Freedom of Speech in Tajikistan, June 2010

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

In June 2010 the NANSMIT Monitoring Service received 16 reports. Five of them describe the factual situation in the media in the light of socio-legal and political environment; five reports describe direct violations of rights of media professionals; and six 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

June 3
Ibrohim Usmonov, chairman of the Tajik Media Council, Dushanbe

“Disrespect to women is manifested in this or that extent in 99 percent of publications in the Tajik media”, — said Ibrohim Usmonov, chairman of the Tajik Media Council. He made this remark on 3 June in Dushanbe at a round table on the topic “Studies of legal and moral reasons for bringing the Tajik media to judicial liability”.

According to Usmonov, the vast majority of publications present a woman as a servant to her husband, a prostitute, an avaricious creature seeking for easy money, etc. “The media do not publish stories presenting women as prominent politicians, successful entrepreneurs, or, say, simply a good journalist”, — he added.

June 25
All media, Dushanbe

Twenty newspapers and five magazines have been registered in the Ministry of Culture since the beginning of this year compared to 24 newspapers and 18 magazines during the same period of 2009.

All the five magazines are based in Dushanbe. The magazine “Navnikhol” will be printed once a month in Tajik, Russian and English languages. All these magazines are sectorial, i.e. their founders are ministries and government agencies.

Seven out of the twenty newspapers are sectorial; the rest of them are private. Nine newspapers will be published in Dushanbe; eight – in Sughd province; one in GBAO; and one in Rasht valley.

Experts note that very few magazines survive in the current conditions. Usually, shortly after registration they get closed, not being able to cope with numerous challenges, including the lack of experienced personnel.

2. Journalists protecting their civil and professional rights

June 17
All media, Dushanbe

On 16 June the Tajik Union of Journalists hosted a round table on the issues of access to information. The event was organized by the National Association of Independent Media (NANSMIT).

It was stressed that “Information cannot be divulged only if it contains elements of the state, banking or commercial secrets”. The Tajik Constitution, the “Law on printing and other mass media”, the “Law on Television and Radio” clearly explain that media professionals have the right to timely receive reliable and quality information.

June 28
All media, Dushanbe

On 28 June, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) held a seminar in Dushanbe on the topic “Interactions between state press services and the media”. The event was held within the framework of the project “Human rights and legal education through the media in Central Asia” financed by the European Commission and technically supported by the National Association of Independent Media (NANSMIT). NANSMIT is currently implementing another similar project — “Strengthening the media freedom network in Tajikistan” supported by Internews and funded by USAID.

The main purpose of the seminar is to improve access to official sources of information and develop practical skills of interaction between the state press services, NGOs and the media.

II. VIOLATION OF RIGHTS IN THE MEDIA

1. Obstructions to professional activities

June 10
Usmon Khushvakhtov, head of mayor’s office administration in Kulyab

The resent disastrous floods in Kulyab became the main topic of publications in the media. Usmon Khushvakhtov, head of the mayor’s office administration told the Ozodagon weekly (#25, 10.06.2010) that certain authors pursued their sordid goals defaming some public officials.

In particular, Khushvakhtov criticized the story published in Ozodagon on 12 May. The official says that the publication goes beyond the standards of media ethics. “Although the Constitution guarantees the freedom of speech, actions of certain individuals cannot go beyond the framework of laws”.

2. Violation of professional rights

19 June
Zarina Abduvakhidova, head of Persian service, Radio Ovozi Tojik, Dushanbe

Zarina Abduvakhidova, employee of the Radio Ovozi Tojik Persian service was sacked from the post of the head of the service and appointed to the position of editor, according to the Order issued by the chairman of the State TV and Radio Committee on 3 March 2010.

On 17 May, Ms. Abduvakhidova applied to the Ismoili Somoni district court in Dushanbe with a request to reinstate her in the former position and reimburse moral and material losses.

On 18 June, the Ismoili Somoni district court settled the suit in favor of the journalist. Abduvakhidova will be reinstated in her previous position. Besides that, the court obliged the TV & Radio Committee to pay the claimant the due amount as a compensation for illegal demotion.

