The Grotniki refugee centre (Marcin Stępień /Agencja Gazeta)
Mass executions, murders, abductions, rape, torture, intimidation, extortion, forged criminal proceedings, monstrous corruption — this is what Ramzan Kadyrov’s Chechnya looks like today. The Russian republic is completely disconnected from the Russian legal system — with the consent of the Russian authorities.
Oyub Titiyev in court (Stanislav Kryuchkov /Open Democracy Russia)
On 18 March, Chechen human rights defender Oyub Titiyev was sentenced to four years in prison on trumped-up drug charges. He is only the latest victim in Russia’s repressions against civil society in the North Caucasus.
Ilham Aliyev (left) with Nikol Pashinyan at World Economic Forum in Davos, January 2019. (Still from official video)
Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will meet officially this Friday. In Armenia, talk of progress in the peace process has largely focused on the inclusion of Nagorno-Karabakh in future negotiations. [Read more…]
Nikol Pashinyan (left) and Ilham Aliyev on an informal meeting in Davost at World Economic Forum in January. (primeminister.am)
Ahead of a meeting between the Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev this Friday, Azerbaijani analysts and politicians share their hopes and concerns over the rekindled dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Russian-language textbooks used by Gali pupils issued in Moscow (Nino Gogua /OC Media)
With their new peace initiative, ‘A Step to a Better Future’, Georgia’s government hopes to tempt students from Abkhazia and South Ossetia to enrol in Georgian universities by letting them sit entrance exams in their ‘native language’. But for Abkhazia’s ethnic Georgians in Gali, banned from studying in Georgian there and whose Abkhaz language skills are far from native, the initiative does little to help.
Having swept to power in a landslide electoral victory, the new government of revolutionary leader Nikol Pashinyan is now laying out its vision for a ‘New Armenia’ — with ambitious plans for peace and reform.
A sign in Grozny reading ‘Let the justice triumph’ (Dominik K. Cagara /OC Media)
Many families in Chechnya tell of young male relatives who have either disappeared without trace or are being held in detention, suggesting such cases are not rare.
Flags of countries that recognised Abkhazia’s independence displayed in Sukhumi (Neil Hauer/ OC Media)
In August, Abkhazia marked ten years since Russian recognition. Despite only four other states having followed suit, Abkhazians remain optimistic and blame Georgia for impeding their aspirations.
Karvachar, Shahumyan District, Nagorno-Karabakh (Armine Avetisyan /OC Media)
The authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh are hoping to incentivise more people to settle in the sparsely populated areas of Nagorno-Karabakh to encourage economic growth and strengthen its sense of security. However, the unresolved conflict with Azerbaijan casts shadow on these plans.
Turaj Jafarova with her daughter (Seymur Kazimov /OC Media)
The Nagorno-Karabakh war left thousands in Azerbaijan with lasting scars — both physical and psychological. For many of the loved ones of disabled veterans, being a carer is a full-time task. But carers say they receive little support, and they must get by on the small disability benefits available.
