Kazakhstan Adopt

FY-1999.... 113 ADOPTION AUTHORITY IN KAZAKHSTAN : Ministry of Education Committee on Guardianship and Care, 83 Kenesary St., Astana, Kazakhstan 473000 ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR ADOPTIVE PARENTS: There is no age or marital status requirement stated in Kazakhstani regulations at this time, except that an unmarried prospective parent must be at least 16 years older than the child s/he intends to adopt. [Read More]

Kazakhstan

The Constitution provides for the Constitutional Council to rule on election and referendum challenges, to interpret the Constitution, and to determine the constitutionality of laws adopted by Parliament.  The President directly appoints three of its seven members, including the chairman, and has the right of veto over Council decisions.  The Council can overturn a presidential veto if at least two-thirds (five) of its members vote to do so.  Therefore, at least one presidential appointee must vote to overturn the President's veto for the Council to overrule the President.  Citizens do not have the right to appeal to the Council regarding the constitutionality of government actions, although they were allowed to make such appeals to the former Constitutional Court.  Under the Constitution, only the President, Chairman of the Senate, Chairman of the Mazhilis, Prime Minister, one-fifth of the M.P.s, or a court of law may appeal to the Constitutional Council.  ... [Read More]

Central Asia: Developments and the Administration's Policy

No country in the region has held a free and fair democratic election. Moreover, attempts by governments to curtail political activity through spurious or selective prosecutions, and through removing opposition candidates from the ballot are common. Kazakhstan has pledged to adopt a new liberal elections law that meets OSCE standards. Though the current draft before parliament is not OSCE-compliant, we hope that Kazakhstan will continue its close cooperation with the OSCE to ensure that it is. We have also emphasized the importance of a normal, constitutional transfer of power in the Kyrgyz Republic upon President Akayev's promised departure from office in 2005. After the disappointing and flawed constitutional referendum there in February, we hope that the Kyrgyz government will cooperate with OSCE expert advisors to ensure that resulting legislation meets international standards. ... [Read More]

Eurasia Overview

Significant Ukrainian legislative developments during 2003 in the fight against terrorism included adoption by the Parliament of an omnibus “Law on Combating Terrorism,” adoption of a new criminal code containing Article 258 that explicitly defines terrorism, and adoption of the “Program of National Antiterrorist Measures for 2003-2005.” The Parliament also passed additional legislation, including amendments that bring the law on money laundering into line with FATF requirements. ... [Read More]

International Adoptions

Washington, DC 20520-2818 I. General Information The Role of the State Department: The State Department CAN: ... [Read More]

April

1111--04/05/04   Virginia High School Students “Adopt” Cambodian Minefield ... [Read More]

U.S. Bilateral Investment Treaty Program

The BIT program's basic aims are to: Protect investment abroad in those countries where investors' rights are not already protected through existing agreements (such as modern treaties of friendship, commerce and navigation, or FTAs); Encourage the adoption of market-oriented domestic policies that treat private investment in an open, transparent, and non-discriminatory way; and Support the development of international law standards consistent with these objectives. U.S. Bilateral Investment Treaties provide investments with six basic benefits, which we often refer to as the "core" BIT principles: [Read More]

The Nuclear Suppliers Group

At an Extraordinary Plenary in December 2002, the NSG agreed: 1) to adopt U.S.-proposed anti-terrorism amendments to the Guidelines; 2) to issue a press statement alerting supplier states to concerns about the DPRK nuclear weapons program; and 3) to have the Chairman alert key non-member supplier and transit states to the risk of diversion of controlled and non-controlled items to the DPRK nuclear weapons program. ...

At the Pusan Plenary May 19-23, 2003, the NSG considered but did not reach consensus on: 1) membership for Lithuania; and 2) adoption of : a) steps to increase transparency of the NSG full-scope safeguards supply policy; b) catch-all control provisions in the Dual-Use Guidelines; c) the Additional Protocol as a condition of supply; and d) technical amendments to the control lists. The Plenary did agree to emphasize the need for vigilance in exports to Iran during any outreach efforts with non-members and it called on the Iranian Government to resolve outstanding questions about its nuclear program. The Plenary also called again on all states to exercise extreme vigilance to ensure that exports of goods and technologies do not contribute to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. ... [Read More]

Turkmenistan (01/05)

With an authoritarian post-communist regime in power, Turkmenistan has taken a cautious approach to economic reform, hoping to use gas and cotton sales to sustain its inefficient economy. Privatization goals remain limited. Between 1998 and 2004, Turkmenistan has suffered from the continued lack of adequate export routes for natural gas and from obligations on extensive short-term external debt. At the same time, however, the value of total exports has risen sharply because of higher international oil and gas prices. Prospects in the near future are discouraging because of widespread internal poverty, the burden of foreign debt, and the unwillingness of the government to adopt market-oriented reforms. Turkmenistan's economic statistics are closely held secrets, and published GDP and other figures are subject to wide margins of error. Turkmenistan's unrealistic goal of "self-sufficiency" also artificially sustains the cultivation of inefficient crops, such as wheat. Turkmenistan has coo ... [Read More]