This is a precedent of a kind – the case was resolved in favor of the journalist.

3. Ungrounded limitation in access to information

24 June
Kharamgul Kodiri, freelance journalist

Freelance journalist Kharamgul Kodiri complains in her article that Tajik parliamentarians hide from journalists (Nigokh weekly, #14, 23.06.2010). “They find all kind of excuses to avoid a meeting with media representatives”. Kodiri calls the Tajik parliament “The valley of dumbness”.

III. CONFLICTS. VIOLATIONS INCRIMINATED TO THE MEDIA AND JOURNALISTS

1. Protection of honor, dignity and business reputation

3 June
Millat weekly, Dushanbe

The Dushanbe city court sent the text of an article published in the Millat weekly to the Tajik Institute of Language and Literature for a linguistic expertise. The Ministry of Agriculture accused the newspaper of insult and defamation – because of the article titled “The Ministry of Agriculture is the most corrupt government institution”.

Junaid Ibodov, the lawyer representing the interests of Millat in court, said that the claim of the Ministry looks illogical since “insult” refers to the category of criminal cases. According to Article 136 of the Tajik Criminal Code, only individuals can be considered as victims of insult; and none of legal entities or institutions could be considered victims of insult or defamation.

The lawyer stated that the newspaper is going to appeal against the court decision since it contradicts the Tajik legislation.

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 Karshibaev

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EU Envoy Warns Of Regional Risk From Kyrgyz Instability

BRUSSELS — The top EU envoy for Central Asia has warned that recent instability in the south of Kyrgyzstan could spill over into other countries along the Ferghana Valley.

Pierre Morel, the EU special representative for the region, also said the EU wants the referendum on Kyrgyzstan’s new constitution to go ahead as planned on June 27.

Morel made his comments before the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee in Brussels today.

The hour-long question-and-answer session was the first public appearance of the veteran EU envoy after a fact-finding visit to Kyrgyzstan last week.

His audience consisted of a dozen or so scattered EU deputies struggling to use up their allotted speaking time.
Morel — who said he had left a meeting of EU ambassadors busy «mobilizing resources» for Kyrgyzstan — sought to impress on his listeners the gravity of the situation.

The situation is “difficult, very difficult, because apart from the future of the country, it puts into question the security and stability of the entire Central Asian region,» Morel said.

Regional stability is an important EU policy objective, given Central Asia’s significant energy resources and proximity to Afghanistan.

Morel said there has been too little EU engagement with Kyrgyzstan in the past, despite the country’s attempts to break with authoritarianism. Only France and Germany have embassies in Bishkek, and an EU delegation was established only in February.

Blame Placed On Bakiev

The EU envoy blamed the «clan» of ex-President Kurmanbek Bakiev, ousted in April after a popular revolt, for fomenting the unrest in Kyrgyzstan’s south earlier this month which saw scores of people killed in clashes between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz.

Morel said Bakiev’s loyalists, led by his brother, made a «concerted effort» to provoke the clashes in a bid to regain power. Bakiev, who is now in Belarus, has denied any connection to the violence.

Morel said that during his trip he spoke to civil society activists who had been on the ground in Osh during the turmoil.

He also noted the presence of drug gangs and Islamic extremists in the southern cities of Osh and Jalal-Abad.

Another factor, Morel said, was the «lack of attention and effort» from Bishkek, and the inadequacies of the local law enforcement forces, which were overrun, with many police killed.

The EU diplomat said the bloc is now looking for a «role» in the country alongside the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), without «duplicating» the work of either.

Morel said the EU’s focus is on fostering democracy in Kyrgyzstan. «The message of the European Union is very clear. We call for a road map for a return to democracy. First, public order; second, the rule of law: and, third, a return to a genuinely democratic constitution,» he said.

Morel said the EU wants the June 27 referendum on a new constitution to go ahead.

He noted the constitution — with elections to follow in October — will not usher in a fully parliamentary system, but a «mixed» one where a popularly elected president still has wide powers.

But, Morel said, the elements of parliamentarianism in the new constitution should «balance» the president’s role and break what he called the «Kyrgyz cycle» of street protests against autocratic rulers being usurped by clan leaders acting in their own narrow self-interest.

