The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned authorities in Baku for charging a prominent journalist with high treason over allegations he spied for Azerbaijan’s rival, Armenia.

The Prosecutor-General’s Office said on April 21 that Rauf Mirqadirov «was recruited by the Armenian secret services in 2008 and supplied Yerevan with information on Azerbaijan’s state secrets.»

In a statement, the CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, Nina Ognianova, called on Azerbaijani authorities «to drop these trumped-up charges and stop abusing the law to silence independent reporting on the country.»

She said Azerbaijan was «quickly becoming one of the leading jailers of journalists in the Eurasia region.»

Mirqadirov has been ordered to stay in pretrial custody for the next three months as investigators pursue the case.

He is a correspondent for the Russian-language newspaper «Zerkalo,» which is published in Azerbaijan.

With reporting by AFP, ITAR-TASS, and Interfax

http://www.rferl.org/content/cpj-condemns-azerbaijan-for-treason-charges-against-journalist/25357678.html

The headline says it all.

Uzbekistan’s cabinet of ministers met on April 14 and sent out the word — all the country’s television and radio stations have to rig their facilities to be blown up.

Not the whole complex, however.

According to RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service, Ozodlik, broadcast media has until May 14 to place «self-destructing devices» on transmitter apparatus so that, in the event of the station falling into hostile hands, all broadcasting can be cut immediately.

The Uzbek ministers know about the recent captures of broadcasting stations in eastern Ukraine by pro-Russian forces and this is perhaps the ministers’ way of pre-empting similar events in Uzbekistan.

Only a small group of people would have access to the detonation device for an individual station, hopefully no one who easily gets disgusted with the quality of television or radio programming.

The National Security Service (SNB) is tasked with overseeing every step of this last resort in censorship.

As of when this article went to print, the SNB is also checking ventilation ducts in broadcast buildings and I think everyone sees where this is going…

Indeed, ventilation chutes, ducts and shafts leading toward studios are not permitted to be big enough for anyone to crawl through. Studios cannot be connected to other rooms either, such as a bathroom.

So it seems no studios can be seized in Uzbekistan.

No more live programming either, even news programs.

At least two policemen from the Interior Ministry must be part of every station’s security force.

And before we wrap this up, other recent rules require journalists to submit all questions they intend to ask at a press conference, in advance for approval.

Also, no travel abroad without prior approval and in this, journalists join a growing number of professionals who are essentially trapped in Uzbekistan (Qishloq Ovozi will look at that list soon).

Additionally, Ozodlik colleagues said it has been standard practice for years now that everyone entering a broadcast station is checked, their documents checked, sometimes more than once.

There is a also list of topics and people, some of them historical, that are not to be mentioned and guests on programs are reminded of this list of taboo subjects continually from the time they enter the station grounds until the program they are on starts.

So, Central Asia’s «Ukraine Fall Out» scorecard now includes; Uzbekistan putting explosives on station transmission equipment, Kazakhstan’s new regulation on media during a state of emergency that essentially delays dissemination of news by up to 24 hours; and authorities in the Tajik capital Dushanbe ordering all old and spare tires taken to a dump 40 kilometers outside the city.

It will be interesting to see what’s next.

— Bruce Pannier with contributions from Shukrat Babajanov, Farruh Yusufiy, and Oktambek Karimov of RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service

http://www.rferl.org/content/qishloq-ovozi-uzbekistan-broadcasters-self-destruct/25361053.html

Anew report by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says that journalists in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region often resort to self-censorship because of the region’s «climate of impunity» regarding violence against journalists. 

The report issued on April 22 said that Kurdistan journalists have «faced threats, harassment, beatings, detentions, arson, and murder» and that most attacks have gone unpunished.

It highlights the case of «Rayel» magazine editor Kawa Garmyane, who was shot dead in December 2013 after reporting on corruption among regional leaders.

A suspect in the case was arrested the following month but quickly released.

The CPJ called on the regional authorities to investigate unsolved attacks on journalists and punish those found responsible.

The NGO also called on the international community to do more to safeguard journalists and ensure freedom of the press.

http://www.rferl.org/content/article/25358882.html

Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muiznieks has harshly criticized Azerbaijani authorities over deteriorating human rights and basic freedoms in the country.

Talking to RFE/RL by phone from Strasbourg on April 22, Muiznieks said nothing had been done by Baku to improve the situation around freedom of speech, freedom of gatherings and associations, and ownership rights in Azerbaijan.

Muiznieks cited several cases where Azerbaijani journalists and bloggers critical of the authorities had been jailed, persecuted, or humiliated.

He criticized existing defamation laws that critics say are often used to clamp down on dissent.

