In January 2012, the Monitoring Service received 23 reports. Ten of them describe the factual situation in the media in the light of social, legal and political environment, and thirteen reports describe direct violations of rights of media professionals.

I. 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

19 January
Emomali Rakhmon, President of Tajikistan, Dushanbe

The President of Tajikistan Emomali Rakhmon criticized the quality of state TV stations’ programs. He made rather sharp remarks at a government meeting convened on 19 January to discuss the issues of economic and social development in the country in 2012 and the tasks for 2012.

Rakhmon noted that instead of praising public officials, the state TV companies should pay more attention to existing problems in the country. He also advised the TV managers to restrain from self-advertisement. “No matter who you are – poets, writers, whatsoever… you serve your people; let others advertise you. It’s a shame to see how you promote yourselves! And it is shameful to see fulsome flattery and adulation”.

2. Actions of public officials defining the situation in the media

24 January
Head of administration, Khatlon province

Akbar Muslimov, editor of the Guliston newspaper in the city of Kurgan-Tube is acknowledged the best specialist in the media area in 2011. The province administration held a special competition to define best specialists of the year.

Chairman of Khatlon province Gaibullo Avzalov encouraged local journalists to work harder and not to be shy revealing and exposing the existing economic and social problems.

3. Journalists protecting their civil and professional rights

7 January
Journalists’ Club, Sughd province

On 7 January 2012, journalist of Sughd province discussed legal and ethical aspects of their professional activities. The meeting was organized by the Tajik National Association of Independent Mass Media.

Participants discussed particular cases of violation of legal and ethical standards. Nuriddin Karshibaev, chairman of NANSMIT said that it is necessary to make a clear distinction between the editorial policy and advertisement/commercial activities in the media – so that sponsored and PR articles would not have a negative impact on the image of journalists and their media.

Participants stressed the necessity of strengthening the legal and professional status of journalists, and the need to enhance relations with other sectors of the society.

The Club of Journalists in Sughd province is an independent social group guided by the principles of corporative solidarity. The Club is open for any printing or electronic medium as well as for any individual media professional.

4. Changes and amendments affecting the media legislation

4 January
Ozodagon weekly, Dushanbe

The Ozodagon weekly (#1, 4 January 2012) reported that the Ministry of Culture, following a request by the Tax Committee, sent letters to all newspapers asking them to reregister.

Legal and media experts say that the request of the Tax Committee is poorly motivated; some of them see this government move as an attempt to create artificial difficulties for the opposition media.

5. Factual situation in the media and the freedom of expression

11 January
Oriyono Media, Dushanbe

The Farazh weekly (#2, 11 January 2012) published an interview with the director of the Oriyono media holding and the founder of the Imruz News weekly Rustam Joni.

Despite all rumors, Rustam Joni says that te Imruz News has no affiliation to the Oriyon Bank. It should be noted that Joni is also the director of a popular FM station Imruz. The radio station has the full coverage of Tajikistan’s regions.

12 January
Asia Plus weekly, Dushanbe

The Asia Plus weekly (#3, 11 January 2012) published an article describing one evening spend at a TV set watching the local TV channels.

The author criticized the poor quality of broadcasting and the content of TV programs asking the following questions: “Why the Tajik TV professionals cannot produce creative, interactive and modern news about the real people and urgent problems? Why do they produce tendentious, senseless and foolish “stale news” in the old-fashioned style?”

The author comes to the conclusion that the political censorship along with glorification of the authorities, plus amateurism of newsmakers and cameramen lead to such state of things. “There is no original reports, no analysis, no experts’ opinions, no criticism of the government, no voice of the people. Instead, we have dull faces praising the President, farmers and sportsmen”.

18 January
Government media, Dushanbe

The Nigokh weekly (#4, 18 January 2012) published an article criticizing the government mass media for slipping over important events and developments, such as the recent attempt upon the life of the opposition journalist Dodojon Atovulloev and tragic accidents among Tajik labor migrants.

