Thirty-seven individuals are now on trial in Kazakhstan’s western city of Aktau charged with organizing and participating in violent disturbances that left 14 people dead and scores injured in the oil town of Zhanaozen in December. These tragic events were sparked by a long-standing dispute between oil company Ozenmunaigaz in Zhanaozen and some of its former workers.

Six Kazakh officials from the Interior Ministry are also facing criminal charges for exceeding their authority, and two former mayors of Zhanaozen and a first deputy regional head have been arrested and charged with misappropriating state money intended for the social welfare of the town’s population.

Kazakhstan’s Prosecutor General’s Office has conducted an exhaustive investigation into the Zhanaozen events. We established that the disturbances were caused by a group of former oil workers aided by a number of young people who disrupted the Dec. 16 celebrations of Kazakhstan’s 20 years of independence by attacking police officers and innocent bystanders, as well as vandalizing, looting and setting fire to 125 facilities in the town.

This shocking violence was unprecedented in Kazakhstan and has its roots in social tensions that were inadequately managed at the local level. Regrettably, corruption on the part of some Zhanaozen officials exacerbated the problem. While as a government we have to be open about the causes of these tragic events and take measures to prevent them from happening again, we also have a responsibility to deal swiftly, firmly and fairly with the perpetrators. No civilized country can tolerate behavior of this kind.

This is exactly what we are doing, and we have also taken an extra step by making the trials open. It is important that the citizens of Kazakhstan and our international partners are able to see that justice is being done.

A number of human rights organizations have claimed that some of the 37 charged with instigating the disturbances in Zhanaozen gave evidence under duress and cannot receive a fair trial as a result. These are serious allegations, and we will investigate them if they can be substantiated.

Our investigation also identified important failures in some of the police responses to the disturbances. While police actions were for the most part appropriate and in line with operating procedures, there were instances when the use of weapons and other special equipment was disproportionate and inappropriate to the level of threat they faced. This is why a number of law enforcement officials will stand trial for their actions. Our message is clear: No one stands above the law.

Kazakhstan has much to learn from these events and our handling of them. We are studying the experience of the United States, France and Britain to see how they dealt with similar outbreaks of violence. The Los Angeles Police Department, for example, applied important lessons from the civil unrest of 1992, including new forms of community policing and partnerships with civic organizations.

After last summer’s riots in several British cities, courts in Britain worked overtime to hear the cases against rioters and looters and handed down tough sentences to convicted offenders, in some cases going well beyond the usual sentencing guidelines.

In these situations, firm action is needed to protect society and to keep society’s confidence in the state’s commitment to uphold public order. Individuals convicted of offenses related to the Zhanaozen disturbances can also expect the full force of the law to be applied against them.

In today’s world, news travels faster than ever before but often not accurately. Some early media reports from Zhanaozen put the death toll much higher than it was, and one Russian newspaper falsely reported the testimony of a surgeon at Zhanaozen’s central hospital, who claimed to have seen the bodies of 23 victims of the violence. Investigations revealed that this person did not exist.

However difficult as it may be in these crisis situations, journalists have the same responsibility to check their sources and report the facts. At the same time, governments in democratic countries have to maintain a difficult balance between protecting society and ensuring the rights of the media to report these events.

Kazakhstan is learning the painful lessons of Zhanaozen to avoid situations of this kind in future. Bringing the people responsible for the violence to justice and ensuring they receive a fair trial is a vital step in this process.

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The following was originally published in Zambia Reports, penned by Nse Udoh is a Contributing Journalist at the online magazine:

Wherever top Nigerian actor Nkem Owoh maybe at the moment, he should not be shocked when he hears that he has a replica that is giving him serious competition in Zambia.

Owoh’s stage name of Ukwa is perhaps the most trending in Zambian bars and Internet blogs. Why, you may ask? In most Nigerian films that he has starred in, Ukwa is this no-nonsense and highly unpredictable character who rants and moans at everything and anything. He possesses a character that combines humour, a clear lack of understanding of what’s going on around him, and regularly displays of volatility, sarcasm and illiteracy to get his way around things.

