rferl--2020-09-21--Hungary's Orban Endorses Trump In November U.S. Election

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on September 21 endorsed U.S. President Donald Trump in his reelection bid , saying his rivals from the Democratic Party have forced `` moral imperialism '' on the world .
`` We root for Donald Trump 's victory , because we know well American Democratic governments ' diplomacy , built on moral imperialism .
We have been forced to sample it before , we did not like it , we do not want seconds , '' Orban wrote in an article published in the Magyar Nemzet daily .
Right-wing nationalist Orban faces parliamentary elections in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his decade-long rule as Hungary braces for the economic and social impact of a second wave of coronavirus infections .
Orban wrote that the 2022 elections would be decisive as the international liberal elite was out to destroy Christian conservatives in Europe .
Hungary and other Central European countries would place economic efficiency over European Union policies such as `` climate goals elevated to absurdity , a social Europe , a common tax code , and a multicultural society '' , he said .
EU member Hungary ’ s democracy score has been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decade , according to Freedom House .
In its latest Nations In Transit report published in May , Freedom House singled out Hungary as having the largest drop ever recorded in the 25 years since the nonprofit organization , largely funded by the U.S. government , published its first assessment .
The report describes Orban as a leader who has `` dropped any pretense of respecting democratic institutions . ''
Press freedoms in particular have been in decline in Hungary since Orban returned to power in 2010 .
In recent years , many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of business or have been bought up by Orban allies .

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on September 21 endorsed U.S. President Donald Trump in his reelection bid, saying his rivals from the Democratic Party have forced "moral imperialism" on the world.
"We root for Donald Trump's victory, because we know well American Democratic governments' diplomacy, built on moral imperialism. We have been forced to sample it before, we did not like it, we do not want seconds," Orban wrote in an article published in the Magyar Nemzet daily.
Right-wing nationalist Orban faces parliamentary elections in early 2022 amid a steep challenge to his decade-long rule as Hungary braces for the economic and social impact of a second wave of coronavirus infections.
Orban wrote that the 2022 elections would be decisive as the international liberal elite was out to destroy Christian conservatives in Europe.
Hungary and other Central European countries would place economic efficiency over European Union policies such as "climate goals elevated to absurdity, a social Europe, a common tax code, and a multicultural society", he said.
EU member Hungary’s democracy score has been on a steep decline in the past decade, according to Freedom House.
In its latest Nations In Transit report published in May, Freedom House singled out Hungary as having the largest drop ever recorded in the 25 years since the nonprofit organization, largely funded by the U.S. government, published its first assessment.
The report describes Orban as a leader who has "dropped any pretense of respecting democratic institutions."
Press freedoms in particular have been in decline in Hungary since Orban returned to power in 2010. In recent years, many independent news outlets have either gone out of business or have been bought up by Orban allies.
With reporting by Reuters


rferl--2020-09-21--Cyprus Blocks EU Sanctions On Belarus

Cyprus Blocks EU Sanctions On Belarus

European Union foreign ministers gathered in Brussels on September 21 failed to agree on sanctions against Belarus , despite a plea from the country ’ s self-exiled opposition leader .
Cyprus has been objecting to a list of sanctions against Belarus , demanding the EU also take measures against Turkey in an unrelated dispute over Ankara 's maritime gas exploration activities in the eastern Mediterranean .
The impasse created by one of the bloc 's smallest members has highlighted how EU diplomacy is often paralyzed by a system that gives one country veto power over all the others .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ EU leaders ’ summit on September 24-25 .
`` Although there is a clear will to adopt these sanctions , it has not been possible to do that today because the required unanimity was not reached , '' EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters after hosting the talks .
He added that if the EU fails to impose sanctions , then `` our credibility is at stake . ''
Cyprus 's position has the sympathy of some EU countries , particularly France , but even Paris wants the island to decouple @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Turkey as the bloc intensifies diplomacy with Ankara .
Patience with Cyprus in most European capitals is running out .
`` It is regrettable that today we could not decide on sanctions on violations of human rights there due to ' a hostage taking ' by a member state , '' Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics wrote on Twitter .
`` Sends a wrong signal to Belarusians , our societies and the whole world . ''
Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides insisted the EU must show consistency with violations of sovereignty and human @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kind of violation of our core basic values and principles , can not be a la carte .
It needs to be consistent , '' he said .
The EU vowed three weeks ago to slap sanctions on Belarusian officials whom the bloc blames for abuses against ongoing protests and electoral fraud that gave authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka a landslide victory in the country 's August 9 election .
So far , the bloc has put together a list of about 40 people it could sanction with asset freezes and travel bans in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya , who met EU foreign ministers in Brussels before the formal gathering , pressed the bloc to be “ more brave ” in its actions as she showed officials in Brussels pictures of mass protests and police beatings .
Tsikhanouskaya told reporters that sanctions were a key tool to `` force the so-called authorities to start dialogue with us ” and that the EU should not recognize Lukashenka ’ s legitimacy .
The bloc has not yet made a decision whether the list should include Lukashenka , who has repressed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 26 years in power and refuses to talk with the protesters .
Speaking after meeting Tsikhanouskaya over breakfast , German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said “ the violence that Lukashenka is exerting against peaceful demonstrators is completely unacceptable.
” Maas , whose country currently holds the EU ’ s rotating presidency , said the ministers must “ ask ourselves the question of whether Mr. Lukashenka , the one who bears the main responsibility , mustn ’ t also be sanctioned by the European Union.
” The meeting in Brussels came a day after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a sixth weekend of nationwide rallies against Lukashenka .
More than 100,000 people attended the rally in Minsk , defying police warnings not to assemble .
Protests were held in several other Belarusian cities .
Police have arrested an estimated 12,000 people since the protests began .
They have also tortured hundreds of those detained , sparking outrage in the West .
With reporting by AFP , AP , RFE/RL 's Belarus Service , dpa , and Reuters

European Union foreign ministers gathered in Brussels on September 21 failed to agree on sanctions against Belarus, despite a plea from the country’s self-exiled opposition leader.
Cyprus has been objecting to a list of sanctions against Belarus, demanding the EU also take measures against Turkey in an unrelated dispute over Ankara's maritime gas exploration activities in the eastern Mediterranean.
The impasse created by one of the bloc's smallest members has highlighted how EU diplomacy is often paralyzed by a system that gives one country veto power over all the others. The dispute will now be addressed at an EU leaders’ summit on September 24-25.
"Although there is a clear will to adopt these sanctions, it has not been possible to do that today because the required unanimity was not reached," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters after hosting the talks.
He added that if the EU fails to impose sanctions, then "our credibility is at stake."
Cyprus's position has the sympathy of some EU countries, particularly France, but even Paris wants the island to decouple the Belarus file from its problems with Turkey as the bloc intensifies diplomacy with Ankara.
Patience with Cyprus in most European capitals is running out.
"It is regrettable that today we could not decide on sanctions on violations of human rights there due to 'a hostage-taking' by a member state," Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics wrote on Twitter. "Sends a wrong signal to Belarusians, our societies and the whole world."
Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides insisted the EU must show consistency with violations of sovereignty and human rights.
"Our reaction to any kind of violation of our core basic values and principles, cannot be a la carte. It needs to be consistent," he said.
The EU vowed three weeks ago to slap sanctions on Belarusian officials whom the bloc blames for abuses against ongoing protests and electoral fraud that gave authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka a landslide victory in the country's August 9 election. So far, the bloc has put together a list of about 40 people it could sanction with asset freezes and travel bans in response to the crackdown.
Belarus opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who met EU foreign ministers in Brussels before the formal gathering, pressed the bloc to be “more brave” in its actions as she showed officials in Brussels pictures of mass protests and police beatings.
Tsikhanouskaya told reporters that sanctions were a key tool to "force the so-called authorities to start dialogue with us” and that the EU should not recognize Lukashenka’s legitimacy.
The bloc has not yet made a decision whether the list should include Lukashenka, who has repressed the opposition and independent news media during 26 years in power and refuses to talk with the protesters.
Speaking after meeting Tsikhanouskaya over breakfast, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said “the violence that Lukashenka is exerting against peaceful demonstrators is completely unacceptable.”
Maas, whose country currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said the ministers must “ask ourselves the question of whether Mr. Lukashenka, the one who bears the main responsibility, mustn’t also be sanctioned by the European Union.”
The meeting in Brussels came a day after Belarusian police detained hundreds of protesters during a sixth weekend of nationwide rallies against Lukashenka. More than 100,000 people attended the rally in Minsk, defying police warnings not to assemble. Protests were held in several other Belarusian cities.
Police have arrested an estimated 12,000 people since the protests began. They have also tortured hundreds of those detained, sparking outrage in the West.
With reporting by AFP, AP, RFE/RL's Belarus Service, dpa, and Reuters


rferl--2020-09-21--Kremlin Insider Laundered Millions Of Dollars Through Barclays After Sanctions, Report Shows

