Tricksters and tyrants: the human rights group Freedom House rates all countries in Central Asia as "Not Free." Among neighbouring states, only three are rated as "Partly Free. "This is a region of the world where dictators and despots rule.

Let's drop in on Islam Karimov and spend a little time in his company. Mr. Karimov is the President of Uzbekistan and, by his own modest account, he is a "dedicated citizen, and a splendid human being." But, President Karimov's glowing assessment of himself is a minority view.

Reporters Without Borders describes him as a "predator." There is clear evidence of his involvement in corruption, and his abuse of human rights is well documented. A coalition of human rights groups recently reported that, "President Karimov has banned any and all genuine opposition political parties, eliminated all independent media, maintained ... censorship over all media, and jailed journalists and human rights activists who disagree with him. He has presided over a ruthless five-year campaign of arrest and torture of Muslims who practice their faith outside state controls, as a result of which at least 7,000 people have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms."

As with most dictators of this type opponents are tortured and some die.

Elections in Uzbekistan are so badly rigged that organizations from outside the region don't even bother sending observers.

The "splendid human being's" own words give him away. After an outbreak of anti-government violence in 1999, Agence France-Presse quoted Islam Karimov as saying, "I'm prepared to rip off the heads of 200 people, to sacrifice their lives, in order to save peace and calm in the republic ... If my child chose such a path, I myself would rip off his head."

In the fall of 2002 a United Nations report said that Mr. Karimov's regime uses torture in a "systematic" way. Despite this, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is going ahead with plans to hold its annual meeting in Tashkent in 2003. Islam Karimov will try to use the EBRD meeting as evidence that the rest of the world approves of his methods.

If we were to drop in on any of the other leaders of the region we would find similar people.

In Turkmenistan, President Saparmurad Nivazov is building what's called a personality cult. This is a favourite tactic of dictators for controlling the people. Through non-stop propaganda the leader is portrayed as a saintly character concerned only about the welfare of the people. Statues and portraits of the leader are everywhere. The only media allowed in the country is under the control of the leader and it constantly heaps enormous praise on his accomplishments, devotion to duty, self-sacrifice on behalf of the people, and other fine qualities. There have been many who have used the personality cult style of leadership: Abdul Mohammed Akbar in India (1556-1605), Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana (1957-1966), and Kim Jong-Il in North Korea (since 1997) are just a few examples.

Saparmurad Nivazov is right out of the personality cult textbook. A huge golden statue of him, one of many dotted around the capital, dominates the centre of Ashgabat, the capital; it is mounted on a revolving platform so that the statue always faces the sun. Giant posters of the president adorn public buildings across the country.

In 2001, The British Broadcasting Corporation reported that: "Ashgabat has been transformed over the last few years. Residential streets have been razed to make way for tree-lined promenades and monuments--mostly honouring the president or his family--and a huge new central square flanked to the south by a gold-domed presidential palace."

The president has decided there are only eight months in the year and most of them are named after members of his family. The month of September is now called Ruhnama, after a book of moral commandments written by Mr. Niyazov. Ruhnama is the main textbook in Turkmenistan's schools and one of the few volumes available in bookstores. All the people of the country are advised to own a copy of this book, which its author's admirers say compares in quality to the Bible and the Koran.

Mr. Nivazov has adopted the title "Turkmenbashi," which means "Leader of All Turkmen." He has, of course, named himself President-for-Life, thereby removing all hope of democratic change.

While most of the country's people live in poverty, the President enjoys a luxurious lifestyle. In November 2001, a 300 square metre rug depicting the life of Mr. Nivazov was unveiled; it, of course, glorifies his many achievements. Between 1996 and 2000, Turkmenistan's Gross Domestic Product (the value of all goods and services produced) fell by 65%. There is not enough food for everyone but new monuments to the "Leader of All Turkmen" are going up all the time.

An obvious question is, how does a clown like this stay in power? If there were a textbook for personality cultists this would be covered in Chapter One, under the title "Terror."

The Committee on National Security (KNB) makes sure there is no opposition to the leader. Most of President Nivazov's critics who are not in prison are now living in exile. All judges are appointed by the president so trials are rigged with the verdict known ahead of time. Amnesty International says prison conditions are atrocious, beatings are frequent, and the health of those inside is poor with no medical attention available.

Amnesty also says "Human rights violations by law enforcement officials against religious believers continue to be reported. Peaceful religious meetings in private homes are broken up and the participants fined or detained for short periods; religious materials are confiscated and places of worship destroyed; religious believers were physically and verbally abused and some are imprisoned because of their religion."

Even the President's closest associates are not safe. In the spring of 2002, senior KNB officials were fired, while government ministers are constantly shuffled. This purging and moving of people keeps everybody off balance and makes it difficult for possible rivals for the presidency to build a power base.

You would think a regime such as this would be isolated by the rest of the world. You would be wrong to think that.

Turkmenistan sits on a lake of oil and enormous reserves of natural gas. The country has begun to establish a wide range of Western contacts, most notably by entering into deals with Western corporations to develop those rich energy reserves. The U.S. government says, "As an energy-importing nation, the United States is interested in ensuring that Turkmenistan's energy potential be realized." That means turning a blind eve to the bizarre activities of the country's leader.

What is uppermost in the minds of those who make policy in the West is stability. President Niyazov provides that stability by cracking down on political opponents and by keeping followers of Islam from straying into the arms of radical fundamentalists. The U.S. increased technical assistance to the Turkmenistani Border Guards in 2002 to help keep the lid on dissent.

