The European Union Delegation issues the following statement in agreement with the EU Heads of Mission in Tajikistan

The EU Delegation to Tajikistan expresses its concern about the recent blockage of Facebook, YouTube, Radio Free Europe’s affiliate Radio Ozodi and other web-based news sites. Although some of the blocked websites are again accessible, the EU Delegation notes with concern that such obstructions occur frequently in Tajikistan which raises questions about the state of media freedom.

The EU Delegation calls on the Tajik authorities to respect and promote the freedom of media and freedom of expression, in line with Tajikistan’s international obligations. The EU Delegation believes that the Internet should remain a forum where people are free to exchange information and ideas and therefore urges the Tajik authorities to ensure full and uninterrupted functioning of independent websites.

www.deltjk.ec.europa.eu

Two opposition movements and dozens of media outlets critical of the government are under threat of being shut down in Kazakhstan.

Kazakh prosecutors have requested that some 30 newspapers, Internet sites, and television channels, as well as the unregistered Algha! (Forward!) and People’s Front opposition movements, be banned for allegedly propagating extremism and seeking to overthrow the government.

Judges will hear the case of Algha on December 5. The trial of «Golos respubliki» (Voice of the Republic), the first newspaper to face closure, is due to begin on December 6.

The opposition is denouncing a campaign to root out Kazakhstan’s opposition forces following riots by oil workers in the cities of Zhanaozen and Shetpe last December during which at least 17 people were shot dead by police. The violence, which capped months of protests by the striking oilmen, was the deadliest unrest in Kazakhstan’s post-Soviet history and severely dented the country’s reputation for stability cultivated by President Nursultan Nazarbaev for more than two decades.

«This is happening chiefly because of the Zhanaozen events,» says Tamara Kaleeva, head of Adil Soz, Kazakhstan’s international foundation for the protection of freedom of speech. «Our authorities were so frightened by this massive, protracted protest staged by oil workers in defense of their labor rights that they are taking steps at all levels and in all spheres in order to prevent similar unrest. They are panicking.»

‘Fomenting Violence’

Prosecutors accuse Stan-TV, «Golos respubliki,» and other leading independent media of fomenting violence in Zhanaozen.

They have asked for the closure of a total of eight newspapers and 23 Internet sites operating under the umbrella of the Respublika media group. These include the prominent opposition newspaper «Vzglyad» (Viewpoint) and satellite TV channel K+.

Prosecutors link their request to the sentencing of Vladimir Kozlov, the leader of the Algha and People’s Front opposition movements. A vocal critic of Nazarbaev, Kozlov was handed a 7 1/2-year prison term in October on charges of seeking to rally Zhanaozen’s oil workers in a failed bid to topple the government.

Authorities have also hinted at ties between Kazakhstan’s independent media and one of Nazarbaev’s biggest foes, former media and banking tycoon Mukhtar Ablyazov.

Ablyazov fled to Britain in 2009 after falling out with Nazarbaev. He has been on the run since February of this year, when British judges sentenced him to 22 months in jail for failing to disclose full details about his wealth as part of a lawsuit launched against him by his former bank in Kazakhstan, which accuses him of embezzling $5 billion during his tenure as chairman. His whereabouts is unknown.

Sergei Utkin, a lawyer for «Golos respubliki,» denies Ablyazov owns the newspaper. «It publishes material that is too independent, that displeases authorities, including [material] on Zhanaozen,» he says.

«There’s also the fact that — even though it does not legally belong to either Ablyazov or Kozlov — the authorities believe that the newspaper is linked to these individuals. And the authorities consider Ablyazov and Kozlov enemies.»

Little Support For Opposition

Utkin says «Golos respubliki» has already been shut down for the duration of the trial, and its accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and LiveJournal have been blocked.

The operations and activities of «Vzglyad» and Algha have also been suspended pending a court decision.

But Kazakhstan’s marginalized opposition enjoys little support at home and few Kazakhs — most of whom credit Nazarbaev for making their country Central Asia’s most stable and economically prosperous nation — have risen in defense of opposition journalists.

Free-speech advocates in Kazakhstan say they have little hope for the survival of «Golos respubliki,» «Vzglyad,» and other independent media.

«These publications will probably be shut down,» Kaleeva says. «Our authorities want to exterminate the opposition hydra. The fact that opposition media, and opposition in general, are necessary in a democratic society has been completely forgotten in Kazakhstan.»

The cases, nonetheless, are being closely followed by international rights groups and Western governments.

Human Rights Watch has already denounced Kozlov’s prison sentence as «a blow to freedom of expression and political pluralism,» while the United States has accused Kazakhstan of using its justice system «to silence opposition voices.»

