To the participants in the Forum of Democratic Forces of Kazakhstan
To the Republican People's Party of Kazakhstan Executive Committee and the UDP members

Born on March 2, 1952 in Georgievka village, Zharminsky region, Semipalatinsk area. Came of a family of teachers. Kazakh by nationality.
Graduated from Semipalatinsk Pedagogical Institute (1969-1974) and Almaty Institute for National Economy (1985).
Got PhD in Economic Sciences; Member of International Academy of Management. Has a command of 4 languages. The author of publicist book "Kazakhstan: the right to choose" (1998) and a number of monographs in economics.

Christopher Walker

NEW YORK – President Vladimir Putin is poised to give the Russian government the tools to exert even greater control over the country's already beleaguered nongovernmental sector. The restrictive NGO law that awaits his signature broadens the grounds for denying registration to or closing Russian NGOs, setting the stage for greater government interference in their work. The draft law on his desk, however, represents only the most recent blow in what is a larger, systematic effort by the authorities to curb independent voices in Russia.

Government antagonism toward the political opposition created a hostile environment in advance of December 2005 presidential elections. New legislation ostensibly designed to reform the elections process and bolster national security further weakened civil and political rights in the country.

Influential U.S. legislator Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chair of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia of the House of Representatives' Committee on International Relations has submitted to the U.S. Congress a resolution that contains a number of demands to Central Asian dictators.
"While many of the nations in this region promised far-reaching reforms as a means to combat terror, these authoritarian governments … are increasingly reliant on repression and coercion to remain in power. As documented by U.S. and international human rights organizations, the situation in most of these countries is deteriorating considerably," write Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and congressman Ackerman in the accompanying letter to the congressmen.

Christopher Pala

ASTANA, Kazakhstan -- Newly declassified documents in a New York court suggest that the most high-profile prosecution of an American businessman accused of bribing a foreign official could be dropped next year on national security grounds.