Kremlin insider Arkady Rotenberg moved millions of dollars through one of Europe ’ s largest banks after the United States and EU sanctioned him , according to leaked documents published for the first time .
Rotenberg , a childhood friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin , conducted $ 60 million in transactions through a company called Advantage Alliance at Barclays from 2012 through 2016 , the BBC reported on September 20 , citing documents from an arm of the U.S. Treasury Department .
Many of the transactions occurred after the United States and EU sanctioned Rotenberg in 2014 following Russia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The U.S. Treasury Department has also sanctioned Rotenberg 's brother , Boris , and son , Igor .
The sanctions are meant to punish members of Russia ’ s inner circle and sever them from the international financial system .
Barclays closed the Advantage Alliance account in late 2016 but another alleged Rotenberg account at the bank , Ayrton Development Limited , remained open until 2017 .
In July , a U.S. Senate investigation alleged the Rotenberg brothers used purchases of luxury art to evade sanctions .
Among the companies involved was Advantage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ obscure businessman in the 1990s to a billionaire during Putin ’ s 20 years in power .
He has made most of his money through contracts with the state or state-owned companies .
The information about the Rotenberg accounts were contained in a trove of 2,100 documents leaked from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ( FinCEN ) to BuzzFeed , which shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and more than 400 journalists around the world .
News agencies that took part in the investigation began publishing stories tied to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trove of documents indicates that over the period from 1999 to 2017 global banks moved more than $ 2 trillion in payments they believed were suspicious , raising questions about whether financial institutions and governments are doing enough to stop illicit money flows .
The documents show how major banks , including JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank , helped criminal networks around the world move and hide money .
The FinCEN documents consist of Suspicious Activity Reports ( SARS ) .
Banks file SARS with FinCEN when they have concerns about the legality of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the fifth major leak over the past six years exposing the depth of global corruption .
In half of the FinCEN reports , the banks didn ’ t have information about one or more entities behind the transactions , raising concerns about lax enforcement by financial institutions .
The U.S. and other governments have passed legislation in recent years that puts more pressure on banks to clamp down on illicit flows or face hefty fines .
Global banks filed more than 2 million SARS last year .
FinCEN , which has 333 employees @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fight against corruption , analysts have said .
The news organizations working on the FinCEN documents plan to publish more stories in the coming days about who else was behind suspicious financial flows .
The FinCEN dump is the latest breach of secretive global financial records since the 2017 leak of documents from Appleby and Estera , two offshore legal and corporate service providers .
Known as the Paradise Papers , they revealed the offshore financial dealings of politicians , celebrities , and business leaders .
With reporting by the BBC

Kremlin insider Arkady Rotenberg moved millions of dollars through one of Europe’s largest banks after the United States and EU sanctioned him, according to leaked documents published for the first time.
Rotenberg, a childhood friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, conducted $60 million in transactions through a company called Advantage Alliance at Barclays from 2012 through 2016, the BBC reported on September 20, citing documents from an arm of the U.S. Treasury Department.
Many of the transactions occurred after the United States and EU sanctioned Rotenberg in 2014 following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. The U.S. Treasury Department has also sanctioned Rotenberg's brother, Boris, and son, Igor.
The sanctions are meant to punish members of Russia’s inner circle and sever them from the international financial system.
Barclays closed the Advantage Alliance account in late 2016 but another alleged Rotenberg account at the bank, Ayrton Development Limited, remained open until 2017.
In July, a U.S. Senate investigation alleged the Rotenberg brothers used purchases of luxury art to evade sanctions. Among the companies involved was Advantage Alliance.
Rotenberg has gone from an obscure businessman in the 1990s to a billionaire during Putin’s 20 years in power. He has made most of his money through contracts with the state or state-owned companies.
The information about the Rotenberg accounts were contained in a trove of 2,100 documents leaked from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to BuzzFeed, which shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and more than 400 journalists around the world.
News agencies that took part in the investigation began publishing stories tied to the leaked documents on September 20.
The trove of documents indicates that over the period from 1999 to 2017 global banks moved more than $2 trillion in payments they believed were suspicious, raising questions about whether financial institutions and governments are doing enough to stop illicit money flows.
The documents show how major banks, including JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank, helped criminal networks around the world move and hide money.
The FinCEN documents consist of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARS). Banks file SARS with FinCEN when they have concerns about the legality of a transaction.
It represents at least the fifth major leak over the past six years exposing the depth of global corruption.
In half of the FinCEN reports, the banks didn’t have information about one or more entities behind the transactions, raising concerns about lax enforcement by financial institutions.
The U.S. and other governments have passed legislation in recent years that puts more pressure on banks to clamp down on illicit flows or face hefty fines.
Global banks filed more than 2 million SARS last year. FinCEN, which has 333 employees, is understaffed and underfunded for the fight against corruption, analysts have said.
The news organizations working on the FinCEN documents plan to publish more stories in the coming days about who else was behind suspicious financial flows.
The FinCEN dump is the latest breach of secretive global financial records since the 2017 leak of documents from Appleby and Estera, two offshore legal and corporate service providers.
Known as the Paradise Papers, they revealed the offshore financial dealings of politicians, celebrities, and business leaders.
With reporting by the BBC


rferl--2020-09-20--Global Banks Reported $2 Trillion In Suspicious Transactions Over Two Decades, New Report Shows

Global banks moved over a nearly two-decade period more than $ 2 trillion in payments they believed were suspicious , according to a new investigative report that raises questions about whether financial institutions and governments are doing enough to stop illicit money flows .
The report , published September 20 by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists , is based on thousands of leaked documents from the U.S. Treasury Department 's arm that investigates money laundering .
The documents show how major Western banks , including JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank , helped criminal networks around the world , including from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hide money .
It is at least the fifth major leak over the past six years exposing the depth of global corruption .
The 2,100 documents from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ( FinCEN ) were leaked to BuzzFeed and later shared them with more than 400 reporters around the globe for further investigation .
The FinCEN documents consist of Suspicious Activity Reports ( SARS ) dating from 1999 to 2017 .
Banks file SARS with FinCEN when they have concerns about the legality of a transaction .
In half of the FinCEN @ @ @ @ @ @ @ didn ’ t have information about one or more entities behind the transactions , according to the ICIJ , raising concerns about lax enforcement by financial institutions .
The U.S. and Western governments have passed legislation in recent years that puts more pressure on banks to clamp down on illicit flows or face hefty fines .
Banks globally filed more than 2 million SARS last year .
FinCEN , which has 333 employees , is understaffed and underfunded for the fight against corruption , analysts say .
The FinCEN documents published by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ company co-owned by Turkish gold smuggler Reza Zarrab made $ 1.25 billion in suspicious wire transactions involving Russian and offshore entities .
The documents also show that $ 11 billion in suspicious transactions flowed to and from Russia over the two-decade period , while $ 470 million flowed to and from Ukraine .
The news organizations working on the FinCEN documents plan to publish more stories in the coming days about who else was behind the suspicious financial flows .
The FinCEN dump is the latest breach of secretive global financial records since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Estera , two offshore legal and corporate service providers .
Known as the Paradise Papers , they revealed the offshore financial dealings of politicians , celebrities and business leaders .

Global banks moved over a nearly two-decade period more than $2 trillion in payments they believed were suspicious, according to a new investigative report that raises questions about whether financial institutions and governments are doing enough to stop illicit money flows.
The report, published September 20 by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, is based on thousands of leaked documents from the U.S. Treasury Department's arm that investigates money laundering.
The documents show how major Western banks, including JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank, helped criminal networks around the world, including from the former Soviet Union, move and hide money.
It is at least the fifth major leak over the past six years exposing the depth of global corruption.
The 2,100 documents from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) were leaked to BuzzFeed and later shared them with more than 400 reporters around the globe for further investigation.
The FinCEN documents consist of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARS) dating from 1999 to 2017. Banks file SARS with FinCEN when they have concerns about the legality of a transaction.
In half of the FinCEN reports received by BuzzFeed, the banks didn’t have information about one or more entities behind the transactions, according to the ICIJ, raising concerns about lax enforcement by financial institutions.
The U.S. and Western governments have passed legislation in recent years that puts more pressure on banks to clamp down on illicit flows or face hefty fines.
Banks globally filed more than 2 million SARS last year. FinCEN, which has 333 employees, is understaffed and underfunded for the fight against corruption, analysts say.
The FinCEN documents published by the ICIJ on September 20 show that a company co-owned by Turkish gold smuggler Reza Zarrab made $1.25 billion in suspicious wire transactions involving Russian and offshore entities.
The documents also show that $11 billion in suspicious transactions flowed to and from Russia over the two-decade period, while $470 million flowed to and from Ukraine.
The news organizations working on the FinCEN documents plan to publish more stories in the coming days about who else was behind the suspicious financial flows.
The FinCEN dump is the latest breach of secretive global financial records since the 2017 leak of documents from Appleby and Estera, two offshore legal and corporate service providers.
Known as the Paradise Papers, they revealed the offshore financial dealings of politicians, celebrities and business leaders.


rferl--2020-09-20--Siluanov: Belarus To Pay $330 Million In Gazprom Debt From New Russian Loan

Belarus will channel about $ 330 million of a new $ 1.5 billion loan from Russia to cover its outstanding @ @ @ @ @ Gazprom , Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov was quoted as saying by TASS on September @ @ @ @ @ Belarus the first $ 1 billion tranche of a $ 1.5 billion loan by the @ @ @ @ @ provide the remainder of the loan in 2021 .
The loan would help Belarus and @ @ @ @ @ debt obligations and support financial stability in the ex-Soviet country , Siluanov said earlier this @ @ @ @ @ agreed during a meeting on September 14 between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his embattled @ @ @ @ @ .
The meeting was the first between the two leaders since a wave of daily @ @ @ @ @ erupted following his disputed reelection in an August 9 poll .
Based on reporting by @ @ @

Belarus will channel about $330 million of a new $1.5 billion loan from Russia to cover its outstanding debt to Russian gas giant Gazprom, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov was quoted as saying by TASS on September 20.
Russia will send Belarus the first $1 billion tranche of a $1.5 billion loan by the end of the year and provide the remainder of the loan in 2021.
The loan would help Belarus and its state companies honor their debt obligations and support financial stability in the ex-Soviet country, Siluanov said earlier this week.
The loan was agreed during a meeting on September 14 between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his embattled Belarusian counterpart, Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
The meeting was the first between the two leaders since a wave of daily demonstrations demanding Lukashenka's resignation erupted following his disputed reelection in an August 9 poll.
Based on reporting by Reuters and TASS


rferl--2020-09-22--Belarusian Newspaper Faces Fine For Failing To Report Journalist Wounded In Protests

The editor in chief of Nasha Niva says the Belarusian newspaper has been told it faces a fine for failing to report to the authorities in a timely manner injuries suffered by one of its correspondents , who was shot in the leg by police during anti-government protests last month .
Officials `` warned us that Nasha Niva should be fined because it did n't report the injury and did n't conduct its own investigation , '' Yagor Martsinovich wrote on Facebook on September 21 .
Correspondent Natalia Lubnevskaya has spent 38 days in the hospital after sustaining the gunshot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the day after the August 9 presidential election that gave incumbent Alyaksandr Lukashenka a landslide victory , sparking opposition claims of a rigged vote .
Under Belarusian law , employers can face fines up to about $ 525 for failing to report on time a work-related injury or failing to conduct a probe into the incident .
Martsinovich said that the journalist 's case was an unprecedented situation for the newspaper .
He said they had been in contact with the authorities as they try to establish what documents they needed to submit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and beaten by police amid the ongoing government crackdown over the protests .

