Voice of Democracy
Published by Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation · Washington, D.C. May 15, 2002

NAZARBAYEV 'UNDERMINES ANTI-TERROR WAR' -- Kazakh President Nazarbayev has been "cracking down on all opposition so hard as to provoke big problems" for the American-led war against terrorism, reports The Times of London. The Nazarbayev regime fails to comprehend that "it cannot credibly lay claim to be 'joining the West' if it beats up, banishes and imprisons even the mildest domestic critics and sets out to assert total control over the country's heavily constrained newspapers and broadcast media." Kazakhstan suffers from an image of "a political pygmy with a lot of oil" and a reputation for "endemic official corruption and the monopoly of political power by Mr Nazarbayev, his family and a closed, immensely wealthy elite," The Times noted. Nazarbayev's "Soviet-style methods" and "mailed fist" brutal "repression of non Islamist dissent raises questions about the ultimate stability of the regime" and makes Washington unsure of his reliability. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/

DON'T GET TOO COZY WITH DICTATORS -- America must understand that Kazakhstan and its neighboring former Soviet republics "are tactical allies, not strategic partners" in the war against terrorism, and the relationship cannot grow until those authoritarian regimes reform their political systems, says the Providence Journal in an editorial this week. One who must clean up his act, the paper said, is Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who "rules with an iron hand and there is widespread corruption." It suggests American aid and investment should be linked to the countries' "commitment to real democratic reform." http://www.projo.com/

SPACED OUT -- Barely 6 weeks after Kazakh Energy Minister Vladimir Shkolnik announced that Russia has no plans to abandon the Baikonur cosmodrome, the commander of Russia's Space Troops announced plans to transfer its military space program to Plesetsk, in northwestern Russia. Interfax and Itar-Tass reported. The move could take up to a decade, and Russia still plans to used Baikonur for civilian and commercial space launches. Russia currently leases the facility from Kazakhstan for $115 million a year. Shkolnik said he expects Russia to spend up to $19 million this year to update the cosmodrome. Meanwhile, the Kazakh government is seeking UN permission to charge transit fees for satellites crossing above its territory. http://www.itar-tass.com/, http://www.interfax-news.com/

FOX TO GUARD HEN HOUSE ­ In the face of international criticism for extensive human rights abuses by his government, Kazakh strongman Nursultan Nazarbayev plans to appoint the country's first human rights ombudsman later this year, his unhurried foreign minister announced. Opposition groups dismissed the move as a sham, saying no Nazarbayev appointee could or would dare be independent enough to help. Yevgeny Zhovtis, director of the Kazakh Human Rights Bureau, said an ombudsman must be "independent and authoritative" and someone "whom the people would trust." A Nazarbayev appointee would be toothless and useless. http://www.ap.org

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