Author: Mehrang

The US treaty ally is spending billions to arm itself for a conflict over Taiwan or the South China Sea it hopes will never comeIn the heart of Manila, where noise and chaos reign supreme, the American Cemetery and Memorial is an oasis of stillness. More than 50,000 fallen troops are honoured at the site – some with white marble headstones, but most as names etched into the Walls of the Missing, their remains never recovered. All but a handful were American soldiers. The cemetery does not commemorate the estimated 1 million Filipinos who also died in the Pacific War…

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said it is time to rekindle diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine. But both foreign and domestic responses to his proposal have been rather muted. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been trying to rekindle diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine© Thomas Kierok/ZDF/dpa/picture alliance In the halls of the Federal Chancellery in Berlin, it would appear the time for re-doubled diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine has come. In an interview with the German public broadcaster ZDF on Sunday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said: “I believe that now is the moment when…

Moscow (11 September/ 33.33). Russia waged a 2-year war of aggression against its neighbor, the Ukraine. Two years on, hundred thousand of deaths, families destroyed, Russia is no where near its 3-day goals of occupation. The Russian army slugs on, mile for mile, killed for killed. Vladimir Putin and his Siloviki continues a red army model. Heavy artillery, wave of men urging forward. The result, mass casualties. Total loss of life, and equipment. What does Russians do if in trouble. Reversing to its all bag of tricks. Spies and sabotage. Recent Russian sabotage operations across Europe were “reckless”, Moore said,…

Washington/Paris/Berlin (12/8 – 28.57). Today is the twenty-anniversary of the sinking of the Kursk. A painful experience. A true shocker. All hands are lost, the shortcomings of the Russian system fully exposed. But today is another experience. Kursk, the region. After ceremonial pageantry by the military commander, it is clear the great Red Army was ambushed. Hoodwinked by the Ukrainians who pulled off a surprise attack, a classic attack which has all the elements of a successful deception operation. Overwhelming strength, speed and first and foremost silence. Deception played a role keeping the Russian pre-occupied. Daily the news a filled…

Intrigue, implausible plotlines, dramatic downfalls, wild rumours, and lingering uncertainties. Just the latest ingredients around fresh speculation that major political transition may be looming. The political scene in Tajikistan is so dormant, it is tempting to ignore it completely. That would be a mistake. An intra-elite soap opera currently playing out in Dushanbe has it all: intrigue, implausible plotlines, dramatic downfalls, treachery, wild rumours, and lingering uncertainties. The story begins on May 11, when the Democratic Party (DPT), whose single member in parliament ostensibly occupies the ranks of the opposition, held an extraordinary congress. The event was held for the…

A report released by Freedom House on February 16 notes that more than 20 percent of the world’s national governments have reached beyond their borders since 2014 to forcibly silence exiled political activists, journalists, former regime insiders, and members of ethnic or religious minorities, according to new data released today by Freedom House. The analysis reportedly finds that transnational repression—a set of physical and digital tactics used by governments to smother dissent among political exiles or diaspora communities in other countries—is a growing global problem. According to the new data, 25 countries’ governments were responsible for 125 incidents of physical…

Dubai (27/2) Tajikistan’s existential project to build the colossal 335-meter-high Roghun hydropower dam is proceeding apace, but costs are spiralling, and to a level that is making it hard to see where the government is going to find the funds needed to finish the work. To complicate matters for Dushanbe, this is happening against the backdrop of calls from environmental watchdogs for international development lenders to pause the allocation of any future funds to Tajikistan pending a fresh assessment of the project. The extent of the budget overshoot is striking. In a press conference on February 16, Finance Minister Faiziddin…

Four state offices, including one university, checked the content of the book “The weather of my life”, which, according to the authorities of Tajikistan, “incited national and religious hatred”. Literary, political, religious test The Prosecutor General’s Office of Tajikistan confirmed in a letter to Radio Ozod on December 1 that “the book passed computer, religious, literary-political and psychological examination”, but did not say anything about the result or the examining institutions. The sources of Radio Ozodi reported on December 5 that “The weather of my life” was checked by specialists of the Ministry of Culture, the Committee of Religion, the Academy of…

A library in Kulob has become the resting place of a former prisoner who has not been able to find work for years. Rustam Kuvvatov, a resident of Vose district, who was released from prison in 2019, spends up to three days a week in the Kulob regional library. In 2017, he was imprisoned for five years after a quarrel with a neighbor on the charge of “Hooliganism”, but he was released before the term under the “Amnesty” law. Rustam Kuvvatov says that until 2016, he was a storekeeper at the Kulob Teacher’s College, but after his release from prison,…

Some of the women human rights defenders in Tajikistan for their work, especially protection of the rights of critics and opponents, reporters and cultural activists, are under criticism or pressure and threats and become silent, and others leave the country. Some groups continue their activities despite difficulties. November 29 is International Women’s Day. We talked to some of them. “Now there are about 800-900 people left” Dilrabo Samadova, head of the “Office of Civil Liberties” organization, has been working as a human rights defender in Tajikistan for almost two decades. In 2005, together with seven young lawyers, he founded the “Amparo” Association. This organization…