RFE/RL (Un)Civil Societies Vol. 1, No. 5: excerpts
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Subject: RFE/RL (Un)Civil Societies Vol. 1, No. 5: excerpts
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
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RFE/RL (Un)Civil Societies Vol. 1, No. 5: excerpts
RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL (Un)Civil Societies
Vol. 1, No. 5, 15 June 2000
"Freedom of information is ... the touchstone of all the freedoms."
(UN Freedom of Information Conference, 1948)
ARMENIA
YEREVAN RUSSIAN-LANGUAGE PAPER SUSPENDS PUBLICATION. Publication of
the official Russian-language newspaper "Respublika Armenii" was
temporarily halted on 2 June. According to the Noyan Tapan news
agency, the paper's publication was suspended because its charter
should be brought in line with current legislation and will also
require that it undergo a new registration procedure. (Noyan Tapan, 6
June)
.................
AZERBAIJAN
AZERBAIJANI PAPER CLAIMS DEPUTY PREMIER REFUSED TO MEET LATVIAN
JOURNALISTS. The newspaper "525 Gazet" claims that Deputy Prime
Minister Ali Hasanov, who also heads of the State Committee for
Refugees, refused to meet with a visiting delegation of Latvian
journalists that was prevented from making a video reportage on the
refugee situation in Azerbaijan. The Latvian journalists' treatment in
Azerbaijan was in contrast to the cooperation they encountered in
covering the refugee story in Georgia and Armenia. ("525 Gazet," 2
June)
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GEORGIA
.................
OSCE CONVENES MEETING OF GEORGIAN, ABKHAZ AND SOUTH OSSETIAN
JOURNALISTS. A meeting was held in Moscow on 10-11 June for
journalists from these areas on the media's role in conflicts and in
the easing of tensions. Twenty-five journalists took part in the
conference - 11 from Georgia, seven from Abkhazia, and seven from
South Ossetia. In addition to the OSCE, the Tbilisi and Moscow offices
of Internews took an active part in the meeting which was financed by
the British government and BBC television. (ITAR-TASS, 10 June)
INTERNATIONAL
HANDBOOK ON CONFLICT RESOLUTION. The Berghof Centre in Berlin has
issued a new handbook on conflict resolution to monitor the latest
developments, and it includes contributions from 25 leading experts.
The first version will be available on the Internet for free in order
to collect feedback for a hardcopy second edition. The Berghof
Handbook can be found at:
http://www.b.shuttle.de/berghof/handbook.html. (CCSI, 5 June)
COUNCIL OF EUROPE POLICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS WEBSITE. A new web site on
the Council of Europe's (COE) work with the police in the field of
human rights has been launched at:
http://www.humanrights.coe.int/police.
It is the creation of the Council of Europe's "Police and Human Rights
1997-2000" program and was made possible by a contribution from the
United Kingdom. The site provides information on the program for
police officers, government officials, NGOs, journalists, and members
of the public. Articles of relevance from the European Convention on
Human Rights are explained plus a body of jurisprudence of the
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), with links to ECHR case law.
The website also has information on future Council of Europe events.
(Council of Europe Press Release, 18 May)
NGO/INTERNET WORKSHOP TO BE HELD IN ST. PETERSBURG. In September, an
international workshop on "New forms of Inter-Organizational Relations
for Advanced Development of the Non-Profit Sector in the Newly
Independent States" will be held in St. Petersburg. The workshop will
focus on increasing citizen involvement and NGOs in the political and
economic development of a region through the Internet and will be a
working model of citizen participation through Internet technologies.
There will be ICT specialists, NGOs, government representatives,
political and economic consultants, experts, scholars, and democratic
activists. Contact Vladimir Chevelev, "Gardarika,"
[email protected]. (Center for Civil Society Initiatives, 8
June)
CAUCASUS INTERNET COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM LAUNCHED. Project
Harmony, a not-for-profit professional exchange and training
organization with offices in the U.S., Russia, Ukraine, and Georgia,
is initiating a one-year program to promote the Internet as a
democracy-building and community organizing tool in Georgia, Armenia,
and Azerbaijan. The Internet Community Development Program (ICD) will
foster two online communities, one on business support and another on
refugee issues and assistance to IDPs (internally displaced persons).
