In this issue:
Shanghai Group Moves Ahead, Calls for Nuclear Weapons Free Central Asia and Korean Peninsula
President Signs Anti-Extremism Law
Kazakhs Show More Trust in Courts, Supreme Court Says
First Anti-Corruption Textbook Sees Light
We are together with you. --- Biz sizgermen birgemiz.
Textbook --- Okulyk
Shanghai Group Moves Ahead, Calls for Nuclear Weapons Free Central Asia and Korean Peninsula
The Foreign Ministers of six member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) closed their meeting in Astana on February 25 with a joint call for a nuclear weapons free Korean peninsula and support for the Central Asia nuclear weapons free zone treaty. They called for strengthening SCO efforts in fighting terrorism and promotion of trade and economic cooperation, and signed several documents seeking development of the group’s relations with other regional organizations and nations, including ASEAN, CIS and Afghanistan.
Foreign Ministers from Kazakhstan, China,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
participated in the meeting which was in
preparation for the next summit of the
organization set for June this year in Astana.
Kassymzhomart Tokaev, Kazakhstan’s
Foreign Minister and host of the meeting, said
at the closing news conference: “We can
surely say the SCO is making solid steps
toward solving the collective task it has before
it: the fight against terrorism and the
development of trade and economic and
cultural cooperation.” He noted member
nations had similar views on practically all issues included on the agenda. These included strengthening the institutional foundations of the organization, the importance of SCO for ensuring peace and stability in Central Asia, and a call for a nuclear weapons free Korean peninsula.
The joint communiqué adopted following the meeting noted the timeliness and importance of developing “a comprehensive program to fight new challenges and threats of transnational character and the need to consolidate efforts of the international community through multi-dimensional dialogue and collective actions.” Presidents of the Shanghai group nations called for such a program during their summit meeting in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in June 2004.
Referring to tensions on the Korean peninsula, the ministers called for the continuation of the six party talks which include three neighbors of North Korea, China, Japan and South Korea, as well as Russia and the United States. SCO called for “the resolution of the nuclear problem through peaceful means and dialogue.” The ministers said “the participants in the negotiations and the international community should be patient, show flexibility and good will, avoid escalating the situation, and continue active joint efforts to renew the six party talks as soon as possible.”
Another security related issue on SCO’s agenda had to do with developing a unified mechanism for quick reaction to emergencies in SCO member states. The ministers agreed to develop a protocol dealing with the issue.
The ministers also noted the importance of the Central Asia Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty to be signed in Semipalatinsk, the center of the former Soviet nuclear weapons testing, in July 2005 by countries of the region.
Parliamentary elections in both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan will take place on February 27 and both were on the agenda as SCO supported sending its observers for the elections.
Discussions on trade and economic cooperation were also on the agenda. Minister Tokaev said participants discussed ways to “intensify work to create a Business Council and a Development Fund, sort of an SCO investment bank.” He referred to last year’s pledge by Chinese President Hu Jintao of one billion US dollars for projects within SCO calling it a “good foundation” for creating the two institutions. SCO member nations will also work to develop ties in the areas of culture, sports and tourism.
President Nazarbayev met the SCO Foreign Ministers and the organization’s Executive Secretary after their meeting. He said Kazakhstan is keen to see the organization develop further and noted member nations need to work toward concrete substantive progress.
SCO was established in 2001 as an organization seeking to promote security cooperation between regional states. Originally, since 1996, the Shanghai Five included China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan who worked to promote peace and stability along what had been the border between the Soviet Union and China. In 2001, the group accepted Uzbekistan and adopted a wider portfolio, including development of trade and cultural ties.
Iran and Pakistan have both now officially applied for membership in SCO. Minister Tokaev said the applications “will need to be considered carefully.”
President Signs Anti-Extremism Law
President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed an anti-extremism bill into law on February 21. It aims to prevent political, ethnic and religious forms of extremism in Kazakhstan.