The EU has released 5 million euros ($6.14 million) in humanitarian aid, and another 6 million is in the pipeline for electoral support and civil society initiatives.

Ahto Lobjakas, REE/RL

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/EU_Envoy_Warns_Of_Regional_Risk_From_Kyrgyz_Instability/2080537.html

Kazakh Journalist Detained For Staging Protest

Kazakh police have detained journalist Yekaterina Belyaeva for holding an unsanctioned protest, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reports.

Belyaeva, who works for the Almaty-based newspaper «Vzglyad» (Look), came to the city’s Independence Square on June 21 and unfolded a sign saying: «President, Give Us Back Our Constitution!»

She told journalists who came to the square that she was protesting the constitutional law on the «Leader of the Nation» that was adopted last week.

The new law bestowed on President Nursultan Nazarbaev the title Leader of the Nation and gave him immunity from prosecution. In addition, his property and that of members of his family cannot be confiscated.

Several police officers took the sign from Belyaeva by force and told her that she did not have permission to stage a protest. Belyaeva answered that she has permission in accordance with Kazakhstan’s Constitution, which guarantees freedom of assembly.

Rights activist Ghalym Ageleuov tried to intervene and help Belyaeva, but he was forced by a policeman to the edge of the square. Belyaeva was pushed into a police car and driven away.

Prominent journalist Sergei Duvanov and rights activist Andrei Sviridov were fined for a similar protest action last week.

Kazakhstan currently holds the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, whose mandate includes such issues as human rights and freedom of the press.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Kazakh_Journalist_Detained_For_Staging_Protest/2078620.html

New legislation to provide exemplary protection for freedom of information in Island

Iceland’s parliament, the Alpinghi, has unanimously approved a resolution known as the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative (IMMI) that calls on the government to draft legislation in line with its recommendations for the protection of media, journalists and bloggers.

Reporters Without Borders hails this ambitious and positive initiative, adopted on 15 June, and calls on the government to do its utmost to respect the parliament’s will when it drafts the law.

“This proposal is on the right track,” Reporters Without Borders said. “It regards freedom of expression as a fundamental right and would create optimal conditions for investigative journalism. Even if the precise impact of this proposed law remains to be seen, especially as regard journalists’ legal protection, Iceland has established itself as a pioneer.”

The press freedom organisation added: “We hope this will serve as an example to other governments. It is certainly a promising departure from the general tendency, especially in democratic countries, for press freedom to be eroded and for harassment of journalists and their sources to increase.”

Assembling elements from the best legislation in the world, Iceland wants to become a global safe haven for journalists and new media that are being threatened or harassed and want to take advantage of the best protection available anywhere.

The transparency and independence of news and information are the initiative’s keywords. The declared aims are “to strengthen freedom of expression around world and in Iceland, as well as providing strong protections for sources and whistleblowers” (see the IMMI website). It also aims to secure communications and protect journalists and bloggers from unwarranted defamation suits both in Iceland and abroad.

Iceland wants to be seen as the ideal place for online media and data storage banks to locate their servers in order to shield themselves from the threats of censorship, filtering and closure, and to provide the best protection for the personal data of their users.

The initiative came about partly in response to a press issue that had a lot of impact in Iceland. In August 2009, the RUV television station was prevented at the last moment from broadcasting a story about Kaupthing Bank, which was immersed in a financial crisis.

The story was based on information from Wikileaks, which specialises in getting confidential information from whistleblowers in return for guarantees of anonymity, and which had already published extracts from the bank’s accounts. An injunction obtained by Kaupthing Bank prevented RUV from broadcasting the item, but the station told its viewers what had happened.

