Human rights violations are on the rise across the five former Soviet republics of Central Asia, as rulers increase their powers and try to muffle any opposition. These leaders value stability over democracy, and they are banking on the assumption that citizens of the region do, too. ``For most, democracy is an empty word,'' said Nurbulat Masanov, a political scientist in Almaty. It also could be described as a foreign concept in a region that over the centuries never had any experience of democracy. These days, theconqueror Tamerlane is a national hero once more in Uzbekistan, never mind his nasty habit of leaving mountains of skulls behind in the cities he captured in the 14th century.

In Kyrgyzstan, considered the most democratic country in the region, the government has used libel laws against journalists to stifle critical reporting and has filed criminal charges against opposition leaders and demonstrators. Kazakstan has clamped down on opposition demonstrations and reportedly has jailed, beaten and otherwise intimidated activists.

Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan hold political prisoners, and some dissenters have disappeared in mysterious circumstances. Kyrgyzstan's President, Askar Askayev, is the only Central Asian leader to be elected to a second term in a contested election. His counterparts in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakstan had their terms extended by referendum until 2000 or later. ``These are highly authoritarian regimes that have dispensed with any sort of meaningful electoralprocess,'' said Erika Dailey, a Central Asia expert at the New York-based group Human Rights Watch. The situation is in the greatest flux in Tajikistan, where a five-year-long civil war ended last June with an agreement to gradually integrate Islamic rebel leaders into a government dominated by hard-line successors of the former Communist rulers.