DUSHANBE — Western diplomats in Tajikistan have expressed concern over the fate of the country’s only private university, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reports.

In a letter to the Tajik government on August 17, the U.S., British, French, and German ambassadors and the head of the EU representation expressed concern at the Ministry of Education’s move to revoke the academic license of the Institute of Technical Innovations and Communication (ITIC), a private higher education institution, for reasons that remain unclear.

U.S. Embassy spokesperson Rachel Cooke told RFE/RL that the signatories to the letter hope that the government will handle the case based on a transparent investigation and the rule of law, and allow ITIC students to continue their studies.

But Education Minister Abdujabbor Rahmonov responded on August 17 that the decision to revoke the ITIC’s license was taken not by his ministry but by the Economic Court.

ITIC head Sadriddin Akramov told RFE/RL last week that the institute filed a lawsuit against Rahmonov on July 31 in a Dushanbe district court.

In a letter to Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, the education minister described the ITIC as a hotbed of antigovernment propaganda and political opposition.

The ITIC is known as the «American» university because it was founded by a Tajik-born U.S. citizen and is funded by grants from the United States and other Western countries. It has been under pressure from the Education Ministry to change its name since 2003 and has done so several times.

In September 2009, the Education Ministry demanded the closure of the institute for three months for «technical reasons» to enable the ministry to check its documents and activities. But Akramov appealed to the district court last year and chose to keep the university open pending a court ruling.

Rahmonov said at a press conference last month that the Economic Court upheld all the ministry’s complaints. He said the court ruled that the ITIC should be closed and that its students continue their studies at other universities.

Akramov told RFE/RL he is convinced that the real reason the Education Ministry revoked the ITIC’s license is because its teaching staff includes some prominent opposition leaders and outspoken critics of the government.

Despite the ongoing dispute, 300 would-be students submitted applications to the ITIC this year.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Western_Concern_At_Fate_Of_Sole_Private_Tajik_University_/2130922.html

Course dates: May 30th – June 10th , 2011
Media: Radio, Television and Internet
Type of Diploma: Certificate
RNTC application deadline: 1st October, 2010
Embassy NFP application deadline: 1st December 2010

Deadline non-fellowship applicants: 28 February, 2011

Download the full information sheet

Summary:

Course Aim

To strengthen the capacity of managers working in the media sector (in programme and/or journalism management) to contribute to organisational development in a changing media environment.

Broadcast management: a discipline in it’s own right
More than ever broadcast managers have a crucial role to play in ensuring the success and the future of their organisations. Whether working for state, public, private or commercial broadcasters managers face the challenge of having to help their organisations adapt and thrive in an increasingly competitive media industry. Characteristic of the industry are rapid technological change, fragmented and fickle audiences able to choose from a growing number of media outlets, and a complex, shifting political and legislative environment.

Traditionally broadcast managers have been either promoted from the ranks of programme-makers and journalists or appointed from management positions outside the broadcast sector. In both cases they often find themselves not well-equipped for the specific challenges of broadcast management in which a proper understanding of the creative process and the production pathway has to be combined with the ability to manage limited financial and technical resources, and give innovative leadership to a group of highly creative and articulate individuals.

Where once it was enough to have a background in either media or in some form of management, broadcast management is now increasingly seen as a discipline in its own right, requiring professionalisation; broadcast organisations now need to be committed to ensuring their managers develop and continue to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to be effective and successful.

Download full information here: http://sites.rnw.nl/rntc/assets/2011BM.pdf

http://sites.rnw.nl/rntc/courses/ICBM2011.php

ACP-EU Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA)Enter your favourite photos of people managing water and technology to win up to ?5,000 in prizes in the CTA “Peoples’ Choice Photo on People, Water and and ICTs”

Upload your photos or vote for your favourite photos in the following themes:People and water (water use and management, including coping mechanisms used by ACP people with respect to water or its lack);
Technology and water (information and communication technology (ICT) and information and communication management (ICM);
Water and environment (role of water and climate change in agricultural and rural development).
Just click on annualseminar2010.cta.int/photo to post your photo or to vote for your favourite photo. The grand prize? A digital camera and an opportunity to participate – all expenses paid – in the annual seminar entitled Closing the Knowledge Gap: Integrated Water Management for Sustainable Agriculture, in Pretoria, South Africa , where the best photos will also be on display during the seminar from the 22-26 November 2010.

PrizesGrand PrizeThe grand prize winner will be invited to participate, all expenses paid, in the CTA Annual Seminar “Closing the Knowledge Gap: Integrated Water Management for Sustainable Agriculture” in Pretoria, South Africa. This includes transport, accommodation for five days, free entrance to the seminar, all seminar materials, breakfasts and lunches for five days.

The grand prize winner also will receive one CANON EOS 1000D EF 18-55, and a subscription to CTA’s Spore or Esporo magazines.

Category PrizesEach category prize winner will be awarded one CANON EOS 1000D EF 18-55and a subscription to CTA’s Spore or Esporo magazines.

