This report is based upon messages from the Tajik media and the NANSMIT monitoring network.

Moderator of the monitoring network in Tajikistan
Abdufatoh Vohidov

Chief of legal service
Orifjon Azimov

Chief of project in Tajikistan
Nuriddin Karshiboev

Freedom of Speech in Tajikistan
January 2010

In January 2010 the NANSMIT Monitoring Service received 26 reports. Sixteen of them describe the factual situation in the media in the light of socio-legal and political environment; two reports describe direct violations of rights of media professionals; and eight reports describe conflicts and accusations against the media and journalists.

I. PECULIARITIES OF POLITICAL, SOCIAL, ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL CLIMATE IN THE COUNTRY DEFINING THE FACTUAL SITUATION IN THE MEDIA

1. Public speeches and statements of superior officials defining the factual situation in the mass media

13 January
Lutfullo Davlatov, director of TV Safina, Dushanbe

“TV Safina is ready to cooperate with all political parties and provide them with broadcasting time for election debates”, — Lutfullo Davlatov, director of TV Safina told the media at a press conference in Dushanbe. — “There are no impediments for political parties on our TV channel, and we are ready to consider any proposals from politicians,” — he added.

18 January
G. Afzalov, chairman of Khatlon province

Chairman of Khatlon province G. Afzalov stated that every official must hold press conferences according to preliminary designed schedules, and irresponsible officials will be punished for violation of such schedules. He gave relevant errands to his subordinates urging them to improve the situation.

2. Factual status of the media and the freedom of speech

6 January
Varorud weekly, Khujand, Sughd province

According to the Asia Plus news agency, the public-political newspaper Varorud is launching its original enclosure – “Russloe Slovo” (Russian Word).

Atakhon Ganiv, project coordinator told Asia Plus that the new edition will be covering the issues of Tajik-Russian cooperation, labor migration and other topical themes. Special attention will be paid to Russian language and literature.

Expenditures will be partially covered by a grant provided by the Russian World Foundation.

11 January
Sogdiiskaya Pravda, Khakikati Sughd, Sughd Khakikati, Khujand, Sughd province

The three newspapers belonging to the Sughd province authorities – Sogdiiskaya Pravda (1,950 copies), Khakikati Sughd (4,750 copies) and Sughd Khakikati (2 thousand copies) have changed their printing house. From now on, they will be published in a private printing house “Matbuoti Uroteppa”, 80 kilometers from the city of Khujand, the administrative center of Sughd province. The decision was made jointly by the editors of these newspapers upon commercial feasibility.

15 January
Tajik State TV, Dushanbe

Abdurakhmon Abdumanonov, first deputy chairman of the Tajik State Broadcasting Committee told the media that the Tajik State television is switching to digital broadcasting. On the initial stage, this broadcasting will be covering the territory of Dushanbe.

The Tajik government has adopted a digital broadcasting concept covering the period until 2015. The strategy is discussed and agreed upon with the line ministries. The Broadcasting Committee is ready to invest its own funds for the beginning, but the complete implementation of the strategy would require additional 15,5 million Somoni.

Ambumanonov stressed that the new strategy requires not only essential financial allocations, but also the strengthening of both technical and human potentials.

21 January
Ministry of Culture, Dushanbe

According to Mirzobadal Badalov, head of the printing media unit under the Ministry of Culture, two new dailies will be launched in 2010. In accordance with the new Information Policy Concept, one of the papers must be a daily published in Tajik language, and another one – in one of foreign languages, possibly, in Russian, English, Arabic or Persian.

Since the early 1990-s, there have not been any daily newspapers in Tajikistan.

21 January
Mirzoshohrukh Asrori, Minister of Culture, Dushanbe

Minister of Culture Mirzoshohrukh Asrori told the media at a press conference that the absence of daily newspapers in the country is caused by the reluctance of editors to work rather than by the inability of readers to buy newspapers.

According to the Ministry, 201 newspapers, 98 magazines, 44 publishing firms, 148 printing houses and 7 news agencies are registered in Tajikistan.

21 January
Khatlon province media

According to the Khatlon province officials, since the beginning of 2009, the media have published 196 critical and analytical materials covering developments in Khatlon. Officials have publicly responded to 113 of them. The media have provided 124 feedbacks.