Watching him when he is at his best—which he usually is—is simply hilarious. But Ukwa can also be excruciating to watch, as he fails to draw a line between serious issues and all the joking around to make the audience laugh. Zambians have their own version of Ukwa—President Michael Sata, a nickname which was originally bestowed upon him by now his best friends in the media at The Post, Zambia’s highest selling newspaper.

At one point when Sata was in the opposition, his greatest nemesis was The Post. The paper stopped at nothing; they called him all the names you may think of, accused him of being unfit to be trusted with national affairs, defamed him and labeled him a serpent, a crook, corrupt and declared that Zambia did not deserve to have an “Ukwa in State House”, meaning Sata was not fit to be entrusted with the presidency.

Well, times change. The man once painted black, a serpent, by The Post has had sainthood bestowed on him (just this weekend, Post owner Fred M’membe, wrote. Throughout the election campaign, the newspaper made no secret of its support for the candidacy of the Patriotic Front – and regularly ran attack articles of questionable journalistic quality against the incumbent. In exchange for reporting only positive stories about Sata while also attacking his opponents, the newspaper and its reporters were handsomely awarded with dozens of jobs in government, positions at state-owned companies, and especially the diplomatic corps. The constant poaching of Post employees is even said to annoy the editor-in-chief, Fred M’membe.

The Zambian Government’s hiring of journalists has created a troubling and incestuous relationship between the state and the only non-state media – if a critical story were ever to be published, of course it would be those journalists-turned-ministers who would be blamed, creating pressure on them to make sure their colleagues posted to State House only write about approved subjects. Additionally, the fact that so many reporters were offered these better paying positions with the PF administration, they going to be economically motivated not to sacrifice their own future career prospects by publishing a report critical of the government.

In this manner, President Sata has compromised many of his fiercest critics such as civil society organisations, journalists and political commentators that caused the former ruling party the—MMD—sleepless nights. Nevertheless, to some Zambians, Sata is still highly volatile and unpredictable character of Ukwa, even if the newspapers no longer attack him as such.

And these concerns again came to light last week when Sata resumed his official duties, almost a full month since his “personal trip” to India where he had gone for a surgery to treat a urinary problem as widely reported by the Indian press. Though the controversial India trip itself had different titles ranging from “private”, “holiday” to “investment promotion crusade,” there has still been silence from Sata himself on what exactly he went to do as he shunned journalists on arrival at the airport and kept away from public eye for two weeks before finally appearing in public glare last week to resume his duties.

One of his first functions after the India trip was to receive a report from a Commission of Inquiry he appointed to investigate contracts awarded to companies to install radars at Zambia’s three international airports.

The background to this Commission of Inquiry is that there is suspicion in government circles that radar contracts were corruptly awarded to foreign companies who were supposed to install them. The chief suspect in the eyes of many government officials, including president Sata, is former Minister of Transport and MMD spokesperson Dora Siliya.

But when the report was handed to Sata, he labeled it as “complicated,” “useless” and wondered whether the Head of the Commission Sebastian Zulu was “trying to protect Dora Siliya.” In the process, the president admitted that this Commission of Inquiry had been a huge waste of money – presumably because its conclusions did not meet his expectations to go after a primary opposition figure.

The Head of State was not done with Zulu. A day after he presented the radar report, Zulu was again supposed to hand over a report into another Commission of Inquiry, this time tasked to investigate the acquisition of land under the leadership of former republican president Rupiah Banda by a government owned institution, the National Pension Scheme Authority (Napsa). But instead, Zulu (reported to have traveled to South Africa on official duty) delegated his deputy to present the report to Sata.

Sata refused to receive the report. This time, he was incensed that Zulu had snubbed him and surprised many people by declaring that “there is a lot of dust which has been swept under the carpet” by the report. He abruptly called off the report handover ceremony by calling for the singing of the national anthem and declared he would only receive the findings when Zulu was around.

Could Zulu have possibly travelled to South Africa without the knowledge of his boss? Such sentiments by Sata’s critics were also expressed when another Commission of Inquiry appointed by the president to investigate the deadly 2011 riots in Mongu, a town in the western province of Zambia. This Commission of Inquiry report concluded that some people actually wanted to secede from the rest of Zambia, and that the 1964 Barotseland Agreement should be restored.

