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News Round-Up

Posted by CXW | in Politics | on October 23rd, 2005

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Turned out to be an eventful week, unfortunately.

Saturday saw protests on the main square, Ploshchad Ala-Too, by supporters of the murdered deputy Tynychbek Akmatbaev, who called for Kulov’s resignation . Riots began earlier this week, as MosNews reports, when inmates began protests for improved living conditions, during which at least 2 inmates were killed. Parliamentary deputy Tynychbek Akmatbaev and his assistant were shot dead on Friday during a visit to the maximum security colony. RFE/RL reported on October 20 that Prime Minister Feliks Kulov had managed to reach an agreement with prisoners, persuading them to hand over the bodies of those killed and stop rioting. However, the situation does not look good, with Reuters reporting on October 21 that orders have been given for all staff to evacuate the prisons, leaving the colonies surrounded by security forces. RFE/RL in a separate report noted that an extraordinary session was held yesterday in the Zhogorku Kenesh to discuss the riots and killings, during which it was asserted that the deputy’s death was the result of a conflict between criminal groups, of which Akmatbaev’s brother is a member. It was also decided to allocate an extra USD 2.5 million from the state budget to improve prison conditions. However, the matter continues to generate controversy, with Kulov being forced to defend his postion on Saturday as calls for his resignation continues and the possibily of further unrest remains.

Forum 18 has a article by Igor Rotar concerning the lack of any positive change in attitude towards devout Muslims in the republic in the wake of Andijan and unproven Uzbek claims of Kyrgyz involvement, despite the introduction of a new extremism law - ostensibly, according to the head of the the local Religious Affairs Committe, “to prevent schoolchildren falling into the hands of extremists.”

Development Gateway has posted a report from the Times of Central Asia on the crisis at the Kara-Keche coal mine following the seizure of the mine in June of this year by Nurlan Motuyev and his supporters. Apparently, conditions at the mine have improved since the “take-over”, but the mine is now having problems selling extracted coal, paradoxically at least partly because of rising coal prices this year - locals have threatened to seize coal from the mine as they cannot afford to buy it.

IWPR has a number of articles on events in the republic in the last 2 issues of its Reporting Central Asia: issue 415 included reports on Condoleezza Rice’s visit and plans to curb protests, and no. 416 has reports on the political fallout after Kyrgyz deputy Tynychbek Akmatbaev’s murder during a visit to a prison and discontent amongst Kyrgyz parliamentary deputies over plans to remove their immunity from prosecution.

Trent Milam, one of the Peace Corps volunteers who arrived in September, has an interesting account on his blog on how death is dealt with in his village. He writes well and it is well worth a read.

Over and out for the time being, and don’t forget if you’ve got an opinion on something, add a comment or join the blog team here!

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