WELCOME TO IWPR'S REPORTING CENTRAL ASIA, No. 578, May 29, 2009 KAZAKS TO SHOP CORRUPT OFFICIALS FOR CASH Will the latest effort to root out thieving bureaucrats be sustained and consistent enough to change long-established ways? By Galiaskar Utegulov in Almaty
KAZAK CAMPAIGNERS BATTLE INTERNET CURBS Screens go blank in protest against a bill that some fear will create internet censorship. By Aygerim Beysenbaeva in Almaty PARTY GOES ON AND ON IN KAZAKSTAN Nur Otan party celebrates decade as unassailable party of government, although analysts say it enjoys little real power. Daulet Kanagatuly in Almaty RURAL JOB SCHEME HITS UZBEK FARMERS POCKETS Farmers complain they are being forced to subsidise a government work-creation scheme. 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For more information about how you can support IWPR go to: http://iwpr.net/donate **** www.iwpr.net ******************************************************************** KAZAKS TO SHOP CORRUPT OFFICIALS FOR CASH Will the latest effort to root out thieving bureaucrats be sustained and consistent enough to change long-established ways? By Galiaskar Utegulov in Almaty As the new policy of getting tough on corruption beds down in Kazakstan, many analysts say it is looking more credible than previous efforts because for the first time, the prime culprits are being targeted government officials and public servants. Others remain more sceptical, particularly about a plan to pay people for reporting corrupt officials. A decree which President Nursultan Nazarbaev signed on April 22 makes the war on corruption a priority for police and instructs the government to raise standards in public life. This effort differs from previous ones in that it tackles the heart of government, although it remains to be seen just how it comprehensive it will be. Under a novel incentive system, members of the public will get cash rewards if they shop a corrupt state official. By contrast, civil servants will be legally bound to report such case, and could face prosecution if they fail to do so. Government employees will also be subject to conflict-of-interest regulations, details of which have still to be worked up, and their assets will be under scrutiny both while they are in office and afterwards, to ensure these were not obtained from back-handers. Finally, there will be a list of public sector jobs where the risk of corruption is highest, and recruitment procedures here will be tightened accordingly. Corruption affects all areas of life in Kazakstan, including business and politics. Bribes come in various shapes and sizes, from the major inducements paid to win commercial contracts all the way down to the fees that the average person has to pay for notionally free public services such as healthcare or getting the correct official stamp on a document. The acceptance until now of high-level corruption as a fact of life has a corrosive effect on society, according to Almaty businessman Kanat Batyrov. If officials are mired in corruption, what are ordinary people supposed to do when theyre asked for bribes everywhere, from [securing a place in] kindergarten to higher education? he said. The international corruption watchdog Transparency International ranks Kazakstan 145th in a list of 180 states. Although it is in the lower quarter, it still does a lot better than neighbours Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, and another oil-rich Caspian state, Azerbaijan. Speaking in early May as the anti-graft campaign got under way, Marat Jumanbay of the Agency for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption said that most cases of embezzlement of state funds involved government officials. Economist Rahman Alshanov says it is an open secret that government tenders are often won by the bidder who offers the biggest bribe, rather than the one with the most competitive proposal on the table. For those involved, the lure of a lavish lifestyle is irresistible. It has become a priority to have a detached house and a luxury car, but its practically impossible to acquire these if you do your job honestly, said Alshanov. Theres a disconnect between the desire for material wealth and the opportunity to earn it through work. Aydos Sarym, a political analyst who heads the Altynbek Sarsenbayuly Foundation, named after an opposition leader killed in 2006, sees a direct correlation between corruption levels and the holding of power. Bribes are accepted by people who hold some kind of authority and are involved in distributing various kinds of wealth, and not only that of the state, he said. Those who take bribes include bureaucrats of all stripes and all ranks, the heads of enterprises where the state holds a stake, judges, policemen, doctors, teachers and lecturers. Sarym believes the latest campaign has come about because Kazakstans leaders are becoming aware that corruption has reached an extremely dangerous level that is a threat not only to the state but to the regime itself. The analyst also suspects that the leadership is keen to shake off Kazakstans reputation for corruption as it tries to reposition and rebrand itself as an international player. Alshanov welcomes the Nazarbaev decree as it makes it clear that officials at ministerial level, who until now believed themselves untouchable, are now fair game for corruption charges. Previously, he noted, it always seemed that the little fish were made examples of just to show the authorities were doing something. A number of high-profile prosecutions over the last month or so suggest the ambition to tackle high-end bribery is serious. On May 25, the head of the state uranium firm Kazatomprom, Mukhtar