Read the article: http://en.rsf.org/islande-nouvel-article-18-06-2010,37771.html

Lucie Morillon
Reporters Without Borders
Head of the New Media Desk
internet@rsf.org
Skype : rsfnet
Twitter: luciemorillon and RSF_RWB
T : +33 1 44 83 84 71

http://en.rsf.org/islande-nouvel-article-18-06-2010,37771.html

INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP — NEW MEDIA RELEASE

Brussels/New York, 17 June 2010:

To: Security Council Ambassadors

Your Excellency,

We urge the United Nations Security Council to take immediate steps to address the ongoing crisis in Kyrgyzstan. With a death toll likely to reach far higher than the official count of 200 and an estimated 400,000 displaced in Kyrgyzstan and across the border in Uzbekistan, the situation poses a significant threat to international peace and security. The Kyrgyz authorities have primary responsibility for halting the violence and resolving this crisis, but reports from the ground provide ample evidence that the government is unable to protect those in need, and Kyrgyz authorities have already acknowledged that they need substantial assistance.

In the past week, violence along ethnic lines has engulfed Osh and Jalal-Abad, resulting in killings, rapes, beatings, and widespread burning and looting of homes and other properties. There are a growing number of reports that Kyrgyz military and other security personnel not only failed to stop the violence, but in some cases may have been active participants.

In the last two days there have been fewer reports of violent attacks but some continue. Claims that the situation is stable are belied by the extremely tense standoff that remains. Ethnic Uzbeks who remain in Osh are in some cases trapped in isolated neighborhoods, living in fear behind barricades. The government itself recognizes that new violence could flare at any moment.

The humanitarian situation is grave and increasingly urgent because Kyrgyz forces cannot be relied upon to provide the secure environment needed for humanitarian assistance to reach the population. Humanitarian organizations are having great difficulty accessing those needing assistance, and report incidents of theft and looting of aid.

Some 100,000 ethnic Uzbeks have sought refuge in Uzbekistan; the border is now closed. As many as 40,000 who fled the violence are without shelter, and given the destruction of hundreds of houses, many of the displaced have no homes to return to even should they feel safe to do so. Repatriation of the displaced will require much greater security and confidence within the displaced community.

International security assistance is urgently needed. An international stabilization mission of limited size could make a significant difference by securing the area for humanitarian relief, providing security for some of the displaced to return home, and creating space for reconciliation, confidence-building, and mediation programs to succeed. This mission would have a policing mandate and could be bolstered by military forces, particularly constabulary forces or gendarmes, if necessary.

Security Council Members should work without delay with regional organizations to ensure that such a mission is fielded as quickly as possible, with the endorsement of the Security Council and with specific terms of reference, clear rules of engagement, and a limited duration. Countries with capacity to engage quickly, in particular Russia, should be encouraged to contribute to the rapid deployment of such a mission.

A short-term security presence is crucial to establishing the humanitarian corridor requested by the United Nations and should lead the way for multilateral efforts to create a secure political environment for the eventual, but delayed, holding of a constitutional referendum and elections, and a longer-term effort to strengthen the rule of law and the protection of minorities, as well as to assist the government in security-sector reform.

Accountability for the recent violence, including on the part of state authorities, will be essential to securing long-term stability and reconciliation. The government should be encouraged to investigate crimes, ensure the protection of witnesses, and hold accountable those responsible for the violence. Given the extent and character of the violence, however, government efforts toward accountability should have an international component to be credible and effective. As an immediate step, the government should cooperate with OHCHR to begin investigations.

The instability in southern Kyrgyzstan cannot be wished away, and without a decisive international response there is considerable risk that widespread violence will reignite. It is possible that ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks may seek violent revenge for the past week of mayhem. Prolonged insecurity could provide an opening, for example, for political opponents who may seek to further weaken or overthrow the provisional government through violence against its perceived supporters. In the absence of an international mission to restore law and order, further such violence is likely to continue and could spill over to neighboring countries. Should conditions persist, widespread violence could cause a complete collapse of the state, with the attendant hum an rights, political, and security consequences for the region, including the risk of unilateral intervention by outside actors.

The threat to regional peace and security posed by the crisis in Kyrgyzstan is real and, despite the reduction in daily violence, still growing. The Security Council has an obligation to respond to these risks and should act immediately to work with the government, regional organizations and others to prevent further escalation of violence, including by authorizing international law enforcement and security assistance.

