By Michael Allen on February 2, 2010
Leading politicians are joining with democracy and civil society groups in calling on authorities in Kazakhstan to release jailed human rights activist Yevgeny Zhovtis.
His case was raised on Capitol Hill today at a hearing on Kazakhstan’s controversial leadership of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) featuring the country’s Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev.
The [read full story]
Posted in Eurasia, Featured, Human rights, Kazakhstan, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, authoritarianism, backsliding, emerging democracies, freedom of expression, media, rule of law |
By Michael Allen on January 25, 2010
The European Union’s strategy for supporting democracy in its neighborhood must address two different clusters of states, a new report suggests. But a reluctance to extend the prospect of EU accession has taken the momentum out of the gravity model of democratization.
“In the last five years, there has been a virulent intellectual debate about the [read full story]
Posted in Azerbaijan, Backlash, Balkans, Belarus, Bosnia, European Union, Featured, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, authoritarianism, autocrats, color revolutions, democracy promotion, democracy support, democratization, emerging democracies, promoting democracy | Tagged democratization, European, promoting democracy, Supporting Democracy |
By Michael Allen on January 15, 2010
Kazakhstan has formally assumed its one-year chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Advocates of the authoritarian regime assuming the rotating chairmanship of the OSCE claimed that it would help create space for civil society and possibly even inch forward the country’s painfully slow and oft-deferred democratic reform.
But the first former Soviet [read full story]
Posted in Kazakhstan, NGOs/Civil society, authoritarianism, backsliding, democratization |
By Michael Allen on January 13, 2010
What do Liu Xiaobo, Tran Anh Kim, Evgeny Zhovtis, Emin Milli, and Adnan Hajizade have in common?
Find out here.
Posted in Azerbaijan, China, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, dissidents, rule of law |
By Michael Allen on November 11, 2009
The prosecution of leading Kazakh democracy and human rights activist Yevgeny Zhovtis is politically motivated, new reports suggest.
Zhovtis, director of the Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, a grantee of the National Endowment for Democracy, was sentenced to four years in prison last month for accidentally striking and killing a man with his [read full story]
Posted in Eurasia, Human rights, Kazakhstan, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, authoritarianism, democracy support, dissidents |
By Michael Allen on October 28, 2009
Kazakh human rights activist Yevgeny Zhovtis has been transferred to a labor camp in northeastern Kazakhstan, RFE/RL reports.
Zhovtis, director of the International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, a grantee of the National Endowment for Democracy, was sentenced to four years in prison last month for accidentally striking and killing a man with [read full story]
Posted in Backlash, Human rights, Kazakhstan, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, authoritarianism |
By Michael Allen on September 29, 2009
The Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe risks losing its democratic character, an imprisoned human rights activist warned today, as the head of the US delegation to the organization’s Warsaw meeting said that engagement remains the best way to deal with autocratic regimes.
The OSCE is one of the few international organizations that proclaims the [read full story]
Posted in Human rights, Kazakhstan, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, authoritarianism, backsliding, engagement, promoting democracy | Tagged Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, National Endowment for Democracy, Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe |
By Michael Allen on September 4, 2009
The United States and international human rights groups today expressed concern over the conviction of Yevgeny Zhovtis, a Kazakh human rights activist and government critic, following a trial for manslaughter many believe was politically motivated.
“In recent days, we have expressed our concerns about this case and urged the Kazakhstani authorities to provide Mr. Zhovtis access [read full story]
Posted in Backlash, Human rights, Kazakhstan, National Endowment for Democracy, authoritarianism, dissidents | Tagged Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, National Endowment for Democracy, Yevgeny Zhovtis |
By Michael Allen on September 3, 2009
An international outcry is brewing after a Kazakhstan court today sentenced a leading democracy and human rights activist to four years in prison for manslaughter. Yevgeniy Zhovtis, founding director of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, was charged with manslaughter after he was involved in a car accident on 26 [read full story]
Posted in Backlash, Human rights, Kazakhstan, NGOs/Civil society, National Endowment for Democracy, authoritarianism, promoting democracy | Tagged Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, National Endowment for Democracy, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, World Movement for Democracy, Yevgeniy Zhovtis |
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