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OMRI: Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 243, 96-12-18
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 243, 18 December 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] FREEDOM HOUSE REPORT NOTES LACK OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN CENTRAL ASIA.
[02] CHECHNYA DEMANDS SHARE OF TRANSIT TARIFFS FOR CASPIAN OIL.
[03] DEMONSTRATION IN KYRGYZSTAN.
[04] UN OBSERVERS IN TAJIKISTAN VICTIMS OF "MOCK EXECUTION."
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] SERBIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH STUDENTS . . .
[06] . . . BUT REMAINS DEFIANT.
[07] SERBIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH STUDENTS . . .
[08] . . . BUT REMAINS DEFIANT.
[09] MONTENEGRIN LEADERS LAUNCH COURT ACTION.
[10] BOSNIAN SERB LEADERSHIP WELCOMES SFOR.
[11] BOSNIAN WAR CRIMES UPDATE.
[12] RAIL WORKERS END STRIKE, TEACHERS DEMONSTRATE
[13] . . . BUT IMF WARNS CROATIA TO BE "CAREFUL" WITH WAGE POLICY.
[14] ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT DELAYS IMPLEMENTING ELECTORAL PROMISES.
[15] TRANSDNIESTRIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION UPDATE.
[16] FORMER BULGARIAN PRIME MINISTER DIES.
[17] SOLUTION TO THE BULGARIAN-MACEDONIAN LANGUAGE CONTROVERSY?
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] FREEDOM HOUSE REPORT NOTES LACK OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN CENTRAL ASIA.
In its annual survey of freedom and democracy worldwide, the U.S.-based
Freedom House identified Tajikistan and Turkmenistan as among the 17 most
repressive regimes in the world, RFE-RL reported on 18 December. Uzbekistan,
which last year also appeared in the worst category, improved its record in
1996. Among the CIS countries, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, and
Ukraine are rated "partly free;" and Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan are listed as "not
free." Freedom House ratings are based on a check-list of political rights
and civil liberties, including the degree of autonomy for minorities, the
status of the opposition, the nature of electoral laws, and the degree of
freedom of assembly and freedom of the media. -- Lowell Bezanis
[02] CHECHNYA DEMANDS SHARE OF TRANSIT TARIFFS FOR CASPIAN OIL.
Chechen government representative Eduard Khachukaev met recently in Baku
with the chairman of the Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC),
Terry Adams, to discuss the transportation of Azerbaijani oil through
Chechnya, Turan reported on 17 December. Khachukaev said that Chechnya
should receive a share of the transit tariffs from the transportation of
Caspian oil via the Baku-Chechnya-Tikhoretsk-Novorossiisk pipeline and that
it wants a share in the AIOC. Adams assured Khachukaev that he would raise
the issue with the Azerbaijani leadership. Under the terms of an agreement
signed by Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and interim Chechen
Prime Minister Aslan Maskhadov on 23 November, the Russian and Chechen
authorities were supposed to conclude an agreement by 1 December on the
unimpeded transportation of oil through Chechnya. -- Liz Fuller
[03] DEMONSTRATION IN KYRGYZSTAN.
About 300 people, mostly pensioners, gathered in front of the government
building in Bishkek on 17 December to demand compensation for savings lost
when several state banks collapsed, RFE/RL reported. The leaders of the
demonstration met with Kyrgyz Prime Minister Apas Jumagulov, but no
agreement was reached. One of the protesters, Topchubek Turgunaliyev of the
Erkin Kyrgyzstan Party, was detained by police as he left the government
building. Turgunaliyev was accused of embezzling state property, but
Jumagazy Usupov, leader of the Ashar movement, argued that Turgunaliyev's
detention was linked to his role in the recent formation of the "For
Deliverance from Poverty" movement. Usupov speculated that the detention is
aimed at stopping Turgunaliyev from organizing further protests and
preventing the new movement from holding a congress scheduled for 21
December. -- Bruce Pannier and Naryn Idinov
[04] UN OBSERVERS IN TAJIKISTAN VICTIMS OF "MOCK EXECUTION."
Two teams of UN observers in Tajikistan were stopped at a government
checkpoint, verbally and physically abused, and subject to forced to stand
in a line for a mock execution, according to an 18 December UN press
release. The teams were traveling to Garm to verify reports of cease-fire
violations in the area when they were stopped at the Saripul post. Their
communications equipment was confiscated and members of the teams were
ordered to line up in a field for execution. Government soldiers then fired
above and around the men. The UN team was able to escape when the
appearance of a car on the road diverted the soldiers' attention. This is
the second time this month that government forces have mistreated UN
observers. -- Bruce Pannier
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] SERBIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH STUDENTS . . .