During the 2011 presidential campaign, Sata traveled to Western province and during one of the rallies made a promise to the Lozi that he would give them what they want (much like the promise of “more money in your pocket”). Perhaps, he was joking but the Lozi took him seriously on a matter they are so passionate about. The rallied him and for the first time in the 10-years of his party, he won parliamentary elections in Western Province – Mongu Central and Nalolo constituencies. But that’s the problem with Ukwa – he can be very entertaining, but he confuses serious issues when in fact he’s just joking.

When he got into State House; his first attempt to the promise of restoration of Barotseland was to constitute a Commission of Inquiry into the January 14 deadly violence and pardoning over 80 activities arrested during the protests. Surprisingly, there was no mention of secession in the terms of reference for the Commission of Inquiry.

But when the Commission of Inquiry recommended restoration of the agreement, Sata outrightly rejected such calls, effectively going against what he had promised the people of Western Province during campaigns that led to his election.

“I am reluctant to ask my government to allow for the secession of Western Province. This is because all the tribes in Zambia will want the same thing,” said Sata, who during the 2011 campaigns promised to restore the agreement within 90 days of being elected president.

The ruling party’s secretary general Wynter Kabimba did not want to be left out in supporting Sata.

He did not only accuse Dr Richard Chongwe, a well respected lawyer, of being an “interested party,” but charged that the Commission exceeded its terms of reference when it proposed the restoration of the controversial agreement.

“President Sata should not have given the chairmanship to Dr Chongwe. This was probably an oversight on the part of the President,” he said. “The issue of the Barotseland Agreement is nowhere in the terms of reference as given to the commission by President Sata.”

He added: “It’s the position of the PF that the commission went above its mandate and therefore misdirected itself and the nation at the end of the day. The findings are not supported by the terms of reference.”

Kabimba said Dr Chongwe was emotionally involved in the matter as he was one of the lawyers who represented some of the victims of the Mongu riots of January 14 last year.

“In future, President Sata needs to be extremely careful whom he assigns national duties to,” Kabimba warned.

It is pronouncements such as the above that leave Zambians wondering whether these Commissions of Inquiry, whose cost to the taxpayer is not known, are serving any purpose, apart from appeasing the appointing authorities and providing a pretext for the ruling party to eliminate its opponents. The PF Government has deployed at least 8 Commissions of Inquiry, presumably costing millions of dollars, to investigate what mostly turn out to be false rumors heard around the bar room. There have been more Commissions appointed in the last six months than the last six years.

Has Zambia now reverted to its people being declared “guilty until proven innocent” instead of the opposite as required by the constitution? Why should Sata make any declaration about a judicial process, much less label the findings of a Commission he appointed as “useless”? Does that instill public confidence in the people he’s appointing to serve under him? Clearly, as seen in many Commissions of Inquiry headed by the ruling party’s sympathisers or members, there can be very little justice expected in these reports as many of them have political scores to settle with their opponents. And many of those that have merely been conduits of Commissions of Inquiry submissions, albeit not in good taste to the powers that be, may forever be refereed to as “useless” “incompetent” or indeed accused of “sweeping dust under the carpet.”

But when it comes to Ukwa, we should remember that he who pays the piper, calls the tune.

Nse Udoh is a Contributing Journalist to Zambia Reports. He can be contacted at nudoh51@yahoo.com

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Then there is the case of Akwa Ibom State.

Governor Godswill Akpabio, in a few short years, has tangibly fulfilled his promise of ‘uncommon transformation‘. In Uyo, hospitals are being built, bridges are connecting business to business, an entertainment complex is quickly on the rise and the maritime potentials of the state are soon to be unlocked.

A railroad linking Uyo with Port Harcourt is the latest endeavor of the Akwa Ibom State Government to benefit economic development throughout the state and indeed the country.

Governor Akpabio was quoted by the Vanguard as stating that “…it was important to link all states, economic zones and mining areas with railways for easy movement of goods and people. The Ibaka Seaport  has the added advantage of proximity and centrality to deep offshore operations and the West Africa Region Joint Development Zone including Sao Tome, Equatorial Guinea, Angola and Gabon. Added to this is the availability of ample undeveloped land.”

