By Mina Muradova (12/12/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Officials, businesses, human rights activists, bloggers and journalists gathered on November 6-9 to discuss internet freedom at the 7th annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Baku. The main purpose of the forum was to bring together various stakeholders to discuss public policy issues related to the Internet.

By Eka Janashia (9/5/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Three Georgian Special Forces personnel and eleven militants were killed in northeastern Georgia close to the Dagestan section of the Georgian-Russian border, the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) reported on August 29. The fierce clash between Georgian troops and a well-armed paramilitary group of around twenty people seemingly confirmed Tbilisi’s concerns about possible spillover of instability from the North Caucasus to Georgia and Russian attempts to destabilize the situation in the country prior to the upcoming parliamentary elections. 

Five residents of the Georgian village Lapankuri, situated about twenty kilometers from the Georgian-Russian border, were captured by the militants while enjoying a picnic in a mountain forest in the vicinity of their homes, Georgian media reported on August 28.

By Georgiy Voloshin (9/5/2012 issue of the CACI Analyst)

On August 29, Kazakhstan hosted an international conference entitled “From the ban on nuclear testing to a world free of nuclear weapons.” This high-level gathering attended by representatives of more than 70 countries from five continents was organized to commemorate the International Day against Nuclear Tests, which became a UN holiday in 2010 following Kazakhstan’s proposal. Twenty years ago, President Nazarbayev adopted one of his first decrees as the leader of an independent Kazakhstan, closing down the Semipalatinsk nuclear test facility, established by the Soviet Union in 1949, that served as a launching site for hundreds of missiles.