25 January
Farazh weekly, Dushanbe

On 25 January 2012, the private weekly Farazh published a list of organizations, which ignored articles criticizing them in 2011. The newspaper mentions 54 government agencies and institutions, which have breached the Resolution of the President #622 obliging them to provide feedback to the media on criticism and report about measures taken to correct the situation.

27 January
Reporters Without Borders

The international NGO Reporters Without Borders published the Freedom of Press Index Report in 2011-2012, where Tajikistan is rated 122-nd among 179 countries.

Tajikistan is placed between Algeria and Malaysia. In the previous RWB report Tajikistan was rated 115-th.

The recent report says that the Tajik authorities keep using the “scarecrow” of the civil war and radical Islamism to exert pressure on the independent media.

31 January
Human Rights Watch

The international NGO Human Rights Watch indicated in its annual report that the Tajik media experienced essential pressure in 2001.

Government officials kept applying to the court against certain printing media complaining about “defamation and libel” forcing the newspapers to keep silent.

HRW refers to the remarks of Reporters Without Borders saying that “the authorities try to control the media applying various tools, such as unofficial financial pressure, court litigations and frivolous arrests”.

According to the international monitoring NGO Article19, the new Tajik draft media law does not meet the international standards of the freedom of expression.

II. VIOLATION OF RIGHTS IN THE MEDIA

1. Attack on a journalist

12 January
Dodojon Atovulloev, independent journalist

On 12 January 2012, the Tajik journalist Dodojon Atovulloev was delivered to the hospital with serious knife wounds.

Atovulloev was attacked by an unknown assailant near an Italian restaurant. Referring to comments by the clinic’s doctors, the Tajik service of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty says that the wounds are quite serious, and the journalist has lost a lot of blood. However, Atovulloev’s life is not in danger; the first surgery has been successful.

Atovulloev, 56, is a Tajik journalist and founder of the opposition movement Vatandor (compatriot). He gained popularity criticizing the regime of President Rakhmon. At present, Atovulloev resides in Russia and Germany.

In 2011, the Tajik Prosecutor General initiated criminal proceedings against the journalist and required extradition of Atovulloev, but the Russian authorities did not satisfy the request.

On 13 January, the Tajik Union of Journalists, the National Association of Independent Mass Media and the Media Alliance of Tajikistan disseminated a joint statement condemning the attack upon Atovulloev.

A similar statement was issued by the Tajik Association of Persian-language Journalists. “The assault upon Atovulloev is seen as an infringement of the freedom of speech. The organization expects from both Russian and Tajik law enforcement agencies to conduct thorough investigation of the incident. It also notes that the assault upon a well-known journalist spoils the image of each country.

Muhammad Egamzod, the head of the Tajik media holding Tajinfo says that the attempt upon Atovulloev might have political reasons, since the journalist is an adversary of the Tajik authorities. Egamzod added that the authorities might be interested in arranging the attack against their enemy.

A representative of the Tajik Foreign Ministry told the media that the Tajik law enforcement agencies are interested in a fastest and efficient investigation of the case.

Major General Erkin Muhiddinov, a veteran of the Tajik law enforcement agencies told the Asia Plus weekly that the attempt upon Dodojon Atovulloev in Moscow is an act of hooliganism rather than an action of special services.

On 20 January, the Tajik Interior Minister Ramazan Rakhimov told journalists that his agency is ready to investigate the incident of Atovulloev is their Russian counterparts require assistance.

“Atovulloev’s speculations about the involvement of the Tajik government is nothing but his own opinion. Should he have any evidence, let him apply to our Ministry”, — said Rakhimov.

The Asia Plus weekly (#6, 23 January 2012) published an interview with Dodojon Atovulloev who shared some details of the recent incident in Moscow. The journalist states that the attempt upon his life was organized in such a way that it would look like a simple street conflict. He claims that the attack was ordered from Dushanbe/

2. Ungrounded limitation of access to information

4 January
All media

In January, ministers and heads of other government institutions will conduct press conferences to report to the media about their activities, achievements and failures in 2001.

In March 2005, the Tajik President issued a decree obliging heads of government agencies to conduct press conferences on a quarterly basis with the purpose of ensuring transparency and accountability. However, in September 2011, amendments were introduced to the document, according to which the officials must communicate with the media only once every six months.