3. Journalists protecting their civil and professional rights

11 January
The Union of Independent Outlets, Dushanbe

Saimuddin Dustov, editor of the Nikoh newspaper is elected chairman of the newly established Union of Independent Outlets.

Speaking at a press conference in Dushanbe, Dustov told that three newspapers decided to join the Union – Farazh, SSSR and Nikokh, and signed a special agreement. The purpose of the Union is to strengthen solidarity among journalists.

14 January
The Tajik Media Council, Dushanbe

On 14 January 2010, the Ministry of Justice registered the Media Council of the Republic of Tajikistan.

Ibrohim Usmanov, chairman of the Media Council told NANSMIT that the purpose of the new public organization is support to the freedom of speech and strengthening of the international ethical media standards.

The Council was founded on 30 October 2009 at a foundation conference attended by journalists from all regions of Tajikistan.

28 January
All media, Dushanbe

On 29-30 January, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) held a training “Protection of human rights and legal education through the media in Central Asia” financed by the European Union.

29 January
All media, Dushanbe

On 28 January, on the eve of the parliamentary elections in Tajikistan, journalists from more than 20 newspapers, radio and TV companies took part in a seminar “The media and elections” held in Dushanbe.

The seminar was conducted by the International Foundation of Election Systems (IFES) under support of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Tajik Central Election Committee under the government.

According to Michael Ghetto, head of the IFES office in Dushanbe, the seminar is targeted to mobilization of the media for objective coverage of the election processes in the country.

II. VIOLATION OF RIGHTS IN THE MEDIA

1. Impediments to professional activities

20 January
Asia Plus, Dushanbe

On 18 January, correspondent of the Asia Plus weekly Bakhtior Valiev had a long telephone conversation with colonel Munira Nazarieva of the Tajik Emergency Committee.

The conversation was based on the article titled “Three days under the avalanche”. It contained critical remarks addressed to the Committee made by one of the victims of an avalanche on the road Dushanbe – Khujand, on 20 December 2009.

The correspondent was recommended to check information received from witnesses of accidents and to receive comments at the Emergency Committee for a more objective coverage of events.

6 January
Varorud newspaper, Khujand, Sughd province

Unknown individuals position themselves as correspondents of the Varorud weekly, showing fake identification cards. The impostors discredit the newspaper impeding the work of the real correspondents.

In order to resolve the problem, the Varorud management has given its correspondent new ID cards. Along with that, Varorud approached heads of organizations and enterprises with a request not to provide any information to its correspondents unless they present a real ID or an official letter-request from the editing board.

III. CONFLICTS. VIOLATIONS INCRIMINATED TO THE MEDIA AND JOURNALISTS

1. Accusation of libel

13 January
Ozodagon weekly, Dushanbe

Head of the Traffic Police under the Tajik Interior Ministry, colonel M. Saidov accused the author of an article published in Ozodagon weekly (#1, 13.01.2010) of libel.

Saidov indicates in his response (Ozodagon, #2, 13.01.2010) that the author is confusing the authorities describing non-existing relations between a commercial company and the Traffic Police.

2. Illegal broadcasting (violation of licensing procedures)

15 January
Dushanbe

First deputy chairman of the Tajik Broadcasting Committee Abdurakhmon Abdumanonov told the media on 15 January at a press conference in Dushanbe that the Russian ORT television is functioning illegally in Tajikistan.

Abdumanonov stressed that on the basis of the existing agreement on the status of the 201-st Russian Motorized Division, the latter is allowed to rebroadcast ORT only within its territory. “The broadcasting frequency belongs to the private SMT channel.

However, the official noted that this issue is beyond the competence of his agency; it rather refers to the Ministry of Transport and Communications. The latter has set up a commission to resolve the conflict.

3. Protection of honor, dignity and business reputation

7 January
Nigokh weekly, Dushanbe

Officials from the Khatlon province prosecutor’s office requested the Nuri Zindagi newspaper to publish their response to the article titled “Papa, when will you become a prosecutor?” published in another newspaper – Nigokh (#36, 26.12.2009).

The officials complain that Nigokh refused to publish their feedback, and they turned to another periodical. Besides that, the officials say that the author of the article has a personal dislike to the prosecutor’s office, and the article is written in an offensive manner.

