Global Voices Online

Hadi1121 says that women in Afghanistan continue to suffer under the blessings of the Taliban, the tribal militias, religious fundamentalists and the government of Afghanistan. She offers a set of HRW's statistical data for 2006, and doubts that the stats for 2007 will be better.

Recent Links also in Central Asia & Caucasus

Musafirbek says that the president of Uzbekistan officially thanked the cotton-growers for gathering the harvest of this strategic product for Uzbekistan. However, those who sweat away, collecting this cotton (including children) were not mentioned in the president’s address.

Alexander Visotzky writes about the opening of a monument in Astana, the new capital of Kazakhstan, where the authorities uncovered a 15-foot high bronze statue of incumbent president Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Dafydd reports that the EU has lifted the arms embargo on Uzbekistan. Reasons given are abolishment of the death penalty and release of political prisoners.