According to the President’s Office, ministers and other high-ranking government officials have the right to conduct press conferences as frequently as they wish. In reality, government officials are usually reluctant to communicate with journalists.

Nuriddin Karshibaev, chairman of the Tajik National Association of Independent Mass Media noted that the amendments to the President’s Decree will have a negative impact on access to information.

On 11 January 2012, the correspondent of the Tajik service of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (Radio Ozodi) Mirzonabi Kholikzoda approache NANSMIT complaining abouth the quality of semi-annual press conferences.

In particular, the journalist noted that the Prosecutor General was absent at the recent press conference, and his deputies failed to answer essential questions.

At a press conference hold on 11 January 2012 in the northern city of Khujand, officials of the State Labor and Migration Service under the government also had troubles answering questions of journalists. Certain officials say that they are new in their positions and are unable to share this or that information; once in a while, they say that the data is “classified”, but they cannot justify their statements; others refer journalists to central offices in the capital.

According to observations of journalists and media watchdogs, heads of government agencies prefer to speak about the topics chosen by themselves; they do not answer topical questions thus demonstrating their professional incompetence.

3. Violation of circulation of a medium

12 January
Asia Plus weekly, Dushanbe

The Asia Plus weekly (#3, 11 January 2012) informs that somebody had bought the whole shipment of the new issue of the newspaper delivered from Dushanbe to the northern city of Khujand.

According to residents of Asht, could not buy the newspaper – allegedly because of an article describing the situation in that district and the conflict between the authorities and the opposition journalist Makhmadyusuf Ismoiov. A while ago, the journalist published a series of articles criticizing the local governors and revealing cases of corruption. Eventually he was sued and required to pay an amount of 50 thousand Somoni as a moral compensation for defamation.

The main characters in the recent article published by Asia Plus were the former governor of Asht province presently heading the district branch of the President’s People Democratic Party, and the former district prosecutor. Observers say that the newspapers were confiscated after the order from the incumbent district prosecutor.

The human rights situation in Tajikistan remains poor. The government persisted with enforcing a repressive law on religion and introduced new legislation further restricting religious expression and education. Authorities continued to restrict media freedoms and journalists—including BBC correspondent Urunboy Usmonov—were targeted for their work. Domestic violence against women remains a serious problem in Tajik society. The judiciary is neither independent nor effective.

In August President Emomali Rahmon signed a wide-ranging amnesty into law to mark the 20th anniversary of Tajikistan’s independence. Approximately 15,000 prisoners are reported to be covered under its terms, including alleged members of banned religious and political groups; several thousand prisoners are expected to be released in 2011.

Institutional Human Rights Reform
In May the Office of the Ombudsman presented its first human rights report since Zarif Alizoda, the president’s former legal adviser, was appointed ombudsman in May 2009. The report covers the office’s work from September 2009 to December 2010, and provides an overview of various human rights concerns in Tajikistan, including torture, freedom of speech, housing, and children’s rights. Some local human rights groups have criticized the office for lacking political will to effectively respond to human rights violations.

Criminal Justice and Torture
Torture remains an enduring problem within Tajikistan’s penitentiary system and is used to extract confessions from defendants, who are often denied access to family and legal counsel during initial detention. Despite discussions with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in August, authorities have not granted ICRC access to places of detention. With rare exceptions, human rights groups are also denied access.

While torture is practiced with near impunity, authorities took a few small steps to hold perpetrators accountable. In an unprecedented ruling in September two law enforcement officers were sentenced to eight years in prison (reduced to six years under amnesty) on charges of “deliberate infliction of bodily harm carelessly resulting in the death of a victim” and “abuse of powers,” after Ismoil Bachajonov, 31, died in police custody in Dushanbe, the capital, in January. A third officer was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of “negligence,” but was released under amnesty.

