transit of agricultural goods from Belarus and Kazakhstan following its embargo on EU food imports.

From the $43 billion of agricultural products Russia purchased abroad in 2013, $25 billion are now banned. According to Russian statistics, imports accounted for about 40 percent of household spending on food.

For the older Russian consumers this echoes memories of empty Soviet supermarkets, while the ban will likely spur inflation, currently hovering at about 7 percent this year.

Silk Road Reporters.

Russia Bolstering Presence In Central Asia: Threats And Opportunities For Iran – Analysis – Eurasia Review

Russia has been habitually critical of the United States’ unilateral policies in the region. On the outward, Russia has been apparently following a multilateral policy at international level and has been encouraging the United States to follow suit by adopting similar policies. However, when it comes to Central Asia and Caucasus, Russia has been itself pursuing totally unilateral policies. Russia’s political behavior in this regard has been an obstacle to multilateral cooperation with such Asian countries as India, Iran and China. Moscow is actually willing to bolster its own influence in this region. Although Russia has close ties with a country like China, its major policy and measures taken by Moscow in the strategic regions of Central Asia and Caucasus have been largely unilateral.

Russia Bolstering Presence In Central Asia: Threats And Opportunities For Iran – Analysis – Eurasia Review.

Ruble Collapse a Problem for Central Asia | The Diplomat

Since October 9, the first day in post-Soviet history that the ruble-to-dollar exchange rate climbed above 40, the Russian currency was consistently hammered, until it managed to end last week’s rollercoaster below 60. Post-Soviet economies to the South of Russia have been hit by the financial crisis in Moscow. Although Central Asian trade with Russia is declining, in favor of a surge in business with China, all countries in Central Asia still maintain strong economic relations with Russia. This means that any crisis in Russia is immediately felt in Central Asia.

The two poorest economies in Central Asia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, are also among the most Russia-dependent in the entire post-Soviet space. Dushanbe and Bishkek’s budgets depend heavily on remittances from migrant workers living in Russia. The ruble, together with the dollar, is widely available in both countries and exchange rates are a significant indicator of the stability of their economies. With the ruble crumbling, Tajikistan’s somoni has reacted very slowly on the official market: The increase against the dollar since October 9 has been just below 3 percent. However, it is worth noting that for four consecutive days last week the official rate hiked almost 4 percent each day before rebounding back to 5.13 somoni per dollar. In the same period, the Kyrgyz som gradually weakened against the dollar, declining 4.5 percent. Notably, for the first time, the som became more valuable than the ruble.

In the past two months alone, the ruble has lost between 55 and 40 percent of its value against the dollar, and has also lost ground against the somoni and som. This could have dangerous consequences for worker remittances from expat Central Asian workers. The Kyrgyz government is preparing for windfalls from abroad to fall by at least $1 billion. The drought in remittances, accompanied by government spending to keep their currencies closer to the dollar, poses a direct threat to the budgets of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

 

Ruble Collapse a Problem for Central Asia | The Diplomat.

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan improve border co-operation – Central Asia Online

BISHKEK – Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are working to reduce periodic disputes over scarce resources on their shared border.

Territorial claims, pastureland and water figure in many disputes, the Kyrgyz State Border Service (GPS) says, adding that it battles cross-border smuggling too. Aware of the potential for trouble, Kyrgyz and Tajik border forces confer regularly.

“In 2014, [they] met more than 80 times,” Gulmira Borubayeva, GPS spokeswoman, said. “They worked to resolve conflicts and clashes that occur in the border regions between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.”

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan improve border co-operation – Central Asia Online.

Tajikistan Convicts IMU Members Who Planned To Fight In Syria

Tajiks in Syria

The State Committee for the National Security of Tajikistan said in November that there are around 300 Tajik citizens fighting in Syria.

However, the Tajik Interior Ministry has said that around 200 Tajiks are fighting in Syria and that around 50 had died. 

Edward Lemon of the University of Exeter, who tracks Tajik fighters in Syria, told RFE/RL that he has found online evidence of 52 Tajik fighters in Syria.  

The President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, recently referred to Islamic State as “the plague of the new century and a global threat.” 

Rahmon warned that Tajiks should “not underestimate the negative role of Islamic State in Tajikistan” and called on citizens to “not be indifferent, and to counter this global threat.”

Concerns over the threat posed by the Islamic State group in Central Asia were heightened after the regional militant Islamist IMU expressed its sympathy for Islamic State in September.

On September 26, IMU leader Usman Gazi published an online statement declaring the group was in “the same ranks with Islamic State in this continued war between Islam and [non-Muslims]. The Islamic State [group] is free from a patriotic or nationalist agenda…you can see Arabs, Chechens, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Kyrgyz, Russians, and many English-speaking Muslim [foreign fighters] in its ranks.” 

RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service reported on October 2 that it had received a statement and earlier audio recording from IMU leader Usmon Ghazi, in which the group commented on Syria.