The editor in chief of Nasha Niva says the Belarusian newspaper has been told it faces a fine for failing to report to the authorities in a timely manner injuries suffered by one of its correspondents, who was shot in the leg by police during anti-government protests last month.
Officials "warned us that Nasha Niva should be fined because it didn't report the injury and didn't conduct its own investigation," Yagor Martsinovich wrote on Facebook on September 21.
Correspondent Natalia Lubnevskaya has spent 38 days in the hospital after sustaining the gunshot wound as she covered a mass protest the day after the August 9 presidential election that gave incumbent Alyaksandr Lukashenka a landslide victory, sparking opposition claims of a rigged vote.
Under Belarusian law, employers can face fines up to about $525 for failing to report on time a work-related injury or failing to conduct a probe into the incident.
Martsinovich said that the journalist's case was an unprecedented situation for the newspaper. He said they had been in contact with the authorities as they try to establish what documents they needed to submit.
Thousands of people have been detained and beaten by police amid the ongoing government crackdown over the protests.


rferl--2020-09-22--Pakistani Court Sentences Two Men To Death For Role In 2012 Fire That Killed Over 260

An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan 's largest city , Karachi , has sentenced two men to death after convicting them @ @ @ @ @ in 2012 that killed more than 260 garment factory workers .
The court found that @ @ @ @ @ ablaze on September 11 , 2012 , because of the nonpayment of extortion money by @ @ @ @ @ Four other people , including Rauf Siddiqui , the then-provincial minister for commerce and industries @ @ @ @ @ case .
Survivors told stories of people trapped in the Ali Enterprise factory in Baldia @ @ @ @ @ because the building 's doors were locked .
The incident is considered the deadliest industrial @ @ @ @ @ .
With reporting by Reuters and dawn.com

An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, has sentenced two men to death after convicting them of setting an industrial fire in 2012 that killed more than 260 garment factory workers.
The court found that the men set the building ablaze on September 11, 2012, because of the nonpayment of extortion money by the factory's owners.
Four other people, including Rauf Siddiqui, the then-provincial minister for commerce and industries, were acquitted in the case.
Survivors told stories of people trapped in the Ali Enterprise factory in Baldia Town, near Karachi, because the building's doors were locked.
The incident is considered the deadliest industrial fire in Pakistan's history.
With reporting by Reuters and dawn.com


rferl--2020-09-22--Russian Security Agents Detain Vissarion, Leader Of Isolated Siberian Religious Sect

MOSCOW – Federal Security Agency ( FSB ) agents in Siberia ’ s Krasnoyarsk region have arrested the head of an isolated messianic sect in a massive raid on the group ’ s remote settlement .
Dozens of law enforcement vans , buses , ambulances , and helicopters participated in the September 22 raid at the City of the Sun settlement , in which Church of the Last Testament leader Sergei Torop , known as Vissarion , and his assistants , Vadim Redkin and Vladimir Vedernikov , were taken into custody and whisked away by helicopter .
The Interfax news @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out by agents of the FSB and the Investigative Committee .
“ Sergei Torop , Vadim Redkin , and Vladimir Vedernikov -- leaders of the local religious organization the Church of the Last Testament , have been detained , ” an unidentified law enforcement source told the state TASS news agency .
“ Since very early this morning , investigative activities have been under way in southern Krasnoyarsk Krai.
” Some 200 church members reportedly live at the City of the Sun settlement , which is one of about 40 such church communities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ detained at the nearby church compound of Petropavlovka .
Church of the Last Testament member Aleksandr Staroverov posted to social media a video showing masked agents with automatic weapons searching the City of the Sun settlement in southern Krasnoyarsk Krai .
Russian state media said the men were detained on suspicion of “ inflicting grievous bodily harm ” and “ creating a nonprofit organization that infringes on the rights of citizens.
” No details about the charges were reported .
Agents were reportedly searching the settlement for weapons , ammunition , and banned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a criminal investigation into the group was opened after members reportedly attacked a correspondent for REN-TV .
Torop , a 59-year-old former traffic-police officer , founded the Church of the Last Testament in 1991 , and it was officially registered as a legal religious organization in 1995 .
The group claims some 10,000 followers , mostly living in southern parts of the Krasnoyarsk region .
The group bars members from eating meat , using tobacco or alcohol , or using money .
Torop also has followers abroad , particularly in Germany .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ teachings -- which combine elements of Russian Orthodoxy and Buddhism with strong elements of collectivism and environmentalism -- have been translated into German .
The church claims a large swath of southern Krasnoyarsk Krai , which it calls the Tiberkul religious settlement .
With reporting by Kommersant , REN-TV , TASS , and Interfax

MOSCOW – Federal Security Agency (FSB) agents in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region have arrested the head of an isolated messianic sect in a massive raid on the group’s remote settlement.
Dozens of law enforcement vans, buses, ambulances, and helicopters participated in the September 22 raid at the City of the Sun settlement, in which Church of the Last Testament leader Sergei Torop, known as Vissarion, and his assistants, Vadim Redkin and Vladimir Vedernikov, were taken into custody and whisked away by helicopter.
The Interfax news agency reported that the raid was carried out by agents of the FSB and the Investigative Committee.
“Sergei Torop, Vadim Redkin, and Vladimir Vedernikov -- leaders of the local religious organization the Church of the Last Testament, have been detained,” an unidentified law enforcement source told the state TASS news agency. “Since very early this morning, investigative activities have been under way in southern Krasnoyarsk Krai.”
Some 200 church members reportedly live at the City of the Sun settlement, which is one of about 40 such church communities in the region. Vedernikov was reportedly detained at the nearby church compound of Petropavlovka.
Church of the Last Testament member Aleksandr Staroverov posted to social media a video showing masked agents with automatic weapons searching the City of the Sun settlement in southern Krasnoyarsk Krai.
Russian state media said the men were detained on suspicion of “inflicting grievous bodily harm” and “creating a nonprofit organization that infringes on the rights of citizens.” No details about the charges were reported.
Agents were reportedly searching the settlement for weapons, ammunition, and banned “extremist” literature.
Last month, a criminal investigation into the group was opened after members reportedly attacked a correspondent for REN-TV.
Torop, a 59-year-old former traffic-police officer, founded the Church of the Last Testament in 1991, and it was officially registered as a legal religious organization in 1995. The group claims some 10,000 followers, mostly living in southern parts of the Krasnoyarsk region.
The group bars members from eating meat, using tobacco or alcohol, or using money.
Torop also has followers abroad, particularly in Germany. Seven volumes of the church’s teachings -- which combine elements of Russian Orthodoxy and Buddhism with strong elements of collectivism and environmentalism -- have been translated into German.
The church claims a large swath of southern Krasnoyarsk Krai, which it calls the Tiberkul religious settlement.
With reporting by Kommersant, REN-TV, TASS, and Interfax


rferl--2020-09-22--Iranian Protester Dies In Custody, Opposition Website Reports

A man who took part in Iran ’ s anti-establishment protests in November has died in a detention center in Tehran , the opposition website Kalame reported .
Nader Mokhtari , 35 , died over the weekend at the Kahrizak detention center , Kalame reported .
Iranian officials have not commented on the report .
Mokhtari had slipped into a coma after being beaten with truncheons by security forces during a protest in the city of Karaj , west of Tehran , the report said .
He regained consciousness in late March and was transferred to Kahrizak , where he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and doctors , the report said .
Kalame said Mokhtari ’ s body has not been yet handed over to his family , which , according to the report , is under “ severe pressure ” to remain silent .
Amnesty International has said that at least 304 people were killed in the state crackdown on the November protests that erupted following a sudden hike in the price of gasoline .
Iranian authorities have dismissed as exaggerated the death toll reported by Amnesty and other international rights groups , but have not published @ @ @ @