NGOs and local media also reported on the deaths of Safarali Sangov, 37, who was detained on March 1 on alleged drug-related charges and died in a hospital several days later, and of Bahromiddin Shodiev, 28, who was detained on October 14 and died in a hospital on October 30. Police claim that Sangov and Shodiev each tried to commit suicide at the police station, but their respective families insist that each died after sustaining injuries during beatings while in custody. In early November a Ministry of Internal Affairs spokesperson announced that there would be a “thorough investigation” into Shodiev’s death and that three officers had been dismissed. Following Sangov’s death two policemen were charged with “negligence.” Soon after the trial began in September the judge ordered that the case undergo further investigation.

In July Ilhom Ismanov and 52 other defendants were put on trial in Khujand for alleged membership in the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. Amnesty International reported that during a pre-trial detention hearing on November 12, 2010, the judge ignored Ismanov’s testimony that he had been tortured, including with electric shocks and boiling water, and that other defendants have since made similar allegations of torture and ill-treatment in pre-trial detention.

Freedom of Media
The clampdown on Tajikistan’s media continued in 2011. Government officials continued to file debilitating defamation civil suits that seem aimed at muffling media. Reporters Without Borders said in February that Tajik authorities “are using a range of methods in an attempt to control the media, including informal and financial pressure, an increase in the number of defamation suits and arbitrary arrest.” According to media watchdog Article 19, a new draft mass media law needs further amendments before it complies with international standards on freedom of expression.

In January then-chief of the Sughd Regional Department of Fighting Organized Crime (UBOP) filed a lawsuit against the weekly Asia Plus for 1 million somoni (US$210,000) in moral damages, after a December 2010 article described alleged torture and ill-treatment by UBOP officers in the Sughd region. In April, authorities confiscated equipment from Paykon newspaper in connection with a 2010 libel suit. In May, after a Dushanbe court granted the Ministry of Justice’s petition to liquidate Paykon’s founding organization for alleged violations, printing houses refused to print the paper, forcing itto close.

In October Mukhamadyusuf Ismoilov, a journalist detained in the Sughd region on November 23, 2010, was convicted and fined 35,000 somoni ($7,300) on charges of inciting national, racial, local, or religious hostility; defamation; insult; and extortion. He was released under amnesty, but banned from journalism for three years. His colleagues believe his arrest and prosecution are retribution for his critical articles, including in Nuri Zindagi, an independent weekly in Dushanbe.

On February 7 Khikmatullo Saifullozoda, the editor of opposition Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan newspaper Nadjot, was beaten outside his home in Dushanbe by unidentified assailants and was hospitalized. The United States and European Union “strongly condemn[ed]” the attack. Authorities opened a criminal investigation but no one has been held accountable.

On June 13 veteran BBC journalist Usmonov was detained on charges of membership to the banned religious organization Hizb ut-Tahrir, but released on bail after an international outcry. Authorities persisted in prosecuting Usmonov on charges of complicity in the activities of a banned religious extremist organization, and on October 14 he was sentenced to three years in prison, but released under amnesty. At his trial, Usmonov testified that he had been tortured in pre-trial detention. He denied the charges against him, explaining that his contact with the group was part of his work.

Freedom of Religion
Tajik authorities further tightened restrictions on religious freedoms, and pursuant to newly adopted legislation, the government now extends far reaching controls over religious education and worship. According to a June statement by Forum 18, authorities continue “to try to suppress unregistered Muslim education throughout the country” and “have brought administrative charges against at least fifteen Muslim teachers in three different regions.” Authorities have also closed unregistered mosques.

On August 2 President Rahmon signed the highly controversial Parental Responsibility Law, stipulating that parents must prevent their children from participating in religious activity, except for state-sanctioned religious education, until they reach 18-years-old. Human rights groups, religious groups, and international bodies criticized the adoption of the law. In June the government passed amendments to the already restrictive 2009 religion law requiring students who wish to study at religious institutions abroad to first obtain state permission.

Under the pretext of combating extremist threats, Tajikistan continues to ban several peaceful minority Muslim groups. Christian minority denominations, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, are similarly banned. Local media continued to report on prosecutions of alleged members of Hizb ut-Tahrir and the Jamaat Tabligh movement.

