"No One Left to Witness"

Author: Steve Swerdlow
Publisher:
Total Pages: 104
Release: 2011-01-01
Genre: Criminal justice, Administration of
ISBN: 9781564328397

"Uzbekistan has become synonymous in recent years with an abysmal rights record and a torture epidemic that plagues its police stations and prisons. United Nations bodies determined in 2003 that torture was "systematic" and "widespread" in Uzbekistan's criminal justice system--a crisis that only deepened after the Uzbek government killed hundreds of protesters in the eastern city of Andijan in May 2005. In 2008, the Uzbek government introduced the right of habeas corpus, or the judicial review of detention, followed by other procedural reforms, to its system of pre-trial detention. Such measures should have heralded a more positive era for Uzbekistan. They did not. Despite improvements on paper, and the government's claims that it is committed to fighting torture, depressingly little has changed since habeas corpus was adopted. There is no evidence the Uzbek government is committed to implementing the laws it has passed or to ending torture in practice. Indeed, in several respects, the situation has deteriorated. The government has dismantled the independent legal profession, disbarring lawyers who dare to take on torture cases. Persecution of human rights activists has increased, credible reports of arbitrary detention and torture, including suspicious deaths in custody, have continued, and the government will not allow domestic and international NGOs to operate in the country. Uzbekistan's increasing strategic importance as a key supply route for NATO troops in Afghanistan has led the United States, European Union, and key actors to soften their criticism of its authoritarian government in recent years, allowing an already bleak situation to worsen. "No One Left to Witness": Torture, the Failure of Habeas Corpus, and the Silencing of Lawyers in Uzbekistan documents the cost of the West's increasingly complacent approach toward Uzbekistan and urges a fundamental shift in US and EU policy, making clear that concrete policy consequences, including targeted punitive measures, will follow absent concrete action to address serious human rights abuses."--P. [4] of cover.

Nations in Transit 2008

Nations in Transit 2008
Author: Jeannette Goehring
Publisher: University Press of America
Total Pages: 674
Release: 2008
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780932088635

Since 1995, the Nations in Transit series has monitored the status of democratic change from Central Europe to Eurasia and pinpointed for policymakers, researchers, journalists, and democracy advocates alike the greatest reform challenges and reform opportunities facing the countries and territories that make up this vast geographic space. Covering 29 countries and administrative areas, Nations in Transit 2008 evalutes a 12-month period, from January 1 to December 31, 2007, and provides comparative ratings and in-depth analysis of electoral processes, civil society, independent media, national democratic governance, local democratic governance, judicial framework & independence, and corruption. Freedom House--which for more than a quarter century has rated global political rights and civil liberties in its benchmark Freedom in the World surveys--has developed a ratings system that allows for comparative analysis of reforms. Nations in Transit findings have drawn important linkages between democratic accountability, good governance, and the rule of law. In doing so it has made clear the essential nature of all these elements to the development of stable, free, and prosperous societies. The results are incisive, authoritative, and comprehensive.

World Report 2008

World Report 2008
Author: Human Rights Watch
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Total Pages: 638
Release: 2011-01-04
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1583229515

Human Rights Watch is increasingly recognized as the world’s leader in building a stronger awareness for human rights. Their annual World Report is the most probing review of human rights developments available anywhere. Written in straightforward, non-technical language, Human Rights Watch World Report prioritizes events in the most affected countries during the previous year. The backbone of the report consists of a series of concise overviews of the most pressing human rights issues in countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, with particular focus on the role—positive or negative—played in each country by key domestic and international figures. Highly anticipated and widely publicized by the U.S. and international press every year, the World Report is an invaluable resource for journalists, diplomats, and all citizens of the world.

Women, Islam, and Identity

Women, Islam, and Identity
Author: Svetlana Peshkova
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Total Pages: 366
Release: 2014-11-25
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0815653050

This pioneering ethnographic work centers on the dynamics of female authority within the religious life of a conservative Muslim community in the Fergana Valley of Uzbekistan. Peshkova draws upon several years of field research to chronicle the daily lives of women religious leaders, known as otinchalar, and the ways in which they exert a powerful influence in the religious life of the community. In this gender-segregated society, the Muslim women leaders have staked out a vibrant space in which they counsel and assist the women in their specific religious needs. Peshkova finds that otinchalar’s religious leadership filters into other areas of society, producing social changes beyond the ritual realm and challenging stereotypical definitions of what it means to be a Muslim woman. Weaving together the stories of individuals’ daily lives with her own journey to and from post-Soviet Central Asia, Peshkova provides a rich analysis of identity formation in Uzbekistan. She presents readers with a nuanced portrait of religion and social change that starts with an individual informed but not determined by the sociohistoric context of the region.