A polytechnic school in Russia’s Tatarstan, a region some 900 kilometers east of Moscow, is using manufacturing facilities that are part of a nearby special economic zone to assemble Iranian attack drones and are increasingly turning to underage students as laborers, many of whom often work in exploitative conditions.
The revelations at Alabuga Polytechnic University raise troubling implications about the lengths that Russian authorities are going to in order to boost the war effort and how the advanced Iranian weaponry -- which is increasingly used to bombard Ukrainian cities and has only recently begun to be manufactured inside Russia -- could contribute to escalating tensions and rising civilian casualties.
The use of underage students as drone factory workers and the details of the manufacturing facilities were first reported by Russian independent media outlets Protokol and Razvorot, which published a series of investigations in July.
Since then, RFE/RL’s Idel.Realities has spoken with students who describe grueling working conditions and interviewed dozens of parents whose children have been enrolled at Alabuga Polytechnic University -- some as young at 15 -- who say that their children were forced to work exceedingly long hours, often without proper breaks or meals, and under hostile conditions that have deeply affected their mental health.
“My son enrolled and 2 1/2 months later he called for me to take him away,” Zhanna, who asked to be identified only by her first name to protect against reprisals for speaking about the operation, told RFE/RL. “He said to me on the phone, ‘Come and get me or I’ll die,’ so I picked him up immediately.”
Zhanna, who asked that her underage son’s name also not be used, says that she sent him from Nizhny Novgorod to study at Alabuga Polytechnic University in 2022 because of its reputation as a leading technical institution inside Russia.
The school offered students -- often between the ages of 15-18 -- an opportunity to get vocational training as part of a dual program that combines a classroom education with practical work experience. Students were also promised an opportunity to work and earn a locally competitive salary of up to 70,000 rubles ($700) a month as part of the work experience program that could further their career growth.
Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.
But, instead, those enrolled were encouraged and in some cases pressured into working at the drone facility, where the salaries of the mostly underage laborers are contingent on meeting tough production quotas.
“This is a textbook definition of what constitutes exploitation,” Sergei Podsytnik, an investigative journalist at Protokol who worked on the series of reports, told RFE/RL. “[Students] assemble drones, with the work taking priority over their studies.”
The pressure to fulfill these quotas has allegedly led to strenuous back-to-back days -- with some shifts lasting up to 15 hours -- with little time for sleep or adequate sustenance. Overtime work is often unpaid, further highlighting potential labor violations. Exhausted students also reported not always meeting their quotas, which led to them not earning the salary initially promised by the school. Many students came from disadvantaged backgrounds and relied on their earnings to cover costs for tuition, room, and board and would send the remainder home.
Other parents, such as Marina, said she decided to take her daughter out of the program when she discovered that she was working in apparent unsafe conditions and that staff from the school had instructed students not to tell their parents about the drone assembly work.
“This was the last straw for me,” Marina, who also asked for her identity to be concealed, told RFE/RL. “This is a dangerous production process that involves dangerous chemicals. They also forbid the kids from telling everything to their parents.”
RFE/RL sent multiple requests for comment to various staff and administrators at Alabuga Polytechnic University but received no replies.
Making Iranian Drones In Russia
The complicated and concerning dynamic at Alabuga Polytechnic University stems from growing military cooperation between Iran and Russia that has accelerated since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Iran has said it provided drones to Russia before the start of the war, but not since. However, U.S. intelligence officials have warned for months of continued deliveries and deepening cooperation between Moscow and Tehran, saying the two sides were exploring how to set up a manufacturing plant for Iranian drones inside Russia.
According to The Wall Street Journal, an Iranian delegation visited Yelabuga in Tatarstan on January 5, touring a potential site for such a factory at the Alabuga special economic zone close to Alabuga Polytechnic University. U.S. officials released satellite images in April of the plant being built.
Russia already possesses an array of unarmed aerial vehicles, or UAVs, which are used mainly for surveillance and artillery spotting, but has turned increasingly to Tehran for attack drones.
After being forced to abandon Ukrainian territory that its troops captured in the early stretches of the war, Moscow shifted to a strategy of relentless air assaults on Ukrainian cities. These attacks often rely on a combination of cruise missiles and self-detonating drones packed with explosives to knock out electricity and running water for the civilian population in Ukraine.
So far, Iran has provided Russia mostly with so-called "suicide" drones, known as the Shahed-136, that contain a modest amount of explosives that can detonate when the drones crash into targets, military experts say.
In acquiring its own domestic assembly line, Russia could dramatically increase its stockpile of the relatively inexpensive but highly destructive weapons systems.
WATCH: Russia has resorted to using Shahed-136 drones from Iran in its war on Ukraine. Ukraine says it's already downed many of the drones, which work by slamming into their intended target, laden with explosives. Ordinary Ukrainians say they can already recognize the sound of the drones, which use two-stroke engines like lawnmowers or motorbikes. Iran has denied supplying the drones to Russia.
The arrangement also offers substantial economic and political benefits for Iran, which has sought to portray itself as neutral in the Ukraine war. The appearance of Iranian-made drones over Ukrainian cities, however, has triggered threats of new economic sanctions from the West. The United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom have also all issued rules in recent months designed to cut off the flow of drone components to Russia and Iran.
The Washington Post reported in November 2022, citing unnamed U.S. intelligence officials, that the agreement to deliver Iranian drone schematics and materials for manufacture in Russia resulted from Iranian leaders believing that the arrangement would allow Tehran to avert new sanctions.
Foreign Recruitment And Patriotic Education
Alabuga Polytechnic University is formally not a college. All of its students are officially enrolled at nearby Yelabuga Polytechnic College, with the Alabuga institution existing on paper as a specialized program for students looking to break into high-tech industries.
Currently, about 1,000 students are studying at Alabuga Polytechnic University, with several hundred of them -- most of whom are between the ages of 15 and 17 -- involved in assembling the Iranian drones.
In addition to the work on the drones, there are other signs that point to blurred lines in Russia between the education system and the country’s military amid the war in Ukraine.
According to current and former Alabuga Polytechnic University students, team-building and organized extracurricular activities through the school often take on a “patriotic” character that may be designed to expose students to official government narratives of international events or echo talking points from state television.
Organized paintball games have become a mainstay for students, especially first-year arrivals, in which they are encouraged to compete against one another and then play together against more experienced outside players. Teachers and administration officials regularly refer to paintball as being part of a “patriotic” education needed to complement the technical aspect of their studies.
In one instance, a group of new students competed in paintball as Soviet soldiers against outside players who were dressed as troops from Nazi Germany in a capture-the-flag competition meant to simulate the World War II battle of Stalingrad. According to one student, the Nazi flag contained the compass symbol used by the NATO military alliance instead of the swastika used by Nazi Germany.
Other instances of political teachings from staff are more direct. In a recording obtained by RFE/RL from June 16, a senior administrator can be heard telling the teenagers that NATO launched a hybrid war against Russia back in 2011 and that it has slowly become more overt. The man then goes on to tell students that their hard work and exceeding long days at the drone factory are part of a nationwide struggle against the West and that their patriotism will be rewarded.
Several students and parents identified the man in the recording as Timur Shagivaleev, the director-general of the special economic zone where Alabuga Polytechnic University and the drone factory operate.
Shagivaleev did not respond to RFE/RL’s request for comment.
The man in the recording then goes on to tell students not to take holidays and to continue working “even if it's mom's birthday,” before ending his speech with, “Long live our great country.”
WATCH: Amid a new wave of Russian drone attacks on Ukraine, analysts in Kyiv are gaining useful intelligence from a collection of downed Russian aerial weapons. They have been studying the remains of Iranian Shahed drones and Russian Kinzhal missiles, among others.
Multiple current and former students told RFE/RL that students who work in the drone factory are often praised by staff, while those who have refused or asked to be reassigned due to the high workload are often publicly shamed. In some instances -- according to recordings heard by RFE/RL -- staff even encourage students to bully others who are not deemed “patriotic” enough.
According to Protokol and Razvorot’s investigations, Alabuga Polytechnic University has also turned toward recruiting foreign students to enroll. The majority of them come from African countries, but also from Central Asia and Azerbaijan, where they are promised “world class” salaries as part of the dual-track world experience program.
However, these foreign students are then given low-skill and menial tasks around the campus and the special economic zone, such as janitorial work, and are also paid lower salaries than initially promised.
Written by Reid Standish based on reporting by RFE/RL’s Idel.Realities


rferl--2020-09-22--Defiant Rohani Tells UN That U.S. Can Impose 'Neither Negotiations Nor War'

Iran 's president , Hassan Rohani , told the UN General Assembly on September 22 that Tehran rejected U.S. efforts to make his country `` a bargaining chip in U.S. elections and domestic policy . ''
He said the United States could force `` neither negotiations nor war '' on Iran .
The United States on September 21 announced new sanctions against Iran 's Defense Ministry and other bodies involved in its nuclear and weapons program , continuing a policy it describes as `` maximum pressure '' in response to `` malign behavior '' by Tehran .
“ The United @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on us , ” Rohani said .
“ Life is hard under sanctions .
However , life is harder without independence.
” The United States this week imposed sanctions on more than two dozen people and entities involved in Iran 's atomic activities or its missile and conventional weapons programs as Washington unilaterally seeks to enforce a UN arms embargo against the Middle East nation .
Rohani said `` any U.S. administration after the upcoming [ U.S. ] elections [ in November ] will have no choice but to surrender to the resilience @ @ @ @ @ @ @ punishments are part of a new sanctions offensive by the Trump administration that rests in part on a `` snapback '' clause from the 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers that the United States abandoned two years ago .
`` The United States has now restored UN sanctions on Iran , ” President Donald Trump said in a statement after he signed an executive order spelling out how Washington will enforce the `` snapback . ''
`` My actions today send a clear message to the Iranian regime and those in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up to Iran . ''
The U.S. effort has prompted objections from China and Russia and increased frictions between Washington and some European allies over the United States ' legal right to reinstate the embargo .
French President Emmanuel Macron said in his video address to the UN General Assembly on September 22 that Europe `` will not compromise '' with the United States over the sanctions mechanism .
`` This would undermine the unity of the [ UN ] Security Council and the integrity of its decisions , and it would run @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the region , '' Macron said .
The Trump administration reimposed U.S. sanctions on Iran two years ago , after withdrawing from the 2015 deal .
A week ago , Tehran warned Washington against making a `` strategic mistake '' after Trump said that any attack by Iran would be met with a far greater response in reaction to a news report that said that Iran planned to assassinate a U.S. diplomat to avenge the killing of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in January .
Any `` new strategic mistake '' by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` decisive response from Iran , '' Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei told a news conference on September 15 .
Hours earlier , Trump had tweeted : `` Any attack by Iran , in any form , against the United States will be met with an attack on Iran that will be 1,000 times greater in magnitude ! ''
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a virtual address to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on September 21 that Iran is prepared for a full exchange of prisoners with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ question about whether Tehran would free Iranian-American father and son Baquer and Siamak Namazi , Zarif said the only way for him to have influence on the courts is through a swap for Iranians he claimed the United States is holding unjustly .
Washington has long demanded that Iran release U.S. citizens including Baquer and Siamak Namazi , who were jailed in 2016 and 2015 , respectively .
Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP


rferl--2020-09-22--U.S. Envoy Says Violence In Afghanistan 'Too High,' Expects More Peace Talks Setbacks