Next on the agenda? The Governor stated that his administration plans to build an Industrial City on the area the seaport is located, adding that “the Ibom Industrial City would be an industrial mix of oil and gas-based support services, dockyard and watercraft repair facilities, fertilizer plant, oil refinery, gas-to-liquid projects, petrochemical industries, power plant and [along with] the Ibaka Seaport, promises to be self-sustaining.”

He said that when fully operational, the industrial city would employ 100,000 people and increase the export base of the nation.

It should indeed be noted that Governor Akpabio commended Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan for the Federal Government’s acceptance to develop the seaport.

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“…We did so because we saw an important opportunity to give a fresh impetus to the OIC’s long-standing objectives of promoting modernization in the Muslim world in line with the values of Islam based on peace, tolerance and human dignity. As a country both in Europe and Asia, we do not believe in the Samuel Huntington theory of the “Clash of Civilizations.” Over the past 20 years the advance of globalization, the expansion of free markets and the rise of “emerging” economies from Asia to Latin America have created new linkages rather than the re-emergence of old divisions predicted by Prof. Huntington. Kazakhstan’s own experience as a predominantly Muslim nation with more than 100 ethnic groups and 40 religions and with no history of either inter-religious or inter-ethnic enmity or bloodshed is also a case in point.

Of course, there have been pronounced tensions between parts of the Islamic and Western worlds as a result of radicalization on both sides, most notably after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Violence has no place in the Islamic tradition or any other great world religion and is condemned outright by true believers whatever their faith. So there is every reason to believe that extremists driven to violence will remain the marginal figures that they are, disowned by the religions that they falsely claim to represent.

The “Arab Spring” has thrown into sharp relief the lack of progress in parts of the Islamic world, underlined by the inability of a number of countries to address mounting economic and social problems. Addressing the root causes of these states’ stalled development and integrating them into the global mainstream is an urgent priority that will prevent potential radicalization of attitudes toward the West.

We believe that the OIC’s main focus should be on promoting economic development and competitiveness through trade and investment policies based on effective investment in education, science and technology. Average GDP per capita in OIC countries is $9,500 while in European Union countries it is over $24,000. There are also disproportionate imbalances of wealth among OIC countries with 10 out of the 57 member states producing 80 percent of combined economic output. Several leading economies in the Islamic world are too dependent on raw materials and need to diversify their development. History shows that countries that rely too heavily on natural resources end up with distorted economies that are vulnerable to swings in commodity prices. This is a challenge that Kazakhstan has known for some time it could face. To meet it effectively, we have been investing rapidly in industrial and innovation sectors while attracting foreign capital and upgrading our education system. We have made this a top priority even though we have been able to increase average incomes of the people of Kazakhstan by 17 times since independence in 1991.

The Islamic countries have a rich cultural, intellectual and scientific heritage that was a foundation for the development of the West. In the 10th century, Cordoba in southern Spain was the capital of the Caliphate of Cordoba, and Europe’s intellectual center. Baghdad, Toledo and Alexandria were also intellectual hubs for world civilization.

Islamic countries need to ask themselves how it is that the Islamic world has lost its previous intellectual pre-eminence and how it can restore it. To contribute to the process of gaining greater development of and recognition for the Islamic world Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev has put forward a number of major initiatives, including the establishment of a dialogue platform for the 10 leading Islamic economies, the creation of an international center of innovations, support for small and medium-sized businesses in the Islamic world, and the development of a system of food security within the OIC.

We also firmly believe that the Islamic world can begin to rebuild its influence by demonstrating leadership at the global level, addressing problems that Western countries cannot resolve on their own. In particular, we are encouraging the OIC to focus on Afghanistan and contribute to peace-building efforts, through educational and technical assistance programs to confront, especially the increasingly serious problem of drug trafficking. In August, the OIC proved its ability to react fast and effectively by creating a special assistance trust fund to provide humanitarian assistance to Somalia. $500 million has already been pledged in support. The OIC is an important player in Somalia and can help put this country back on its feet together with other international organizations, including the European Union. We have invited our European partners to discuss possible coordinated measures to assist Somalia.

