A roundup of the coverage of the struggle for human rights and freedoms, from Mexico to Hong Kong
Continue reading...Category Archives: South and Central Asia
Kazakhstan detains former national security chief on suspicion of treason
Karim Masimov was fired this week as unrest raged across the country, with dozens killed and public buildings ransacked
The former head of Kazakhstan’s domestic intelligence agency has been detained on suspicion of high treason, the agency said, after he was fired amid violent protests.
The National Security Committee, or KNB, said in a statement on Saturday that its former chief Karim Masimov had been detained on Thursday after it launched an investigation into charges of high treason.
Continue reading...Kazakhstan president vows to destroy ‘bandits and terrorists’ behind protests
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev tells security forces to ‘use lethal force without warning’
The president of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, has promised an uncompromising crackdown on demonstrators in the country, telling security forces they should “use lethal force without warning” against protesters he called “bandits and terrorists”.
On Friday, relative calm returned to Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city and the centre of recent tumult, and some residents ventured out for the first time in several days. They found looted shops, shattered glass and many burnt-out cars, with the grim atmosphere intensified by the thick mist enveloping the city.
Continue reading...Putin taking a risk in Kazakhstan and may hope for reward
Analysis: CSTO may be an alliance but decision to intervene was almost certainly taken in Moscow
The old joke about the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact was that it was the only military alliance to attack itself, after its tanks rolled into Prague in 1968 to crush a reform movement there.
With the deployment of troops from the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) to Kazakhstan on Thursday, some heard “eerie echoes” of the so-called Prague spring of 1968, and the Soviet crushing of the Hungarian revolution in 1956.
Continue reading...First female judge nominated for Pakistan’s supreme court
Move to appoint Justice Ayesha Malik, who banned virginity tests for rape survivors, described as ‘defining moment’ for the country
Pakistan’s top judicial commission has nominated a female judge to the supreme court for the first time in the country’s history.
The move to pave the way for Justice Ayesha Malik to join the court has been widely praised by lawyers and civil society activists as a defining moment in the struggle for gender equality in Pakistan.
Continue reading...Taliban stop Afghan women using bathhouses in northern provinces
Decision to close public hammams – most people’s only chance for a warm wash – sparks anger in light of country’s mounting crises
The Taliban sparked outrage this week by announcing that women in northern Afghanistan would no longer be allowed to use communal bathhouses.
The use of bathhouses, or hammams, is an ancient tradition that remains for many people the only chance for a warm wash during the country’s bitterly cold winters.
Continue reading...Dozens of protesters and police dead amid Kazakhstan unrest
Witnesses in Almaty describe scenes of chaos in streets as Russian ‘peacekeepers’ arrive in country
Dozens of protesters and at least 12 police officers have died in ongoing violence in Kazakhstan, authorities have claimed, as “peacekeepers” from a Russian-led military alliance arrived in the country at the request of the embattled president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Witnesses in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, described scenes of chaos on Thursday, with government buildings being stormed or set on fire and widespread looting. Many of those demonstrating said the protests had begun peacefully earlier in the week, and turned violent after a heavy-handed government response.
Continue reading...How Tony Blair advised former Kazakh ruler after 2011 uprising
British former PM told Nursultan Nazarbayev to stress he ‘understood’ critics and to say reforms would ‘take time’
The newly knighted Sir Tony Blair is one of several well-paid western advisers who have burnished the image of Kazakhstan’s former ruler Nursultan Nazarbayev and his autocratic regime, now the target of angry protesters.
Narzabayev invited Blair to give him strategic advice after Kazakh security forces shot dead 14 people during the country’s December 2011 anti-government uprising. The protesters in the western oil town of Zhanaozen were demanding higher wages.
Continue reading...Russian paratroopers arrive in Kazakhstan as unrest continues
Moscow-led ‘peacekeeping’ alliance enters country amid violent clashes between protesters, police and army
Russian paratroopers have arrived in Kazakhstan as part of a “peacekeeping” mission by a Moscow-led military alliance to help the president regain control of the country, according to Russian news agencies.
Kazakhstan’s president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, asked for the intervention from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) – an alliance made up of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan – late on Wednesday and it was swiftly approved.
Continue reading...Violent clashes in Kazakhstan amid fuel protests – in pictures
Fuel price rises have triggered protests in Almaty, the country’s commercial capital and largest city, and other cities
Continue reading...Poverty, inequality and corruption: why Kazakhstan’s former leader is no longer untouchable
Analysis: Nursultan Nazarbayev, behind-the-scenes powerbroker, thought he found a way to step aside without risking retribution
For years, Nursultan Nazarbayev has been used to performative adoration from the citizens of Kazakhstan. The country’s leader for nearly three decades, he was showered with praise and adulation at showpiece events, and his image smiled down from billboards across the country.