Women’s Rights
Women and girls in Tajikistan continue to face gender-based discrimination and domestic violence; violence in the home impacts women and children alike. On July 28 the United Nations Women Office in Tajikistan hosted National Public Hearings with various stakeholders on the draft law on domestic violence, which has been under discussion for many years. At the hearing, participants raised concerns about the growing number of domestic violence cases in Tajikistan, and stated their plan to submit recommendations to further strengthen the law, according to news reports.

Key International Actors
The UN Human Rights Council’s first Universal Periodic Review of Tajikistan took place in October and resulted in a number of key recommendations.

Tajikistan committed to combat domestic violence, prevent abusive child labor, bring the definition of torture in line with the Convention Against Torture, and prevent and investigate alleged cases of torture. However, Tajikistan rejected key recommendations on religious freedom, such as revising the new Parental Responsibility Law, and left those related to media freedom pending until March 2012.

During a European tour in June, President Rahmon met with EU officials to discuss investment and bilateral cooperation in key areas including energy and security. Human rights concerns were featured in some of the meetings, including with Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland and then-chairwoman of the European Parliament’s Human Rights Subcommittee Heidi Hautala.
The EU held human rights dialogues with Tajikistan in February and October, but per established practice, did not make public any concrete results yielding from these exchanges, stating only that it had discussed human rights developments and recommendations on the right to a fair trial, judicial independence, and women’s rights. A July civil society seminar organized by the EU in Dushanbe focused on labor migrants’ rights and resulted in recommendations submitted to the Tajik government.

The US held its second Annual Bilateral Consultations with Tajikistan in April. According to a US embassy statement, Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake raised human rights and freedom of media concerns during a meeting with President Rahmon, and met with representatives of political parties and civil society. The US made a number of critical statements on media and religious freedoms in Tajikistan over the year, including by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during an October visit to Dushanbe. On March 3, US Ambassador to the OSCE Ian Kelly identified Tajikistan as a government that “cite[s] concerns about political security as a basis to repress peaceful religious practice.”

http://www.hrw.org/world-report-2012/world-report-2012-tajikistan

New York, January 25, 2012-The Committee to Protect Journalists is outraged by the politically motivated additional sentence handed to Muhammad Bekjanov, the jailed editor of now-defunct opposition newspaper Erk, who has been in prison in Uzbekistan since 1999 on trumped-up charges.

On Tuesday, just days before Bekjanov was due to be released, a district court in the southwestern city of Kasan sentenced him to an additional five-year term after charging him with breaking unspecified prison rules. Bekjanov denied the charges and planned to appeal, news reports said. The journalist was imprisoned in 1999 in a strict-regime penal colony in Kasan on charges that included distributing and publishing Erk, a banned newspaper, news reports said.

Bekjanov is one of two journalists who have been jailed longer than any other reporter worldwide, according to CPJ research. The other is Yusuf Ruzimuradov, Bekjanov’s colleague at Erk, who was given a 15-year prison term in 1999.

Both journalists were tortured before their 1999 trial began and were jailed in high-security penal colonies for individuals convicted of serious crimes, CPJ research shows. In a 2003 interview at a prison hospital where he was being treated for tuberculosis, Bekjanov described being beaten and tortured while in prison. He suffered a broken leg and hearing loss as a result, international news reports said.

«This is a blatantly politicized new prison term levied against Muhammad Bekjanov, who should not have served even a single day in prison,» CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said. «We are appalled by reports of Bekjanov’s torture and demand that authorities bring to justice those responsible for his abuse in custody and also release him without delay.»
At a January 18 hearing held at the penal colony, Bekjanov’s three cell mates testified against him, accusing the journalist of violating a prison order after he argued with them, news reports said. However, Uznews reported that the inmates appeared nervous in the courtroom, which led the journalist’s lawyer to believe they had been forced to testify against him.

«The authoritarian government of Islam Karimov holds the disgraceful record of one of the top journalist jailers in Eurasia,» Ognianova said. «If Uzbekistan is to rejoin the international community, authorities must release all the journalists they are currently holding in retaliation for their work.»

