This Issue
North Ossetia
On 19 March, a bomb in the capital of North Ossetia, Vladikavkaz, killed at least fifty people and injured many more. North Ossetia has traditionally been Russia's most staunch ally in the troubled Caucasus region. Thus, the bomb was believed to have been planted by an armed Chechen group in order to gain the attention of Russian authorities. A proliferation of such groups have emerged amongst the political instability in Chechnya, whose aims combine crime, radical Islam and political opposition to the de facto Chechen government of President Aslan Maskhadov. These groups recently formed a combined opposition council (the shura) with the long term ambition of establishing an independent radical Islamic confederation in the Northern Caucasus, comprising Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia. Most Russians were believed to support Maskhadov. (Economist, 27-3-99)
Tajikistan
Secretary-General's UNMOT Report
The 6 May report covered developments since 8 February 1999.
Constitutional Reform
The Secretary-General declared that although, the situation in Tajikistan remained relatively calm, it had been difficult to translate progress achieved through the Commission on National Reconciliation (CNR) in implementing the peace agreement into concrete actions. Negotiations with President Emomali Rakhmonov over CNR suggestions for constitutional reform reached impasse over several points and the lack of resolution threatened to make it impossible for the Tajik parliament to consider the amendments at its May session. In turn, this would delay the holding of the constitutional referendum, preceded by three months of public debate, and then of parliamentary elections.
An undercurent to much disagreement on constitutional reform was the unresolved issue of the order in which elections would take place. The government wanted the presidential election to be held first - the current presidential term expiring in November. This would ensure that a constitutionally elected executive was in place, bearing in mind that the United Tajik Opposition (UTO) retained its military capacity. The UTO, on the other hand, wanted parliamentary elections first, fearing that the re-elected President might renege on the power-sharing agreement.
The UN and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the two organisations providing electoral support, agreed a joint effort to promote credible, universally acceptable elections. Three teams of experts would visit Tajikistan to focus on: 1) procedural aspects, including legislation, registration of parties and voters, and complaint procedures; 2) voter information and education, freedom of expression and equitable media access, registration of parties and candidates, and the deployment of domestic observers/party agents; 3) the overall situation, including security.
Military Issues
The CNR announced that 6,238 fighters had been registered, of whom 2,309 were checked by the Joint Central Review Commission of the Military Subcommission and 1,917 were relieved from further service. Some 3,736 government servicemen were also vetted, of whom 74 were demobilised. The CNR declared that 2,375 UTO fighters were assigned to regular units. Progress was made in integrating personnel into the Tajik Border Forces. However, others were not yet under proper command and control and were not being paid or otherwise supported, creating discontent among the fighters. This reinforced distrust and diminished UTO support for the peace process generally.
Composition
As of April 1999, UNMOT comprised 165 civilian staff, 49 internationally recruited and 29 military observers from Austria (2), Bangladesh (3), Bulgaria (3), the Czech Republic (2), Denmark (2), Ghana (2), Indonesia (2), Jordan (4), Nepal (2), Nigeria (2), Poland (1) the Ukraine (2), and Uruguay (2). There were an additional two civilian police from Austria and Poland. Brigadier-General John Hvidegaard (Denmark) replaced Brigadier-General Tengku Ariffin bin Tengku Mohammed as Chief Military Observer on 1 April. Jan Kubi continued as Special Representative.
UN Doc: S/1999/514- 6 May 1999
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