Best regards,

Louise Arbour, President and CEO, International Crisis Group

Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch

INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP

Uzbekistan Wants To Close Rail Link To Tajikistan

The Uzbek state railroad company has sent a letter to Tajik authorities notifying them that it wants to close a 44-kilometer stretch of railroad connecting the two countries, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reports.

There are three separate rail links between the two countries.

Uzbekistan wants to close the southernmost, which runs from the Uzbek city of Termez to Tajikistan’s Khatlon Province. Officials say the route is not economically viable and their country can no longer afford to maintain it.

Tajik authorities agreed that the route is not profitable, but they object to its closure.

«We prefer to keep it open and will probably assume responsibility for its maintenance,» said Andrei Tropin, the deputy director of Tajikistan’s state railroad.

Tropin said he is does not understand why Uzbekistan wants to close the railway link at the same time that it blames the holdup of hundreds of freight cars bound for Tajikistan on the limited capacity of the railroad network.

Tajik officials say the so-called railroad war between the two countries broke out because of Uzbekistan’s opposition to Tajik plans to build the Roghun hydropower plant.

Tashkent fears that the plant will drastically reduce the amount of water into Uzbekistan and thus enable Dushanbe to exert leverage on the Uzbek government.

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Tajikistan criticises telecom industry

Tajik authorities have been trying to take control of the cellular communications market, which is divided among eight operator companies, half of them foreign co-owned.
The campaign to regulate cellular provider activities began with President Emomali Rakhmon’s speech in parliament April 30, in which he claimed cell phones are unhealthy and that telecom services cost too much.
By his estimates, keeping one cell phone costs a Tajik family US $11 per month. The average monthly salary is US $80. In 2009, cellular providers earned more than US $320m. Seventy-five percent of the country’s 8m inhabitants own mobile phones, Rakhmon said.
Authorities took down cell phone billboards in Dushanbe May 6, then re-installed most just four days later. Mayoral press spokesman Shavkat Saidov said subordinates misunderstood the mayor’s orders.
“What is at issue is regulation of the advertising market, not tearing down all the billboards”, Saidov said.
Local television networks launched a campaign against cell phone use, which the president called a possible cause of cancer. Rakhmon personally instructed all educational institutions and the local media to transmit his message.
“Each reporter must prepare several stories explaining the hazards of using cellular telephones”, said a state TV journalist, who requested anonymity. “We are supposed to persuade people this is unaffordable luxury at a time of a financial crisis”.
Konstantin Bondarenko, director of the National Association of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, who has worked in telecom regulation for six years, said neither doctors nor the Transport and Communications Ministry has ever seen any medical research data showing that cellular communications indeed threaten health.
A recently completed ten-year study of 13,000 people by the World Health Organization found no conclusive link between cell phone use and brain cancer. However researchers said there were some problems with the study and that more research needs to be done.
For many, having a cell phone is a necessity. But some feel the Tajik government is now making the phones less efficient.
“When I once called my sick parents and failed to get through to them via the land line, I realised what it means to be left without the telephone”, said Sabrina, a 29-year-old Dushanbe resident.
On May 14, the Transport and Communications Ministry prohibited calls from the stationary home telephones operated by the state company TochikTelecom to clients of the cellular provider TaCom, which provides services under the Beeline trademark.
Communications Deputy Minister Beg Zukhurov pinned the blame on TaCom.
“We found that company breaching existing regulations”, he said. “It unlawfully set up a radio relay station — an antenna receiving and transmitting satellite signals — near the Afghan border”.
TaCom has a licence to operate the relay station, company spokeswoman Marina Roshkina said.
“Our subscribers are now unable to get through to emergency services, police, etc., in case of emergency”, she said. “Unless they have a land line, people may find themselves in a desperate position”.
TaCom has suffered tens of thousands of dollars in losses; if the conflict drags on, the company will have the right to sue, Roshkina said.
Telecom firms operate at the mercy of the government and have no option to take the issue to court, said an employee for a cellular provider on condition of anonymity.
“Earlier this year MLT, which is 75% owned by Megaphone Russia, attempted to re-brand to Megaphone Tajikistan and spent huge sums on advertising but finally was blocked by the Tajik government”, he said.
The newspaper Fakty I Kommentarii, citing local analysts, reported that cellular providers received unofficial suggestions to purchase shares in the Rogun hydropower project worth US $5m-10m, but they declined.
“That’s pure gossip”, said an MLT representative who asked to remain anonymous. “Of course, telecom operators did buy the hydropower project’s shares, but the whole thing most likely boils down to yet another attempt to unite us within a single switching centre (within) the state-run TochikTelecom.”
The government has been seeking to regulate cellular providers, who reported an income of US $320m in 2009 while actually earning over US $1 billion, political scientist Saimuddin Dustov said.
“Quite understandably, the state wishes to take this market under control”, he said. “To do that, it needs a Unified Switching Centre to handle all the cellular operators’ traffic and make sure they have zero opportunity to conceal their earnings. At the same time, its attempts to put the industry in order have been wrongful and aggressive.”
Government policy has only been scaring potential investors away, complained Gafur Irkayev, president of the Telecom Operators’ Association.
“With over 90% of Tajikistan’s territory mountainous, cellular providers have run a loss trying to serve the hard-to-access regions”, he said.
“Cellular communications is a dynamically developing market, and the involvement of ever more players gives the industry an additional boost”, Dustov said. “Over the past two years, our telecom operators have got a firmer foothold in Tajikistan – and this despite what they perceive as growing government pressure. I am positive the government will lose again”.
“Unfortunately, (cellular provider-bashing) policy may be detrimental to the state budget, into which cellular providers have annually paid up to US$100m in taxes”, Irkayev said.