Jakishev, was arrested along with senior staff members and accused of corruption, Reuters news agency reported. In mid-April, deputy defence minister Kajimurat Mayermanov was arrested in connection with an allegedly crooked defence contract signed with a foreign company. A month earlier, two deputy ministers of the environment, Aljan Braliev and Zeynolla Sarsembaev, were accused of siphoning off public money. The big question now is whether this anti-coruption drive will succeed where others have failed. According to Alshanov, in previous cases, officials at the centre of corruption allegations were frequently able to get off the hook easily, making the whole thing look like a sham. An official would be reprimanded, and after some time he would resurface in another senior post, he said. Everyone understood that hed bought his way out of it. In other words, the more you take [in bribes], the better your chances of buying your way out. Yet past failures do not have to mean this latest effort is pointless, he says, noting, Once they start jailing high ranking officials, the public will gradually start believing that corruption can get you into serious trouble. In Alshanovs view, it will all come down to implementation. The issue is not the decisions that are taken, but who carries them out. There has to be transparency here. If that doesnt happen, the decisions will exist only on paper, as has been the case previously, he said. Like Alshanov, political scientist Sarym is hopeful that anti-corruption measures will work over time, through constant, sustained and focused efforts rather than speeches, declarations and one-off prison sentences designed to make an example of someone. I want to believe that this [campaign]will be more successful than previous ones, he added. Nazarbaevs edict also contained provisions to make Kazakstans police force more likely to combat corruption rather than connive in it. These include a more rigorous recruitment process and better pay, to curb the appeal of taking kickbacks. The businessman Batyrov notes that public confidence in the police is very low, as they are regarded as being hand in glove with corrupt state officials. Nazarbaevs announcement that cash rewards would be paid to people who report corruption cases has proved controversial. Batyrov fears that the police and judiciary are in such poor shape that they are in no position to rule on whether a denunciation is genuine, a ploy to sideline a rival or enemy, or simply a bid to win the cash prize. Yerjan Ashikbaev, manager of a consulting firm in Almaty, agrees that the system may be abused initially, but he believes it will work in the end. He views the cash incentive scheme as being at the opposite end of the moral scale from officials who spend their time lining their pockets. Yermurat Koshymov, a farmer from the Almaty region, also believes the scheme will encourage people to report officials who demand bribes from them. Overall, Koshymov believes the new war on corruption is being waged so seriously that it will win public support. I think people are now ready to help the financial police identify those engaged in corruption, because theres a rigorous clean-up under way and no one is being spared, he said. In Ashikbaevs view, public-spirited activity needs to be accompanied by some self-examination on everyones part. A citizen who angrily criticises corruption but half an hour later is prepared to pay a bribe to resolve a personal matter is unlikely to become an active participant in the real anti-corruption fight, which will be a prolonged, systemic fight, he said. Galiaskar Utegulov is a pseudonym used by a journalist in Almaty. KAZAK CAMPAIGNERS BATTLE INTERNET CURBS Screens go blank in protest against a bill that some fear will create internet censorship. By Aygerim Beysenbaeva in Almaty As a controversial internet bill nears the end of its progress through Kazakstans parliament, media rights activists have been putting up a last-ditch defence. The campaign to persuade lawmakers that the proposed changes to current legislation are a bad idea was stepped up with a symbolic hours blackout protest by websites on May 13, the day the bill was passed by the lower house of parliament, the Majilis. Around a thousand Kazakstan-based websites blanked out their screens in an Hour of Silence, organised by the Free Internet campaign group and backed by a number of media NGOs like the Union of Journalists, MediaNet and Adil Soz, and leading websites. As part of the action, users were asked to stop accessing the internet for the hour. The idea was to give an idea of the kind of information vacuum that campaigners believe would be created if the legislation took effect. The bill now goes to the upper house or Senate for approval. Once the Senate gives its assent, the law will go to President Nursultan Nazarbaev for final sign-off. On May 19, the Union of Journalists, Adil Soz and the National Association of TV and Radio Broadcasters wrote to Senate members urging them to send the bill back to the government for substantial improvement so as to bring it into line with international principles of freedom of expression. The proposed amendments, which apply to current laws on media, national security, and communications, would subject internet content to the same controls that now apply to conventional print and broadcast media. Controls on media mean the internet is seen as the last place where people can access alternative sources of information. As well as a ban on publishing classified information, terrorist or extremist propaganda, pornography and calls for the overthrow of the government, the bill would also prohibit foreign nationals