7 January
Millat, Dushanbe

Deputy minister of the Tajik Agriculture Ministry Sh. Rakhimnazorov approached the editor of the Millat weekly with a request to provide them with the facts confirming corruption within his institution. In December 2009, Millat published an article titled “The Ministry of Agriculture is the most corrupt government agency”.

Rakhimnazorov noted that on 7 December the Ministry held a press conference on the issues of cotton farming in the country. However, the newspaper published a material referring to a parliament session, where it was mentioned that the Ministry of Agriculture is rated the first in terms of corruption and misuse of the state budget funds.

The official reminded that according to the Constitution, only the judicial power has the right to pronounce a verdict to a government agency.

This report is based on compiled materials from the media and private information presented by correspondents of the NANSMIT Monitoring Network

Coordinator of the Monitoring Service
Abdufattokh Vokhidov

Project Manager
Nuriddin Karshibayev

Kyrgyz Interior Minister Moldomusa Kongantiev has repeated a report that a suspect in the killing of independent Kyrgyz journalist Alisher Saipov was detained in Tajikistan, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reports.

Kongantiev told RFE/RL on January 26 that Kyrgyz and Tajik officials are discussing the suspect’s extradition to Kyrgyzstan.

Meanwhile, Tajik officials told RFE/RL’s Tajik Service the same day that they have no information about such a suspect being detained in Tajikistan.

Kyrgyz officials first reported the arrest of the suspect on January 16, and Tajik officials also denied the claim at that time.

Saipov, a Kyrgyz citizen of Uzbek origin who was chief editor of the «Siyosat» (Politics) newspaper, was shot dead near his office in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh on October 24, 2007.

He often wrote about the political and social affairs in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. His colleagues and human rights activists say he was killed for his critical articles about Uzbek officials.

Meanwhile, an Osh city court ruled on January 26 that Saipov’s case will not be the subject of an additional investigation.

Saipov’s father, Avaz Saipov, had asked the court to have the case reinvestigated. He said the investigations done thus far had been unprofessional and that he believes Uzbek secret agents — with assistance from their Kyrgyz colleagues — had killed his son.

He also said he believes that Abdulfarid Rasulov, the detained suspect, is innocent.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Kyrgyz_Minister_Says_Suspect_In_Journalists_Killing_Arrested_In_Tajikis

The media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says it is concerned about the arrest of prominent Uzbek journalist Khayrulla Khamidov, RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service reports.

RSF said in a statement that «the haste with which the [Uzbek] authorities have acted is very suspect given their readiness to brand all government opponents and civil society activists as extremists.»

Khamidov, one of the most famous sports reporters in Uzbekistan, was arrested at his Tashkent home on January 21. Police also searched his apartment and confiscated his computer, several books, and CDs.

Khamidov was charged with «organization or active participation in an illegal religious group.» If found guilty he could face up to five years in jail.

The RSF noted that the arrest of Khamidov, 35, who used to work for Uzbek television as a soccer commentator and also was a former radio show host, comes two weeks after five independent Uzbek journalists were summoned to the Tashkent prosecutor’s office for questioning about their professional activities.

RSF said the Uzbek government «is pursuing its offensive without fear of any reaction from the international community.»

Khamidov’s lawyer, Alisher Zaynutdinov, told RFE/RL on January 25 that an appeal has been made in a Tashkent regional court regarding Khamidov’s case, but he does not know when it will be considered.

Zaynutdinov said Khamidov has admitted that he took part in two events dedicated to the birth of a child in the Tashkent region where the Salafiya branch of Islam — which is officially banned in Uzbekistan — was discussed by some people.

As the founder of a religious newspaper, Khamidov said he is frequently invited to religious events.

Surat Ikramov, a Tashkent human rights activist, told RFE/RL that Khamidov was working for a state television channel and his commentary was always agreed on with authorities.

Khamidov gained great popularity while anchoring a series of radio programs called «Among People,» and he founded a newspaper with a similar title in February 2007 that explained the role of Islam in people’s lives.

The newspaper was closed in August 2007, reportedly due to a violation of the media law.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Media_Watchdog_Concerned_By_Uzbek_Journalists_Arrest_/1940875.html

The U.S.-based human rights watchdog Freedom House says 2009 saw more setbacks than improvements, with 40 countries and territories covered in its latest survey experiencing declines in democratic freedoms, including most of the post-Soviet area.