When he stepped down in 2019, he was able to choose his successor, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and kept significant power as head of the security council and general behind-the-scenes powerbroker. He retained his official title of Elbasy, or leader of the nation.
Continue reading...Kazakhstan protests: president threatens ruthless crackdown
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev says in televised address ‘I plan to act as toughly as possible’
Kazakhstan’s president has threatened to crack down ruthlessly on protests ongoing across the country, claiming the unrest has led to deaths and injuries among law enforcement officers.
“As the head of state … I plan to act as toughly as possible,” said Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in a televised address on Wednesday afternoon. “This is a question of the safety of our country. I am certain that the people will support me,” he added, saying he had no plans to flee the country’s capital.
Continue reading...Thousands of Rohingya shops demolished in Bangladesh, leaving refugees desperate
Bangladesh praised for taking in nearly a million Rohingya refugees, but destruction of shops that serve communities has attracted criticism
Bangladesh authorities have bulldozed more than 3,000 Rohingya-run shops since last month, a government official confirmed on Tuesday, as struggling refugee families voiced their dismay at the demolitions.
About 850,000 members of the stateless Muslim minority are packed into overcrowded displacement camps in Bangladesh, most having fled neighbouring Myanmar after a 2017 military clampdown that prompted an international genocide investigation.
Continue reading...Kazakhstan president declares state of emergency after rare outbreak of unrest
Thousands join demonstrations in Almaty, the largest city, and Mangystau province sparked by rising fuel prices
Kazakhstan’s president has declared a state of emergency in large parts of the country, as authorities struggled to respond to a rare outbreak of unrest.
Sparked by rising fuel prices, protests began in the west of the country over the weekend and have spread quickly.
Continue reading...‘There is no money left’: Covid crisis leaves Sri Lanka on brink of bankruptcy
Half a million people have sunk into poverty since the pandemic struck, with rising costs forcing many to cut back on food
Sri Lanka is facing a deepening financial and humanitarian crisis with fears it could go bankrupt in 2022 as inflation rises to record levels, food prices rocket and its coffers run dry.
The meltdown faced by the government, led by the strongman president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, is in part caused by the immediate impact of the Covid crisis and the loss of tourism but is compounded by high government spending and tax cuts eroding state revenues, vast debt repayments to China and foreign exchange reserves at their lowest levels in a decade. Inflation has meanwhile been spurred by the government printing money to pay off domestic loans and foreign bonds.
Continue reading...Kashmir stampede at Hindu shrine kills at least 12 people
Night-time tragedy at revered site in Indian-administered Kashmir happened as thousands of pilgrims massed to offer prayers
At least 12 people have died and 13 were injured in a stampede at a religious shrine in Indian-administered Kashmir as thousands of pilgrims massed to offer prayers.
The disaster happened around 3am on New Year’s Day while it was still dark on the route to the Vaishno Devi shrine, one of the area’s most revered Hindu sites.
Continue reading...Protests over Cristiano Ronaldo statue in former Portuguese colony of Goa
Local politician says statue is meant to inspire young people, but critics say it is inappropriate
He is idolised as one of the greatest footballers on earth, with his number seven shirt treasured by millions of youngsters dreaming of superstardom. But Cristiano Ronaldo’s astonishing success has not been matched by those seeking to immortalise his image.
A statue of Ronaldo in action unveiled this week in Goa has triggered protests by some locals who say Indian players should be honoured ahead of one from the country that was Goa’s colonial ruler until 60 years ago.
Continue reading...Ashraf Ghani blames international allies over Afghanistan’s fall to Taliban
In first interview since fleeing Kabul in August, former president says US ‘erased’ Afghans in years of peace talks with militants
The former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani has broken his silence with his first interview since fleeing Kabul four months ago, in effect blaming the international community and in particular the Americans for the fall of the republic.
Ghani told the BBC he was rushed into fleeing Kabul on a helicopter by his “terrified” national security adviser, Hamdullah Mohib, and the commander of the collapsing presidential security detail.
Continue reading...‘On the brink’: drought and politics leave Afghans fighting famine
Aid collapse after Taliban took control means just 2% of people have enough to eat, UN says
In his seven decades, Mehrajuddin has been a police commander, a fighter for the mujahideen, a district governor and a prosecutor, and even briefly worked in Europe. Until this year, he has never struggled to feed his family.
Now they have just one meal a day, hard discs of stale bread soaked in water until they soften to mush. “All the family are starving,” he says bluntly as he waits at a food distribution centre in Kabul for a handout of lentils, rice, flour and oil. “I even worry about dying, because if it happens tomorrow, how will my family pay for my funeral?”
Continue reading...‘Our house was gone, it was sea and sand’: life on the vanishing coasts – in pictures
Coastal communities in Mexico, Bangladesh and Somalia are struggling to adapt to the climate crisis. Many people have already lost livelihoods and homes to rising waters
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