Contesting Feminisms

Contesting Feminisms
Author: Huma Ahmed-Ghosh
Publisher: SUNY Press
Total Pages: 294
Release: 2015-09-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1438457936

Creates a new space for hybrid feminist analysis of Asian Muslim women’s lives. Contesting Feminisms explores how Asian Muslim women make decisions on appropriating Islam and Islamic lifestyles through their own participation in the faith. The contributors highlight the fact that secularism has provided the space for some women to reclaim their religious identity and their own feminisms. Through compelling case studies and theoretical discussions, this volume challenges mainstream Western and national feminisms that presume homogeneity of Muslim women’s lives to provide a deeper understanding of the multiple realities of feminism in Muslim communities. “Contesting Feminisms attempts to offer nuanced understandings of Muslim women’s struggles that are firmly rooted in close attention to local social, economic, and historical contexts with an eye to opening up theoretical spaces in which to examine local and transnational feminist Muslim activism. As such, the volume offers rich insights into women’s lives and struggles in moving away from the reductionist frame of a strictly Qur’anic view of women that is mobilized by both Western detractors and Islamic normativizers to constrain women’s agency, and instead brings into view the heterogeneity of Muslim women’s lives and struggles.” — Zayn Kassam, editor of Women and Islam

The Oxford Handbook of Christianity in Asia

The Oxford Handbook of Christianity in Asia
Author: Felix Wilfred
Publisher:
Total Pages: 685
Release: 2014
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0199329060

Named by the International Bulletin of Missionary Studies as an Outstanding Book of 2014 for Mission Studies Despite the ongoing global expansion of Christianity, there remains a lack of comprehensive scholarship on its development in Asia. This volume fills the gap by exploring the world of Asian Christianity and its manifold expressions, including worship, theology, spirituality, inter-religious relations, interventions in society, and mission. The contributors, from over twenty countries, deconstruct many of the widespread misconceptions and interpretations of Christianity in Asia. They analyze how the growth of Christian beliefs throughout the continent is linked with the socio-political and cultural processes of colonization, decolonization, modernization, democratization, identity construction of social groups, and various social movements. With a particular focus on inter-religious encounters and emerging theological and spiritual paradigms, the volume provides alternative frames for understanding the phenomenon of conversion and studies how the scriptures of other religious traditions are used in the practice of Christianity within Asia.

European Security

European Security
Author: Bjørn Møller
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 516
Release: 2016-04-22
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317139364

Europe has undergone quite profound changes since the end of the Cold War. Having been a highly militarised, conflict-ridden and war-ridden region, the core of Europe today constitutes a security community where armed conflicts among the constituent states has become inconceivable. This comprehensive book offers a theoretically founded and thoroughly documented analysis of European security, with a special emphasis on the role played by the United Nations and the various regional and sub-regional organisations, especially the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Council of Europe and the European Union. When it comes to explaining peace in Europe opinions differ widely. Some argue that it was only because the West refused to give in to Soviet threats that the latter eventually gave up; or that the 'long peace' in Europe was due to the combination of a bipolar alliance structure, pitting the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) against the Warsaw Pact, with the presence of nuclear weapons on both sides. Others point instead to the extraordinarily dense network of international institutions and organisations in Europe, offering a wide panoply of fora in which to handle disputes peacefully; or to the web of interdependence in economic and other affairs, tying together all states in Europe in relations which militate strongly against war. Still others believe that the external peace between the states in Europe is simply a reflection of a convergence of cultures, democracies with marked economies that are open towards the world market. These questions are the focal point of this book, which concentrates on security, albeit not in the sense of being a treatise on military matters, but security obtainable by much more indirect and non-military means. It will be required reading for all students and scholars of European security and the organisations which underpin it.

Nowhere to Turn

Nowhere to Turn
Author: Andrea Berg
Publisher:
Total Pages: 98
Release: 2007
Genre: Detention of persons
ISBN:

Methodology -- Background -- UN engagement and some steps forward -- The scope of torture. -- Pre-trial detention -- Isolation and violation of detention procedures -- Restrictions on the right to a lawyer of one's choice -- Failure of pre-trial safeguards and complaints mechanisms -- Harassment of lawyers -- Torture in pre-trial detention facilities -- Prolonged beatings -- Electric shock -- Asphyxiation -- Torture by inmates -- Psychological pressure, threats and inhuman treatment -- Physical conditions in custody. -- Trial -- Judges' indifference to torture allegations and coerced testimony -- Police intimidation during trial -- Restrictions for trial monitors. -- Monitoring post-conviction detention -- Breaking newcomers in post-conviction prisons. -- Accountability for torturers. -- Recommendations -- To the government of Uzbekistan -- To the United Nations -- To other stakeholders and governments. -- Acknowledgements. -- Appendix I.A note on the case of Andrei Shelkovenko -- Appendix II. Letter to the office of the ombudsman of Uzbekistan -- Appendix III. Reply from the office of the ombudsman -- Appendix IV. Letter to Prosecutor General of Uzbekistan -- Appendix V. Reply from Prosecutor General's Office.