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Eastland

Social, Economic and Political Background

General:

Eastland, with a population of 70,413,958, is a constitutional republic with a multiparty parliamentary system and a president with limited powers elected by the single-chamber parliament, the Eastland Grand National Assembly.

The executive branch of the government consists of the chief of state (the president), the head of government (the prime minister), and the cabinet (the Council of Ministers). The cabinet members are appointed by the president, on the nomination of the prime minister. The president is elected by the National Assembly for a seven-year term; the prime minister is appointed by the president from among members of parliament. To be elected, the president must have a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly on the first two ballots, or a simple majority on the third ballot. The parliament consists of the unicameral Grand National Assembly of Eastland (550 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms). Eastland has 49 political parties, of which a dozen or so are politically significant.

Eastland's civil law system is derived from various Eutropian continental legal systems. Eastland is a member of the Eutropian Court of Human Rights (ECHR), although she claims limited derogations on the ratified Eutropian Convention on Human Rights and does not accept compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice. Suffrage is universal for all citizens of at least 18 years of age.

The judicial system is composed of general law courts; specialized heavy penal courts; military courts; the Constitutional Court, which is the nation's highest court; and three other high courts. The High Court of Appeals hears appeals for criminal cases, the Council of State hears appeals of administrative cases or cases between government entities, and the Audit Court audits state institutions. Most cases are prosecuted in the general law courts, which include civil, administrative, and criminal courts.

Modern Eastland was founded in 1923 from the remnants of what had once been an extensive empire. The young country quickly adopted wide-ranging social, legal, and political reforms. After a period of authoritarian, one-party rule, an experiment with multi-party politics led to the 1950 election victory of the opposition Democratic Party and the peaceful transfer of power. Since then, Eastland's political parties have multiplied; even so, democracy has been fractured by periods of instability and intermittent military coups (1960, 1971, 1980).

Unlike long-term military dictatorships in some countries, in Eastland each of these coups eventually resulted in the return of political power to civilians. In 1997, the military again helped organize the ouster – popularly dubbed a "post-modern coup" – of an Islamic-oriented government. Eastland intervened militarily in a territorial dispute on a neighboring island in 1974 and has since acted as patron state to the "Eastland Republic of Northern Chelsiland," which only Eastland recognizes.

A separatist insurgency begun in 1984 by an ethnic minority in the southeastern part of the country has dominated the attention of Eastland's military and claimed more than 30,000 lives. A combination of factors, including the capture of the group's leader in 1999 and concessions on the part of the goverment that – in theory, at least – permitted members of the group to speak their own language and to have it taught in school, allowed peace to return to the region. Subsequently, most of the insurgents withdrew and moved to countries along Eastland's eastern border. In recent months, however, attacks attributed to the group have once again increased, sorely testing Eastland's resolve to adhere to Eutropian Federation judicial standards.

In 1964, Eastland became an associate member of the Eutropian Federation. Over the past decades, it has undertaken many reforms to strengthen its democracy and economy, enabling it to begin accession (membership) talks with the Eutropian Federation, despite Darialand's strong opposition.

A total of eight countries border on Eastland, making it second only to Brynnland in terms of the number of neighbours it has. Unlike any current member country, however, only half of these neighbours lie inside the continental boundaries of Eutropia.

Geographically, Eastland consists of a high central plateau, a narrow coastal plain, and several mountain ranges. Natural resources include coal, iron ore, copper, chromium, antimony, mercury, gold, barite, borate, celestite (strontium), emery, feldspar, limestone, magnesite, marble, perlite, pumice, pyrites (sulfur), clay, arable land (29.81%), and hydropower. Severe earthquakes are a fairly frequent occurrence, especially in northern Eastland.

Eastland's climate is temperate; hot, dry summers alternate with mild, wet winters; the weather is generally harsher in the interior of the country than on the coast.

Environmental concerns include water pollution from the dumping of chemicals and detergents; air pollution, particularly in urban areas; deforestation; and a concern for oil spills from increasing ship traffic in the strait that separates Eastland and Coastland.

Economy:

Eastland's dynamic economy is a complex mix of modern industry and commerce along with a traditional agriculture sector that still accounts for more than 35% of employment. The country has a strong and rapidly growing private sector, yet the state still plays a major role in basic industry, banking, transport, and communication. The largest industrial sector is textiles and clothing, which accounts for one-third of industrial employment; it faces stiff competition in international markets with the end of the global quota system.

However, other sectors, notably the automotive and electronics industries, are rising in importance within Eastland's export mix. Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth has exceeded 6% many years, but this strong expansion was interrupted by sharp declines in output in 1994, 1999, and 2001. With the implementation of economic reforms, the economy is turning around and in 2004, GDP growth reached 9%.

Inflation, 75% at its height, fell to 7.7% in 2005 – a 30-year low. Despite the strong economic gains in 2002-05, which were largely due to renewed investor interest in emerging markets, International Monetary Fund backing, and tighter fiscal policy, the economy is still burdened by a high current account deficit and high debt.

The public sector fiscal deficit exceeds 6% of GDP – due in large part to high interest payments, which accounted for about 37% of central government spending in 2004. Prior to 2005, foreign direct investment (FDI) in Eastland averaged less than $1 billion annually, but further economic and judicial reforms and prospective Federation membership are expected to boost FDI. Privatization sales are currently approaching $21 billion.

Over the past two and a half decades, Eastland's economy has undergone a significant structural shift [view graphic]. Currently, agriculture accounts for 11.7% of GDP, industry for 29.8%, and services for 58.5%. Eastland's labour force is 24.7 million strong, and about 1.2 million Eastlanders work abroad, many of them in more highly industrialized countries like Brynnland. 35.9% of the labour force is employed in agriculture, 22.8% in industry , and 41.2% in services. The unemployment rate is 10%, and an additional 4% of the labour force is underemployed. 20% of the population currently lives below the poverty line.

Agricultural products include tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar beets, pulse, citrus, and livestock. Eastland's main industries are textiles, food processing, autos, electronics, mining (coal, chromite, copper, boron), steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, and paper.

Brynnland, Calderland, Flanneryland are Eastland's most important trading partners.

Eastland is a key transit route for heroin from Southwest Asian going to Eutropia and – to a far lesser extent the New World – via air, land, and sea routes. Major Eastlandic and other international trafficking organizations operate out of Eastland's largest port city. Laboratories for converting imported morphine base into heroin are scattered throughout remote regions of Eastland and near the largest cities. The government maintains strict controls over areas of legal opium poppy cultivation and limits the output of poppy straw concentrate, but the enforcement of money-laundering controls is quite lax.

Society:

With a population of 70,413,958, only 6.8% of whom are aged 65 or older, Eastland is a young country (the median age is 29 years). The population is growing more than six times as fast as the Eutropian Federation average, at a rate of 1.06% annually (which is, however, down from the country's 2% annual growth rate during the 1990's).

At 39.69 deaths per 1,000 live births, infant mortality rates are eight times the Eutropian average of 5.1 deaths per 1,000 live births. Life expectancy at birth for Eastlanders is currently 72.6 years, compared to the Eutropian average of 78.3 years.

