In the Region

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan Claim to Foil Terrorist Plots

Authorities in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have recently detained people suspected of having ties to terrorist groups.

In Kyrgyzstan, officials said they thwarted a plot to carry out a large deadly attack on August 31, the country’s Independence Day.

The State Committee for National Security (UKMK) reported on July 5 that five people were taken into custody and a large number of weapons, explosives, and other materials were seized.

The next day, UKMK said the group planned to attack a horse-racing event in Bishkek on Independence Day and create unrest in other parts of the city.

The suspects also allegedly hoped to kill top government officials attending the horse races.

These detentions came less than a month after Kyrgyz officials detained 15 suspected members of the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP).

In Kazakhstan, the Committee for National Security (KNB) arrested five people who they say were involved in “terrorist activities.”

Four of those detained were Kazakh citizens and the fifth was a “foreigner,” though the KNB did not say from where.

The KNB said one of the suspects had been involved in fighting in another country, which the KNB also did not name.

The suspects were taken into custody in raids in the cities of Almaty and Shymkent, and in Atyrau and Zhambyl provinces where the KNB also seized a “large amount of religious-extremist literature.”

Why It’s Important: So far this year, the number of people detained in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan for involvement in terrorist groups indicates there is an increase in activity recently.

Twenty people were detained in Kyrgyzstan for ties to terrorist groups in June and July.

Kyrgyz officials are not providing many details, but along with the five people caught in July, authorities seized 38 sets of body armor, 200 law enforcement uniforms, and more than 250,000 rounds of ammunition.

It seems there were a lot more than five people involved in this plot.

The five people detained in Kazakhstan were only the latest caught this year.

In mid-February, the KNB said it apprehended 23 suspected Islamic extremists in raids that took place in eight Kazakh provinces.

In early May, raids in Astana and Pavlodar led to three suspects being taken into custody, and four more in Turkestan Province in late June.

All are suspected of spreading terrorist propaganda.

Just two weeks before the horrific March 22 terrorist attack on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall, Russian security forces killed two Kazakh citizens who were allegedly planning an attack on a synagogue in Russia. 

UN Working Group Calls for Release of Pamiris

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) is calling on Tajik authorities to unconditionally release five imprisoned rights defenders.

They are: rights activist and journalist Ulfathonim Mamadshoeva; her brother Khursand; lawyers Faromuz Irgashov and Manuchehr Kholiknazarov; and Sorbon Yunoev.

All five are Pamiris, the people of eastern Tajikistan’s Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO), who differ ethnically, culturally, and linguistically from Tajiks.

All five, and dozens of others, were imprisoned after the government launched a security crackdown on GBAO in May 2022.  

The government sent additional military and security forces in response to a peaceful protest in GBAO where people were demanding local officials appointed by the government in Dushanbe be replaced.

WGAD said the arrests of Irgashov and Kholiknazarov were related to their “legitimate advocacy for the investigation into police violence” against Pamiris.

The UN Working Group said the basis for the arrests and convictions of Mamadshoeva and Yunoev was “their exercise of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.”

Why It’s Important: WGAD was acting on information submitted in October 2023 by the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT).

OMCT requested the case of the five Pamiri activists be reviewed and WGAD “declare their detention as arbitrary and to call for their immediate release.”

Tajik authorities have been trying to move on, hoping the world forgets about the brutal repression of the Pamiri people, and Tajik authorities have ignored WGAD statements in the past.

Still, the OMCT submission and WGAD conclusion shows that the matter is not forgotten and there are still cries for justice for the wrongly imprisoned Pamiris.  

Majlis Podcast

The latest Majlis podcast looks at the situation in Western Uzbekistan’s Karakalpak Republic.

It has been two years since violence erupted there over proposed constitutional changes.

At least 21 people were killed.

The Uzbek government has worked since then to silence Karakalpak activists inside and outside the country who criticize Uzbek authorities’ conduct in early July 2022.

The guests on this podcast are:

• Leila Nazgul Seiitbek, a lawyer and chairwoman of the NGO Freedom for Eurasia;
• Hugh Williamson, the director of the Europe and Central Asia division at Human Rights Watch; and
• Mynaim, a pseudonym for a Karakalpak activist living outside Uzbekistan. 

What I’m Following

The Return of Kyrgyzstan’s Draft Media Law

Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Culture, Information, and Tourism has reintroduced the draft media law and published it for public discussion.

This latest version is the sixth.

The first was introduced on September 28, 2022, but fierce domestic and international criticism led to that bill, and the four succeeding drafts, being sent back for review.

Among the changes to this most recent document is the removal of the clause on mandatory state registration for online publication and media. 

Water Problems in Western Kazakhstan

Residents of the 19th district in Kazakhstan’s Caspian coast city of Aqtau blocked a city road on July 9 to protest their homes being left without water.

People complained they had been without water for three straight days.

They blocked the road in June for the same reason.

In West Kazakhstan Province, farmers in five districts were demanding to meet with officials to discuss the effect of the drought on their herds.

Farmers want officials to declare a state of drought in the region and implement emergency measures.

Officials declined to meet with the farmers.

The farmers asked to have a peaceful meeting on July 19 in the village of Sayhin, but local officials said a youth group was already given permission for a meeting in the village on that day.  

Fact of the Week

Thanks for Reading

Thanks for reading Central Asia in Focus! I appreciate you sharing it with other readers who may be interested.

Feel free to contact me on X, especially if you have any questions, comments, or just want to connect about topics concerning Central Asia.

Until next time,
Bruce

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