This new law provides a definition for “extremist activity” and categorizes different types of extremism, including political, ethnic and religious. It also defines “financing of extremism” and provides measures to prevent it.
According to the Presidential press office, “the most fundamental new feature of the law… is the establishment of a possibility to designate foreign or international organizations which are engaged in extremist activity abroad as extremist.”
The law, approved earlier this month by Parliament, gives the city court of the capital, Astana, the authority to designate organizations as extremist.
Kazakhstan has been relatively free of extremism manifestations so far. The country is a very tolerant and diverse society. The Government has been concerned, however, with the growing tide of extremism in the region as various Islamist groups have tried to use religious rhetoric to cause trouble in neighboring countries.
Kazakhs Show More Trust in Courts, Supreme Court Says
Kairat Mami, Chairman of the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan said Friday people’s confidence in Kazakhstan’s courts grew in 2004.
“People began to seek protection of their legal rights and interests more [through the courts],” he said at a nationwide meeting of judges in Astana. He noted about 1,000,000 civil suits and complaints were filed with the courts in 2004, almost twice as many as in 2000.
Mami credited strengthening of confidence on the fact that courts make fewer mistakes today and review cases in a timely fashion. According to the Supreme Court statistics, only about one tenth of all court decisions in civil suits are later appealed. At the same time, the share of reversed decisions decreased by half since 2000 and currently stands at 1.5 percent of all court rulings.
“A similar trend can be observed regarding criminal cases,” explained Mami. The share of reversed convictions decreased by half, and stands at 0.9 percent during the same time period.
The Supreme Court Chairman also stressed the Kazakh courts now “use incarceration more rarely” which is in line with the country’s drive to humanize its criminal prosecution system. The proportion of those convicted sentenced to prison terms decreased from 51 percent in 2000 to 45 percent in 2004. At the same time, the number of acquittals doubled. “All of these facts point to the strengthening of our courts as institutions of real rights protection,” Mami concluded.
First Anti-Corruption Textbook Sees Light
First anti-corruption textbook in Kazakhstan, and indeed the Commonwealth of Independent States, was introduced in Almaty on February 23.
The textbook, “Basics of preventing corruption”, was published by Transparency Kazakhstan, the local branch of Transparency International, and the Interlegal Foundation for Political and Legal Research as part of the project “Fighting corruption through civic education.”
The textbook is a result of work of several authors under the editorial oversight of Igor Rogov, Chairman of Kazakhstan’s Constitutional Council, and Kairat Mami, Chairman of the Supreme Court. The textbook won a competition announced by Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Justice in 2004 in the category of “The Best Book, Brochure, or Textbook on Legal Issues.”
Since the start of this year, six Kazakh universities have introduced elective courses based on the textbook. By the end of the year, 25 more institutions are expected to follow suit.
Transparency Kazakhstan was set up in Almaty in 1999 and is one of 96 national branches of Transparency International.
Things to Watch:
- Roundtable Discussion on Kazakhstan will take place Thursday, March 3, from 12:30 pm to 1:45 pm, at the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID). Conference Room, 2121 K Street NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20037. The purpose of the roundtable is a two-way exchange between religious and civic leaders in the U.S. and two regions from Kazakhstan. Information at www.islam-democracy.org.
- Foreign ministers of CIS nations will discuss reforms at a meeting to be held in Moscow on February 28. The Russian Foreign Ministry noted, “the meeting participants will resume discussion of ways to put into practice a decision by the CIS Council of Heads of State on the improvement and reform of commonwealth bodies which was passed in Astana on September 16, 2004.”
- Kazakh university students with disabilities will stage a concert “Biz sizgermen birgemiz” (We are together with you) in Almaty on February 27. The concert is supported by famous Kazakh musicians and will show young people with disabilities are active members of Kazakh society and can help in strengthening the nation.
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News Bulletin of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the USA and Canada
(Compiled from own sources and agency reports)
Contact person: Roman Vassilenko
1401 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20036
Tel.: 202 232 5488, ext. 104, Fax: 202 232 5845
