Civil Society:
CENTRAL ASIA: US DIPLOMAT CLAIMS DEMOCRATIZATION SUCCESS FOR AMERICAN POLICY
Joshua Kucera: 4/09/08

Washington’s deliberate approach on encouraging democratization in Central Asian states is bearing some fruit, a senior US diplomat contended during an April 8 congressional hearing. In particular, reforms demanded of Kazakhstan in exchange for its chairmanship of the OSCE in 2010, and a bill that could impose sanctions on Uzbekistan, are pushing those countries to take positive steps toward more open societies, said Richard Boucher, assistant secretary of state in the Bureau for South and Central Asian Affairs. He testified on April 8 before the House subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment. Boucher acknowledged that the United States had led efforts among OSCE members to delay Kazakhstan's bid for the chairmanship of the organization. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. But he said that Washington came around to support the bid because Kazakhstan promised to implement several key reforms. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. "It was important to us that we heard Kazakhstan say … very clearly and very publicly that they would reform the election law, reform the media and liberalize the treatment of political parties in a way that they have not done in the past several years," he said. "Kazakhstan also, at the same time, vowed to support the human rights side of the OSCE, as well as the economic and security side," he said, alluding to Russian-led efforts to discredit the OSCE's human rights and election-monitoring activities as politically motivated. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Astana’s assurances, he said, have given the United States and European Union leverage with which they can pressure Kazakhstan down the road to liberalize the country’s political and social systems. "I was out there in February and met with all the leaders," he said. "We heard from them firm commitments to carry out those pledges. We had talked [during previous visits] with various people from civil society and the opposition and I talked to them again on this trip, and they were, shall I say, skeptical, as to whether the government really would carry out these reforms. But they all recognize that if these pledges were met that would be a significant change in terms of opening up the system and opening up the society." Freedom House, which prepared written testimony for the hearing, expressed cautious optimism that the OSCE chairmanship will spur positive changes in Kazakhstan. "Kazakhstan's record to date gives reason for concern that major progress in democracy and human rights appears unlikely in such a short time frame. Nevertheless, these commitments provide important leverage and we will closely monitor Kazakhstan's progress – or lack of progress – in fulfilling these promises," the testimony read. A bill currently before Congress would cut off aid to Uzbekistan and deny visas to government officials involved in the Andijan events, unless Tashkent "makes substantial and continuing progress" toward "respect for human rights, establishing a genuine multi-party system, and ensuring free and fair elections, freedom of expression, and the independence of the media." "In some ways, legislation does strengthen our hand," Boucher said. "We're pushing on that and we're seeing this year, since January, some signals of possible positive forward movement – I don't want to go too far." [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. He said the U.S. was encouraged by Uzbekistan's acceptance of Red Cross visits to some prisoners and by the introduction of habeas corpus into the country's legal system. Poor attendance at the hearing suggested that Central Asia is a waning priority among members of Congress. Only two members showed up to the hearing: Eni Faleomavaega, the chair of the subcommittee and a Democrat from American Samoa, and Ruben Hinojosa, a Democrat from Texas. Both showed shaky knowledge of the region, mispronouncing the names of many of the countries in the region and frequently digressing on issues that Boucher said were outside of his portfolio, including missile defense in Europe, the possibility of a boycott of the Olympic opening ceremony in Beijing, and excessive profits of oil companies. Several ambassadors of Central Asian countries were in attendance for the 90-minute hearing.

Editor’s Note: Joshua Kucera is a Washington, DC,-based freelance writer who specializes in security issues in Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Middle East.