Muiznieks also expressed concerns regarding the jailing of Anar Mammadov, the leader of an independent election-monitoring group, and opposition leaders Ilqar Mammadov and Tofiq Yaqublu.

Muiznieks spoke to RFE/RL before releasing an updated report on the human rights situation in Azerbaijan.

http://www.rferl.org/content/council-of-europe-commissioner-slams-baku-for-human-rights/25359552.html

Rauf Mirqadirov, a commentator for the independent Russian-language daily «Zerkalo,» was taken into custody by security personnel at Baku’s Heydar Aliyev Airport on April 19 after being deported from Turkey, where he had lived with his family for the past three years. 

Mirqadirov’s lawyer, Faud Agayev, said on April 20 that the Prosecutor-General’s Office was charging his client with state treason, specifically with espionage. Agayev added that Mirqadirov was being held at the detention center of the National Security Ministry and cannot be visited by lawyers until April 22.

According to Mirqadirov’s wife, Adelya Babakhanova,Turkish police approached them on a bus in Ankara on April 18, claiming that Mirqadirov’s residence and work permits had expired, although they had been extended until the end of the year. («Zerkalo» says his accreditation was valid until September, but wasrevoked without explanation two weeks ago.)  Mirqadirov was taken to a police station. Babakhanova was informed later the same day that her husband would be deported; the reasons were not specified.

Mirqadirov is a veteran commentator widely respected for his analysis of a wide range of issues, including Azerbaijan’s relations with Russia and Turkey and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. His most recent published articleanalyzed Russia’s recent moves in Ukraine, and their implications for the South Caucasus.

Emin Guseynov, who heads the Institute of War and Peace Reporting’s Baku office, described him as «a well-known journalist with liberal views,» who systematically criticizes human rights violations in Azerbaijan, Turkey, and elsewhere.

Prior to takeoff in Ankara, Mirqadirov reportedly telephoned a colleague, Zaur Bayramli, and told him that his problems with the Turkish authorities started immediately after the April 7 visit to Baku by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom Mirqadirov is said to have criticized on more than one occasion.

Bayramli is quoted as saying Mirqadirov believes Ankara acceded to a demand by the Azerbaijani authorities for his extradition, given that he had not written anything that might have offended the Turkish government.

But the website musavat.com reportedly quoted Elsever Agayev, the press secretary of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Ankara, as telling journalists that Baku played no part in Mirqadirov’s deportation.

Mirqadirov is not the first Azerbaijani journalist to be deported from Turkey this year.

Makhir Zeynalov was expelled from Turkey in February after police accused him of an unspecified violation of the law.

Zeynalov contributed articles for the Turkish daily «Today’s Zaman.» He attributed his expulsion to his criticism of the Turkish government and of Prime Minister Erdogan personally.

— Liz Fuller

http://www.rferl.org/content/azerbaijan-journalist-mirkadyrov-arrested/25355986.html

Conclusions and Recommendations of the International Conference “Telecommunication, Broadcasting and Tajikistan’s WTO Commitments”

Dushanbe, 18 — 19 March 2014

Conclusions

Tajikistan’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) entails a series of reforms in many sectors which will positively impact on the national economic development of goods, services and protection of intellectual property rights.

In order to foster the timely and efficient implementation of these reforms the participants of the conference suggested the establishment of a working group, which would be chaired by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Tajikistan. The main objective of this working group would be the drafting of an action plan with a view of implementing the recommendations set out below. Following its completion this action plan would then be submitted to the ICT Council under the President of Tajikistan for approval and implementation.

Recommendations

The participants of the Conference agreed on the following recommendations:

I    In the field of telecommunications

Establish a legal and institutional framework, which is indispensable for the implementation of Tajikistan’s WTO obligations regarding the telecommunication services. Such a framework must inter alia include the following:

• Compliance with the most favored nation principle:  non-discrimination among other WTO members.
• Compliance with the national treatment principle: non-discrimination against foreign services and service providers from other   WTO members.
• Ensuring competition safeguards: prevention of anti-competitive practices in telecommunications.

• Establishment of an independent regulator, who is separate from, not accountable to, and also not controlling or managing any supplier of basic telecommunication services. The decisions of and the procedures used by the regulator must be impartial with respect to all market participants. One of the tasks of the regulatory body would be the settlement of disputes regarding appropriate terms, conditions and rates for interconnection within a reasonable period of time.
• Regulation of allocation and use of scarce resources — any procedures for the allocation and use of scarce resources including frequencies will be carried out in an objective, timely, transparent and non-discriminatory manner.
• Ensuring public availability of licensing criteria: where a license is required, the following will be made available: a) all the licensing criteria and the period of time normally required to reach a decision concerning an application for a license and b) the terms and conditions of individual licenses. The reasons for the denial of a license must be made known to the applicant.
• Ratification of the Convention of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and its subsequent amendments by Tajikistan.
• Monitoring of the compliance of Tajikistan’s WTO commitments.