from using web-based media for electioneering or calling on workers to strike. The bill would allow the authorities to block foreign-based websites if their content was deemed to contravene Kazakstan law. Finally, internet service providers would be obliged to gather personal data on their customers. (See Kazak Rights Groups Denounce Internet Censorship Bill, RCA No. 569, 12-Mar-09.) In their letter, the media rights groups said the Majilis had ignored recommendations made by the OSCE as well domestic organisations to make the law less draconian. The only change made to the reactionary innovations, they said, was dropping a proposal to allow the Kazak prosecution service to close down a media outlet without obtaining a court injunction. According to Adil Jalilov, the head of the MediaNet group, the bill will make it easy for the authorities to find fault with websites and close them down. Its obvious that website administrators wont be able to keep track of the tens of thousands messages coming in every day, he said. It is going to be much easier to shut down an unfavourable website or [silence] an opponent all it will take is to post a comment containing something illegal. Concerns about the future of internet freedom are not confined to media rights groups, judging from interviews conducted by IWPR. A 27-year old Almaty resident who gave his name as Asyl, for example, said, Here in Kazakstan, the internet has long been the only source of true and objective information about whats happening in the country and in the world. Alexander, 44, who works in the private sector, believes the legislation mimics the worst aspects of the Soviet system. The authorities here stubbornly refuse to hear the truth about themselves or about developments in the country, he said. It is stupid to think that closing newspapers and internet sites is going to improve our image or prevent accurate information from reaching people. Similar things happened in the Soviet Union, and we all know how that ended. The new legislation has its supporters as well as detractors. Mikhail Tyunin, a lawyer in Almaty, says the internet cannot be completely lawless. The state needs to have the means to curb sites that show violence and pornography, and which support terrorism, he says. The existence of pro-terrorism websites, and others advocating violence and child pornography negates the positive aspects of the internet, Tyunin told IWPR. I remain a strong supporter of regulating the internet, if only because a significant proportion of users are young people schoolchildren and adolescents. Who is going to keep an eye on the internet sites our children are visiting? I have a growing son and its a good thing I can block certain sites at home, but he is going to [come across them] at school or internet cafes. As the Senate starts discussing the internet bill, the Free Internet campaigners are determined to continue, with plans to urge international organisations to press for change. The Free Internet campaign has seen the emergence of innovative forms of protest, led by a youth group called Janasu. Since parliament started debating the bill two months ago, they have sent the speaker a computer keyboard bound by chains and held a mock funeral outside a telecoms provider in Almaty. Plans to stage a flash mob in Almaty and release balloons with computer mouses attached failed on May 16 when prosecutors warned that the action was technically a demonstration and therefore required advance permission. Aygerim Beysenbaeva is an IWPR-trained journalist in Almaty. PARTY GOES ON AND ON IN KAZAKSTAN Nur Otan party celebrates decade as unassailable party of government, although analysts say it enjoys little real power. Daulet Kanagatuly in Almaty Nur Otan, the political party of Kazak president Nursultan Nazarbaev, had plenty to celebrate when it marked its tenth anniversary. It is in an unassailable position, with all the seats in parliament and nearly three-quarters of a million members. Yet for all that, analysts say Nur Otan hardly constitutes an independent ruling force, and exists merely as a vehicle to articulate the presidents ideas and policies. The party marked its first decade at a congress held in the Kazak capital Astana on May 15. President Nazarbaev, who is party chairman, used his keynote address to the 600 delegates at the congress to deliver a upbeat message about the state of the economy. Omitting references to the scale of the downturn in Kazakstan or to any failure of domestic policy, he ascribed the effects of global crisis to external factors alone and said effective anti crisis measures were already being implemented. A party delegate who asked to remain anonymous said he was disappointed with the meeting, which reminded him of a Communist Party event from the Soviet period, complete with over-the-top style praise for Nazarbaevs vision, and speeches full of indigestible economic data. Another delegate said the overall tone was that with this head of state, and with a nation like this, a crisis is nothing to us. Originally called Otan (Fatherland) in 1999 when it was forged out of a number of smaller pro-presidential parties and movements, the party added Nur (Light) to its name in 2006 when it swallowed up Asar, a party that had been set up by Nazarbaevs daughter Dariga. Of the seven political parties that ran in the 2007 parliamentary election, Nur Otan was the only one deemed to have passed the seven per cent threshold, and it took all 98 of the 107 seats in the Majilis or lower house that are earmarked for parties. Its mergers with Asar and other parties swelled Nur Otans membership to the present 700,000-plus card-holders. When it