Regional
Working Groups: Assessment of Major Problems and Formulating
Strategies
Region 4: Central Asia/Caucasus
Moderated by: Ghia Nodia (Chairman, Caucasina
Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development, Georgia)
Presenters: Leila Yunus (Director, Institute for Peace and Democracy,
Azerbaijan), Evgeny Zhovtis (Director, Kazakhstan International
Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law, Kazakhstan)
None of
the Central Asia/Caucasus countries have been recognized as
democracies. The following questions were raised. What democratic
resources do we possess? What major deficits do we suffer
from? What role does civil society play?
In the
name of terrorism, the government is trampling on the rights
of its people. We need to ensure civil liberties. The war
against terrorism should not be used as an excuse to oppress
the countries’ own democratic movements. The international
community should put more pressure on governments to ensure
that they live up to their political and legal commitments.
. In Uzbekistan, cooperation with the United States has led
to regression in the area of human rights and democracy. Kyrgyzstan
also has U.S. and NATO bases. Again, as in Uzbekistan, the
main beneficiaries of U.S. and NATO exposure are the people
working inside the government rather than those who are in
the most need. The region also suffers from embezzlement of
funds provided by international NGOs to local non-profit organizations.
The panel
recommends linking development aid with democracy in such
a way that financial assistance will be allocated only to
those countries that show a sincere commitment to human rights
and the development of democratic institutions. The international
community should elaborate a mechanism free of double standards
to solve ethnic and other conflicts in the region.
The region
cannot solely depend on the international community’s
support. The countries themselves need to overcome laziness
and complacency. We need to strengthen democratic institutions
and improve governance by ourselves. We need to ask what we
ourselves have done to implement democracies in our own countries.
We need to mobilize our internal resources to run our countries.
Our main
recommendation is related to the consequences of the 9/11
terrorism attack. The war against terrorism has led to more
oppression in Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. The Western coalition
needs to put more pressure on the former Soviet Union to pay
attention to human rights violations and development of democracy.
We also need to emphasize education about democracy and support
for a multi-party system.
|