80% of the population are ethnic Eastlanders, and roughly 20% belong to one of several ethnic groups, the largest of which are the Nobians. While Eastland is nominally a secular society, 99.8% of the population is Muslim (mostly Sunni), with Christians and Jews accounting for the remaining 0.2% of the population. Eastland's largest city, the only city in the world that lies in two continents, has a history of at least 500 years of religious tolerance among Muslims, Christians and Jews.

Eastland is a significant "donor" country to Eutropia's labour markets, a situation which has proved beneficial for Eastland as well as for the receiving countries. In addition to a longstanding agreement with Brynnland to provide "guest" workers, Eastland also has bilateral labour agreements with Darialand, Northland and Southland.

Incoming migration is limited and is usually consistent with patterns of global migration movements — the country receives some economic migrants from nearby countries such as Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Iran, but also from Afghanistan, Central Asia and Pakistan. Official policy supports immigration from countries whose cultures are considered "compatible" with Eastland's national identity.

Additionally, Eastland is home to a fairly high number of internally displaced persons (IDPs). Fifteen or more years of fighting between ethnic groups seeking more autonomy and Eastland's military have caused somewhere between 350,000 and 1,000,000 people in the southeastern provinces to flee their homes and become internally displaced. State forces violently and illegally displaced upwards of 380,000 ethnic Nobian villagers in the 1990s during a conflict with Nobian paramilitary forces in southeast Eastland. Gendarmes and commandos burned villagers out of their homes and destroyed their crops and livestock. The operations were marked by torture, extrajudicial execution, and “disappearance.” Although the government claims that a quarter of the internally displaced have returned, these figures cannot be substantiated. The unclear conditions of the return of these displaced people are part of the reason why negotitations about a possible membership of Eastland in the Eutropian Federation continue to be difficult.

Labour migration has shaped Eastlandic demographics significantly  over the course of the past century. After World War II, Eastlanders were brought to Western Eutropia as guest workers to help rebuild the countries' economies. As a consequence of bilateral treaties between Eastland and the receiving countries, family reunions soon added to the numbers of Eastlanders living in Western Eutropian countries . Currently, approximately 3 million people of Eastlandic origin or citizenship live and work within Eutropia. Some of them do so as semi-legal aliens because, since their country has not yet been granted membership in the Eutropian Federation they do not have unrestricted access to employment and residence permits.

Tourists and visitors to Eastland often describe the Eastlanders as very kind people and many say their hospitality is legendary. Shop keepers offer strangers tea, regardless of whether or not they plan to spend anything. Most people will open up their homes to strangers, often discussing where their guest is from, their occupation, their income and whether or not they are married.

In many respects, Eastland is a culturally rich but troubled society, one which is struggling to find a workable balance between outside (usually Western) influences and its own cultural traditions.

Fifteen or more years of fighting between ethnic groups seeking more autonomy and Eastland's military have caused somewhere between 350,000 and 1,000,000 people in the southeastern provinces to flee their homes and become internally displaced persons, or IDPs.

Education:

During the Empire, education took place in the medrese, part of every mosque complex, and centered around Koranic instruction. It was available to boys only – girls were instructed in household skills and crafts within the harem. Only 10% of the population were literate.

Following the foundation of the Eastlandic Republic, reforms were undertaken in education, as they were in other fields. Education was secularized, the medrese were closed, and the Arabic alphabet was abandoned in favour of the Western Eutropian alphabet, which was considered easier to learn.

The aim of Eastland's educational system is to nurture productive, happy individuals with broad views on world affairs who will unite in national consciousness and thinking to form an inseparable state, and will contribute to the prosperity of society through their skills. This is thought to be instrumental in making the Eastlandic nation a creative and distinguished member of the modern world.

Under the law for the unification of education, which was ratified in 1924, all schools came under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Education was charged with the task of implementing a contemporary mode of education training for Eastland's citizens by opening primary and secondary schools and other institutes and arranging courses consistent with the educational policies decided upon. Today the Ministry also meets the requirements of these institutions in the way of teachers and administrators and draws up the respective rules, regulations and programmes. It also arranges educational programmes for children of school age who are needy or require special care.

Education has been made a top priority of national development. It has the largest budget of any ministry with an allocation of over 22% of the national budget.

Today the educational system is again in the midst of a process of development and expansion, essential if Eastland is to meet the challenge of educating the youngest, fastest growing population in Eutropia. Thus, in August 1997, compulsory basic education was extended from five to eight years. It is estimated that over 1,1 million children have received three extra years of free basic education as a result.

Officially recognized minorities may operate schools under the supervision of the Ministry of Education. Such schools are required to appoint a Muslim as deputy principal; reportedly these deputies had more authority than their nominal supervisors. The curriculum of these schools included Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and Jewish instruction.

There are no fees for public education until college or university. Students attend school in uniforms which are usually blue or very occasionally black for public schools. The uniforms of private schools are generally more colorful and with ornament. Parents have to buy uniforms, pens, pencils and notebooks.

Many private schools, universities and institutes of higher education are being established, offering excellent standards and facilities. Native speakers are commonly employed to encourage mastery of foreign languages, in order to underwrite Eastland's increasingly open society. Eastlandic schools, even when struggling with underfunding,display high levels of staff professionalism and dedication, strong student motivation and parental and community involvement.

The government has lifted a small part of the large-scale ban on the teaching of the language of the largest ethnic minority; now there are two private schools teaching it—although the government does not yet accept the use of the language in regular education as required by Eutropian conventions in those areas historically and currently inhabited by the group in question.

School types:

Nursery Schools: In addition to the general educational system, pre-school training is available on a private basis or in public sector facilities. However, this level of education is not yet common and currently serves only about 5-10 % of Eastland's pre-school-age children. Most commonly, working mothers and families in big cities send their children to Nursery schools. The children start pre-school around four years of age and learn games, theater, painting, manners, songs, etc.

Primary Education: 8 years of primary school are compulsory. Children start primary school at the age of 7, as a rule, but may start at 6, depending on their physical development.

Nationwide attendance at primary schools is about 96% of school-age children. In some rural areas parents cannot physically manage to get their children to school as they live far from towns on mountains.

A single teacher takes care of all the students in a class, beginning in the first grade and continuing with those children for eight years until they finish their compulsory education. Each morning, primary school students pledge in chorus to be honest and studious, to protect the young and respect the old, to love their country more than themselves.

The average number of students in each classroom is 20 to 40, but in some rural areas, where there are not enough teachers, even more students have to fit into the same classroom. Because the school age population of Eastland is very large, school buildings are too small and there are not enough teachers to teach everyone at the same time. Thus, two sessions of school are held, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

General studies subjects include language, foreign language, chemistry, mathematics, physics, literature, religion, geography, and history.

After finishing primary school, students take an examination which determines whether they will attend secondary school.

Secondary Education: Secondary school normally takes 3 years to complete. In these schools, the system of one teacher for each class changes to a specialist teacher for each subject. Students can choose one foreign language from English, French or German. Religious Education lessons, depending on the present government’s policy, is often optional, and is actually a comparative study of religions rather than only of Islam.

