Struggling for Human Rights

by Justin Burke

Advocates of human rights in Central Asia and the Caucasus are fighting an uphill battle to prevent the erosion of democratic principles by increasingly authoritarian governments. Justin Burke, editor of OSI's eurasianet.org website, reports on how activists in the region are trying to preserve human rights and political pluralism in the face of state repression.

n an interview years ago that explored Uzbekistan's post-Soviet aspirations, then-Foreign Minister Ubaidullah Abdurazakov spoke with candor about the political elite's governing philosophy. From the start, President Islam Karimov's administration regarded pluralism with suspicion and intended to govern with a firm hand.

"If you are the head of family, and someone begins to act up, you must assert your authority to keep everyone in line," Abdurazakov told me during that 1992 interview. "We [Uzbekistan] have a population of 22 million people, and we cannot play with fire."

Little has changed over time to alter official thinking. In the decade since the Soviet collapse, Uzbek leaders — along with those in other states of Central Asia and the Caucasus — have acted with ruthless resolve to defend their authority and establish tight control over their respective societies. After a brief dalliance with democratic rhetoric in the immediate aftermath of communism's demise, many regional leaders have largely reverted to Soviet-style authoritarian methods of government. Political opposition in most Caucasus and Central Asian states has been effectively neutralized, compromised, or hounded into exile.

The situation is such that the near term prospects for civil society development in the regions appear bleak. In Central Asia, for instance, the only significant challenge to incumbent authority today comes from armed militants of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

Government repression has thinned the ranks of those promoting political and social alternatives, based on the adherence to fundamental rights and the rule of law. Yet, despite the hardships and the ever-present danger of imprisonment, a determined few individuals remain committed to the advocacy cause. These activists are largely fighting a rear-guard action, aiming to prevent authorities from thoroughly crushing the ideas associated with individual liberty. Their hope is to keep public discussion of democratic values on the agenda until the existing governments give way to a new political generation, one that is perhaps more willing to embrace pluralistic principles.

Among the most prominent human rights advocates still active in Central Asia and the Caucasus are: Natalia Ablova, director of the Kyrgyzstan Human Rights and Rule of Law Bureau; Ramazan Dyryldaev, director of the Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights (KCHR); Evgeny Zhovtis, director of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights; and Eldar Zeynalov of the Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan.

Their activities are a blend of traditional human rights advocacy and journalism. Indeed, as governments have moved vigorously in recent years to quash an independent press, these advocates have increasingly come to see their mission as not just identifying instances of government rights abuse, but also developing broader sources for information. Both Zeynalov and Dyryldaev operate extensive information services that utilize the Internet to disseminate human rights alerts as well as alternative views on developments in their respective countries.

"Human rights are not respected in the Kyrgyz Republic nor in the whole of Central Asia. There is no independent mass media and citizens cannot realize their political rights, even though such rights are provided for in the constitutions of these countries," Dyryldaev told OSN in an interview. A major part of KCHR's mission, Dyryldaev added, is to "provide real and continuous information about the situation in Kyrgyzstan."

There are indications that governments are growing increasingly concerned about the activities of these human rights advocates. For example, a suspicious fire gutted Zhovtis's offices in Almaty in November 1999, destroying the organization's archives. Zhovtis has said he believes the cause of the blaze was arson. Meanwhile, the Kyrgyz authorities during the summer of 2000 issued an arrest warrant for Dyryldaev, prompting him to flee the country. Dyryldaev eventually found asylum in Austria, and resumed operations by establishing electronic links with information sources still in Kyrgyzstan. His recent experiences have done nothing to dampen his optimism that democratic change will come to Central Asia.

"Conditions could be improved if the international community provided assistance not only to the Central Asian governments, but also directly to people who wish to try to fulfill democratic reforms," he said. "We at KCHR do not plan to rest on our laurels. We are going to work and work again for the welfare of society."

 

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