Watchdog

The United States is urging Kazakhstan to show clear signs of democratic progress before the end of the year ahead of its chairmanship of Europe's main human rights watchdog in 2010.

Kazakhstan was chosen last year to chair the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Human rights groups and Kazakh opposition leaders have criticised the West's OSCE decision, saying it was too early for Kazakhstan to lead an organization dedicated to democracy.

Even the deputy chief of the U.S. mission to the OSCE says there are lingering concerns over Almaty's implementation of democratic reforms.

Richard Boucher, U.S. assistant secretary of state for the region, told a hearing organized by the U.S. Helsinki Commission that Kazakhstan needs to step up its work, and explicitly set the end of 2008 as a deadline for it to show more commitment.

"Despite slow and uneven progress, President [Nursultan] Nazarbaev assured me earlier this year that Kazakhstan will stand by its commitments," Boucher told the group in a speech in Washington on July 22, according to a Helsinki statement sent to Reuters. "Clearly, a great deal of work must be done by the end of 2008."

Kazakhstan is seen as a relatively relaxed regime, however, compared with some of its more authoritarian neighbors.

"Kazakhstan is not a country with frequent or dramatic government crackdowns on freedom and human rights," Andrea Berg of Human Rights Watch told the same hearing. "One finds rather an atmosphere of quiet, subtle repression."

-- Reuters

Amnesty International is calling for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to be given enough time and resources to establish the truth and to secure justice for the victims of war crimes in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The statement by Amnesty was issued following the capture of Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic, who is due to be handed over to the ICTY in the coming days. Amnesty called Karadzic's arrest a "major victory."

"The UN Security Council must review the arbitrary deadline of 2010 set for the tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to complete its cases," Amnesty said. "Of the 161 people charged by the tribunal, cases against 115 have been concluded, but there are still ongoing proceedings against a further 46. Two of those charged also still remain at large -- Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic. The court must be given the necessary time to process all these cases."

Amnesty says it is concerned the tribunal will not be able to try all those who have been charged but whose cases are ongoing by the 2010 deadline. As a result, indictments may be dropped due to a lack of time to consider all charges or appeals may not be considered.