The aims of these schools are to ensure that the student acquires a given level of general knowledge, develops an awareness of individual and community problems and can contribute to the economic, social and cultural growth of the country. In addition, secondary schools prepare students for higher education.

Science, Fine Arts, Vocational, Technical, Islamic Theological and Private High Schools are different from the general secondary schools, but are still a part of the Secondary Education system.

The Science and Private High Schools are reputed to be the best and are consequently the most popular. These schools offer an extra year (prep class) at the beginning to teach a single foreign language; in the following years, all science lessons are taught in that foreign language.

Students in secondary schools must wear uniforms. Education at this level is free except at the private schools, where an average fee is the equivalent of 3,500 eutros per year.

Students show respect for their teachers by standing up as a class when a teacher enters the classroom.

Tertiary Education: Universities include two- and four-years, and schools of further education, all of which operate under the authority of an autonomous Higher Education Council.

There are a total of 60 public universities in Eastland. Students are admitted to universities through a examination held once a year. To gain admission to good departments at good universities, students start studying for the entrance exams as much as two years in advance, generally taking private courses as well. The students are given admission and assigned a university based on their scores on the examination. Generally speaking, one-third of the students who take the examination each year receive university placements. The others attend private universities, if they can afford it; otherwise they start working, wait a year or join the military service (men only).

Unlike the primary and secondary education, at university students have to pay a fee of approximately 85-300 eutros per year at public higher education facilities.

After four years of study they may continue for another one or two years to earn an MA. This also involves an examination and costs a little more.

University level first stage: Bachelor's Degree: An Associate Degree is awarded after the successful completion of two-year university studies. Courses leading to the Bachelor's Degree require a minimum of four years of university study. Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine courses take five years and Medicine takes six years.

University level second stage: Master's Degree: MA programmes generally take two years to complete with both thesis and non-thesis options.

University level third stage: The Doctoral Degree is conferred after two additional years of study and after the completion of a doctoral thesis (which generally takes four more years to complete).

Teacher education: Primary and secondary school teachers are trained in universities where they must obtain a Bachelor's Degree.

Training of higher education teachers: Higher education institutions are responsible for training their own academic staff, both at home and abroad. There are various criteria for the promotion of teaching staff members.

Non-traditional studies:

Distance higher education: Distance education is offered at the Open Education Faculty of Eastland University. Entry is on a competitive basis. Courses last for two and four years.

Other forms of non-formal higher education: Non-formal education is offered by a network of training centres supervised by the Ministry of National Education.

Literacy:

86.5% of the population age 15 and over can read and write. Male literacy rates are considerably higher, at 94.3%, than female literacy rates (78.7%).

Human Rights Issues:

The government generally respects the human rights of its citizens. Although there have been improvements in a number of areas, serious problems remain.The following human rights problems have been reported within the past twelve months:

• some restrictions on political activity
• unlawful killings
• torture, beatings, and other abuses of persons by security forces
• poor prison conditions
• arbitrary detention
• impunity and corruption
• lengthy pretrial detention
• excessively long trials
• restrictions on freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and association
• restrictions on religious freedom
• violence and discrimination against women
• child abuse
• child marriage
• trafficking in persons
• restrictions on worker's rights
• child labour
  

Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life: Security forces killed a number of persons last year, particularly in the southeast and east, for allegedly failing to obey stop warnings. The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) estimates that security forces killed 52 persons between January and November, including in shootings by village guards and border patrols. HRF estimates that security forces killed 48 persons in 2004.

Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment: The law prohibits such practices; however, members of the security forces continue to torture, beat, and otherwise abuse persons regularly.

Incidents of torture and abuse declined over the past year but remain widespread. Courts rarely convict security officials accused of torture and tend to issue light sentences when they do convict. According to the HRF, there were 657 credible cases of torture or abuse reported at its 5 national treatment centers through November of last year. Of these, 180 cases involved torture or abuse inflicted during the year; the rest involved incidents that had occurred previously. A number of human rights observers claim that only a small percentage of detainees report torture and abuse because they fear retaliation or believe that complaining is futile.

Human rights observers say that because of reduced detention periods, security officials increasingly use torture methods that do not leave physical signs, including repeated slapping, exposure to cold, stripping and blindfolding, food and sleep deprivation, threats to detainees or family members, dripping water on the head, isolation, and mock executions. They report the near elimination of more severe methods, such as electric shocks, high-pressure cold water hoses, rape, beatings on the soles of the feet and genitalia, hanging by the arms, and burns.

Human rights activists, attorneys, and physicians who treat victims say that because of increased punishments for torture and abuse, police who engage in these practices often do so outside of police detention centers to avoid detection.

Human rights activists maintain that those arrested for ordinary crimes are as likely to suffer torture and ill-treatment in detention as those arrested for political offenses, although they are less likely to report abuse. Observers say security officials sometimes torture political detainees to intimidate them and send a warning to others with similar political views. Authorities allegedly torture ordinary suspects to obtain a confession.

Government-employed doctors administer all medical examinations of detainees. Examinations occur once during detention and a second time before either arraignment or release. However, the examinations are generally brief and informal. According to the Society of Forensic Medicine Specialists, only approximately 300 of 80,000 doctors in the country are forensic specialists, and most detainees are examined by general practitioners and specialists not qualified to detect signs of torture. There are forensic medical centers in only 34 of 81 provinces. Some former detainees assert that doctors did not conduct proper examinations and that authorities denied their requests for a second examination.

A justice ministry regulation requires doctor-patient privacy during the examination of suspects, except where the doctor requests police presence for security reasons. Compared to 2004, in 2005 there were fewer complaints of security officials remaining in the room despite objections, according to the Society of Forensic Medicine Specialists.

The law provides for harsh prison sentences and fines for medical personnel who falsify reports to hide torture, those who knowingly use such reports, and those who coerce doctors into making them. In practice there are few prosecutions for violation of these laws.

Police harass, beat, and abuse demonstrators.

Prison and Detention Center Conditions: Conditions in many prisons remain poor. Underfunding, overcrowding, and insufficient staff training are problems. Some inmates convicted for nonviolent, speech-related offenses are held in high-security prisons.

Observers report that the government has made significant improvements in the food provided in the prisons, although there is a lack of potable water in some facilities.

According to the medical association, there are insufficient doctors, and psychologists are available only at some of the largest prisons. Some inmates claim they are denied appropriate medical treatment for serious illness.

Despite the existence of separate juvenile facilities, at times juveniles and adults are held in adjacent wards with mutual access. Some observers report that detainees and convicts are sometimes held together.

Arbitrary Arrest or Detention: The law prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention; however, the government at times does not observe these prohibitions.

A civil defense force known as the village guards is less professional and disciplined than other security forces and is concentrated in the southeast. The village guards have repeatedly been accused of drug trafficking, rape, corruption, theft, and other human rights abuses. Inadequate oversight and compensation contribute to this problem, and in some cases village guards have allegedly been protected from prosecution. Although the security forces are generally considered effective, the village guards, and police special teams are viewed as those most responsible for abuses. Corruption and impunity are serious problems.

The courts investigate many allegations of abuse and torture by security forces over the course of a year; however, they rarely convict or punish offenders. When courts do convict offenders, punishment generally is minimal and sentences are sometimes suspended. Authorities typically allow officers accused of abuse to remain on duty and, in some cases, promote them during their trial, which can often take years.