A senior U.S. envoy for Afghanistan on September 22 warned that violence there remains unacceptably high and Washington expects more setbacks in ongoing peace talks between Taliban militants and the Afghan government .
Veteran diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad 's comments come as the warring sides remain far apart on even basic issues 10 days into talks in Qatar meant to end two decades of war .
He was speaking at a hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives .
`` By any measure , current levels of violence are too high , '' Khalilzad said .
`` We know that reductions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a February agreement between the Taliban and the United States allowing U.S. forces to withdraw in exchange for Taliban promises on terrorism .
But the militant group has refused to agree to a cease-fire , and the violence in Afghanistan continues .
In recent months , the Taliban has pledged to respect women 's rights under Shari ’ a law , but many educated women who have grown up since the Taliban were ousted in 2001 for harboring Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin laden have doubts .
At the September 22 House hearing , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after 20 years of war , billions of dollars , and thousands of deaths , the withdrawal of U.S. forces could end education for Afghan girls .
`` I want to assure the Afghan women that we will be with them , '' Khalilzad said .
Since the talks opened in Qatar on September 12 , the two sides reportedly remain far from agreement on virtually every issue .
`` While we have reasons to be hopeful , we are under no illusions about the challenges ahead ... .
We expect that there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Khalilzad said .
He added that Washington and allies were looking at an agreement between Afghanistan and Pakistan so that neither side 's territory would be used to attack the other .
`` We 're hoping that by the time that these other negotiations are over , we could also achieve success in that regard , '' Khalilzad , who recently returned from Doha , said .

The education of girls and women is universally accepted in more than 200 countries and territories, including nearly 50 Muslim-majority nations.
But Afghanistan’s hard-line Islamist Taliban rulers have banned teenage girls from attending school after the sixth grade since they returned to power two years ago. The ban was extended in December to women in universities.
Countless protests by Afghans inside the country, pressure from the international community, and lobbying by Muslim scholars and clerics have failed to convince the fundamentalist Taliban leaders to reopen schools.
Experts are divided over whether the ban is rooted in how the Taliban’s interpretation of Islam is shaped by conservative Pashtun tribal customs and cultural practices or if it is prompted by how senior Taliban ideologues interpret Islamic teachings.
Most Taliban leaders are ethnic Pashtun, Sunni Muslim clerics. Many were educated in Deobandi madrasahs in neighboring Pakistan. Deobandism emerged as a puritanical Islamic revivalist movement in 19-century British Colonial India. Based on the Sunni Hanafi school of jurisprudence, it is a prominent strain among Islamists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Tribal Influences
Sami Yousafzai, a veteran Afghan journalist and commentator, argues that the Taliban restrictions against women are linked to social customs and cultural practices in eastern and southern Afghanistan.
Most Taliban leaders come from various Pashtun rural tribal communities in these regions bordering Pakistan.
"They believe that a woman's place is either inside a house or in a grave," Yousafzai said of the basic Taliban belief influenced by the status of women in the families of clerics and religious leaders in these Pashtun regions.
“Women living in the households of the current Taliban policymakers were never educated and never left their homes,” said Yousafzai, who has tracked the Islamist group since it emerged as a ragtag militia in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar in late 1994. “These women never performed any government or nongovernmental jobs.”
Yousafzai says the Taliban backs policies shaped by this worldview by leaning on Islamic teachings supporting such ideas. He says Taliban leaders rely on sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad that discourage women from leaving their homes.
“Their primary belief is that pubescent girls should not leave home under any circumstance,” he said. “This is why they view women leaving home for education or work as engaging in moral corruption.”
In Afghanistan, a Muslim nation of some 40 million people, activists and rights advocates accuse the Taliban of implementing "gender apartheid" by denying women education, work, freedom of movement, and deciding how they can appear in public.
Most Muslims agree that Islam allows women to get an education. Yet the Taliban publicly says that it will allow girls access to education only after ensuring complete gender segregation and other unspecified conditions.
Almost all Afghan secondary schools were gender segregated and universities imposed a strict separation between men and women after the Taliban takeover.
Yousafzai says in conservative and traditional Muslim societies around the world, some clerics also favor restrictions on women's education, work, and their role in public life. But the governments in those countries usually oppose or limit such ideas.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia -- one of the most conservative Sunni Muslim nations -- has allowed women to drive and granted them freedom of movement without a male guardian. These steps are part of a reform and modernity drive by Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.
The Taliban ban on education has invited universal condemnation from Muslims globally.
“The Taliban's ban on women's education is not rooted in [the Islamic] Shari’a law but rather reflects cultural biases that contradict the teachings of Islam,” said Salam al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in the United States.
He said that contrary to Taliban practices, “Islam emphasizes the importance of seeking knowledge and encourages all individuals, regardless of gender, to acquire an education.”
Historical Conflict
But Islamic scholars and those who have attempted to convince the Taliban about reopening girls schools offer a different explanation.
John Mohammad Butt, an Islamic scholar and former BBC broadcaster who is the only Westerner to graduate from India’s Darul Uloom Deoband, argues that the Taliban's policy on girls' education is not tribal but shaped by the century-old conflict over modern education.
“The problem is that girls' education in Afghanistan -- indeed, contemporary education in general -- has generally been introduced in Afghanistan in line with a secular agenda,” he said.
In the 1920s, a coalition of conservative clerics and tribal and community leaders deposed reformist King Amanullah Khan. He wanted to modernize Afghanistan along Turkish leader Kamal Ataturk's secular lines and championed modern education and rights for women.
This opposition to modernity and secularism continued, and conservative clerics opposed women's education and work. It became a key part of the Islamist opposition to the pro-Soviet Afghan communist governments after the April 1978 military coup that ended the Afghan monarchy. The mujahedin accused the communists of spreading immorality by promoting women’s education and empowerment.
“This has led to particular wariness on the part of conservative circles in Afghanistan with regard to girls' education,” Butt said.
'Deep Ideological Conviction'
Obaidullah Baheer, a political science lecturer at the American University of Afghanistan, became part of an effort to rescind the ban by talking to the Taliban last year.
But he says the effort failed because “the ban is a matter of deep ideological conviction” for the current supreme leader of the Taliban, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada.
Baheer says that the most prominent Taliban leaders have studied in Pakistani madrasahs and were thus disconnected from village and tribal life.
“They have been indoctrinated by the Deobandi school of thought so that they now enforce the strictest version of Islam on the Afghan population,” he said.
He argues that the ban on girls’ schools is a deliberate policy championed by Akhundzada, who he says has endorsed Taliban Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani's Arabic language book The Islamic Emirate And Its System. In this book, Haqqani supports a fringe Islamic opinion of preferring the choice of one of the Prophet Muhammad's wives, Sawdah Bint Zam'ah, who chose to stay at home until her death.
Baheer says Haqqani ignores his other wives and other female companions that played an active role in many sectors of society and how they served as students and teachers for men.
“This fringe opinion is not held by all Taliban leaders but is one that the current absolute sovereign, the Taliban emir, seems to be convinced of,” he said.
Butt says that even Haqqani has acknowledged the principle that if there is something that women need to act upon, then that is also something that women need to learn about.
“I hope the Taliban authorities will come to realize in the not-too-distant future that education for women will make Afghan women into better Muslims,” he says. “It will enable them to make a stronger contribution to the well-being of their country.”
Two years after grappling with the issue, Western diplomats appear to be encouraging Afghan conservative and clerical circles to find ways to end the ban.
Tom West, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, recently tweeted that Afghan women must be educated and contribute to the economy to help their country stand on its own two feet.
“If change to policies is made, it will be because Afghans have asked for it, not a result of foreign requests,” he wrote.


rferl--2020-09-22--EU Urges Ukraine To Work 'Constructively' With IMF To Unlock Brussels Aid

The European Union ’ s top diplomat said on September 22 that Kyiv needs to work “ constructively ” with the International Monetary Fund ( IMF ) to secure EU aid to cope with the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic .
Threats to the independence of law enforcement bodies and the central bank have hobbled a $ 5 billion IMF deal since it was signed in June and raised red flags with Kyiv 's main Western backers about progress on reforms .
`` We also stand ready to provide 1.2 billion [ euros ] in macrofinancial assistance to help @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus has created , '' visiting EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said .
`` And Ukraine needs to constructively engage also with the International Monetary Fund and also the attached conditions about the rule of law of this help . ''
There has also been criticism of the process to select a new anti-corruption prosecutor , prompting a member of the European Parliament 's foreign affairs committee to say Ukraine 's visa-free access to EU countries was under threat .
Borrell said the EU had concluded at its latest review in July @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for that program to remain in place .
But he added the problems associated with picking a new anti-corruption prosecutor highlighted the need for ensuring `` the independence , effectiveness , and sustainability of the anti-corruption institutional framework and avoid politicization of the work of all law enforcement agencies.
” Based on reporting by Reuters and UNIAN