As a country that unilaterally renounced its status as a nuclear weapon state, we are strongly committed to global nuclear disarmament. Kazakhstan dismantled the world’s fourth largest nuclear arsenal and was the first to unilaterally shut down one of the world’s largest nuclear test sites. Kazakhstan initiated a special OIC resolution urging further efforts to prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons. We have also given our backing to establishing within the OIC a conflict prevention and mediation capability.

Through concerted actions to solve global problems, OIC countries can do much to raise the profile of the Islamic world and address misperceptions in the West about the nature of Islam. Just as there should be no place for hatred of the West in the Islamic world, there should be no Islamophobia in the West. At the same time, key Islamic countries need to focus on solutions to their problems of political and socioeconomic development by raising the living standards of their citizens and creating stability. Leadership in the global arena begins at home.”

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A confidential memo released by Wikileaks says that in July 2007, Branson was due to hold a secret meeting with South Africa’s former president Nelson Mandela and other senior African statesmen to discuss persuading President Mugabe, now 87, to step down.

The initiative is said in the cable to have been brokered by Zimbabwean politician Jonathan Moyo, but never came to fruition. Last night Sir Richard Branson’s office acknowledged that he had been approached by Mr Moyo to discuss ”ways to broker a peaceful reconciliation in Zimbabwe” but no further action was taken.

Sir Richard Branson owns a luxury game lodge and a chain of gyms in South Africa and takes a strong interest in the Southern African region’s politics. Last year, on the sidelines of the United Nations poverty summit in New York, he launched Enterprise Zimbabwe – an fund aimed at attracting western investors scared off by the political instability in Zimbabwe.

The cable, dated 10 July 2007 and classified by the US ambassador Eric Bost to South Africa, states: “UK businessman Richard Branson is bankrolling an African ‘Elders’ initiative to convince Zimbabwean President Mugabe to step down. The ‘Elders’ plan to meet secretly in Johannesburg July 17-18 with Branson to discuss their initiative.”

The cable says the planned July 2007 meeting was to include Mandela, former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan, as well as the former presidents of Namibia, Zambia, Ghana, Mozambique, Kenya and Botswana. Former US president Jimmy Carter was also mentioned as a possible participant.

The memo identifies Mr Moyo, a controversial figure in Zimbabwean politics, as “working with Branson on the plan“. Mr Moyo’s career has seen him flip-flop in and out of favour with the ruling Zimbabwean African National Union – Patriotic Front. At the moment, he is back in favour, acting regularly in an information role.

The cable says: “Moyo reached out to Branson, who owns Virgin Atlantic airlines as well as a game lodge and chain of gyms in South Africa, in early June to suggest the involvement of the former African leaders. Branson agreed to fund the initiative, including Moyo’s travel and technical assistance.”

The cable goes into detail about Moyo’s plan, adding that he proposed the Elders visit Mugabe and urge him to support a new constitution, giving him the chance to select an executive prime minister in exchange for standing down.

Moyo is even quoted as suggesting ”a script” for the elders’ encounter with the Zimbabwean president, including stressing that ”they respect him” and want to protect his ”proud legacy”.

Asked last night by The Independent for his views on the leaked cable, Dr Moyo, who is a member of the Zanu-PF Politburo, initially said he could not comment on information ”given to the US ambassador by a third party” he named as the International Crisis Group.

Later however, in a lengthy phone call, Dr Moyo admitted having met Sir Richard Branson in a check-in queue at O.R Tambo airport in Johannesburg in April 2007. ”We chatted for about an hour and a half. He told me that he was setting up a group of Elders with Peter Gabriel. When he learnt that I was an MP he was interested in my views. Mr Branson is a good man. We exchanged phone numbers and emails.”

Dr Moyo denied initiating a meeting with Mr Branson and claimed that the Virgin millionnaire had phoned him as a follow-up to the airport encounter. ”He asked my advice on who to appoint to his panel of Elders. I told him that the names he was proposing, including Desmond Tutu, were non-starters in Zimbabwe and I gave him more suitable names, including the former presidents of Namibia, Zambia, Ghana and Mozambique.”