As mass demonstrations continued across Serbia and the independent trade
union Nezavisnost led another huge rally in Belgrade, President Slobodan
Milosevic met with students on 17 December. A student delegation which had
marched to Belgrade from Serbia's second largest city, Nis, delivered
Milosevic a protest letter and samples of spoiled ballots. The opposition
Zajedno coalition has accused of vote-rigging in the 17 November municipal
elections, costing it victories in a dozen municipalities. Milosevic
pledged to investigate allegations of electoral improprieties and a state
TV broadcast quoted him as saying, "Mistakes are always possible ... I
assure you that this state will not protect someone who has broken the law,
whether that someone is a citizen or an official." -- Stan Markotich
[06] . . . BUT REMAINS DEFIANT.
Milosevic also told the students he would not tolerate their alleged
promotion of foreign meddling in Serbia's "domestic" affairs. "We must be
completely clear, however much your leaders go to embassies and send envoys
and travel to world capitals, a foreign hand shall not rule Serbia,"
Reuters quoted him as saying. Meanwhile, the OSCE confirmed on 17 December
that it would send a delegation, headed by former Spanish Prime Minister
Felipe Gonzalez, to Belgrade to investigate circumstances surrounding the
disputed 17 November election results. -- Stan Markotich
[07] SERBIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH STUDENTS . . .
As mass demonstrations continued across Serbia and the independent trade
union Nezavisnost led another huge rally in Belgrade, President Slobodan
Milosevic met with students on 17 December. A student delegation which had
marched to Belgrade from Serbia's second largest city, Nis, delivered
Milosevic a protest letter and samples of spoiled ballots. The opposition
Zajedno coalition has accused of vote-rigging in the 17 November municipal
elections, costing it victories in a dozen municipalities. Milosevic
pledged to investigate allegations of electoral improprieties and a state
TV broadcast quoted him as saying, "Mistakes are always possible ... I
assure you that this state will not protect someone who has broken the law,
whether that someone is a citizen or an official." -- Stan Markotich
[08] . . . BUT REMAINS DEFIANT.
Milosevic also told the students he would not tolerate their alleged
promotion of foreign meddling in Serbia's "domestic" affairs. "We must be
completely clear, however much your leaders go to embassies and send envoys
and travel to world capitals, a foreign hand shall not rule Serbia,"
Reuters quoted him as saying. Meanwhile, the OSCE confirmed on 17 December
that it would send a delegation, headed by former Spanish Prime Minister
Felipe Gonzalez, to Belgrade to investigate circumstances surrounding the
disputed 17 November election results. -- Stan Markotich
[09] MONTENEGRIN LEADERS LAUNCH COURT ACTION.
President Momir Bulatovic, Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, and
parliamentary Speaker Svetozar Marovic have filed lawsuits against several
leading opposition figures, alleging that they committed slander during the
3 November election campaign, Montena-fax reported on 17 December. The
legal action was undertaken just one day after the ruling Democratic Party
of Socialists proposed that several terms, including "murderer," "maniac,"
"fool," and "traitor" be banned from legislative debates. Novak Kilibarda,
one of the leading opposition figures named in the slander suit, said the
filing of the charges was little more than a ploy by the government to
divert public attention away from serious issues such as the "catastrophic"
state of the economy. -- Stan Markotich
[10] BOSNIAN SERB LEADERSHIP WELCOMES SFOR.
NATO gave final approval on 17 December to SFOR, which will formally
succeed IFOR on 20 December. It will be a 31,000-strong contingent with an
18-month mandate, with the largest individual contributions being 8,500
Americans, 5,000 Britons, 3,000 Germans, and 2,500 French, AFP reported.
The Serbian representative on the Bosnian state presidency, Momcilo
Krajisnik, said that IFOR had done well and that the Pale leadership had
worked hard to persuade the Bosnian Serb public to accept it. IFOR was "a
force that protected peace and not one or the other entity in Bosnia-
Herzegovina," he concluded, adding that there were few serious incidents
during its mandate and that its record was better than that of its
predecessor, UNPROFOR. Krajisnik stated that all three sides agreed that
SFOR's mandate will be the same as IFOR's. -- Patrick Moore
[11] BOSNIAN WAR CRIMES UPDATE.