The European Union’s top diplomat said on September 22 that Kyiv needs to work “constructively” with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to secure EU aid to cope with the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Threats to the independence of law enforcement bodies and the central bank have hobbled a $5 billion IMF deal since it was signed in June and raised red flags with Kyiv's main Western backers about progress on reforms.
"We also stand ready to provide 1.2 billion [euros] in macrofinancial assistance to help to limit the economic fallout that the coronavirus has created," visiting EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
"And Ukraine needs to constructively engage also with the International Monetary Fund and also the attached conditions about the rule of law of this help."
There has also been criticism of the process to select a new anti-corruption prosecutor, prompting a member of the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee to say Ukraine's visa-free access to EU countries was under threat.
Borrell said the EU had concluded at its latest review in July that Ukraine continued to meet the conditions for that program to remain in place.
But he added the problems associated with picking a new anti-corruption prosecutor highlighted the need for ensuring "the independence, effectiveness, and sustainability of the anti-corruption institutional framework and avoid politicization of the work of all law enforcement agencies.”
Based on reporting by Reuters and UNIAN


rferl--2020-09-22--Putin Decrees 'Military-Political Work' For Russian National Guard

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the introduction of `` military-political work '' in the country 's National Guard , paving the way for Soviet-style ideological political education within its ranks .
A decree signed by Putin on September 21 gave no details about what the new practice would entail .
But it comes after National Guard ( Rosgvardia ) head Viktor Zolotov announced plans to introduce `` an institute of military-political instructors '' within Russia 's federal service .
`` We associate further development of moral and psychological support with the implementation of proposals worked out last year and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ creation of military-political bodies in the troops , '' Zolotov said during a National Guard board meeting in March .
The National Guard , formed in 2016 from Interior Ministry troops , is not part of the armed forces and answers to the president under his role as chairman of the national Security Council .
Zolotov , who holds the rank of army general , is a member of the Security Council and is seen as deeply loyal to Putin .
The new measure is the latest signal of a return to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ propaganda , a practice that began in 1919 in Soviet Russia but ended with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 .
In July 2018 , Putin decreed the establishment within the Defense Ministry of a Military-Political Directorate .
The directorate describes itself as being engaged in `` military-political propaganda and agitation '' ; `` maintaining the moral and political state of the military '' ; and `` the formation of an ideologically convinced personality of a serviceman . ''
Andrei Kolesnikov , a senior fellow and chair of the Russian domestic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , has suggested that the amended law expanding the role of the National Guard could be seen as a `` preparation for the revolt '' in Russia .
`` The Belarusian experience has been taken into account , '' he tweeted on September 21 , referring to the large protests against Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka after a disputed election , and to the violent police crackdown that has ensued .
`` Military-political work '' ( i.e .
incitement of hatred in the riot police against protesters ) will begin at Rosgvardia . ''

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the introduction of "military-political work" in the country's National Guard, paving the way for Soviet-style ideological political education within its ranks.
A decree signed by Putin on September 21 gave no details about what the new practice would entail.
But it comes after National Guard (Rosgvardia) head Viktor Zolotov announced plans to introduce "an institute of military-political instructors" within Russia's federal service.
"We associate further development of moral and psychological support with the implementation of proposals worked out last year and supported by the supreme commander-in-chief on the creation of military-political bodies in the troops," Zolotov said during a National Guard board meeting in March.
The National Guard, formed in 2016 from Interior Ministry troops, is not part of the armed forces and answers to the president under his role as chairman of the national Security Council.
Zolotov, who holds the rank of army general, is a member of the Security Council and is seen as deeply loyal to Putin.
The new measure is the latest signal of a return to the indoctrination of troops with political ideology and propaganda, a practice that began in 1919 in Soviet Russia but ended with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
In July 2018, Putin decreed the establishment within the Defense Ministry of a Military-Political Directorate.
The directorate describes itself as being engaged in "military-political propaganda and agitation"; "maintaining the moral and political state of the military"; and "the formation of an ideologically convinced personality of a serviceman."
Andrei Kolesnikov, a senior fellow and chair of the Russian domestic politics program at the Carnegie Moscow Center, has suggested that the amended law expanding the role of the National Guard could be seen as a "preparation for the revolt" in Russia.
"The Belarusian experience has been taken into account," he tweeted on September 21, referring to the large protests against Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka after a disputed election, and to the violent police crackdown that has ensued. "Military-political work" (i.e. incitement of hatred in the riot police against protesters) will begin at Rosgvardia."
With reporting by RFE/RL's Russian Service


rferl--2020-09-22--EU Summit Delay Postpones Belarus Sanctions Debate

A summit of European Union leaders slated for later this week in Brussels has been postponed for a week so that European Council President Charles Michel can go into quarantine after a security guard tested positive for the coronavirus .
The bloc 's 27 leaders will instead gather on October 1 and 2 , officials said .
Michel `` today learned that a security officer , with whom he was in close contact early last week , tested positive for COVID , '' spokesman Barend Leyts said on September 22 .
EU leaders and ministers have resumed in-person meetings under @ @ @ @ @ @ @ abide by Belgium 's lockdown rules imposed to battle the spread of the coronavirus .
The planned meeting is expected to include debate over possible EU sanctions against Belarus over five-term President Alyaksandr Lukashenka 's disputed reelection and authorities ' crackdown on opposition leaders demanding his resignation and a new vote .
Foreign ministers have reportedly been unable to agree on a list of Belarusian sanctions due to objections from Cyprus , which wants to link those actions to its unrelated dispute with Turkey over gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adopt these [ Belarus ] sanctions , it has not been possible to do that today because the required unanimity was not reached , '' EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters after hosting talks on September 21 .
Unanimity is required in such cases , and even countries like France that sympathize with Cyprus have reportedly been urging Nicosia to decouple the Belarusian and Turkish issues .
`` It is regrettable that today we could not decide on sanctions on violations of human rights there due to ' a hostage taking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics wrote on Twitter .
The EU vowed three weeks ago to impose sanctions on Belarusian officials whom the bloc blames for abuses against ongoing protests and electoral fraud that gave authoritarian Lukashenka a landslide victory in the country 's August 9 election .
So far , the bloc has put together a list of about 40 people it could sanction with asset freezes and travel bans in response to the crackdown .
Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya , who met EU foreign ministers in Brussels earlier this week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ more brave ” in its action as she showed them pictures of mass protests and police beatings .
Tsikhanouskaya told reporters that sanctions are a key tool to `` force the so-called authorities to start dialogue with us ” and that the EU should not recognize Lukashenka ’ s legitimacy .
The bloc reportedly has not yet agreed whether any sanctions list should include Lukashenka , who has repressed the opposition and independent news media during 26 years in power and refuses to talk with the protesters .
The deferred gathering of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on relations with Turkey , which have deteriorated in recent months due to the dispute with Greece and Cyprus about recent Turkish gas exploration in seas claimed by Nicosia .
Based on reporting by AP , AFP , and dpa

A summit of European Union leaders slated for later this week in Brussels has been postponed for a week so that European Council President Charles Michel can go into quarantine after a security guard tested positive for the coronavirus.
The bloc's 27 leaders will instead gather on October 1 and 2, officials said.
Michel "today learned that a security officer, with whom he was in close contact early last week, tested positive for COVID," spokesman Barend Leyts said on September 22.
EU leaders and ministers have resumed in-person meetings under physical-distancing rules, but EU officials still abide by Belgium's lockdown rules imposed to battle the spread of the coronavirus.
The planned meeting is expected to include debate over possible EU sanctions against Belarus over five-term President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's disputed reelection and authorities' crackdown on opposition leaders demanding his resignation and a new vote.
Foreign ministers have reportedly been unable to agree on a list of Belarusian sanctions due to objections from Cyprus, which wants to link those actions to its unrelated dispute with Turkey over gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.
"Although there is a clear will to adopt these [Belarus] sanctions, it has not been possible to do that today because the required unanimity was not reached," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters after hosting talks on September 21.
Unanimity is required in such cases, and even countries like France that sympathize with Cyprus have reportedly been urging Nicosia to decouple the Belarusian and Turkish issues.
"It is regrettable that today we could not decide on sanctions on violations of human rights there due to 'a hostage taking' by a member state," Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics wrote on Twitter.
The EU vowed three weeks ago to impose sanctions on Belarusian officials whom the bloc blames for abuses against ongoing protests and electoral fraud that gave authoritarian Lukashenka a landslide victory in the country's August 9 election.
So far, the bloc has put together a list of about 40 people it could sanction with asset freezes and travel bans in response to the crackdown.
Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who met EU foreign ministers in Brussels earlier this week, has pressed the bloc to be “more brave” in its action as she showed them pictures of mass protests and police beatings.
Tsikhanouskaya told reporters that sanctions are a key tool to "force the so-called authorities to start dialogue with us” and that the EU should not recognize Lukashenka’s legitimacy.
The bloc reportedly has not yet agreed whether any sanctions list should include Lukashenka, who has repressed the opposition and independent news media during 26 years in power and refuses to talk with the protesters.
The deferred gathering of EU leaders in Brussels will also focus on relations with Turkey, which have deteriorated in recent months due to the dispute with Greece and Cyprus about recent Turkish gas exploration in seas claimed by Nicosia.
Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and dpa


rferl--2020-09-22--Russian Icebreaker Arktika, Dubbed The 'Nuclear Titanic,' Sets Off On Maiden Arctic Voyage

The Arktika , Russia 's new nuclear-powered icebreaker championed by the Kremlin as the largest and most-powerful of its kind in the world , has set sail on its maiden voyage to the Arctic as part of the country ’ s efforts to tap the region 's commercial potential .
The vessel left St. Petersburg on September 22 and is expected to arrive at the Arctic port of Murmansk in two weeks .
Designed to transport liquefied natural gas from the Arctic , the vessel , dubbed by Greenpeace as the `` nuclear Titanic , '' stretches more than 173 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tall , and can break ice as thick as 3 meters .
Moscow has stepped up its construction of icebreakers in a bid to boost freight traffic along Russia 's Arctic coast , making the passage between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans navigable all year round .
`` The creation of a modern nuclear icebreaker fleet capable of ensuring regular year-round and safe navigation through the entire Northern Sea Route is a strategic task for our country , '' Vyacheslav Ruksha , head of Rosatom 's Northern Sea Route Directorate , said in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has said that the country 's Arctic fleet would operate at least 13 heavy-duty icebreakers , most of them powered by nuclear reactors .
The Arctic holds huge reserves of oil and gas that are being eyed by Russia and other countries including the United States , Canada , and Norway .
Two other similar vessels -- the Ural and the Sibir -- are under construction .