Arrest and Detention: Warrants issued by a prosecutor are required for arrests unless the suspect is caught in the commission of a crime. Depending on the charges, persons charged with a crime can be held for up to 48 hours, excluding transportation time, before being arraigned by a judge. There is a functioning bail system. After arraignment, the judge may release the accused upon receipt of an appropriate assurance, such as bail, or order detention if the court determines that the accused is likely to flee the jurisdiction or destroy evidence. The law provides that detainees are entitled to immediate access to an attorney and to meet and confer with an attorney at any time, but in practice authorities do not always respect these provisions and most detainees do not exercise these rights, either because they are unaware of them or because they fear antagonizing authorities. If indigent, detainees are provided an attorney at government expense.

Private attorneys and human rights monitors report irregular implementation of these regulations, particularly with respect to attorney access. According to a number of local bar associations, attorney access for detainees improved during the past year, but varied widely across the country. In some parts of the country, bar association representatives estimate that up to 70 percent of detainees consult with attorneys, while in other areas only 5 percent do so.

Denial of Fair Public Trial: The law provides for an independent judiciary; however, the judiciary is sometimes subject to outside influence. There have been allegations of judicial corruption.

The law prohibits the government from issuing orders or recommendations concerning the exercise of judicial power; however, the government and the National Security Council (NSC), an advisory body to the government composed of civilian government leaders and senior military officers, periodically issues announcements or directives about threats to the government, which could easily be interpreted as general directions to the judiciary.

The High Council of Judges and Prosecutors was widely criticized for undermining the independence of the judiciary.

Trial Procedures: There is no jury system; a judge or a panel of judges decides all cases. Trials are public. The law requires bar associations to provide free counsel to indigents who request it from the court, and bar associations across the country do so in practice. Defendants have the right to be present at trial and to consult with an attorney in a timely manner. Defendants or their attorneys can question witnesses for the prosecution and present witnesses and evidence on their behalf. Defendants and their attorneys have access to government-held evidence relevant to their cases. Defendants enjoy a presumption of innocence and the right to appeal.

The law provides for the right to a speedy trial; however, at times trials last for years.

The law prohibits the use in court of evidence obtained by torture; however, prosecutors sometimes fail to pursue torture allegations, and the exclusion of evidence can take place only after a separate case on the legality of the evidence has been resolved. However, in practice a trial based on a confession allegedly coerced under torture can proceed, and even conclude, before the court has examined the merits of the torture allegations.

Political Prisoners: The HRA estimates that there are several thousand political prisoners, including leftists, rightists, and Islamists.

Freedom of Speech and Press: The law provides for freedom of speech and of the press; however, the government limits these freedoms in some cases. Journalists practice self-censorship.

The government, particularly the police and judiciary, limit freedom of expression through the use of constitutional restrictions and numerous laws, including articles of the penal code prohibiting insults to the government, the state, "Eastlandic identity," or the institutions and symbols of the republic. Other laws, such as the Anti-Terror Law and laws governing the press and elections, also restrict speech.

Individuals can not criticize the state or government publicly without fear of reprisal, and the government continues to restrict expression by individuals sympathetic to some religious, political, and ethnic nationalist or cultural viewpoints. Active debates on human rights and government policies continue, particularly on issues relating to the country's Eutropian Federation membership process, the role of the military, Islam, political Islam, and the question of Eastlanders of ethnic origin as "minorities"; however, persons who write or speak out on such topics risk prosecution.

Freedom of Assembly: The law provides for freedom of assembly; however, the government restricts this right in practice. Significant prior notification to authorities is required for a gathering, and authorities may restrict meetings to designated sites.

Last year, the High Court of Appeals ordered the closure of the teachers' union on the grounds that the union's bylaws violated the constitution by advocating the right of individuals to receive education in their mother tongue.

Freedom of Religion: The law provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respects this right in practice; however, the government imposes some restrictions on Muslim and other religious groups.

The law establishes the country as a secular state and provides for freedom of belief, freedom of worship, and the private dissemination of religious ideas; however, other constitutional provisions regarding the integrity and existence of the secular state restrict these rights.

Mystical Sufi and other religious-social orders have been banned officially since the mid-1920s; however, religious-social orders and lodges remain active and widespread. Some prominent political and social leaders continue to associate with religious-social orders, lodges, and other Islamic societies.

Jehovah's Witnesses report continuing official harassment of their worship services because they are not members of an officially recognized religion. In June of last year, authorities sealed a kingdom hall (place of worship) used by members of the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Religious affiliation is listed on national identity cards. Some religious groups, such as the Baha'i, are unable to state their religion on their cards because their religion is not included among the options; they have made their concerns known to the government. There are reports that local officials harass people who have converted from Islam to another religion when they seek to amend their cards. Some non-Muslims maintain that listing religious affiliation on the cards exposes them to discrimination and harassment.

Secularists in the military, judiciary, and other branches of the bureaucracy continue to wage campaigns against what they label as proponents of Islamic fundamentalism. These groups view religious fundamentalism as a threat to the secular state. They do not clearly define fundamentalism, but they assert that it is an attempt to impose the rule of Shari'a in all civil and criminal matters.

The government does not recognize the ecumenical status of the Orthodox Patriarch, acknowledging him only as the head of the country's dwindling Orthodox community. As a result, the government has long maintained that only citizens of the country could become patriarch, serve as members of the Orthodox Holy Synod, and participate in patriarchal elections. Members of the Orthodox community say these restrictions threaten the survival of the patriarchate in Eastland, because, with fewer than 2,500 Orthodox persons remaining in the country, the community is becoming too small to maintain the institution.

The law restricts religious services to designated places of worship. Municipal codes mandate that only the government can designate a place of worship; if a religious group has no legal standing in the country, it may not be eligible for a designated site. Non-Muslim religious services, particularly for groups that do not own property recognized by the GDF, often take place on diplomatic property or in private apartments. Police occasionally prohibit Christians from holding services in private apartments, and prosecutors sometimes open cases against Christians for holding unauthorized gatherings.

No law explicitly prohibits proselytizing or religious conversions; however, many prosecutors and police regard proselytizing and religious activism with suspicion. Police occasionally prevent Christians from handing out religious literature.

The government is waging a public campaign against Christian missionary activity. An antimissionary sermon has been distributed to imams. The sermon depicts missionaries as part of a plot by foreign powers to "steal the beliefs of our young people and children." In addition, a book on missionaries has been published in which the author states that "missionaries and the Crusades are related." The author further claims that throughout history Muslims have never tried to convert non-Muslims and have only explained their beliefs "in an honest fashion," whereas Christian missionaries have used "all means, including the use of sheer force." The book is being distributed free of charge to parliamentarians and students.

Authorities continue to enforce a long-term ban on the wearing of headscarves at universities and by civil servants in public buildings. Women who wear headscarves and persons who actively show support for those who defy the ban are disciplined or lose their jobs in the public sector as nurses and teachers. Students who wear head coverings are not permitted to register for classes, although some faculty members permit students to wear head coverings in class.