Freedom House has issued its annual measure of freedom in the world since 1972. For its survey, it looks at everything from freedom of expression to political pluralism and the right to free association.

Its 2010 «Freedom in the World» survey, which reviews indicators from 2009, was released on January 12. It tracks a worrisome trend — an ongoing, multiyear decline in the former non-Baltic Soviet states. The most significant steps backward were witnessed in the areas of governance and the electoral process.

In countries ranging from Belarus to Uzbekistan, the «Freedom in the World» survey reveals a lack of institutional accountability and transparency. In a vast majority of the post-Soviet space, a vast zone of unchecked authority has been created in the absence of an independent judiciary and the marginalization of the independent media and political opposition.

2009 was the fourth consecutive year marking the trend. Christopher Walker, the director of studies for Freedom House and one of the authors of the report, says the findings suggest the screws are only being tightened further.

«This year’s findings tend to amplify some of the trends we’ve seen in recent years, including a deepening of authoritarian rule throughout much of the non-Baltic former Soviet Union,» Walker says.

«Among other countries, Russia underwent declines. This was a year that saw Kyrgyzstan go from [an overall rating of] ‘partly free’ to ‘not free.’ It also saw some of the few positive spots, including Ukraine, hold steady over the course of this calendar year, coming into Ukraine’s elections in early 2010.»

Russia continued a long-standing trend in crackdowns on accountability and transparency, Walker says, despite pledges by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to restore public debate and a more liberal political atmosphere in Russia after eight years under Vladimir Putin.

«All in all, what we’ve seen is the continuation of the space that has shrunk over the past several years. And this last cycle is one where President Medvedev has been in control,» Walker says.

«And there’s nothing to suggest that the policies he’s pursued have modified or altered the basic framework of governance that has been put in place before him.»

Russia’s downward trend included voting abuse in local elections, growing state manipulation in the academic presentation of history, and the ongoing use of political pressure to intimidate human rights activists and journalists.

Russia has steadily declined in the Freedom House rankings over the past decade, sinking from a «partly free» overall rating to «not free.»

The ‘Putin Effect’

Arch Puddington, Freedom House’s director of research and one of the authors of the report, says the steady erosion of political rights and civil liberties in Russia is a consequence of what he calls the «Putin effect.»

«An important part of the Putin agenda was to consolidate centralized state control over as much of Russian society as possible. And the second part of the Putin effect is what happened in the [post-Soviet] neighborhood as well,» Puddington says.

«We see a decline in political conditions in a number of countries in the Russian neighborhood, and we see that as having been in part driven by Putin’s diplomacy.»

Russia’s influence over its post-Soviet neighbors is undeniably significant. Puddington says some countries, particularly the energy-rich Caspian states, are pursuing their own versions of authoritarianism as they seek to break their ties with Moscow. But he adds that ultimately, most of the countries in the region are following the Russian model.

«Countries like Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan don’t want to be dominated by Russia, and they work to keep their independence; they’re not puppets of Russia,» Puddington says.

«But they are strongly influenced by Russia; they have political systems that are quite similar to Russia’s political system. I think that you’re going to see Russia influencing the democratic direction of the whole region for a couple of decades to come.»

Disappointment In Central Asia

In the latest survey, Kyrgyzstan — once the center of pro-democracy hopes in Central Asia — moved from «partly free» to «not free» category. The downgrade was due, in part, to claims of voter irregularities in the country’s July 2009 presidential election, consolidation of power in the executive branch, and new restrictive legislation on freedom of religion.

The setback means the entire region of Central Asia is now rated «not free.» Walker says the hopes that bloomed in 2005 for Kyrgyzstan and the region are now history.

«Kyrgyzstan has turned out to be a sour disappointment in terms of political rights and civil liberties, and has trended downwards over the last two years,» he says. «This year the consolidation of executive power, and the other issues connected to transparent governance, contributed to the country moving over the threshold from the ‘partly free’ group into the ‘not free.'»

Kazakhstan is another problem country in Central Asia. The energy-rich state witnessed a continued crackdown on journalists and rights activists. This included the case of human rights worker Yevgeny Zhovtis, who last year received a heavy prison sentence for his role in a fatal traffic accident.