came to the future of the party itself, Nazarbaev was unambiguous, and appeared to banish any hope that past commitments to creating political pluralism might be honoured. He called for the groundwork to be done to ensure Nur Otans domination of the political system in Kazakstan over the long term. This domination is already apparent. But many analysts see the party as something of an empty vessel, with few ideas generated from within and in their place, constant deference to the president. According to political analyst Dosym Satpaev, director of the Almaty-based Risk Assessment Group, the only reason Nur Otan enjoys supremacy is that all possible competition has been cleared out of the way through elections that are neither free nor fair. Given that no such [fair] elections have taken place to date in Kazakstan, Nur Otan has no real experience of fighting [for votes], and has not had to prove itself in a competitive race, he said. It is only the patronage of Nazarbaev that grants the party a measure of power, said Satpaev, adding, It isnt for nothing that it is called the pro-presidential party and its leading members constantly refer to the authority of the head of state. Petr Svoik, deputy leader of the opposition party Azat, agreed that Nur Otan is not a political force in its own right, The party does not have any strategy; one can only talk about the presidents strategy. In reality, he said, The system of power is built around the presidents authority and on his entourage. The real power lies with this immediate circle, and the rest is either decoration or a supporting structure. Satpaev agreed that the only institution that carries weight is the presidency, saying, This is very bad as it means Kazakstans entire political system has been created around one specific individual. If this person leaves office, the question will arise whether the system will still function. The analyst sees Nur Otan as merely another extension of the state, which officials in national and local government are required to join as a matter of course. As Nazarbaevs speech indicated, the partys role appears to consist of checking up on the work of government institutions, even though their senior staff are Nur Otan members anyway. Of course it looks comical, one official monitoring another, said Satpaev. Gulnara Samenbekova, head of public relations in Nur Otans Almaty branch, acknowledges that the party plays a supervisory role, which she believes is fully justified. As the party that won the election, we take responsibility for the work of all state structures, as it is our programme they are implementing, she said. As an example, she cited an anti-corruption campaigns launched last month. Nur Otan has been told to monitor its implementation, although the initiative came not from the party, but in a decree issued by President Nazarbaev. We are open and effective, we are checking the activity of [government] institutions, were identifying flaws and violations, and we are helping people resolve these issues, said Samenbekova. Anton Morozov, an analyst with the Institute for Strategic Studies, which is linked to the presidential administration, believes Nur Otan has a role to play. Even when Otan was being set up, Nazarbaev said the party should become his right-hand man. Thats exactly what is happening, he said. Comparisons with the old Communist Party only go so far. Whereas the Soviet party was all-powerful and unchallenged, it did not depend on one individual. But analysts like Svoik say Nur Otan would not survive long without its current leader. Its all a bit like going back to the USSR, although its more like a parody version, he said. Satpaev fears the absence of strong political institutions outside the presidential office could lead to instability down the line. If there is no political authority that could take on the role of supreme power in that event [a vacuum], then any elite that possesses some resources will join the power struggle, he said. Even now, said Satpaev, the monopoly of the political arena is holding the country back. The system leaves no room for debate or alternative methods of solving problems, he said. The authorities, and that includes Nur Otan, are not prepared to tolerate criticism, even though justifiable criticism makes for a more stable system. Daulet Kanagatuly is an IWPR-trained journalist in Almaty. RURAL JOB SCHEME HITS UZBEK FARMERS POCKETS Farmers complain they are being forced to subsidise a government work-creation scheme. By IWPR staff in Central Asia An Uzbek government initiative to create rural jobs for the growing number of unemployed has angered farmers, who feel they are being made to underwrite this social project at a financial loss to themselves. Farmers in Uzbekistan are notionally private operators but remain beholden to the state, as they hold land on a long lease rather than in outright ownership, and continue to be set Soviet-style quotas for cotton and wheat, which they have to sell to monopoly trading enterprises at below-market prices. They are alarmed at instructions issued by district administrations around the country telling them to take on extra workers. Farmers say the district-level officials in turn received verbal orders to implement the job-creation scheme from the central government in Tashkent. News of the campaign was first reported in late April by the Rapid Response Group, an independent group in Uzbekistan. Analysts with the group are certain the governments actions are prompted by a desire to soak up the extra labour force created by the return of migrant workers from Russia and Kazakstan, where job markets are contracting as a result of the severe