1st and 2nd Runner Ups in the three categoriesThe first and second runner ups in each category will receive a subscription to CTA’s Spore or Esporo magazines.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. This contest is open only to citizens and residents of the European and the 78 member states of the Cotonou Agreement. Entries must be submitted electronically between July 19 and October 19 2010 in order to be considered for prizes. To enter, or review the complete official contest rules, go to http://annualseminar2010.cta.int. Finalists will be judged and selected by qualified CTA staff and a professional photographer. Read full photo contest rules and regulations (PDF).

Submission form is avaoilable here: http://annualseminar2010.cta.int/competition

http://annualseminar2010.cta.int/competition

Four out of five Tajik newspapers, which publication, allegedly, was supposed to be suspended, are published. On 4 August readers received the private weeklies – Ozodagon, Paykon, Millat and SSSR. According to the Asia Plus news agency, the fifth newspaper, Borgokhi Sukhan has come off the press as well.

Prior to that, some information agencies and Internet outlets said that the publication of the five weeklies is under threat. According to reports in the media, managers of the Mushfiki printing house (where these newspapers are regularly printed) warned about the inability of the next publishing – in view of particular technical reasons. However, unofficial sources said that the printing house received an order “from above” to exclude them from service – allegedly, because of criticism of government officials in their publications.

However, neither of human rights watchdogs, nor media organizations received any complaints from the newspapers concerning the violation of their rights. Some of the foreign media, in particular, the Russian daily Vremya Novostei presented the event “in a political light”.

“Regardless some problems of ethical character and the quality of information in the media, Tajik journalists are tackling very serious social, political and economic problems, very often “trading on forbidden ground” and presenting their civil position”, — said Nuriddin Karshibaev, chairman of NANSMIT. — “Particular officials are not happy about it, but they must be tolerant to criticism in the media”.

It should be noted that none of the five papers mentioned anything about the pressure against them in their publications on 4 August 2010, i.e. after the allegations about the violations of their printing rights.

The NANSMIT monitoring service keeps tracing the situation in the area of freedom of expression.

NANSMIT-TajFEN

DUSHANBE — Tajikistan’s only private university is suing the country’s education minister for defamation, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reports.

Sadriddin Akramov, the head of the Institute of Technical Innovations and Communications (ITIC), told RFE/RL today that it filed a lawsuit against Education Minister Abdujabor Rahmonov on July 31 in a Dushanbe district court.

Akramov said Rahmonov described the ITIC in a letter to Tajik President Emomali Rahmon as a hotbed of antigovernment propaganda and political opposition.

The ITIC is known as the «American» university because it was founded by a Tajik-born U.S. citizen and is funded by grants from the United States and other Western countries. It has been under pressure from the Education Ministry to change its name since 2003, something it has done a few times.

In September 2009, the Education Ministry demanded its closure for three months for «technical reasons» to enable the ministry to check its documents and activities. But Akramov appealed to the district court last year and chose to keep the university open pending a court ruling.

Rahmonov said at a press conference last month that the Economic Court had upheld all the ministry’s complaints. He said the court ruled that the ITIC should be closed and its students continue their studies at other universities.

Akramov has demanded the Education Ministry compensate the ITIC for moral and material damage incurred as a result of the Economic Court ruling.

Akramov told RFE/RL he is convinced that the real reason the Education Ministry revoked the ITIC’s license is because its teaching staff includes some prominent opposition leaders and outspoken critics of the government.

A U.S. diplomat who has followed the case told RFE/RL on condition of anonymity on August 2 that he, too, thinks that is the reason the ministry has moved to close down the ITIC. He noted that the ministry has not yet provided any other convincing arguments for doing so.

Despite the ongoing dispute, 300 would-be students submitted applications to the ITIC this year.

One prospective student told RFE/RL that she appreciates the «high standard» of internationally focused education that is guaranteed at the institute and that she is sure it will not be permanently closed down.

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

KULOB, Tajikistan — A court in southern Tajikistan has ruled that a regional leader of the opposition Islamic Renaissance Party and another man are not guilty of human trafficking, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reports.

Judge Ilhom Komilov told RFE/RL the court in the town of Kulob did not find anything illegal in the activities of the two accused men.

Abdufattoh Abdukholiqov, who heads the opposition Islamic Renaissance Party branch in the Vose district of Khatlon province, told RFE/RL he was satisfied with the court ruling.

Davlat Najmiddinov, who heads the anti-organized-crime department in Kulob district, told RFE/RL in April when the criminal case was opened that Abdukholiqov and Nematullo Sharifov paid $500 to the mother of a 16-year-old girl whom they allegedly planned to sell to someone in Russia.

At the same time, Abdukholiqov told RFE/RL that the girl was his relative and that he was trying to help her by arranging a marriage for her in Russia. Abdukholiqov added that the $500 was the dowry that should be paid to any Muslim girl by her future husband.

The alleged trafficking victim’s sister, Parvina Sabzaeva, who police claimed had been trafficked to Russia earlier, told RFE/RL that Abdukholiqov had helped her to find a husband and a job and begin a life abroad.

She said the family asked Abdukholiqov to do the same for her sister.