Supporters said the sentence was punishment for his activism. Observers like Walker worried that the Zhovtis case and others like it set a worrying tone as Kazakhstan prepared to become the first post-Soviet country to hold the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Walker says the Zhovtis case «was evaluated in tandem with pressure on the news media, including problems with ‘Respublika’ [newspaper], and other ongoing pressures on the independent sectors in Kazakhstan, which really are at direct odds with the pledges and the spirit of OSCE chairmanship obligations. To the extent that 2009 suggests the standard for Kazakhstan, it really does raise some serious concerns about the country’s fitness to hold the chairmanship which it is now assuming.»

Azerbaijan is another country that has shown a continuation of very restrictive policies. Walker cited as particularly problematic the trial of bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizada, who were subjected to a long pretrial detention and ultimately convicted of hooliganism for an incident in a restaurant after they posted political videos on the Internet.

«This, for many, was a signal both to users of new media as well as to the youth in Azerbaijan to steer clear of the politics in the country at exactly the time when the country needs a more candid conversation about public policies, diversification of the economy, and corruption,» Walker says.

Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan continue to hold the lowest freedom rankings, not only among the countries of the former Soviet Union but globally.

Some Hopeful Signs

In Georgia, Walker says 2009 was a period of relative stability in comparison to the previous two years, which were marked by violent domestic upheaval and a military conflict with Russia:

«There has been an element of easing of the sort of highly polemical environment that we have seen in calendar [year] 2007 and 2008,» Walker says. «The coming year will be particularly important to see whether the opposition can begin to build some meaningful alternative programs and to see whether the Saakashvili government can begin to make good on some of its pledges to further democratization in the country.»

Ukraine, for all of the flows and challenges that it has confronted since the 2004 Orange Revolution and the election of a pro-Western president, remains an example of some considerable democratic durability.

«The elections that have been held in the country so far since late 2004 have been competitive, they’ve been plural, they’ve had a number of different forces involved in the political battles there,» Walker says. «And by and large the news media has been able to comment with relative openness on this process.»

Outside of the former Soviet Union, one bright spot noted by Walker was Southeastern Europe. There, the status of the newly independent nation Kosovo improved from «not free» to «partly free,» due to greater recognition of minority rights and the conduct of its November parliamentary elections, which were generally deemed to be in compliance with international standards.

Montenegro’s status moved from «partly free» to «free,» due to the successful organization of parliamentary elections in March and progress in adopting anticorruption legislation.

Nikola Krastev, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/Report_Democratic_Decline_Continues_Across_Former_Soviet_States_/192767

The family of Kyrgyz journalist Gennady Pavlyuk has a new lawyer recommended to them by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reports.

Akmat Alagushev, the head of the nongovernmental Media Commissioner Institute in Kyrgyzstan, has agreed to represent Pavlyuk’s family following a complaint to the OSCE from Pavlyuk’s wife, Olga, about lawyer Galina Dadabaeva.

Pavlyuk, 51, died in hospital on December 22, six days after he fell from a high building in Almaty with his hands and feet bound.

Some Kazakh media quoted police sources saying there were indications that three Kyrgyz secret service officers were involved in his death. But Kyrgyz secret service officials have accused the Kazakh media of disseminating false information.

Kyrgyz Interior Minister Moldomusa Kongantiev said today that the involvement of Kyrgyz citizens in Pavlyuk’s murder has not been confirmed. He added that Kazakh investigators who came to Kyrgyzstan to investigate the case last week returned on January 23.

Meanwhile, the head of the NGO Citizens Against Corruption, Tolekan Ismailova, told RFE/RL that Pavlyuk’s family and friends will mark 40 days since his death on January 30.

Pavlyuk, an ethnic Russian, was the founder of the «White Steamer» newspaper and website and had worked for the newspaper «Vecherny Bishkek» and the Russian weekly «Argumenty i fakty.»

http://www.rferl.org/content/Slain_Kyrgyz_Journalists_Family_Takes_OSCEAppointed_Lawyer/1940156.html

Prominent Uzbek sports journalist Khairulla Khamidov has been arrested, RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service reports.

One of Khamidov’s relatives told RFE/RL that Khamidov has officially been accused of «creating an illegal religious group and participation in its activities.»