In 2006, Bekjanov’s wife, Nina Bekjanova, visited him in prison, and told independent news website Uznews that the journalist had lost most of his teeth due to repeated beatings in custody. Exiled Uzbek journalists and local human rights workers told CPJ they had been unable to obtain information about his condition since. CPJ has also been unable to obtain information from Uzbek authorities on the journalist’s condition.

CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization
that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.

Contact:
Nina Ognianova
Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator
Tel. +1.212.465.1004 ext. 106
Email: nognianova@cpj.org

Muzaffar Suleymanov
Europe and Central Asia Research Associate
Tel. +1.212.465.1004 ext. 101
Email: msuleymanov@cpj.org

Committee to Protect Journalists
330 7th Avenue, 11th Floor, New York, New York, 10001, United States

REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS

2011-2012 PRESS FREEDOM INDEX

Online:

Europe: http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2011-2012,1043.html

Global: http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2011-2012,1043.html

Read in English:
Europe & Central Asia: http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2011-2012,1043.html
World: http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2011-2012,1043.html

http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2011-2012,1043.html

Summer Course “Online Free Expression and Communication Policy Advocacy: a Toolkit for Media Development” at Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, Hungary, from June 18 to 29, 2012

CEU’s summer school invites applications from graduate students, junior faculty, researchers and practitioners in universities and other institutions from all over the world.

This intensive summer course is designed to help both researchers and activists gain new insights into the role which civil society can play in advocating for free expression online and communication policy change. Sessions will highlight the potential of technology and online tools for mobilizing and organizing constituencies and for enhancing the security and privacy of advocates. Participants will be exposed to a wide range of practical and theoretical views related to communication policy advocacy and online tools and tactics, and learn how to integrate research into communication policy advocacy.

Course Directors:

Kate Coyer, CEU

Susan Abbott, Internews Network

Monroe Price, Annenberg School for Communication, U Pennsylvania

Leslie Harris, Center for Democracy and Technology

The application deadline is February 15, 2012.

Financial aid is available.

More detailed information available at http://summer.ceu.hu/ online-2012

Summer University Office
1051 Budapest, Nádor utca 9, Hungary
http://www.sun.ceu.hu
e-mail:summeru@ceu.hu
tel: 36 1 327 3811
fax: 36 1 327 3124

http://summer.ceu.hu/ online-2012

The Embassy of the United States of America is now accepting applications for the 2012 Alumni Grants Program. Alumni of all U.S. Government-funded exchange and training programs, including FLEX, UGRAD, Muskie, the International Visitor Leadership Program, Community Connections, Open World, USDA Cochran and FEP exchanges, Department of Commerce SABIT exchanges, and those of other implementers are eligible. USG alumni must be registered on the State Alumni website to participate in 2012 Alumni Grants Program.

You can easily and quickly register yourself at https://alumni.state.gov

The purpose of the program is to provide grants to organizations that have USG alumni as members or to individual alumni for activities that support democratic advancement and economic reform in Tajikistan. The program aims to provide alumni with networking opportunities; to further the professional development of alumni and their colleagues and to assist alumni in implementing and disseminating the concepts learned during exchange programs. The amount of grants must not exceed $5,000 for organizations and $3,000 for individuals.

Funds may be used for the following:

· To initiate a public or community service program;

· To provide support for alumni association events;

· To organize training programs or conferences for professional colleagues and/or other alumni;

· To provide continued funding for existing alumni centers, and minimal start-up costs for alumni associations;

· To organize and plan networking events;

· To develop and publish curricula, textbooks, or related reference or educational materials;

· To publish public information pamphlets or brochures on topics that further USG assistance goals;

· To conduct other projects that support democratic and economic reform initiatives.

Projects NOT funded by the Alumni Program include those requested by non-USG alumni organizations and individuals, those relating to partisan political activity, charitable activity and/or humanitarian aid, fund-raising campaigns, commercial projects and those that duplicate existing projects. Grant proposals for international travel by alumni must include a substantial cost share and explain how the proposed travel will benefit the wider community.

Proposals must be received no later than February 20, 2012. Proposals should contain clearly formulated goals and target groups, and show the ability of the applying organization/individual to carry out the project aims. Proposals and SF form 424 attached separately should be submitted in English.