However the cable appears to be informed by conjecture. The Elders – a group of prominent figures and former statesmen and women who receive financial support from Branson – were launched on 18 July, 2007, a week after the cable was written. Apart from Nelson Mandela, they do not include the former African presidents named as putative participants in the July 2007 meeting. The Elders did not begin working on the Zimbabwean crisis until the following year.

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As its first order of business, Kazakhstan made nuclear responsibility a national mandate, renouncing all nuclear weapons and shutting down the test site in Semipalatinsk, where over 400 detonations once took place.

To mark the closure of the test site and the ongoing efforts to raise awareness to the devastating impact nuclear radiation can have on innocent lives, Kazakhstan will be holding an International Forum for a Nuclear Weapon Free World in Astana, October 12-13.

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“The people of Zambia have spoken and we must listen,” outgoing President Rupiah Banda said on the website of his Movement for Multiparty Democracy. “The time now is for maturity, for composure and for compassion.”

Zambians voted Tuesday in the presidential election.

The incoming president, Michael Sata, will be sworn in Friday, party officials said.

Sata is the leader of the opposition Patriotic Front and a major critic of China’s investment in the nation.

Ten candidates took part in the presidential race .

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Aral City’s vice-mayor Kolbai Danabaev can’t wait to have a beer by the sea shore. He is optimistic: he thinks he’ll be able to do so in two years time.

Aral City, in western Kazakhstan, on the northern tip of the Aral Sea, has the trappings of a beach spot: sun, sand, and locally-brewed Aral Beer. But, while Kolbai Danabaev and other city officials are happy to pose for PR photos with the local brew in hand, in the background, something crucial is missing.

There is no sea.

The port today is a fisherman’s paradise lost. The shoreline is nowhere in sight. The dry and dusty sea bed stretches into the horizon, the sea having receded 20 kilometres away.

Some 24 native freshwater species could be caught in the Aral Sea. Fish was such a central part of the cuisine of this town that the pike-perch, with its delicate flavor and small bones, was used instead of boiled meat in the local version of the Kazakh national dish, beshbarmak. This is quite something in a meat obsessed country.

Now, the restaurants here don’t serve fish, as it is too costly for most locals to eat. Indeed, the only fish on view are in the city’s museum, sealed up in display jars.

Aral Sea catastrophe

Aral was once the world’s fourth largest lake, but Soviet-era irrigation projects, beginning in the 1960s began to divert the water from the two rivers that flow into it, the Syr Darya, and the Amu Darya. By 1980, the sea had shrunk to 17 per cent of its original land area, and 9 per cent of its water volume. The images pictured here show the extent to which the sea shrunk between 2000 and 2009.

The water became so salinated that native freshwater fish species were unable to survive, and the communities around the sea had to make do with the flatfish flounder, a saltwater species introduced in the 1970s. Salt and ‘toxic dust’ from pesticide and fertiliser residues left on the bottom of the sea was carried by the wind, causing human health and environmental damage.

And so, with the water and the fish gone went the jobs, and much more. Fish processing and ship building in Aral City, supporting some 6,000 people, ground to a halt. Many families in the surrounding 24 villages in the region, facing unemployment, packed up and left for the city of Kyzylorda, 450 kilometres away.

Local teacher and translator, Akmaral Utemisova, says, ‘During school lessons, we ask the children to imagine what the sea would be like,’ she says. ‘None of the children under 15 have ever seen it.’

Back from the brink?

For years, the Aral Sea catastrophe was not addressed. By 1990, the damage was so severe it had split into two parts – the Northern Sea bordering on Kazakhstan and the larger South Sea in Uzbekistan.

Despite regional efforts to restore sea levels by the five Central Asian countries through the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) created by Kazakh president Nursultan Nazerbayev in 1993, there were only temporary results.

Then in 2003, the Kazakh government, along with the World Bank, began work on the joint $64 million Northern Aral Sea restoration project, including the eight mile Kok-Aral dam, completed in 2005. The dam will allow water to accumulate in the Northern Sea and help restore delta and riverine wetland ecosystems as well as sustaining and increasing agriculture and fish production in the region.

The second phase of the project begins this year, although, according to Kazakh vice minster for Environmental Protection, Mazhit Turmagambetov, there is an issue with finding funding to match the amount proposed by the World Bank.