Khamidov’s wife, Dilnoza, told RFE/RL that police came to their apartment at about 5 a.m. with arrest and search warrants. She said Khamidov’s computer, several books, and CDs were confiscated.

Khamidov was arrested and taken to Tashkent’s Lunacharsky Interior Ministry jail.

Khamidov, who is among the most famous sports reporters in Uzbekistan, used to work for Uzbek television as a soccer commentator. He gained great popularity after he anchored a series of radio programs called «Among People,» which explained the role of Islam in the life of ordinary citizens.

That program became so popular that many Uzbeks were regularly downloading the program on their mobile phones.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Prominent_Uzbek_Sports_Journalist_Arrested/1937093.html

The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has sharply criticized Beijing’s policy of censoring access to the Internet and pursuing Chinese dissidents who try to use it as a tool for social change.

In a speech on Internet freedom on January 21, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that “countries that restrict free access to information or violate the basic rights of Internet users risk walling themselves off from the progress of the next century.»

The immediate reason for Clinton’s remarks was the quarrel between Beijing and Google, the U.S. company which operates one of the largest Internet search engines.

Google has threatened to withdraw from the Chinese market because of Beijing’s hacking the accounts of human rights activists who use its e-mail service, Gmail.

Google also says it is “no longer willing to continue censoring” Chinese users’ search results for subjects such as the Tiananmen Square massacre, which Beijing considers taboo.

The dispute sounds a bit like any trade issue: a case of the United States defending an American company’s interests in a foreign land.

But in fact, Clinton’s criticism of China breaks new ground.

It is the first time the Obama administration has brought this much firepower to defending the freedom of the Internet or criticized Beijing so bluntly over its suppression of Internet-based dissent. And this suggests Washington views the Internet as such an effective democracy-building tool that it needs to be defended as a matter of U.S. foreign policy.

Antigovernment Networks

That view has grown with the ever increasing role the Internet, and social networking sites in particular, have played in protests against repressive governments around the world.

Dissidents in places as diverse as Belarus, Moldova, and Iran have used sites like Facebook and Twitter to build communities of like-minded people and share information and goals. Combined with other media, like mobile phone-based text messaging, those resources have helped bring thousands of protestors onto the streets, like during Iran’s postelection protests in June.

On January 21, Clinton not only defended the freedom of the Internet but also announced new U.S. investments to expand access to it. She promised $15 million in funding for new grassroots efforts to “expand civic participation and increase the new media capabilities of civil society in the Middle East and North Africa.”

But not everyone is convinced that the Internet is as positive a force for democracy as Clinton’s support of it suggests.

Evgeny Morozov, an expert on political repression online at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., says that if enthusiasm for “digital revolutions” abounds, so do the dangers for the digital revolutionaries.

“Mainstream thinking on this issue is that somehow the activists will use the secure technologies provided by the Internet and social networking, they will organize groups, and collectively they will then oppose and challenge the regime, which itself is perceived as somewhat of a laggard,” he told Britain’s «Prospect” magazine in November. “So, the common misperception about authoritarian states is that their governments are usually very bad at technology and that all they do is just censor and filter.”

But censoring and filtering, as China’s own hacking of dissidents’ Gmail accounts shows, can be just the beginning of how repressive governments themselves use the Internet to crack down on dissidents.

Morozov, a native of Belarus who has worked widely with civic groups in the region, says people often overestimate their ability to protect their anonymity when they join social networking sites. That puts them at risk of being monitored.

At the same time, governments are becoming better at profiling the online behavior of targeted Internet users, with the goal of predicting if they will pose a future threat to the state. China, for example, has contracted Western data-mining companies to help them do so.

Other tricks authoritarian governments use are to hire proxies to sabotage online discussion forums by leaving comments on articles that twist their meaning or stigmatize the authors. And that — just like the Internet’s widespread use by militant groups like neo-Nazis, Hizballah, or Al-Qaeda — simply underlines how little the web is exclusively democracy’s preserve.

Still, if skeptics express caution regarding the Internet’s current ability to advance democracy, few question its potential to do so. What is needed is for the global providers of the social networking and similar services to do more to make such sites secure and to protect users’ data.

That means that Washington’s call to Beijing this week may represent only half the fight between democratic and authoritarian governments over the Internet.

Washington is making it a foreign policy priority to keep the window for the Internet as wide-open as possible in repressive states.