economic downturn. According to some estimates, as many as five million of Uzbekistans 27 million people are working abroad, although there are no reliable statistics on this, or on the rate at which they are returning. We think this measure is an attempt by the government to tackle mass unemployment, which may be exacerbated when the majority of Uzbek labour migrants start coming back to rural areas, said the Rapid Response Group report. Saibjon Aliev of Uzbekistans Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, quoted by the Eurasianet website, said earlier this month that some 930,000 new jobs would be generated in 2009, of which over 550,000 would be in the countryside. In remarks originally carried by Russias Regnum news agency, he said nearly 210,000 jobs, some 150,000 of them rural, were created in January-March this year. IWPR enquiries confirm that farmers are being asked to hire one unemployed person for every two hectares they lease, and pay them a wage of 40,000 soms a month, about 28 US dollars. I have 100 hectares of land. That means I should be taking on 50 people, and paying them wages, said one farmer in the western region of Bukhara. Where am I to get the money? A leaseholder in another district of Bukhara region added, Things will go badly for farmers if this verbal instruction is taken seriously. Bad weather has forced many of us to sow cotton three times over, so that we are losing two million soms [1,300 dollars] per hectare in expenditure. How can we pay wages to new workers when we are in the red ourselves? An agricultural reform pushed through late last year required smaller farms to merge into large units. With one owner replacing several, many small-scale farmers were left without jobs, adding to the problem of rural unemployment. There is no question that farm need workers. Cotton is a particularly labour-intensive crop, especially since the specialised machinery of the Soviet period has been largely replaced by manual work for planting, weeding, and picking. Farmers try to minimise costs by using family members or hiring temporary workers who get a fraction of the officially-set wage. As one farmer in Bukhara said, We try to get by with the help of family members. We cant afford to pay the wages imposed by local government. Apart from providing unemployment with jobs farmers are also ordered to finance renovation of public housing. As well as taking on extra labour, the authorities are reportedly instructing farmers to contribute funds to renovate their villages and repair the roads. A farmer in the Jizzak region of central Uzbekistan said he and his colleagues were told to fund the renovation of 20 housing blocks. The cost of cement, plaster, paint and labour is worked out and the farmers are required to foot the bill. It turns out that on average each farmer has to fork out 100,000 soms [68 dollars] of his own money, said this man. If anyone objects to this, he will be subjected to [state inspections] and may have to part with [fines worth] 500,000 soms. In Bukhara, there are reports that the system is already being rigged in much the same way as described in the famous Russian novel Dead Souls. Lists of successfully-employed farmworkers are compiled, while in reality no one is being hired. That works for the authorities, as they can report that the instruction is being carried out, even though the farmer is not taking people on, said one local observer. Elsewhere, farmers may not be able to get away with it. They say they are vulnerable to pressure from local authorities because they are already forced to break so many rules. One man in the central Syr Darya region said that he is technically allowed to use 6.5 hectares of his total 125 hectares of land to grow vegetables, which he can eat or sell for cash. The other 95 per cent of the land has to be used for quota crops, in his case mostly wheat. But because he sets aside another 3.5 hectares to give his hired workers a small plot each, and for other purposes, he is technically in breach of the rules. Thats it the farmer is a criminal, he said. He can be simply taken down to the police station, the judge will read out the verdict with a clear conscience, and the farmer is sent off to a [labour camp] as he is a criminal in the eyes of the law. He added, Our hokims [local government chiefs] are great, they are smart. These are just some of their methods. Every step of the way, they are making money for the motherland. And they get all of it from the farmers pockets. Has our state really become so poor? (The names of interviewees have been withheld out of concern for their security.) **** www.iwpr.net ******************************************************************** REPORTING CENTRAL ASIA provides the international community with a unique insiders' perspective on the region. Using our network of local journalists, the service publishes news and analysis from across Central Asia on a weekly basis. The service forms part of IWPR's Central Asia Project based in Almaty, Bishkek, Tashkent and London, which supports media development and encourages better local and international understanding of the region. IWPR's Reporting Central Asia is supported by the UK Community Fund. The service is published online in English and Russian. The opinions expressed in Reporting Central Asia are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the publication or of IWPR. REPORTING CENTRAL ASIA: Editor-in-Chief: Anthony Borden; Managing Editor: Yigal Chazan; Senior Editor and Acting Central Asia Director: John MacLeod; Editor: Caroline Tosh; Central Asia Editor: Saule Mukhametrakhimova. 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