Wishfully, Nahmadin Musabasev, Aral City’s mayor, says he believes the second phase of the project will deliver the Aral Sea back up to the city by 2013, although according to IFAS chairman Saghit Ibatullin, it will probably be no earlier than 2018.

Kok-Aral Dam

It is jarring to drive on what was once the Aral Sea. The Ecologist is en route to see the Kok-Aral Dam, some three-hours from Aral City on the border between the North and South Aral Sea and the delta of the Syr Darya River. The desertified sea bed is now home to camels and horses, grazing lazily on bits of grass. A couple of ships lie stranded along the drive, but the fabled ship cemeteries have gone, the victims of looting for scrap metal.

Once the water comes into to view, it isn’t the rich wetland ecosystem it once was, but there are now signs of life returning. A few herons, ducks, storks and seagulls can be seen along the shoreline.

Already the Kok-Aral dam has provided a lease on life for the nearby villages. Water levels, which originally were 53 metres above Baltic Sea level, and at the lowest, 38 metres, have now increased to 42 metres above Baltic Sea level. Salinity has decreased 5 times, which has enabled 7 fish species to return, and fish catch has increased 10-12 times.

The Ecologist visits a small fish processing centre near Karaterren village. Along with flounder, there is carp, pike perch, and catfish all caught on the day using small motor boats. Batyrkhan Brekeev, a fisherman and the son and the father of fishermen, recently returned to fishing after years as a ‘businessman’.

Fish catch is now heavily regulated and enforced, the fishermen say, through quotas and inspections. In the last year a total of 2,500 tonnes of fish were processed in the 3 processing plants in Aral City. Mayor Nahmadin Musabasev says the catch should rise to 12,000 tonnes by the end of the second phase of the World Bank project. Increased efficiency of irrigation will provide more River water flowing into the sea.

Fish stocks are bolstered by a hatchery in nearby Kozhar village, which releases millions of eggs of various species every year.

Future threats

The success of the restoration project can only be seen in light of the reality that the project ensures the existence of only the North Aral Sea. There is much concern over the future of the South Aral Sea, bordering on Uzbekistan.

It was an extreme decision to save the Kazakh part of the sea, essentially preventing water from the Syr Darya River to flow down into the Uzbek area.

The Syr Darya River is the main source of inflow to the northern, or Small Aral Sea in Kazakhstan, while the Amu Darya, enters the lake from Uzbekistan.

Kazakh vice minister Mazhit Turmagambetov says ‘What we can do is regulate the water from the Syr Darya River going into the smaller sea, but the total Aral Sea depends on Uzbekistan.’

According to Vadim Ni, Director of the Law & Environment Eurasia partnership, which supports legal expertise to environmental campaigns, the Aral Sea Restoration Project is a success but, ‘There are conflicting interests. Uzbekistan has no interest in restoring the Aral Sea. They want to use the water for cotton irrigation. They are not trying to conserve’.

How did the Uzbek government respond to the Kok-Aral Dam limiting water into their part of the Aral Sea? According to Saghit Ibatullin, the chairman of IFAS, whose executive committee includes the Uzbek government, there was ‘no problem’. Instead, Uzbekistan continues to prospect for for oil and gas deposits in the Aral Sea.

In Karaterren village, near the Kok-Aral dam, the community is beginning to rebuild. We are treated as honourable guests and given a traditional meal of pike-perch, meat and bolsak, or fried bread at the mayor’s house. His wife is expecting their sixth child, with 5 daughters already.

By 1997, half of the 500 families of this village had moved away. Now they are gradually coming back, 14 families returning in the last 3 years. Raising a vodka glass in toast, he adds, ‘so have the fish’.

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Niko’s sentence included a $9.5 million fine and a three-year probation order that requires the company to implement a detailed compliance program subject to review by an independent auditor. Prior to Niko’s conviction, only one Canadian company had been convicted of foreign bribery under the CFPOA in the past decade. The $25,000 fine issued by the court in that case, known as R. v. Hydro Kleen Services Inc., was less than the bribe involved.