The Arktika, Russia's new nuclear-powered icebreaker championed by the Kremlin as the largest and most powerful of its kind in the world, has set sail on its maiden voyage to the Arctic as part of the country’s efforts to tap the region's commercial potential.*
The vessel left St. Petersburg on September 22 and is expected to arrive at the Arctic port of Murmansk in two weeks.
The Arktika stretches more than 173 meters in length, measures 15 meters tall, and can break ice as thick as 3 meters.
Moscow has stepped up its construction of icebreakers in a bid to boost freight traffic along Russia's Arctic coast, making the passage between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans navigable all year round.
"The creation of a modern nuclear icebreaker fleet capable of ensuring regular year-round and safe navigation through the entire Northern Sea Route is a strategic task for our country," Vyacheslav Ruksha, head of Rosatom's Northern Sea Route Directorate, said in a statement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the country's Arctic fleet would operate at least 13 heavy-duty icebreakers, most of them powered by nuclear reactors.
The Arctic holds huge reserves of oil and gas that are being eyed by Russia and other countries, including the United States, Canada, and Norway.
Two other similar vessels -- the Ural and the Sibir -- are under construction.
Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters
*CORRECTIONS: This story has been amended to remove an erroneous nickname for the vessel and a reference to it being designed to transport liquefied natural gas.


rferl--2020-09-22--Russia Says Time Running Out For Talks With U.S. Over New START Treaty

Russia says it has n't given the United States any new deadlines in talks over the New START treaty , the last remaining bilateral nuclear-arms pact , but there ca n't be any pause in discussions , as time is running out .
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on September 22 that Moscow saw the chances of extending the treaty as minimal , given the conditions being laid out by Washington .
The United States has said it wants any new nuclear arms-control treaty to cover all types of warheads , stronger verification and transparency measures , and bring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has rejected .
Ryabkov called the U.S. preconditions `` too far-fetched and devoid of appealing elements . ''
Ryabkov spoke after Marshall Billingslea , the U.S. special presidential envoy for arms control , told the Kommersant newspaper that Moscow must accept a joint agreement with Washington on extending the treaty before the U.S. presidential election in November .
`` I suspect that after President [ Donald ] Trump wins reelection , if Russia has not taken up our offer , that the price of admission , as we would say in the United @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
Ryabkov said that position constituted an ultimatum and lowered the chances of reaching any kind of agreement to extend the treaty .
Russia has said it is ready to extend the New START treaty without preconditions and warned there is not enough time to renegotiate a complicated new treaty .
New START , which caps the number of deployed long-range nuclear warheads each country can have , expires in February unless the two sides agree to extend it for five years .
Several rounds of talks between the two countries over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on a possible extension of the treaty .
With reporting by TASS , Reuters , and Interfax

Russian officials say they haven't given the United States any new deadlines in talks over the New START treaty, the last remaining bilateral nuclear arms pact, but that there can't be any pause in discussions as time is running out.
The United States has said it wants any new nuclear arms control treaty to cover all types of warheads, contain stronger verification and transparency measures, and bring China on board, a move Beijing has rejected.
"The issue of primary importance that should and must be promptly dealt with is, of course, the extension of the Russia-U.S. Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which will expire shortly, in February 2021," Russian President Vladimir Putin told the 75th UN General Assembly on September 22. "We are engaged in negotiations with our U.S. partners on the matter."
Putin added that Moscow "also expect[s] that mutual restraint would be exercised with regard to deploying new missile systems."
"I would like to add that as early as last year, Russia declared a moratorium on deploying ground-launched medium- and short-range missiles in Europe and other regions as long as the United States of America refrains from such actions," Putin said. "Unfortunately, we have not received any reaction to our proposal from either our U.S. partners or their allies."
Several rounds of talks between the two countries over the summer took place with no breakthrough on a possible extension of the START treaty.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said earlier on September 22 that Moscow sees the chances of extending the treaty as minimal given the conditions being laid out by Washington.
Ryabkov called the U.S. preconditions “too far-fetched and devoid of appealing elements."
Ryabkov spoke after Marshall Billingslea, the U.S. special presidential envoy for arms control, told the Kommersant newspaper that Moscow must accept a joint agreement with Washington on extending the treaty before the U.S. presidential election in November.
"I suspect that after President [Donald] Trump wins reelection, if Russia has not taken up our offer, that the price of admission, as we would say in the United States, goes up," Billingslea said.
Ryabkov said that position constituted an ultimatum and lowered the chances of reaching any kind of agreement to extend the treaty.
Russia has said it is ready to extend the New START without preconditions and warned there is not enough time to renegotiate a complicated new treaty.
New START, which caps the number of deployed long-range nuclear warheads each country can have, expires in February unless the two sides agree to extend it for five years.
In his UN speech, Putin announced a plan to propose a "binding agreement" to ban space-based weapons.
"Russia is putting forward an initiative to sign a binding agreement between all the leading space powers that would provide for the prohibition of the placement of weapons in outer space, threat or use of force against outer space objects," Putin said.
U.S. and Russian officials held talks in July on space security after the United States and Britain accused Moscow of having launched an anti-satellite weapon.
A one-day dialogue in Vienna on July 27 was said to have focused on space security and been planned months in advance.
U.S. Assistant Secretary for International Security and Nonproliferation Christopher Ford said before that gathering that "Moscow and Beijing have already turned space into a war-fighting domain."
The United States has said it proposed rules for responsible behavior in space that would be modeled on existing rules of war that are based on the principles of proportionality and humanity.
“Our hope is that this meeting will allow us to explore ways to increase security and stability in outer space as well as to advance the cause of developing norms of responsible behavior,” Ford said.
With reporting by TASS, Reuters, and Interfax


rferl--2020-09-23--Kosovo Veterans Report More 'Leaked' War Crime Files

Kosovar war veterans say that an unidentified man has again handed them files from a war crimes court in The Hague probing alleged crimes during and after the 1998-99 war , in what appears to be a security breach exposing protected witnesses .
It was the third such incident in two months that former rebel fighters reported receiving packages of court documents that include information on witnesses whose identities are meant to be protected to shield them from retribution .
A court spokesman warned that the veterans appeared to be trying to undermine the proper administration of justice .
Hysni @ @ @ @ @ @ @ former Kosovo Liberation Army ( UCK ) fighters , said that the masked man delivered the files -- copies of the originals -- to the group 's office on September 22 in the capital , Pristina .
`` It would be good if the local prosecutor 's office and the international ones probe and find who is bringing them and from where , '' Gucati said .
The Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Chambers ( KSC ) for war crimes is mandated to look into allegations that UCK members committed war crimes and crimes against @ @ @ @ @ @ @ under Kosovar law but is based in the Netherlands to shield witnesses from intimidation .
Christopher Bennett , spokesman for the Specialist Prosecutor ’ s Office ( SPO ) at the KSC , condemned the statements by the veterans group , which he said `` has on a number of occasions engaged in activities which I believe are aimed at undermining the proper administration of justice . ''
Bennett also commended journalists who were offered a copy of the documents for not publishing the files and acknowledging that such action would amount to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to take this opportunity to commend the ethical journalists throughout Kosovo who have refused to publish documents provided to them , as well as the multiple journalists who have voluntarily provided us with the documents they received from the KLA War Veterans Association and publicly acknowledged that participating in disseminating such information could be a crime under the Kosovo Criminal Code , '' Bennett said .
`` The SPO is committed to vigorously investigating and prosecuting individuals who commit any such crimes , including the disclosure of the identity of individuals who may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ information that could lead to their identification , '' he concluded .
Kosovar President Hashim Thaci , former parliament speaker Kadri Veseli , and others have been charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes , including murder , enforced disappearances , persecution , and torture .
A pretrial judge has n't made a decision on whether to proceed with their cases .
Both Thaci and Veseli have denied committing any crimes .
A statement from the embassies of France , Germany , Italy , Britain , and the United States last week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's mission .
Kosovo 's war of independence from Serbia left more than 10,000 people dead -- most of them ethnic Albanians from Kosovo .
More than 1,600 people remain unaccounted for .
The fighting ended after a 78-day NATO air campaign against Serbia .
Kosovo , which has a largely ethnic Albanian population , declared independence from Serbia in 2008 , a move recognized by many Western states but not Serbia or its allies Russia and China .
With reporting by AP and AFP