The prosecutor’s office has 10 days to appeal the court verdict.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Tajik_Opposition_Politician_Acquitted_Of_Human_Trafficking_Charge/21192

ALMATY — A Kazakh journalist was sentenced today to 10 days in jail for throwing dung at the Almaty city court building, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reports.

Zhanna Baytelova’s action on August 2 was found by the Almaty administrative court to be an act of hooliganism. She pleaded not guilty to the charge because she said what she did was a «protest action.»

Baytelova repeatedly threw handfuls of manure at an entrance to the Almaty city court building to protest the court’s rejection of her lawsuit against Prime Minister Karim Masimov and two other politicians.

Baytelova had filed a case against Masimov, Senate speaker Qasymzhomart Toqaev, and lower house speaker Oral Mukhamedzhanov in the Zhetysu district court for what she termed their «illegal decision to sign the law on the ‘leader of the nation,'» which became official in mid-June.

The district court decided not to accept Baytelova’s case, so she took it to the Almaty city court, which refused her case on July 27. The law on the «leader of the nation» widened the rights and powers of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev and his relatives.

Baytelova, who works for the opposition newspaper «Golos Respubliki» (Voice of the Republic), told journalists after her verdict was pronounced today that she considers her sentence «a sign of solidarity between courts, as my action…was a protest against the Kazakh courts’ ‘illegal decisions.'»

http://www.rferl.org/content/Kazakh_Journalist_Jailed_For_Throwing_Manure_At_Courthouse/2118677.html

DUSHANBE — The privately owned Mushfiqi printing house in Dushanbe says that «technical problems» will prevent it from printing several independent weekly publications, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reports.

The move has raised suspicions in light of past instances when political pressure from authorities is thought to have disrupted the print runs of other independent publications.
Mushfiqi manager Umed Sattarov said the weeklies in question are «Paikon,» «Ozodagon,» «SSSR,» «Millat,» and «Borgohi Sukhan.»

Sattarov told RFE/RL that Mushfiqi has asked those publications’ editors to find alternative printing houses.

«Our printing equipment is broken. We request that they temporarily print elsewhere. We have a very small press that we can only print our own publications with,» Sattarov said.

Editor Jumaboy Tolibov vowed that he would find an alternative means of circulating his «Paikon» publication.

Union of Journalists of Tajikistan head Akbar Sattor, who also owns a printing house, said that he is prepared to publish «Paikon» but only for a price that suits him.

Tajik lawyer Shuhrat Qudratov said that the Mushfiqi printing house has an agreement with these weeklies and must fulfill its obligations.

But Mukhtor Boqizoda, a former editor and the head of a local NGO that works to protect journalists’ interests, described Mushfiqi’s refusal as a message from the authorities that those weekly papers have overstepped government-imposed limits.

Boqizoda said that often when authorities or printing houses cite «technical problems,» the problems are in fact political. He recalled that in the past, non-government-sponsored newspapers like «Ruzi Nav» and his own «Nerui Sukhan» found themselves in similar situations and were unable to continue publishing.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Technical_Problems_Halt_Publication_Of_Independent_Tajik_Weeklies/21177

DUSHANBE — The leader of a madrasah and dozens of his students at his religious school in southern Tajikistan have been detained, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reports.

Tajik officials said Mavlavi Abduqahor, who is also a religious leader, was detained over the weekend along with the students at the school in the Rudaki district south of the capital, Dushanbe.

Interior Ministry spokesman Mahmadullah Asadulloev told RFE/RL that Abduqahor was arrested for teaching without a license, charging tuition to his students, failing to adhere to school health and hygiene regulations, and for teaching children under 7 years of age — which Asadulloev said is the worst offense.

Abduqahor’s relatives told RFE/RL that his madrasah takes on additional students during the summer break.

They said Abduqahor and several students were arrested once before, a few weeks ago, but were later released.

The Interior Ministry said the detentions were carried out under the auspices of Operation Madrasah, which aims to ban all illegal religious schools in the country.

Some Tajik-based analysts say officials are trying to control all religious schools in an attempt to prevent the rise of radical Islam.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Tajik_Madrasah_Leader_Students_Detained/2116294.html

ALMATY — A Kazakh journalist threw dung at the Almaty city court building today to protest the court’s rejection of her lawsuit against Prime Minister Karim Masimov and other politicians, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reports.

Zhanna Baytelova had filed a case against Masimov, Senate speaker Qasymzhomart Toqaev, and lower house speaker Oral Mukhamedzhanov in the Zhetysu district court for what she termed their «illegal decision to sign the law on the ‘leader of the nation,'» which became official in mid-June.

The district court decided not to accept Baytelov’s case, so she took it to the Almaty city court, which refused her case on July 27.

The law on the «leader of the nation» widened the rights and powers of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev and his relatives.

Baytelova, who works for the opposition newspaper «Golos Respubliki» (Voice of the Republic), told journalists that by throwing dung at the court building she wanted to register her protest against the Kazakh courts’ «illegal decisions.»

http://www.rferl.org/content/Kazakh_Journalist_Throws_Manure_At_Almaty_Court/2116632.html