The ban on Islamic headscarves in the country's universities has been found to be "not unlawful" by the Eutropian Commission on Human Rights.

Societal Abuses and Discrimination: Proselytizing is often considered socially unacceptable; Christians performing missionary work are sometimes beaten and insulted. Police officers may report students who meet with Christian missionaries to their families or to university authorities.

There has been an increase during the past year in anti-Christian media coverage, threats against Christians, and attacks on churches.

A TV broadcast mixed coverage of a Protestant church with footage of a sex cult.

Unknown assailants broke the windows of the International Protestant Church in Eastland's capital and threw two Molotov cocktails into the building, damaging the carpet and walls. The church was empty at the time. One month before the attack, the church received an email from a group threatening to kill Christians.

In May of last year, unknown individuals painted a red swastika on the apartment door of a Protestant pastor and left a threatening letter. Also in May, a Christian couple received two e-mails from an unknown party threatening to kill them because of their religious faith.

Protestants claim they are subject to repeated threats and harassment by individual law enforcement officials and municipal officials.

Some Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Baha'is face societal suspicion and mistrust. Jews and Christians from most denominations freely practice their religions and report little discrimination in daily life. However, religious minorities say they are effectively blocked from careers in state institutions, a claim supported in a 2004 report by a government human rights body.

A variety of newspapers and television shows have featured anti-Christian and anti-Jewish messages, and anti-Semitic literature is common in bookstores.

Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation: The law provides for these rights; however, at times the government limits them in practice. The law provides that a citizen's freedom to leave the country can be restricted only in the case of a national emergency, civic obligations (military service, for example), or criminal investigation or prosecution. The government maintains a heavy security presence in the southeast, including numerous roadway checkpoints. Provincial authorities in the southeast, citing security concerns, deny some villagers access to their fields and high pastures for grazing.

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs): Various NGOs estimate that there are from one to three million IDPs in the country remaining from secessionist conflict, which began in 1984 and continued at a high level through the 1990s. The government reported that 378 thousand residents "migrated" from the southeast during the conflict, with many others departing before the fighting.

A 2004 law allows persons who suffered material losses during the conflict in the southeastern region to apply for compensation; however,representatives of NGOs and regional bar associations maintain that the law includes unreasonable documentation requirements and specifies levels of compensation far below standards established by the Eutropian Commission on Human Rights. They also maintain that the commissions reviewing the applications are biased. There is no mechanism for appealing commission decisions.

Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change their Government: The law provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully, and citizens generally exercise this right in practice through periodic free and fair elections held on the basis of universal suffrage. However, the government restricts the activities of some political parties and leaders.

Elections and Political Participation: During the last election campaign, several political parties – notably the winning party – faced judicial action aimed at closing them down, and many candidates were also prohibited from running. While there were a substantial number of cases of harassment reported by some political parties and by human rights groups, the elections were considered to have been generally free and fair.

Government Corruption and Transparency: Corruption within the government is a problem. A former prime minister and a former state minister are currently on trial for corruption.

Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights: A number of domestic and international human rights groups operate in many regions but face government obstruction and restrictive laws regarding their operations, particularly in the southeast. The government meets with domestic NGOs (which it defines broadly to include business organizations and labour unions), responds to their inquiries, and occasionally takes action in response to their recommendations.

Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons: The law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, religion, disability, language, or social status; however, the government does not always enforce these provisions effectively. Societal and official violence and discrimination against women and minorities as well as trafficking in persons are problems.

Women: Violence against women, including spousal abuse, is a serious and widespread problem. The law prohibits violence against women, including spousal abuse; however, the government generally does not effectively enforce the law. Police are reluctant to intervene in domestic disputes and frequently advise women to return to their husbands. Spousal abuse is considered an extremely private matter involving societal notions of family honor, and few women go to the police.

The Directorate General for the Status of Women reports that 147,784 women were victims of domestic violence from 2001 to 2004. These incidents included 4,957 cases of rape and 3,616 cases of attempted rape. In 2003, 6,543 women suffered beatings at the hands of family members, and in the first eight months of 2004, 5,214 women suffered beatings.

The law prohibits rape, including spousal rape; however, laws and ingrained societal notions make it difficult to prosecute sexual assault or rape cases. Women's rights advocates believe cases of rape are seriously underreported.

The government's Institution for Social Services and Orphanages operates 14 shelters for female victims of domestic violence and rape with a total capacity of 259. Municipalities and NGOs also operate a number of shelters. Municipalities with populations greater than 50,000 are required to establish shelters for women.

Honor killings – the killing by immediate family members of women suspected of being unchaste – are a problem. Women's advocacy groups report that there are dozens of such killings every year, mainly in conservative ethnic families in the southeast or among migrants from the southeast living in large cities. Because of sentence reductions for juvenile offenders, observers note that young male relatives are often designated to perform the killing.

A survey on honor killings polled 430 persons in the southeast; 78 percent of those surveyed were men. The survey revealed that 37.4% of the respondents believed honor killings were justified if a wife committed adultery, and 21.6 percent believed infidelity justified punishments such as cutting off a wife's ear or nose.

Prostitution is legal; however, police frequently make arrests involving foreigners working illegally as prostitutes.

The law prohibits sexual harassment; however, women's rights activists maintain that sexual harassment is common and the law is rarely enforced.

Under the law, women enjoy the same rights as men; however, societal and official discrimination are widespread.

Women continue to face discrimination in employment to varying degrees and are generally underrepresented in managerial-level positions as well as in government. Women generally receive equal pay for equal work in professional, business, and civil service positions, although a large percentage of women employed in agriculture and in the trade, restaurant, and hotel sectors work as unpaid family labour.

Children: The government is committed to furthering children's welfare and works to expand opportunities in education and health.

Though education through age 14 or the eighth grade is free, universal, and compulsory, traditional family values in rural areas places a greater emphasis on education for sons than for daughters. According to the government, 95.4% of girls and 99.2% of boys attend primary school; however, the UN reports during the year that in the eastern and southeastern regions of the country more than 50 percent of girls between 6 and 14 do not attend school.

The government provides health services to citizens who lack health insurance. Children of parents with health insurance are covered under their parents' plans. Boys and girls have equal access to health care.

Child abuse is a problem. There are a significant number of honor killings of girls by immediate family members, sometimes by juvenile male relatives. Last year, police arrested five employees of a state orphanage in connection with an investigation into the alleged torture and abuse of children at the institution.

Child marriage occurs. The legal age of marriage in the country is 18 for both boys and girls. A judge can authorize a marriage at age 17 under "extraordinary circumstances"; the law requires judges to consult with parents or guardians before making such a decision. However, children as young as 12 are at times married in unofficial religious ceremonies. Families sometimes engage in "cradle arrangements," agreeing that their newborn children will marry at a later date, well before reaching the legal age.

Women's rights activists say underage marriage has become less common in the country in recent years, but is still practiced in rural, poverty-stricken regions. Activists maintain that girls who marry below the legal age often have children shortly thereafter and suffer physical and psychological trauma as a result. Arranged marriages have been cited as a cause of suicides among girls, particularly in the southeast.

Trafficking of children is a problem. Child labour is a problem.