The Norwegian Helsinki Committee has also lambasted the media crackdown as «a dramatic step in the wrong direction» and warned that a court ban on independent media would represent «a serious blow to Kazakhstan’s reputation internationally.»

Claire Bigg, RFE/RL

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/opposition-media-kazakhstan-crackdown/24788973.html

The Facebook social network is available again on the Internet in Tajikistan, along with the website of RFE/RL’s Tajik Service.

Internet service providers (ISPs) in Tajikistan blocked Facebook last week after a request by the state-run Communications Service.

Asomuddin Atoev, the chairman of Tajikistan’s Association of Internet Service Providers, told RFE/RL that Tajikistan’s leading ISPs received orders from the Communications Service requesting that Facebook be unblocked.

Earlier on December 3, Atoev told RFE/RL that the website of RFE/RL’s Tajik Service also became available again on the Internet in Tajikistan.

Radio Ozodi’s website had been blocked since late on November 29.

On December 1, the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe expressed concern about the blockage of both Facebook and Radio Ozodi’s website.

Tajikistan’s Communications Service said on November 30 that the action over Radio Ozodi’s website was taken because of complaints from a group of «concerned citizens.»

RFE/RL President Steven Korn labeled the move as «censorship.»

http://www.rferl.org/content/rferl-tajik-website-unblocked/24787653.html

Bishkek/Brussels, 30 November 2012: The International Crisis Group strongly condemns the Kyrgyz security service’s harassment of human rights defenders and others who met with one of our analysts in Osh. We have also officially protested the illegal search and interrogation of our staff member.

Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security (SCNS) has interrogated two human rights defenders and three private individuals in the past week, solely because they spoke with a Crisis Group analyst earlier in the month.

These actions represent clear harassment of human rights defenders and others who were doing nothing more than exercising their rights of expression and assembly. If such researchers are not allowed to meet with others and discuss their work, the state is undermining the core freedoms of its citizens.

Our analyst was himself the subject of an illegal search and interrogation by the SCNS in Osh on 17 November. Multiple violations of Kyrgyz law occurred. He was denied access to a lawyer. The SCNS officers refused to identify themselves by either rank or name. He was not shown any documents authorising his detention and the search of Crisis Group’s vehicle. His laptop, notebook and other items were confiscated. The SCNS refused to provide him with documentation of any kind. Repeated attempts by Crisis Group’s lawyer to obtain these documents from the Office of the Prosecutor General in Osh have also failed.

Crisis Group has lodged an official complaint with the Prosecutor General’s office in Osh to protest these violations of Kyrgyz law by the SCNS of Osh region. We have also formally asked the President of Kyrgyzstan to examine the actions of the SCNS, and we have conveyed our concerns to international partners.

A conflict prevention and resolution organisation covering over 60 countries worldwide, Crisis Group has worked in Kyrgyzstan since 2001, and our analysts have never faced this level of harassment in the past. For over a decade, we have met with government officials at all levels, as well as diplomats, civil society leaders and others in Kyrgyzstan, in an effort to understand better the tensions within society as a way to help resolve them and prevent renewed violence. During this time, we have produced over a dozen reports on the country and regular monthly updates on the situation, all of which are fully public on our website.

http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/publication-type/media-releases/2012/europe/kyrgyzstan-crisis-group-co

Dushanbe, Tajikistan, November 30, 2012 – The U.S. Embassy is concerned with the apparent decision by the Communications Service of the Republic of Tajikistan to block access to Facebook, Radio Ozodi, and other Internet news sites.

The United States believes that the right of individuals to express their views freely is universal, whether exercised in a public square or on the Internet.

We urge the Government of Tajikistan to respect individual rights to freedom of expression and lift its restriction on Facebook, Radio Ozodi, and other blocked news sites.

http://dushanbe.usembassy.gov/

DUSHANBE — The website of RFE/RL’s Tajik Service appears to be blocked on the Internet in Tajikistan.

Asomuddin Atoev, the chairman of Tajikistan’s Association of Internet Service Providers, told RFE/RL on November 30 that several leading service providers received SMS messages from Tajikistan’s state-run Communications Service requesting the blockage.

Communications Service chief Beg Zuhurov declined to comment on the matter to RFE/RL, saying he was not aware of the situation.

On November 26, Tajikistan’s Internet service providers blocked access to Facebook after a similar request by the Communications Service.

Zuhurov initially said then that access to Facebook was disrupted due to «technical problems,» but later stated that Facebook was being blocked because of public complaints.

http://www.rferl.org/content/rferl-tajik-site-appears-to-be-blocked/24785631.html