Also on March 13, the Russian plenipotentiary human rights representative, Oleg Mironov, acknowledged that Russia's membership was in danger. Although Mironov said the Council of Europe should provide assistance, as well as criticism, he admitted Russia had made policy mistakes, such as prohibiting UN Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson from visiting Chechnya.
Moscow's military campaign in Chechnya is a source of friction in Russia's relations with Western European nations The European Union has been critical of the conduct of Russia's assault. On March 20, for example, EU foreign ministers issued a statement that faulted Russia for not establishing an adequate humanitarian aid infrastructure in Chechnya.
In the ongoing game of gradual diplomatic détente between the United States and Iran, Washington smacked the ball firmly into Iran's court last Friday with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's announcement of a lifting of U.S sanctions on key Iranian non-oil exports.
Kuliev: The U.S. Congress has a serious interest in the human rights situation in Turkmenistan. They see it for what it is and cannot but pay attention to it. They are bothered that the president of Turkmenistan ignores the United States' appeals for the release of innocent people from jails.
Avdy Kuliev is a leader of the Turkmen political opposition in exile. He was independent Turkmenistan's first Minister of Foreign Affairs, serving until May 1992, when he resigned in protest of repressive policies. Since then, he has faced three fabricated criminal charges, including attempted overthrow of the state, which carries the death penalty, and moved to Moscow.
Ongoing protests over Kyrgyzstan's parliamentary election results may inaugurate a prolonged period of domestic unrest, some analysts in the Central Asian nation say.
OKIOC has so far spent over $100 million to overhaul drilling procedures and equipment. In addition OKIOC has conducted an intensive public relations campaign in an attempt to assuage concerns among local residents that oil extraction could pose a threat to the environment.
During the Soviet era, the predominant sentiment in Western writing about Central Asia was one of outrage at the persecution of religious practice by Communist authorities. Any sign of continued religious observance in Central Asia was seen as evidence of the failure of the Soviet experiment, and of the resilience of an authentic Central Asian Muslim culture.
The US State Department evaluates human rights conditions of the eight nations of the Caucasus and Central in its twenty-second Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. The country reports, released on February 25, describe conditions as "uneven" in Georgia and Kyrgyzstan; "poor" in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan; and "extremely poor" in Turkmenistan.
The State Department reports reflect both new priorities in the US government's human rights agenda, and old problems inherent in this type of reporting.
