By empty (2/24/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

An Uzbek court has freed a woman involved in a key human rights case, just hours before US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld began a visit. Fatima Mukhadirova, 62, is the mother of a man who died in prison, allegedly after he was immersed in boiling water and otherwise tortured. She was jailed for six years earlier this month for \"undermining the constitution\".

By empty (2/23/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Several hundred Armenian university students continued their boycott of classes for a second day on 20 February, protesting a government plan to abolish existing military-service exemptions and deferments, according to RFE/RL\'s Yerevan bureau. A demonstration of more than 1,000 students at the Yerevan State University was also held on 20 February in support of the boycott. The Armenian government approved a new law on compulsory military service last month that only allows students to enroll in graduate studies after they complete their mandatory service in the country\'s armed forces.

By empty (2/23/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

NATO officials on 20 February issued a strong condemnation of the slaying by an Azerbaijani serviceman of an Armenian military officer attending a NATO training course in Hungary, RFE/RL\'s Yerevan bureau reported. Characterizing the incident as a \"clear criminal act,\" the NATO statement added that it hopes the \"tragic incident\" will not affect Armenia\'s \"strong participation\" in NATO\'s Partnership for Peace program. Although the official Azerbaijani response to the killing expressed \"regret\" at the death of Lieutenant Gurgen Markarian, it nevertheless blamed the victim for provoking the incident.