Rukhshona Ibragimova, CentralAsiaOnline.com

Источник: CentralAsiaOnline.com

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Transitions Online

Uzbek, Kyrgyz, And Tajik Lives Collide In An Enclave

Kamol Azizov’s daily routine isn’t so different from that of any other villager living in the Ferghana Valley: he walks to work every morning, gets his weekly supplies from a nearby bazaar, and runs errands for his elderly parents, who live just around the corner.

Except, to complete his tasks, Azizov must trek across an international border multiple times. Azizov’s native village, Chashma, is located in the Uzbek enclave of Sokh, which is located inside the southern Kyrgyz province of Batken. What this means for Azizov is that the nearest bazaar is in a foreign land, Kyrgyzstan, as is his parent’s home, while Azizov’s work at the local job center is located in Uzbekistan.

«My house is located less than 300 meters from the Kyrgyz border,” Azizov explains. “There are some houses in our neighborhood — my house is on Sokh territory but its veranda is on Kyrgyz territory. And there are many split families in Chashma. Parents registered as Kyrgyz citizens, their sons and grandchildren as Sokh residents [and thus Uzbek citizens], and their homes are separated by barbed wire. There are Kyrgyz border posts everywhere and it’s very difficult to move around.»

Like other Sokh residents, Azizov has become accustomed to carrying his passport at all times. «Being stopped and searched at Kyrgyz checkpoints has become a part of our everyday lives,» says Azizov.

Recent tensions between Sokh residents and their Kyrgyz neighbors over the right to graze their animals on local pastures have further complicated an already-complex cultural and political situation.

Kyrgyzstan last month stopped allowing Sokh residents to graze their livestock on Kyrgyz pastureland, affecting many Sokh households’ livelihoods. With pastures no longer available, having to keep their sheep, goats, and cattle penned up inside barns poses tremendous difficulties for the villagers.

Some Sokh residents reportedly responded by attacking Kyrgyz cars passing through the Uzbek enclave territory. Their Kyrgyz neighbors, in return, blocked the main highway connecting the enclave with rest of Uzbekistan, and demanded protection.

Pacifying Measures

Officials from the both sides met on June 1 to discuss the rising tensions in the area as well as other longstanding disagreements over the enclave, and managed to sign an agreement.

To ease the tension between the two countries, Uzbekistan began to withdraw armored vehicles it stationed in Sokh after a 1999 incursion into southern Kyrgyzstan by Uzbek militants.

The Kyrgyz side has yet to allow Sokh residents to use the pasture land. But Kyrgyz officials agreed to eliminate several checkpoints in the area.