The Niko prosecution is a signal that Canada is serious about ramping up enforcement of the CFPOA. The guilty plea comes shortly after Canada was criticized by two international organizations for ineffective enforcement of anti-bribery legislation. In May 2011, Transparency International, a group that monitors global corruption, issued a report that criticized Canada for failing to enforce its foreign bribery laws, noting that the Canadian legal system and courts “do not handle complex ‘white collar’ criminal cases very well.” This followed a similar report by the OECD Working Group on Bribery, published in March 2011, which found that “Canada’s regime for enforcement of the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act remains problematic in important areas.”
Canada’s foreign bribery legislation
The CFPOA was enacted in 1999 and brought Canada into compliance with the 1997 OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions.

The CFPOA prohibits giving or offering to give a benefit of any kind to a foreign public official, or any other person for the benefit of the foreign public official, where the ultimate purpose is to obtain or retain a business advantage. It is applicable both to individuals and corporations, whether acting directly or through an agent or third party. An individual need not be Canadian to be charged. The extraterritorial reach of the CFPOA means that a Canadian business could be liable in Canada and elsewhere: double jeopardy does not apply.

Violation of the CFPOA is an extraditable offense punishable, in the case of an individual, by imprisonment for up to 5 years. A company can receive an unlimited fine for failing to prevent bribery. There is no limitation period for indictable offenses. Because sanctions under the CFPOA are solely criminal, proof “beyond a reasonable doubt” is required.

Unlike parallel enactments in most other OECD countries, whose jurisdiction is based on the nationality of the accused, the CFPOA only applies when the bribery has a “real and substantial” connection to Canada (i.e., presence, action or effect in Canada). However, the involvement of a Canadian parent or subsidiary may be sufficient to trigger its application. In 2009, the Minister of Justice introduced legislation (Bill C-31) that would have added provisions to the CFPOA based on the nationality principle so that, in certain cases, offences committed outside Canada would be deemed to have been committed in Canada. However, it died on the order paper with the prorogation of Parliament in December 2010 and has not since been reintroduced.

Anti-Bribery in the United States and the United Kingdom
The United States (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act) and the United Kingdom (Bribery Act) also have legislation that prohibits the bribery of public officials and makes it a crime at home to bribe foreign officials or fail to maintain appropriate accounting records that would reveal such corruption. Canadian and American anti-bribery offenses are similar, making compliance less complex for corporations that fall within both jurisdictions. The UK’s Bribery Act, enacted on July 1, 2011, is in some respects stricter than its Canadian and U.S. equivalents. For example, rather than dealing only with bribery of government officials, the Bribery Act also covers corruption between commercial entities.

The limited number of convictions under Canada’s anti-bribery legislation contrasts with the situation in the United States, which has dramatically increased its enforcement in recent years. Significant fines – frequently in excess of US$100 million and ranging as high as US$800 million – have been levied on companies under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Canada’s Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act: No Longer a Paper Tiger
The Niko case indicates that Canada is stepping up its enforcement of the CFPOA. The RCMP has indicated that its International Anti-Corruption Unit, established in 2008 with offices in Ottawa and Calgary, is currently conducting over 20 investigations of Canadian companies allegedly involved in overseas bribery. There is also a pending case involving an individual accused of bribing an Indian government official in connection with a contract for the supply of a security system.

In light of the above, Canadian companies with business activities overseas (especially in countries with high levels of corruption) would be well advised to review their processes and to implement adequate corporate compliance programs, which should include the following key elements:

• proportionate procedures, including regular and comprehensive auditing, as well procedures for the reporting of potential violations;
• top-level commitment: identification of an authoritative officer within the company who is responsible and accountable for anti-bribery compliance;
• risk assessment of business projects involving business with other countries;
• extensive due diligence of business projects involving business with other countries;
• communication strategy (including training programs for employees and officers); and
• monitoring and review of relationships with foreign government and business partners to establish and document compliance with anti-bribery legislation.

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“I don’t know the reason of their detention. I only know that Irakli and Natia are detained”, Marina Andghuladze said.

Photo reporter of Georgian MFA Giorgi Abdaladze is also detained.

InterPressNews has been informed a while ago about the detention of the photo reporter Zurab Kurtsikidze, who is in the so-called “Moduli” building. Details and reasons behind the detention are not known yet but the Arcadia Foundation will keep our readers up to speed on any new information that is divulged.

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