The ICD will develop the capacity of local professionals to develop
online resources, to administer information services (online
newsletters and discussion lists), and to organize interactive online
events (web chats and teleconferences). Thirty professionals will be
trained to develop and administer online communities. More than 50
online events will be organized for each community and approximately
30 new local-language online resources will be created. e-mail to:
[email protected] with subject line ICD. (Center for Civil Society
Initiatives, 8 June)
.................
EXPANDED TATAR INTERNET PRESENCE. A new site at http://www.tatar.net
seeks to provide easy access to Internet information on Tatar
communities in various countries. The site will first focus on Crimean
Tatars, but is seeking additional contributions. Contact Fevzi
Alimoglu at [email protected]. On 7 June, a new Tatar-English
dictionary became available on-line at:
http://agidel.virtualave.net/frame.html. (MINELRES, 11 and 13 June)
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KYRGYZSTAN
.................
OSH JOURNALIST ACCUSED OF INCITING ETHNIC HOSTILITY. Khamkimjon
Khusanov, a television editor in Osh, faces a third court hearing on
13 June on accusations that he has incited national tensions via his
broadcasts. An ethnic Uzbek, Khusanov, 27, has been charged in
connection with a commercial in support of ethnic Uzbek Davron
Sabirov, a candidate for parliament from majority Uzbek election
district no. 34, who eventually was elected. (Osh Media Resource
Center, 9 June)
.................
RUSSIA
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MOSCOW RADIO LOSES CAUCASIAN ACCENT. The Red Bridge radio station
often invited well-known Caucasians for on-air interviews. When owner
Tigran Karapetyan announced last spring that he was closing it down,
he began receiving threats of bodily harm if the station went off the
air. Despite these threats - none of which was realized - he shut down
his money-losing station after seven months. Unlike most Western
capitals, Moscow has little in the way of media for its various
minority groups. Its Southern Caucasus community is large, estimated
at from 1.5 million to 3.5 million people. The station is unlikely to
be replaced: The advertising director for popular news station Echo
Moscow, Vladimir Bogomolov, said it is virtually impossible these days
for a new station to get an FM license. ("The Russia Journal," 3 June)
RACIAL INTOLERANCE TOLERATED ON RUSSIAN TV? On 8 June, the Russian NTV
channel's "Segodnjachko" program aired a report on an African
ophthalmologist's problems in Jaroslavl. According to the show, his
neighbors repeatedly sent collective letters to city authorities that
they could not tolerate living next door to a black person and that he
should go back to Africa. The TV program did not present any official
opinion, nor did the moderator make any serious comment. (MINELRES, 9
June)
.................
RUSSIA'S FIRST INTERNET WAR? Evgeny Malyshev, deputy editor in chief
of "Planet Internet" magazine and director of "WebDepot" agency,
argues that the Chechen war is Russia's first Internet war. While the
Russian public still has limited Internet usage, Russian newspapers
rely on it as a news source. The "Caucasus-Center" site currently
attracts more visitors than the official Rosinformcenter (Russian
Information Center) server. One indication of the Internet's growing
importance: the interior ministry has organized a special school for
young computer programmers. These programmers will probably work as
agents of the computer secret services - either for defensive or
attack purposes. ("Novaya Gazeta," 8-11 June)
SERBIA
.................
ALBANIAN-LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER SUES KOUCHNER. Prishtina's Albanian-
language daily "Dita" announced on 5 June that it will sue UN mission
head Bernard Kouchner over a temporary ban on publication because the
proper procedure had been violated, Beta reports. (ANEM Weekly
Report, 3-9 June)
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