«It’s welcome news,» Azizov says. «When we travel from Sokh to the provincial center, Ferghana, or to the nearest city, Rishton, we have to pass at least five Kyrgyz checkpoints. They stop us, check our passports and cars, and sometimes they keep us for longer. And some of them have a habit of extorting money.”

“And even in my village, Chashma, when we go to the nearby market, which is on the Kyrgyz land, we need to pass a checkpoint, where Kyrgyz soldiers check us and ask for money,» Azizov says.

With 325 square kilometers of mountainous land, Sokh is the largest Uzbek enclave on Kyrgyz territory. To further complicate things, the majority of its some 65,000 citizens are ethnic Tajik.

Altogether there are eight enclaves in the Ferghana Valley, including four Uzbek enclaves inside Kyrgyzstan and the Kyrgyz village of Barak on Uzbek territory. Tajikistan has two enclaves on Kyrgyz territory and the village of Savak inside Uzbekistan.

The enclaves were carved out during the Soviet era based on the main language spoken by the majority of the population living there.

Sokh, however was an exception. No one can explain how an area that had a vast Tajik majority was made an Uzbek enclave. Many people in Ferghana Valley believe the enclave of Sokh has proven to be one of the strangest creations of Soviet-era leaders.

There are 26 schools and four colleges in Sokh’s roughly 20 villages. All the schools and colleges operate in Tajik. So does the local media, including a news and entertainment television channel and the weekly newspaper, «Sadoi Sokh» («Voice of Sokh»).

Politics Felt In The Village

The enclave’s unusual circumstances have made its inhabitants vulnerable to political tensions in all three countries.

«When there are tensions in Kyrgyzstan or Uzbekistan — in Bishkek, or, for instance, in Andijon — Uzbekistan closes its borders and intensifies controls and checks,» says Bolta, a Sokh resident who did not want to give his full name. «When the Uzbek border is closed, it cuts us off too; we can’t enter Uzbekistan easily. Imagine, you need to go to a funeral, or you’re seriously ill and want to visit a city hospital, but you can’t go there because the border is closed, and no one knows when it will reopen.»

The nearest airport or railway station for Sokh residents is some 120 kilometers away in Ferghana city, which is also a provincial center. The nearest Uzbek town is Rishton, 70 kilometers from Sokh.

There are no regular buses or trains connecting Sokh to any other city. Private cars or taxis are the only means of transport, but not everybody can afford to use them.

Further adding to Sokh inhabitants’ isolation is the fact that Uzbekistan closed its borders with Kyrgyzstan following the April riots in Bishkek. Sokh has also suffered from long-standing political disagreements between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

For many decades, Tajik universities were the main destination for further education for graduates of Sokh’s schools.

With souring relationships between Tashkent and Dushanbe, Uzbek education officials no longer recognize Tajik university degrees. Sokh school graduates were left with no other choice but to enroll in Uzbek universities.

After severing cultural and educational ties with Dushanbe, Sokh libraries no longer receive Tajik-language books and publications from Dushanbe. The district’s main library is almost devoid of any new books.

«But it’s not all bad news,» says Azizov. «Living in an enclave has its positive sides, too. Everyone in Sokh is fluent in three languages — Uzbek and Kyrgyz in addition to our mother tongue, Tajik — without getting language classes.»

«We don’t care about politics, but politics have so much impact on our lives,» says Akramjon, a 41-year-old amateur singer who didn’t want to give his full name.

The realities of every day life are emerging even in Sokh villagers’ traditional folk songs, known as «Yovailo.» «Yovailo» are love songs, sung by young men at wedding parties and other gatherings, as well as during wheat harvests.

In recent years, however, «Yovailo» lyrics have come to include new themes — such as long roads, long waits, and isolation.

In one song, Akramjon sings mournfully about being stuck in the enclave. «I sit on a rock and wait for you in Sokh,” he sings. “It’s a faraway place near the mountains. I would move to Tashkent or Jizzah to be closer to you, but I can’t leave Sokh behind.”

Farangis Najibullah, RFE/RL

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/Uzbek_Kyrgyz_And_Tajik_Lives_Collide_In_An_Enclave/2061404.html