Kosovar war veterans say that an unidentified man has again handed them files from a war crimes court in The Hague probing alleged crimes during and after the 1998-99 war, in what appears to be a security breach exposing protected witnesses.
It was the third such incident in two months that former rebel fighters reported receiving packages of court documents that include information on witnesses whose identities are meant to be protected to shield them from retribution.
A court spokesman warned that the veterans appeared to be trying to undermine the proper administration of justice.
Hysni Gucati, head of the association of former Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) fighters, said that the masked man delivered the files -- copies of the originals -- to the group's office on September 22 in the capital, Pristina.
"It would be good if the local prosecutor's office and the international ones probe and find who is bringing them and from where," Gucati said.
The Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) for war crimes is mandated to look into allegations that UCK members committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the conflict.
It operates under Kosovar law but is based in the Netherlands to shield witnesses from intimidation.
Christopher Bennett, spokesman for the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office (SPO) at the KSC, condemned the statements by the veterans group, which he said "has on a number of occasions engaged in activities which I believe are aimed at undermining the proper administration of justice."
Bennett also commended journalists who were offered a copy of the documents for not publishing the files and acknowledging that such action would amount to a criminal act.
"I want to take this opportunity to commend the ethical journalists throughout Kosovo who have refused to publish documents provided to them, as well as the multiple journalists who have voluntarily provided us with the documents they received from the KLA War Veterans Association and publicly acknowledged that participating in disseminating such information could be a crime under the Kosovo Criminal Code," Bennett said.
"The SPO is committed to vigorously investigating and prosecuting individuals who commit any such crimes, including the disclosure of the identity of individuals who may be called before the court or any information that could lead to their identification," he concluded.
Kosovar President Hashim Thaci, former parliament speaker Kadri Veseli, and others have been charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, enforced disappearances, persecution, and torture.
A pretrial judge hasn't made a decision on whether to proceed with their cases. Both Thaci and Veseli have denied committing any crimes.
A statement from the embassies of France, Germany, Italy, Britain, and the United States last week urged people not to discredit the court's mission.
Kosovo's war of independence from Serbia left more than 10,000 people dead -- most of them ethnic Albanians from Kosovo. More than 1,600 people remain unaccounted for. The fighting ended after a 78-day NATO air campaign against Serbia.
Kosovo, which has a largely ethnic Albanian population, declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move recognized by many Western states but not Serbia or its allies Russia and China.
With reporting by AP and AFP


rferl--2020-09-23--Turkmen Inaction Worsening Food Crisis Amid Pandemic, Rights Groups Warn

The Turkmen government ’ s inaction in response to the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically worsened the country ’ s preexisting food crisis , Human Rights Watch ( HRW ) and the exile group Turkmenistan Initiative for Human Rights ( TIHR ) said .
The tightly controlled Central Asian nation has been facing price hikes and a shortage of subsidized food since 2016 .
The Turkmen government -- one of the most repressive in the world -- denies the existence of poverty in the country and has failed to provide relief to economically vulnerable groups , even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , HRW and TIHR said in a report on September 23 .
Titled Turkmenistan : Denial , Inaction Worsen Food Crisis , the report says that in the absence of a strategy to provide economic or social assistance to its people , the government is failing to meet its international obligations to ensure an adequate standard of living and the right to food .
“ With no effort to identify and assist the people most in need at this critical moment , Turkmenistan is callously neglecting the most basic norms of human rights @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” said Rachel Denber , deputy Europe and Central Asia director at HRW .
Ordinary people describe in the report their plight amid the food shortages , price hikes , and poverty .
“ Compared to a year ago , our family eats less , ” a Turkmen father of eight told TIHR in July 2020 .
“ That ’ s because we have less money , and [ food ] prices have gone up .
We ’ ve had problems getting food due to the lines and the shortages.
” A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that his family was spending 70 to 80 percent of their income on food .
A Turkmen pensioner said her family was spending almost all their income on food .
The government ’ s only assistance program provides subsidized food in so-called state shops , an affordable alternative to privately owned shops selling food at market prices .
But supplies began to falter in 2015-16 , after the global decline in oil prices started to hit the energy-rich nation ’ s state budget .
Declining income from energy exports since 2014 and several @ @ @ @ @ @ @ food supplies .
“ Our mother is the one who waits in lines at the state stores , ” said Sapar , a father of eight .
“ She gets up every day between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. and goes to stand in line.… Someone else may come to relieve her closer to the time the store opens .
Lines may be three to four hours long until it ’ s your turn.
” State media do not report on the shortages .
Instead , it strives to paint a rosy picture @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country is living in an “ era of greatness and happiness ” and frequently showing fully stocked , orderly shops .
Turkmenistan ’ s domestic food production only meets around 40 percent of national demand .
The rest is imported , with 80 percent of the imported foodstuff coming from neighboring Iran .
In early 2020 , the supply of subsidized food began to falter to an even greater degree , in part because of the border closure with Iran due to the pandemic .
Some imported food products , such as potatoes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ report said .
In the past 12 months , the market price of flour rose by 50 percent and cooking oil by 130 percent , it said .
At the same time , the global economic downturn threw many Turkmen out of work and slashed the remittances upon which many Turkmen families survive , and Covid-19 travel restrictions prevented people from traveling abroad for work .
As a result , people in Turkmenistan faced even more uncertain , demeaning , and sometimes insurmountable obstacles to obtaining adequate food , the report said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ immediate measures to make sure that people can get adequate food .
The government should also commission an independent , nationwide household survey to assess poverty and food security , make the data public , and use the information to ensure effective , affordable access to adequate , nutritious food for all members of society , the rights groups said .
Beside the state stores , the government should consider other ways to protect people from food insecurity , TIHR and HRW said .
These include food-voucher programs that allow people to purchase @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , or cash-transfer programs to people with incomes below the minimum subsistence level for an adequate standard of living .
The report said that Turkmen authorities should also reassess the contribution that currency controls -- limiting the ability to buy or sell foreign currency -- have on the rising prices of imported foods and the capacity to purchase food , and make appropriate changes to help ensure availability of and access to affordable food .

The Turkmen government’s inaction in response to the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically worsened the country’s preexisting food crisis, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the exile group Turkmenistan Initiative for Human Rights (TIHR) said.
The tightly controlled Central Asian nation has been facing price hikes and a shortage of subsidized food since 2016.
The Turkmen government -- one of the most repressive in the world -- denies the existence of poverty in the country and has failed to provide relief to economically vulnerable groups, even as unemployment has skyrocketed during the pandemic, HRW and TIHR said in a report on September 23.
Titled Turkmenistan: Denial, Inaction Worsen Food Crisis, the report says that in the absence of a strategy to provide economic or social assistance to its people, the government is failing to meet its international obligations to ensure an adequate standard of living and the right to food.
“With no effort to identify and assist the people most in need at this critical moment, Turkmenistan is callously neglecting the most basic norms of human rights, which include the right to food,” said Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at HRW.
Ordinary people describe in the report their plight amid the food shortages, price hikes, and poverty.
“Compared to a year ago, our family eats less,” a Turkmen father of eight told TIHR in July 2020. “That’s because we have less money, and [food] prices have gone up. We’ve had problems getting food due to the lines and the shortages.”
A Turkmen student told HRW in November 2019 that his family was spending 70 to 80 percent of their income on food. A Turkmen pensioner said her family was spending almost all their income on food.
The government’s only assistance program provides subsidized food in so-called state shops, an affordable alternative to privately owned shops selling food at market prices.
But supplies began to falter in 2015-16, after the global decline in oil prices started to hit the energy-rich nation’s state budget. Declining income from energy exports since 2014 and several poor harvests have constrained Turkmenistan’s food supplies.
“Our mother is the one who waits in lines at the state stores,” said Sapar, a father of eight. “She gets up every day between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. and goes to stand in line.… Someone else may come to relieve her closer to the time the store opens. Lines may be three to four hours long until it’s your turn.”
State media do not report on the shortages. Instead, it strives to paint a rosy picture of living standards, claiming that the country is living in an “era of greatness and happiness” and frequently showing fully stocked, orderly shops.
Turkmenistan’s domestic food production only meets around 40 percent of national demand. The rest is imported, with 80 percent of the imported foodstuff coming from neighboring Iran.
In early 2020, the supply of subsidized food began to falter to an even greater degree, in part because of the border closure with Iran due to the pandemic. Some imported food products, such as potatoes from Iran, disappeared entirely, the report said.
In the past 12 months, the market price of flour rose by 50 percent and cooking oil by 130 percent, it said.
At the same time, the global economic downturn threw many Turkmen out of work and slashed the remittances upon which many Turkmen families survive, and Covid-19 travel restrictions prevented people from traveling abroad for work.
As a result, people in Turkmenistan faced even more uncertain, demeaning, and sometimes insurmountable obstacles to obtaining adequate food, the report said.
It called on the government to take immediate measures to make sure that people can get adequate food. The government should also commission an independent, nationwide household survey to assess poverty and food security, make the data public, and use the information to ensure effective, affordable access to adequate, nutritious food for all members of society, the rights groups said.
Beside the state stores, the government should consider other ways to protect people from food insecurity, TIHR and HRW said. These include food-voucher programs that allow people to purchase goods at private shops or the bazaar, or cash-transfer programs to people with incomes below the minimum subsistence level for an adequate standard of living.
The report said that Turkmen authorities should also reassess the contribution that currency controls -- limiting the ability to buy or sell foreign currency -- have on the rising prices of imported foods and the capacity to purchase food, and make appropriate changes to help ensure availability of and access to affordable food.