Trafficking in Persons: The law prohibits trafficking in persons; however, there are reports of trafficking in women and children to, from, and within the country for the purpose of sexual exploitation. There have been allegations that police corruption at all levels contributes to the trafficking problem.

The country is a destination and source for trafficked persons.The government places at 235 the number of identified trafficking victims during the past year. Various NGOs operating in the country and in neighboring source countries estimate the number of trafficking victims to be nearly 10 times that figure. Young women seeking employment, particularly from Eastland's eastern neighbours and Burian are at the greatest risk of being trafficked into the country. Most foreign victims identified are trafficked for sexual exploitation and are found in Eastland's three largest cities, although victims have been identified in cities all around the country. Nearly all of them are treated for sexually transmitted diseases. There have been media reports of Eastlanders being trafficked internally and externally. Newspapers report that Calderland's police raided a massage parlor in Calderland in early October, 2005, and found 2 Eastlanders among 19 women trafficked for sexual exploitation. According to NGOs working in the field, the number of women trafficked internally for sexual exploitation is increasing.

Internal trafficking is a problem. Most trafficking activity within the country occurs in the largest cities. For example, last September a 14-year-old runaway girl was reportedly held captive and forced to have sexual relations with numerous men. She was rescued by police, and the traffickers were arrested and charged with trafficking. The case is still pending.

Foreign victims trafficked to the country are typically recruited by small networks of foreign nationals and Eastlandic citizens who rely on referrals and recruitment from friends and family members in the source country. Some victims answer newspaper advertisements or enlist the help of job agencies in the source country. The victims often do not know where they are going or which airlines they are using. Some victims reportedly arrive in the country knowing that they are going to work illegally in the sex industry; however, most arrive believing they will be working as models, waitresses, dancers, domestic servants, or in other regular employment. Traffickers typically confiscate victims' documents, then confine, rape, beat, starve, and intimidate them by threatening their families and ultimately forcing them into prostitution.

Eastland's response in the past five years has been increasingly effective in fighting human trafficking. In addition to ratifying most of the international agreements on trafficking, Eastland has enacted a law to combat human trafficking as well as a new national Penal Code. Police officers, judges and prosecuters have received additional training in handling trafficking cases, and an NGO, the Human Resources Development Fund, has been involved in combating trafficking.

Thus, the work currently being done in Eastland involves both non-governmental organisations and various public and private sector agencies at the national level. One exemplary project, a shelter for female victims of trafficking, involves a local municipality, an NGO (the HRDF), and both the national and international subsidiaries of a major corporation. The municipality supplies dried food supplies, the NGO coordinates the shelter's work and performs administrative tasks, and the corporation provides funds to cover all operating costs.

Eastland's overall response to trafficking has three main objectives: 1) to contribute to international efforts, 2) to enhance Eastland's national ability to prevent trafficking in women, and 3) to increase awareness of the problem of trafficking among Eastlanders. Future efforts should include more cross-border regional and transnational collaborations as well as cooperation among various sectors.

Not all trafficking is for sexual purposes. One foreign victim was saved from domestic servitude after calling the trafficking hot line. The media have also reported that young Eastlandic men and women, many underage, are being recruited to work in brick factories in a distant province where they receive little or no pay and live in hazardous conditions on the factory sites.

People Smuggling: Eastland is a transit country for the smuggling of people from countries to the east and south whose ultimate destinations are typically inside the Eutropian Federation. People smuggling is typically organized by international groups.

Persons with Disabilities: The law prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or in the provision of other state services. Although they suffer from a lack of economic opportunity, there is no societal discrimination against persons with disabilities. The law does not mandate access to buildings and public transportation for persons with disabilities. The Presidency Administration for Disabled People, under the Prime Ministry, is responsible for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.

Mental Disability Rights International report that people with mental disabilities in the country are subject to treatment "tantamount to torture." The international NGO, which conducted a two-year study in the country, claims the country lacks community-based support for mental patients and offers no alternative to state institutions where the mentally disabled are held separately from society in "prison-like incarceration." Specific abuses listed in the report include: mental patients being committed to psychiatric hospitals without judicial review; excessive use of painful electroconvulsive shock treatment without anesthesia or muscle relaxant; use of shock treatment on young children; malnutrition and dehydration of patients; lack of rehabilitation and physical therapy; and excessive use of physical restraints, including children tied to beds for extended periods.

National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities: The law provides for a single nationality designation for all citizens and does not recognize ethnic groups as national, racial, or ethnic minorities. Millions of the country's citizens identify themselves as members of an ethnic group. Those who publicly or politically assert their identity or publicly espouse using their native language in the public domain risk censure, harassment, or prosecution.

The government maintains significant restrictions on the use of ethnic minority languages in radio and television broadcasts and in publications

No official estimate of the size of the Romani population exists. The International Romani Studies Network (IRSN) estimates the Romani population at approximately 2 million. According to the report, Roma face significant discrimination, and the national media consistently portray them in ways that support negative stereotypes. IRSN reports that Roma are more consistently undereducated and underemployed, suffer much higher levels of ill-health, higher incidences of discrimination based on ethnicity, and have poorer housing than any other group in the country. The report maintains that there are virtually no positive role models for Romani youth other than musicians and that Roma who achieve success generally feel the need to hide their ethnic identity.

The law states that "nomadic Gypsies" are among the four categories of people not admissible as immigrants.

Other Societal Abuses and Discrimination: While the law does not explicitly discriminate against homosexuals, representatives of gay and lesbian rights organizations claim that vague references in the law relating to "the morals of society" and "unnatural sexual behavior" are sometimes used to punish homosexuality. Gay and lesbian rights activists maintain that homosexuals risk losing their jobs if they disclose their sexual orientation and say the law does not protect their rights in such circumstances.

Worker Rights: The Right of Association: The law provides some but not all workers with the right to associate and form unions subject to diverse restrictions, and some workers exercise this right in practice. The government maintains some restrictions on the right of association. Unions are required to obtain official permission to hold meetings or rallies and to allow government representatives to attend their conventions and record the proceedings; however, these requirements are not always enforced. Prosecutors can ask labour courts to order a trade union or confederation to suspend its activities or to go into liquidation for serious infractions based on alleged violation of specific legal norms. Approximately 25 percent of the wage and salary workers in the labour force was unionized.

Last year, the High Court of Appeals ordered the closure of the teachers' union on the grounds that the union's bylaws violated the constitution by advocating the right of individuals to receive education in their mother tongue. An attorney for the union has filed an appeal with the Eutropian Commission on Human Rights. Eventually, the union removed the controversial article from its bylaws, enabling it to avoid closure while the ECHR case is pending. According to union members, authorities began to pursue the case after the military General Staff sent a letter to the Labour Ministry in 2003 asserting that the bylaw violated the constitution.

The law prohibits antiunion discrimination; however, such discrimination occurred occasionally in practice. Union representatives claimed that employers sometimes fired workers because they had joined a union, using alleged incompetence or economic crises as a pretext. Fired workers have the right to appeal the decision of their employer, but under the law the employer is generally not obligated to reinstate the worker.