The Pale leadership has also rolled out the welcome mat to Judge Louise
Arbour, who heads the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia. Prime Minister Gojko Klickovic has invited her to visit
the Republika Srpska, AFP reported on 17 December. Most of the war
criminals indicted in The Hague are Serbs, but three Muslims and a Croat
will go on trial on 28 January for crimes against Serbs at the Celebici
camp in 1992. For their part, the Serbs on 24 December will begin trying
Bosnian Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic in absentia in Banja Luka for war
crimes, a move that the Muslims have strongly condemned as a propaganda
ploy. -- Patrick Moore
[12] RAIL WORKERS END STRIKE, TEACHERS DEMONSTRATE
. . . Croatian rail workers on 17 December ended a three-week strike after
the High Court rejected their appeal against an earlier ruling which
branded the action illegal, Vecernji List reported the next day. The High
Court ruled that the unions had failed to respect the Transport Ministry's
demands that they maintain a minimum traffic flow, AFP reported. Croatian
railway unions called the strike to demand higher wages and the payment of
an estimated $40 million in wage arrears. Meanwhile, about 1,000 to 2,000
teachers and research workers demonstrated the same day in Zagreb to demand
a 15% raise, Novi List reported the next day. The government had only
promised them a 5% pay hike. The average monthly wage in education is about
$350, or $50 less than the national average. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[13] . . . BUT IMF WARNS CROATIA TO BE "CAREFUL" WITH WAGE POLICY.
An IMF delegation on 17 December gave preliminary approval to the Croatian
government's economic program up to the year 1999, which could free up to
$500 million in loans, international and local media reported. Robert
Feldman, the head of the IMF mission, said the loans were contingent on
meeting the agreed targets set out in the program, such as real economic
growth of 5% and low inflation, AFP reported. The program calls for
maintaining macroeconomic stabilization, including a "careful" wage policy
with wage increases linked to increases in productivity. Feldman also said
the country would have to show significant progress on privatization and
restructuring, which would probably lead to more unemployment. But he said
that investment in infrastructure should create jobs, as would the creation
of new businesses. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[14] ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT DELAYS IMPLEMENTING ELECTORAL PROMISES.
Ulm Spineanu, the minister in charge of economic reform, said on 17
December that the government will have to delay the implementation of its
electoral promises concerning "social measures" aimed at improving living
standards, Romanian TV reported on 17 December. One day earlier, the daily
Libertatea quoted Prime Minister Victor Ciorbea as saying that as a resul
of talks with Paul Thompsen, the chief IMF negotiator for Romania last week,
the measures would be postponed until mid-January, when new parleys on an
IMF stand-by loan are scheduled. The IMF is opposed to increasing
allowances for children and minimum pensions for peasants to 50,000 lei
(about $13) and recommends immediate energy price increases, instead of the
gradual increasing envisaged by the government. -- Michael Shafir
[15] TRANSDNIESTRIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION UPDATE.
Vladimir Malakhov, the only candidate running against President Igor
Smirnov in the 22 December Transdniester breakaway region's presidential
election, has threatened to withdraw from the race, Infotag reported on 17
December. Malakhov said "equal rights conditions" were not respected and
the Transdniester media were covering only Smirnov's campaign. He also
denied accusations that he would work with Moldova's president-elect, Petru
Lucinschi, for the unification of the region with Moldova. Malakhov said he
envisaged a federation "in which both our republics would enjoy equal
status." Meanwhile, Lucinschi said the Transdniestrian elections will
change nothing, because the international community recognizes only the
Moldovan state. He reiterated the position that Transdniester should be
granted a "special status" that would include separate representative and
executive bodies "for an efficient administration of the region." --
Michael Shafir
[16] FORMER BULGARIAN PRIME MINISTER DIES.
Communist-era Prime Minister Stanko Todorov died on 17 December at age 76,
Duma reported. He joined the Bulgarian Communist Party in 1943 and became
a Politburo member in 1961. After holding several government posts, he was
prime minister from 1971-1981, the longest-serving prime minister in modern
Bulgarian history. Todorov was parliament chairman from 1981-1990 and among
the Communist party leaders who in November 1989 ousted long-time Communist
dictator Todor Zhivkov. -- Stefan Krause
[17] SOLUTION TO THE BULGARIAN-MACEDONIAN LANGUAGE CONTROVERSY?
The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry has drawn up five possible ways of avoiding
language arguments between Bulgaria and Macedonia, Trud and Kontinent
reported on 18 December. A day earlier, the projects were discussed by the
Consultative Council for National Security, which was convened by outgoing
President Zhelyu Zhelev after his meeting with Macedonian President Kiro
Gligorov at the OSCE summit in Lisbon. Bulgaria refuses to recognize the
existence of a separate Macedonian language. Since 1992, the controversy
has postponed the signing of an inter-state treaty and 12 other bilateral
accords. Bulgaria will allegedly no longer insist on its proposal to draw
up documents in English or another official UN language, which Macedonia
had rejected as unacceptable. Gligorov proposed that the new contracts be
signed along the lines of the 1994 economic agreement, which was drawn up
in Bulgarian and Macedonian without explicitly stating which languages were
being used. -- Maria Koinova in Sofia
This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media
Research Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in
Prague, Czech Republic.
For more information on OMRI publications please write to info@omri.cz.
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