However, the United States does try to nudge Mr. Nivazov and the region's other leaders toward democracy. An unnamed U.S. State Department official is quoted by EurasiaNet as saying "We have very, very frank discussions with them [about democracy and human rights issues]. Sometimes it works. However, we should not overestimate our influence."

There also seems little chance that outsiders will be able to change the way in which those in power are robbing their own countries. And, that will likely cause a problem in the future according to Professor Neil MacFarlane of Oxford University. He told a Canadian parliamentary committee: "There is a clear and widening gap between the positions of an elite--which has benefitted from reform and privatization by stealing the resources of their countries, to put it crudely--and a mass of the population that has essentially been left out. This too creates fertile ground for political radicalization."

If the people can't achieve freedom and democracy through peaceful means they will find another way. This is the "for-every-action-there-is-an-equal-and opposite-reaction" rule. Suppression creates a reaction that is often violent.

Ottawa has reached the conclusion that people such as Islam Karimanov and Azerbaijan's President Haydar Aliev are not suddenly going see the light and become democrats. So, the Canadian government's approach is to encourage reform from the bottom up. That means helping Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) such as women's groups, teachers, and even underground democracy activists. The strategy is to have a long-term focus on education to build an understanding of what liberal democracy is all about.

Ria Holcak, Director of the Central and Eastern Europe Program at the Canadian Human Rights Foundation spoke to this issue before a parliamentary committee:

"There is no quick fix to the problems in the region. In our view, building a human rights culture in countries where there was no history of democracy and protection of human rights and where human rights is a new term in their vocabulary takes time. It's a long-term process. Trying to do so during a period of tremendous economic and social upheaval is even more difficult ...

"Over the long run, the hope lies in building up democratic institutions and promoting a culture of human rights. Support is needed for strengthening the democratic functioning of parliaments, reinforcing the independence of the judiciary, and establishing independent and effective human rights institutions. Given Canada's particular experience in this field, it makes sense for Canada to support the creation of independent ombudsman offices in the region."

NOT IN THE GAME

Canada only plays a small role in the affairs of Central Asia. Ottawa recognizes the strategic importance of the region, but commits few resources to it. James Wright of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade told a parliamentary committee in 2002 that distance and lack of resources are the problems: "This is not a part of the world in which Canada has been extensively engaged," he said.

In 1998-99, Canada's assistance to the states of the Caucasus and Central Asia amounted to less than one tenth of one percent of total international assistance of more than $5 billion U.S. By 2001, the Canadian International Development Agency was spending some $4 million annually in these eight countries.

IN TRANSITION

All the states of the Caucasus and Central Asia used to be part of the Soviet Union. This meant all government activities were controlled from the distant capital of Moscow. Under the Communist system of the Soviet Union what was called a command economy operated; bureaucrats decided how many bushels of wheat would be harvested, how many tonnes of steel would be made, how many door knobs, shoes, and alarm clocks would be manufactured. The law of supply and demand and the competitiveness of the open market played no role. The result was a hopelessly inefficient economy that produced goods and services of very poor quality and usually in insufficient quantities. This command economy got so far into the glue that it was a major cause of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. When that happened, new countries that had formerly been part of the Soviet Union had to find their own way in the world.

Most of the countries of Central Asia have made some progress in adopting the Western economic agenda, such as privatizing state owned industries and applying some of the disciplines of free market economies. They have been less successful, however, in implementing Western notions of democracy, civil rights, and the rule of law. Another important issue is corruption; there's a lot of it and it discourages Western governments and businesses from investing.

Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs says that some countries have made a more successful transition than others: "At the risk of oversimplification, we can think of the eight states of these regions in three categories, in terms of their success in the political and economic transition to date: Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia have seen the most progress; Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have seen some progress; and Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan have seen the least progress."

A WAY OF LIFE

Transparency International is a group based in Germany that reports on corruption around the world. Its annual report ranks countries according to the Corruption Perception Index, which measures levels of corruption in 102 countries around the world. Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan--the only two Central Asian countries to be rated in the 2003 survey--are ranked 68th and 88th, respectively. Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan are not included in the index because of a lack of sufficient data. However, Stian Christensen of Transparency International told Radio Free Europe that all five Central Asian countries are united by what he calls the "systemic" nature of their corruption. He calls this a legacy of the Soviet era, when bribes had to be paid to get government officials to perform their duties.

Mr. Christensen explained that corruption "is part of the way countries in the region function. It is something that is not only taken for granted by the population, but it's something that regional leaders base their power on. They have direct access, almost without any controls on them, to the revenues of the state. And, they use this in a corrupt manner in order to buy the loyalty they need in order to maintain political stability in the country." The only other neighbouring countries rated in 2003 were Georgia (85th) and Azerbaijan (95th).

FACT FILE

Turkmenistan possesses the world's fourth largest natural gas resource.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, "The visits by members of [Parliament's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs in 2000] represented the first serious high level political attention to the region from Canada."

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES:

1. Read the biography of Islam Karimov translated from his website (see below) and discuss the differences between his assessment of himself and the assessment of others.

2. The Parliamentary Centre (http:// parlcent.parl.gc.cal) in Ottawa is a non-profit institution that provides training .for parliamentary bodies in Canada and elsewhere in the world. Assign a team of students to write a report on the Centre's activities and to lead a discussion on whether it would be an appropriate body to head a Canadian initiative to improve democracy and human rights in Central Asia.

3. Design a one-page brochure that explains democracy for people in Central Asia.

Websites

Islam Karimov--http:// www.oxuscom.com/karimov. htm

Times of Central Asia http://www.times.kg/

Transparency International http://www.transparency. org/

Turkmenistan Resource Page--http://www. eurasianet.org/resource/ turkmenistan/