U.S. Embassy, Public Affairs Section

109 A Ismoili Somoni Avenue, Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Email: alumnitajikistan@state.gov

Application forms are available on our web site http://dushanbe.usembassy.gov/alumnigrants.html or can be requested by email. Please use the e-mail above for any questions.

http://dushanbe.usembassy.gov/

Press release/ Communiqué de presse
13.01.2012

English: http://en.rsf.org/russia-tajik-opposition-journalist-13-01-2012,41676.html
Français: http://fr.rsf.org/tadjikistan-un-journaliste-d-opposition-tadjik-13-01-2012,41671.html
Farsi: http://www.rsf-persan.org/article17173.html

RUSSIA / TAJIKISTAN: Tajik opposition journalist stabbed in Moscow

Reporters Without Borders is shocked by the assault yesterday on the Tajik journalist Dodojon Atovulloev, who was stabbed in a Moscow restaurant, and calls on the Russian police to do all it can to identify his attacker and those behind the crime.

“All avenues must be explored, taking account of the professional activities of this noted opposition journalist,” the press freedom organization said.
“Dodojon Atovulloev is well-known for his critical views towards the Tajik authorities and the serious threats to which he has been subjected have led Germany to give him political refugee status.

“His political activities in the Vatandor movement have earned him many enemies.”

Atovulloev was stabbed twice in the stomach by an unidentified attacker in a restaurant in central Moscow yesterday evening. His attacker fled.

The journalist underwent emergency surgery in hospital and is now out of danger.
The police are treating the attack as a case of grievous bodily harm and the interior ministry said a 23-year-old Tajik citizen was arrested this morning. It is too early to say whether he was the attacker.

Atovulloev is the founder and editor of the Tajik opposition monthly Tcharogi Ruz (Daily Light). It was the first privately-owned newspaper to be recognized after Tajikistan gained independence.

The newspaper made a name for itself for its tough criticism of the government of President Emomali Rakhmon. Atovulloev has been the target of death threats and multiple court proceedings, and was forced to leave the country in 2001. He shares his time between Hamburg and Moscow, where he now has his editorial headquarters.

Last year, Tajik judicial authorities submitted an extradition request to Moscow, which was rejected.

http://en.rsf.org/russia-tajik-opposition-journalist-13-01-2012,41676.html

Joint Statement

Dushanbe, 13 January 2012

The Union of Journalists of Tajikistan (UJT), the National Association of Independent Mass Media (NANSMIT) and the Media Alliance of Tajikistan (MAT) condemn the attack on the Tajik journalist Dodojon Atovulloev and require a thorough investigation of this case from the Russian Federal Law Enforcement Bodies.

According to media reports, on 12 January, between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. and unknown assailant attacked Atovulloev in the premises of the Italian restaurant “Viaggio” in Moscow. Atovulloev was stabbed twice with a knife; an ambulance delivered him to the Sklifosofsky hospital.

In recent years, Atovulloev positioned himself as a politician confronting with the Tajik authorities and using extensively the freedom of speech.

It is unclear whether the attempt upon the journalist is related to his professional activities; nevertheless, such brutal crimes must be punished with the utmost rigor of the law.

Akbarali Sattorov, Chairman, UJT
Nuriddin Karshiboev, Chairman, NANSMIT
Khurshed Niyozov, Secretary General, MAT

www.nansmit.tj

By Tom Balmforth

MOSCOW – A Tajik opposition activist is in intensive care after being attacked in central Moscow and stabbed with a knife several times by an unidentified attacker late on January 12.

Dodojon Atovulloev, a 56-year-old Tajik dissident journalist in exile and outspoken critic of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, has undergone surgery in Moscow’s Sklifosovsky Hospital.

A brother-in-law who lives in Moscow, Doro Zabehov, told RFE/RL’s Tajik Service that Atovulloev had been «under constant threats and pressures» for years.

«Even since he left Tajikistan, he has been persecuted,» Zabehov said. «We knew there were constant risks to his life, but he would never talk about them. He wouldn’t tell us who his enemies were, so I won’t speculate.»

Police discovered Atovulloev with two knife wounds on Komsomolsky Prospekt in central Moscow.