The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively: The ability of unions to conduct their activities, including collective bargaining, is subject both in law and in practice to diverse government restrictions and interference. Industrial workers and public sector employees have the right to bargain collectively, and approximately 1.3 million workers, or 5.4% of the workforce, are under collective bargaining agreements. The law requires that, in order to become a bargaining agent, a union must represent 50 percent plus one of the employees at a given work site and 10 percent of all the workers in that particular industry. This requirement favours established unions. The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions claims that the law results in workers in many sectors not being covered by collective agreements.

The law provides for the right to strike; however, the law requires a union to take a series of steps, including negotiations and nonbinding mediation, before calling a strike. A union that fails to comply with these steps forfeits its right to strike. The law prohibits unions from engaging in secondary (solidarity), political, or general strikes – strikes involving multiple unions over a large geographical area – or in work slowdowns. In sectors in which strikes are prohibited, labour disputes are resolved through binding arbitration.

The law allows the government to suspend strikes for 60 days on national security or public health and safety grounds.

Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labour: The law prohibits forced or compulsory labour, including by children; however, there are reports that such practices occur.

Some parents force their children to work on the streets and to beg.

Prohibition of Child labour and Minimum Age for Employment: There are comprehensive laws or policies to protect children from exploitation in the workplace, and the government generally seeks to implement them but is hampered by a lack of personnel and resources. The law prohibits the employment of children younger than 15 and prohibits children under 16 from working more than 8 hours a day. At age 15 children may engage in light work provided they remain in school. The law provides that no person shall be required to perform work unsuitable for their age, gender, or capabilities, and the government prohibits children from working at night or in areas such as underground mining. The law prohibits children attending school from working more than 2 hours per day or 10 hours per week.

The Ministry of Labour effectively enforces these restrictions in workplaces that are covered by the labour law, which includes medium and large-scale industrial and service sector enterprises. A number of sectors are not covered by the law, however, including small-scale agricultural enterprises, maritime and air transportation, family handicraft businesses, and small shops.

Nonetheless, child labour was widespread. The State Statistical Institute reported that the number of child labourers between the ages of 12 and 17 dropped from 948,000 in 2003 to 764,000 in 2004; however, some observers claim that there are no reliable statistics in this field and that the actual number of working children is rising.

An informal system provides work for young boys at low wages, for example, in auto repair shops. Girls are rarely seen working in public, but many are kept out of school to work in handicrafts, particularly in rural areas. According to the Labour Ministry, 65 percent of child labour occurs in the agricultural sector. However, some observers maintain that the bulk of child labour has shifted to urban areas as rural families have migrated to cities. Many children work in areas not covered by labour laws, such as agricultural workplaces with fewer than 50 workers or the informal economy.

Small enterprises prefer child labour because it is cheaper and provides practical training for the children, who subsequently receive preferential consideration for future employment in the enterprise. If children employed in these businesses are registered with a ministry of education training center, they are required to go to the center once a week for training, and the centers are obliged by law to inspect their workplaces. There are 298 centers located in 81 cities; these centers provide apprenticeship training in 113 occupations. The government identifies the worst forms of child labour as children working in the streets, in industrial sectors where their health and safety are at risk, and as agricultural migrant workers.

Children are trafficked for sexual exploitation.

Acceptable Conditions of Work: The Minimum Wage Commission, a tripartite government-industry-union body that reviews the minimum wage every six months, set the minimum monthly wage for the second half of last year at approximately 350 eutros per month, which does not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. However, most workers earn considerably more than the minimum wage. Approximately one-third of the labour force is covered by the labour law and receives fringe benefits that, according to the Eastlandic Employers' Association, accounts for approximately 63% of total compensation.

The law establishes a 45-hour work week with a weekly rest day, and limits overtime to 3 hours per day for up to 90 days a year. The Labour Inspectorate of the Ministry of Labour effectively enforces wage and hour provisions in the unionized industrial, service and government sectors, which cover approximately 12 percent of workers. Workers in other sectors have difficulty receiving overtime pay, although by law they are entitled to it.

The law mandates occupational health and safety regulations; however, in practice the government does not carry out effective inspection and enforcement programs. The law allows for the shutdown of an operation if a five-person committee, which includes employee and employer representatives as well as safety inspectors, determines that the operation endangers workers' lives. In practice, financial constraints, limited safety awareness, carelessness, and fatalistic attitudes result in inadequate attention to occupational safety and health by workers and employers alike. Workers have the right to remove themselves from situations that endangered health or safety without jeopardy to their employment, and they do so in practice.

Separation of Church and State

The issue of church and state separation is a concern. Mainstream Hanafi school of Sunni Islam continues to enjoy large-scale privileges in Eastland, with thousands of imams in state employment, while Eastlandic clerics from other religions are not paid at all. The Orthodox Church has not yet been able to re-open its Theological School as has been its request. Eastland also continues to send state-financed imams to regions of Eutropian Federation member states (both to those where the local minority of Eastlandic origin requests one and those that prefer locally trained imams). Some Federation citizens resent this as interference in the domestic affairs of their states. Moreover, some religious traditions are a concern, as they may be at odds with official policy mandating gender equality – for example, the continued consecration of polygamous marriages by state-paid imams, a practice which is incompatible with the Federation's very fundamental insistence on equal rights for women.

Obstacles to full Federation membership

Since 1963, when it was accepted as an associate member of the Eutropian Federation, Eastland has striven for admission as a full member, the association of twenty-five Eutropian nations that comprises the world's wealthiest and most successful trading bloc. Eastland, which had formulated its economic policies with the goal of meeting certain Federation objections based on a perceived lack of competitiveness in Eastlandic industry, formally applied for full membership in 1987. Much to their disappointment, the decision was deferred until 1993 – or later, as it turned out – on grounds that the Federation could not consider new members until after the implementation of tighter political integration scheduled for the end of 1992. Then, in 1992, Eastland was disappointed again, when the Federation agreed to consider more recent membership applications from several other countries without making a decision on Eastland's long-standing application. By then it seemed obvious that the Federation was reluctant to act on Eastland's application. In fact, most Federation members objected to full Eastlandic membership for a variety of economic, social, and political reasons.

The principal economic objections to Eastlandic membership originally centered on the relative underdevelopment of Eastland's economy compared to the economies of Federation members and Eastland's high rate of population growth. The latter issue is perceived as a potentially serious problem because of free labour movement among Federation member countries and the fact that Eastland's already large population is expected to surpass that of Brynnland – the most populous Federation member – by 2010.

Closely related to the concern about there being too many Eastlandic workers for too few jobs is the social problem of integrating those workers into Eutropian culture. Throughout Eutropia, the early 1990s witnessed a rise in anti-immigrant feeling directed primarily against Muslim workers from North Africa and Eastland. For the most part, member country governments have not developed adequate policies to combat this resurgence of prejudice.