But it will be up to companies like Google, Facebook, and others to get better at protecting prodemocracy users if the Internet is to realize its full potential for challenging authoritarian regimes.

Charles Recknagel, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liber

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/Why_Are_Internet_Rights_Becoming_Part_Of_US_Foreign_Policy/1936849.html

The International Association of Art Critics (AICA) has launched a campaign in support of Uzbek photographer Umida Ahmedova, who has been charged by the government with defamation, RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service reports.

The Paris-based art organization has published an appeal to Uzbek authorities to acquit Ahmedova. The appeal is signed by nearly 1,000 artists, art critics, journalists, and rights activists from around the world.

The AICA appeal calls on the Uzbek government to dismiss the charges against Ahmedova on the grounds that art is not journalism and cannot be viewed «as an agent» of defamation.

The AICA said it is attempting to draw the attention of the international community and rights organizations to Ahmedova’s case.

It says that if Ahmedova’s case is not stopped, «any photo taken on the Uzbek streets could become a pretext for legal charges.»

Ahmedova, 54, was arrested on December 16 and charged with defamation and damaging Uzbekistan’s image with a series of photos and videos she took in remote villages that she used for the documentaries «The Burden Of Virginity» and «Customs Of Men And Women.» The films focus on poverty and gender inequality in Uzbekistan.

The documentaries were sponsored by the Swiss Embassy in Tashkent.

Ahmedova, who has contributed photographs to RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service, says the charges against her are «groundless» and «absurd.»

If found guilty, Ahmedova could face a fine and up to two years in a labor camp or up to six months in prison.

A Kazakh opposition group will jointly award a democracy prize to a jailed journalist, rights activist, and businessman, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reports.

The unregistered Alga political group said the prize for outstanding contribution to democracy in Kazakhstan will be awarded to Yevgeny Zhovtis, the director of the nongovernmental Kazakh Bureau for Human Rights; Mukhtar Dzhakishev, the former head of Kazakh uranium producer Kazatomprom; and Ramazan Esergepov, the «Alma-Ata Info» newspaper editor.

The award ceremony will be held on January 19 at Communist Party offices in Astana.

Organizers said they had to change the original venue due to government pressure on the owners of the hotel where the ceremony was to take place.

The prize has been awarded since 2003 on January 19, which was declared «Democracy Day» at an assembly held by opposition members.

Zhovtis was sentenced in September to four years in prison for his role in a deadly traffic accident. Dzhakishev, who has been under arrest in prison since May, is accused of theft and corruption. Esergepov was found guilty in August of revealing state secrets after publishing some government documents and sentenced to three years in prison.

Supporters and human rights organizations say the charges and/or sentences against the three are politically motivated.

http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1932985.html

Regional Tajik police say they know nothing about the reported arrest of a man suspected in the 2007 murder of Kyrgyz journalist Alisher Saipov.

Kyrgyz Interior Ministry spokesman Bakyt Seyitov told RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service that his ministry was told on January 14 about the arrest of a Tajik citizen, Farrukh Sharakhmatullaev, by the Sughd police department.

Seyitov said the ministry and Prosecutor-General’s Office are currently trying to secure the suspect’s extradition to Kyrgyzstan.

But Dilyavar Alizoda, a police department spokesman in the northern city of Sughd, told RFE/RL today that reports of a man being arrested in connection with the killing of Saipov are untrue.

Sharakhmatullaev was allegedly named by Abdufarid Rasulov, who has been sentenced in Kyrgyzstan for his role in Saipov’s murder.

In February, Kyrgyz police detained Rasulov in Kyrgyzstan’s Batken region for drug trafficking and discovered a pistol without a serial number that was shown to be the weapon used to shoot Saipov.

Rasulov said the pistol was given to him in December by Sharakhmatullaev.

Saipov, 26, an ethnic Uzbek and editor in chief of the Osh-based newspaper «Siyosat» («Politics»), was shot dead as he left his office in central Osh on October 24, 2007.

Saipov had also worked as a correspondent for RFE/RL and the Voice of America.

His relatives and colleagues said he may have been killed by Uzbek secret services in retaliation for his critical articles about Uzbek President Islam Karimov and his government.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Tajik_Police_Deny_Suspect_Arrested_In_Kyrgyz_Journalists_Murder_/193108