In the wake of that report, RIA Novosti cited an Uzbek security source as saying that Tashkent authorities had “operational video and audio information about the IMU’s support and participation in joint military actions on the side of IS units.” The source said that the IMU had stepped up its recruitment and training in the Afghanistan and Pakistan regions.

— Joanna Paraszczuk

Tajikistan Convicts IMU Members Who Planned To Fight In Syria.

Central Asia’s Hydropower Spat | The Diplomat

Uzbekistan continues its quest to choke its two poorer neighbors’ plans to attain and secure energy independence. During an official visit to Kazakhstan late November, Uzbek President Islam Karimov made sure to bring up the “dangers” the hydropower plants Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan want to build could pose. According to Karimov, the plans are “not coordinated with countries downstream,” i.e. Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Flanked by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Karimov said, “We have affirmed our common position regarding the construction of new hydro technical facilities upstream of the Syr Darya and Amu Darya Rivers, which must strictly conform to recognized norms of international law and UN conventions as well as mandatory coordination with all countries located in the lower reaches of these rivers.”

Karimov conveniently forgets his administration bills Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan for natural gas exports. Moreover, said gas is frequently shut off as a means of coercing the two countries, which are planning to build power-generating facilities on Central Asia’s two largest rivers. For instance, Kyrgyzstan has been struggling with not just a shortage but an absence of Uzbek gas, for most of 2014. Because mountainous Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan sit high above sea level, harsh winters create shortages of already scarce electricity, and any insufficiency of Uzbek gas only makes the two countries more anxious to secure energy independence.

From Russia With Love?

Despite Tashkent’s tactics, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, which together own nearly 70 percent of the waters that flow into the dwindling Aral Sea, remain deaf to Uzbekistan’s demands and warnings of “water wars.” This is thanks in part to Russia. The Kremlin has not only been voicing its support for plans to revive the Soviet-era projects, it has actually invested millions of dollars in the idea. Russian President Vladimir Putin personally travelled to Bishkek and Dushanbe, the two regional hosts of Russian military bases, to sign bilateral agreements to that effect. On top of Russia’s support, Tajikistan secured the World Bank’s “green light” for what is expected to be the tallest dam in the world: Rogun at 335 meters. Meanwhile, Kyrgyzstan was actually able to launch parts of a cascade of Russia-funded hydropower stations.

If giving money and throwing political support behind Kyrgyz and Tajik energy initiatives is the Kremlin’s carrot, the stick it may wish to use can hit both sides of the conflict. Toughening conditions for millions of Kyrgyz, Tajik and Uzbek migrant laborers in Russia, thereby indirectly forcing them to return to their homelands, is a tool Moscow has used frequently in the past. And this time around these migrants could thwart Uzbekistan’s attempts to prevent Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan from building dams. The sanctions the West slapped on Russia for Crimea and Ukraine have obvious implications for millions of Central Asians seeking work in Russia. On top of this, a report the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released in November suggests that falling prices of oil coupled with sanctions will negatively impact the Russian economy next year, sending shockwaves across Central Asia. These factors could lead some migrants to return from Russia, permanently.

The return of even a portion of the migrants to join the growing local populations would put Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan under pressure. Ironically, therefore, both sides of the water conflict equally need it: Uzbekistan needs water to keep tens of thousands of returnees busy on agriculture fields, lest they voice discontent with the government’s inability to employ them, while Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan need water to generate electricity to keep their own returning migrants from taking to the streets in protest. No sane Tajik or Kyrgyz politician would back down in the face of such challenges.

Central Asia’s Hydropower Spat | The Diplomat.

Tajikistan – Katharina Schachtner, General Manager of AccessBank

Kahtarina Schachtner, General Manager of Access Bank Tajikistan, discusses the role of the bank in supporting micro enterprises and SME growth.

 

Where do the activities of AccessBank fit into the microfinance sector of Tajikistan?

AccessBank Tajikistan is a Microfinance Bank set up by four financial institutions, the biggest being Access Microfinance Holding, and the others being the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and to a smaller extent the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW). In 2015, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will join the group of shareholders with its first ever equity investments into a Tajik Financial Institution. AccessBank will celebrate its five-year anniversary in April, 2015.

Our focus is to provide banking services to micro, small, and medium enterprises and to offer access to good quality services for the lower income strata of the population. We pay special attention to the speed of our service delivery, the fair and equal treatment of our costumers, the long-lasting partnerships with our clients, and the provision of financial services adjusted to their needs.

 

Tajikistan – Katharina Schachtner, General Manager of AccessBank.

Russia’s Neighbors Scramble To Cope With Ruble’s Tribulations

Despite more than two decades of separation, the economies of the region remain deeply interconnected. Currencies throughout the region — from the Moldovan leu to the Kazakh tenge have seen drops in value of between 10 and 20 percent this year. Governments are watching with concern as their exports become increasingly expensive for customers in their giant neighbor.

Here’s how some of Russia’s neighbors are reacting to the ruble’s turbulence.

Russia's Neighbors Scramble To Cope With Ruble's Tribulations.