The political obstacles to Federation membership concern Eastland's domestic and foreign policies. Because the Eutropian Federation prides itself on being an association of democracies, the 1980 military coup – in a country enjoying associate status – was a severe shock. The harshness of repression under the military regime further disturbed the Federation – many Federation leaders knew personally the former Eastlandic leaders whom the military put on trial for treason. The Federation responded by freezing relations with Eastland and suspending economic aid for a time. Eastland was expelled from the Eutropian parliamentary assembly. The restoration of civilian rule gradually helped to improve Eastland's image. In 1985 Brynnland's prime minister signaled the Federation's readiness to resume dialogue with Eastland by accepting an invitation to visit the country. The following year, the Federation restored economic aid and permitted Eastland to reoccupy its seats in Federation deliberative councils. Nevertheless, veiled threats by Eastland's senior military officers of future interventions if politicians "misbehaved" did not inspire confidence in Eutropia that democracy had taken permanent root in Eastland. Some Eutropians remain apprehensive about the possibility of another military coup – a concern that is shared by many Eastlandic politicians – and Eastland's elections are followed closely by Eutropian politicians.

While Eastland has officially banned capital punishment, Federation members continue to express reservations about Eastland's human rights record. Two human rights monitoring organizations supported by the Federation have reported the persistence of practices such as arbitrary arrests, disappearances, extrajudicial killings, torture in prisons, and censorship. The Eastlandic Human Rights Association, itself subject to harassment and intimidation tactics, has prepared detailed chronologies and lists of human rights abuses, including the destruction of entire villages without due process, and has circulated these reports widely in the Federation. The documented reports of human rights abuses, like the coup rumors, continue to fuel concerns about Eastland's qualifications to join a collective body of countries that have striven to achieve uniform standards for protecting citizens' rights. Despite the country's new Penal Code, the Eutropian Commission is not yet satisfied that enough has been done to meet Eutropian standards. According to the most recent Annual Report of the Commission, Eastland has made insufficient progress in the areas of freedom of expression, minority rights, corruption and violence against women..

In terms of foreign policy, the main obstacle to Federation membership remains the unresolved territorial issues between Eastland and Federation member Coastland. The most serious issue between the two countries is their dispute over the island of Chelsiland, which dates back to 1974. At that time, Eastlandic troops occupied the northeastern part of the island to protect the Eastlandic minority (20 percent of the population), which felt threatened by the Coastlandic majority's proposals for unification with Coastland.

Following the November 1983 declaration of independence of the Eastlandic Republic of Northern Chelsiland – a government recognized only by Eastland – Coastland persuaded fellow Federation members that progress on settling the dispute over Chelsiland should be a prerequisite to accepting Eastland as a full member. Despite Eastland's subsequent support (since 1990) of the negotiations, and despite recent hopeful signs that an agreement might be immanent, the parties have failed to resolve a stalemate based on the de facto partition of Chelsiland into an Eastlandic north and a Coastlandic south. This failure to come to an agreement before the deadline set by the Federation has resulted in the southern half of the island, Coastlandic Chelsiland being admitted to the Federation without the northern half.

Eastland's interest in joining the Eutropian Federation dates from the time when association was primarily economic in nature. Consequently, the Eastlandic government has felt that such an obvious political condition was not appropriate.

A similar impediment to smooth relations with Eutropia is Eastland's dispute with Coastland over territorial rights and interests in the Nozean Sea. Although both Coastland and Eastland are de jure allies in NATO, their conflicting claims have brought them to the brink of war on more than one occasion. A fundamental source of contention is exploration rights to minerals, primarily oil, beneath the Nozean Sea. International law recognizes the right of a country to explore the mineral wealth on its own continental shelf. Coastland and Eastland, however, have been unable to agree on what constitutes the Nozean continental shelf. Eastland defines the Nozean shelf as a natural prolongation of its western coast, whereas Coastland claims that every one of the more than 2,000 of its islands in the Nozean Sea has its own shelf. The issue is complicated further by Coastland's claim to the territorial waters surrounding its islands. Eastland rejected Coastland's attempts to extend its six-nautical-mile territorial claim around each island to twelve nautical miles on grounds that such a move would enable Coastland to control 71 percent, rather than 43 percent, of the Nozean. Thus, it would be impossible for Eastlandic ships to reach the Median Sea without crossing Coastlandn waters.

A similarly intractable dispute continues over the issue of the right to control the airspace over the Nozean Sea. These unresolved issues also contribute to the tensions over Chelsiland and mineral exploration rights in the Nozean Sea.

After many delays, negotiations have finally begun. Full membership for Eastland is predicted by some observers to be at least a decade away, as all current members must approve Eastland's application for it to be accepted. The most likely candidate to veto membership is the Federation member which historically served as the physical barrier between Eutropia and the expansionist empire that preceded the democratic state of Eastland; it was they who tried to convince other member states to offer Eastland less than full membership, a move most Eastlanders found highly insulting. Vocal opposition is also heard from politicians in Flanneryland, who have insisted on a national referendum before ratifying Eastland's accession. Interestingly, Coastland supports Eastland's application, perhaps hoping membership will soften Eastland's stance on their mutual points of conflict.

The original objections to Eastlandic membership in the Federation are compounded by concerns that Eastlandic culture and its fundamental values are to a large degree at odds with Eutropian culture. The central role in all aspects of life played by Islam, despite the country being officially secular, is one such concern. Further complicating the picture, while only 3% of Eastland's territory lies within the Eutropian continent, Eastland has long been a strongly Western-oriented partner in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the world's largest military alliance, and thus receives strong support from the United States in its bid for Federation membership. Finally, the "elephant in the room" that few have so far seemed willing to discuss openly may be the dramatic shift in power relationships which would take place. Because Eastland's population would be the second largest in the Federation, Eastland would automatically have the second largest number of seats in the Eutropian Parliament and, if demographic trends continue along current lines, Eastland might well have the largest population by the time it becomes a full member. Such a shift, argues one of Flanneryland's leading politicians, might well lead to demands for accession by other Islamic countries with historical ties to Eutropia.

Public opinion regarding Eastland's accession varies greatly from one member country to another; overall, about 52% of Eutropians support Eastland's accession, ranging from a low of 10% to a high of 75%.

While they may understand that the implications of admitting Eastland to the Federation are far greater than for and current member, many Eastlanders feel frustrated and confused by the Federation's continued reluctance to expedite Eastland's full membership. They interpret Eutropia's reluctance as an indication of just how physically, politically and mentally unprepared the Federation is for such a gross change. The more far-sighted among them see that Federation membership is no longer just an Eastlandic project but at the same time is a project for transforming the old continent into a multicultural, multi-religious peace project.

Identity Issues:

The assimilation of Eastlanders living in Federation countries and a perceived lack of respect for Eastland's traditions are volatile issues. Eastland's president raised eyebrows in much of Eutropia when he spoke out against the assimilation of Eastlanders during a recent trip to Brynnland. Clearly, negotiating appropriate, sustainable forms of integration for Eastlanders living outside Eastland will continue to be a concern.

Transnational Issues:

Eastland is involved in complex maritime, air, and territorial disputes with Coastland. Among the most prominent disputes is that concerning Chelsiland's reunification. Additional international disputes periodically arise with her neighbours to the east. One such dispute concerns Eastland's hydrological projects to control rivers that originate in Eastland and flow through neighbouring countries. Another involves the ethnic Nobians living in neighbouring countries to the south and east.

Main Sources:

The CIA factbook 2005, http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005. Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and labour, US Department of State