Contracted Attack?

An unidentified police official told the Interfax news agency that the attack may have been contracted. The source said someone had arranged to meet Atovulloev on his own at the «Viadzhio» Italian restaurant near his house, where he was attacked.

Atovulloev’s driver indicated that he last saw Atovulloev’ when he dropped him off at home earlier that evening.

“We went to two places and then I took him home,» he said. «He went in. Then I got a phone call last night and we all went to the hospital.”

The police have launched a criminal case under legislation covering the “premeditated infliction of grievous bodily harm.”

Police apprehended a man who was found with blood on his hands within hours of the attack but released him after concluding that he was not connected to the attack. Interfax quoted a Moscow police spokesman as saying that closed-circuit television footage had cleared the suspect of involvement.

There are no other known suspects at this time, police said.

‘Colorful Figure’

Police are also analyzing CCTV footage and will question Atovulloev once his condition improves.

Atovulloev left Tajikistan in December 1992. He has since lived mainly in Moscow, but spent one year in Germany as well.

He has remained active as a journalist critical of the Tajik authorities throughout.

Atovulloev last visited Tajikistan in 2004, but left abruptly after three days under threat of arrest.

He is the owner of “Charogi Ruz,” one of Tajikistan’s first independent newspapers, which is critical of President Rahmon.

Daniil Kislov, editor in chief of Ferghana.ru, a Moscow-based independent Central Asian news website, told RFE/RL’s Russian Service that Atovulloev’s safe haven in Moscow has long been an irritant for the Tajik government.

«Dodojon Atovulloev has become a dissident who is inconvenient for the regime [in Tajikistan] and he remains one of Rahmon’s uncompromising enemies in the information sphere,» Kislov said. «He has always used the strongest terms and definitions with regard to the Tajik president, openly calling him a drug baron and an alcoholic.»

Recently, he was one of the most outspoken critics of Rahmon during the spat between Russia and Tajikistan in November over the jailing of two pilots, one of them Russian, in Dushanbe.

Atovulloev was reportedly the first to suggest that the pilots were jailed because the son of a relative of the Tajik president had been arrested in Moscow.

Fierce rhetoric between the two countries followed and Moscow deported hundreds of Tajik migrant workers. Tajikistan eventually pardoned the two pilots, and the criminal case on charges of drug trafficking was subsequently dropped against the son of a Tajik official in Russia.

Dushanbe has requested Atovulloev’s extradition numerous times, but Russia has refused.

Atovulloev is a colorful figure in the Tajik opposition and gained a reputation in the 1980s as a “breath of fresh air” for his articles in the periodical «Javononi Tojikiston» («Tajikistan’s Youth»), which were critical of the authorities and stood out against the otherwise monochrome local Soviet press.

Contacted by RFE/RL’s Tajik Service, Tajik lawmaker Suhrob Sharipov downplayed Dodojon’s role and impact, calling him one of many opposition figures living in Russia.

«Dodojon Atovulloev doesn’t have any weight as a political figure; he has no impact on Tajikistan’s politics,» Sharipov said. «He is an opposition figure, a journalist who left for Russia many years ago and has been working there since. I don’t see any reason why [Tajikistan] would want to assassinate him.»

with additional reporting by RFE/RL correspondent Farangis Najibullah and RFE/RL’s Tajik, Russian, and Uzbek services

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/tajik_opposition_leader_atovuloyev_stabbed_moscow/24450461.html

Journalists can attend a seminar in Finland.

The University of Helsinki hosts a one-day seminar on crisis, trauma and journalism.

The seminar aims to analyze the coverage and reporting of crises in the media from a perspective of media research and ethics. Topics include how to encounter people in distress, how to shoot visual material of them and how to interview them.

Other topics include how news media get organized during a crisis, the experiences of a field reporter in connection to the newsroom and why some disasters become media spectacles.

The seminar will be held January 27.

For more information, click here: http://www.helsinki.fi/crisisandcommunication/network/seminar_crisistraumajournalism.html

http://ijnet.org/opportunities/journalism-seminar-crisis-reporting-offered