II   In the field of broadcasting

Establishment of a legal and institutional framework which is indispensable for the development of a free, independent, pluralistic and economically viable broadcasting sector in Tajikistan.  Such a framework must inter alia include the following:

• Establishment of an independent broadcast regulator with the power to issue broadcasting licences, whose decisions must be independent of the government and subject to judicial review. The legal status and the independence of this regulatory authority should be defined and guaranteed by law.
• Drafting a new broadcasting law and other legal instruments as may be required based on developments in information and communication technologies, international legal obligations of Tajikistan and best international practises.
• Regulation of allocation of broadcast licences by law, with clear, objective and transparent criteria, which promote diversity and pluralism, whereas such decisions must be subject to judicial review.
• Ensuring access of broadcasters to multiplex platforms in a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory manner.
• Transformation of state broadcasters to a public service broadcaster.
• Establishment of a levelled playing field for both private broadcasters and the public service broadcaster.
• Ensuring protection of intellectual property rights in compliance with national and international legislation, including WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

III     Digital switch-over

In the absence of a comprehensive law regulating the digital switch-over process and with a view to ensure freedom of expression and pluralism in the media, the ultimate objectives should be the following:

• Establishment of a coordination body under the aegis of ICT Council,  with a view to develop and implement a market strategy for the introduction of digital television in Tajikistan, which would  require coordination between network operators, content providers, terminal equipment industry, traders, consumer associations on conversion timetables, program structures, technical parameters and a consumer friendly policy. The members of the coordination body would comprise the above stake holders.
• Ensuring access to digital broadcasting free of charge for the low income population.

• Ensuring free access of existing private broadcasters to multiplex platforms by must-carry obligations of multiplex operators and incentives for private analogue broadcasters to participate in the digitalization process which could include: increased coverage, longer license periods, no license fee.
• Ensuring that decisions on the use of the digital dividend resulting from the digitalization process reflect its public nature, its social, economic and political impact on society and involve all stakeholders.

IV       Audiovisual productions

In order to allow for the development of an economic and culturally vibrant and pluralistic audiovisual sector in Tajikistan the Government should abolish the licensing requirements for the production of audiovisual works, which constitutes an unnecessary burden which is not in line with the best international practices.

Tabloid-style celebrity magazine «Zhuldyzdar Otbasy-Anyz Adam» («The Family of Celebrities-Legendary People») has come under fire in Kazakhstan after devoting its latest issue to Adolf Hitler.

Kazakhstan’s State Agency for Communications and Information said on April 18 that is investigating the magazine for possible violation of the country’s constitution and the law against «inciting social, national, tribal, racial, or religious hatred.»

While the 52-page Hitler issue provides the usual biographical information and photos from the Nazi leader’s life, it appears to have stirred up authorities’ ire by including some flattering assessments of Hitler and his role in history.

«Hitler Isn’t A Fascist» reads the headline of an article by Kazakh civic activist Naghashybai Esmyrza.

«For me, Hitler is a great personality,» Esmyrza writes.

«I accept that Hitler was a dictator but he fought for the future of his country. He wanted to make people’s lives better…. Hitler was criticized for experimenting with people in concentration camps. It’s true he did those experiments. But that was nothing compared with what the Bolsheviks did.»

The magazine has not yet responded to criticism over its Hitler issue, which was published just a few days before the Nazi leader’s 125th birthday.

However, chief editor Zharylkap Kalybay had previously announced on his Facebook page that he was going to devote one of the magazine’s issues to Hitler, and asked for readers’ comments and questions.

On his Facebook account, Kalybay drew comparisons between what he described as growing nationalism in Russia and similar sentiments in Germany under Hitler.

He also mentioned parallels being drawn between Hitler and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

«Are Putin and Hitler’s activities similar in some ways?» he wrote. «We are trying to find the answer.»

The private, Kazakh-language, 25,000-circulation magazine is popular across the country.

Its success and survival is attributed to staying clear of politics and political families.

The magazine’s previous cover photos included well-known Kazakh actor Asaneli Eshimov, French Emperor Napoleon, and characters from a Kazakh love poem, Kozy-Korpesh and Bayan Sulu.

While the magazine has always played it safe by distancing itself from politics, chief editor Kalybay is no stranger to controversy.

Kalybay was briefly arrested in 2013 over a row aboard a «Skat» airlines plane, where he demanded that stewardesses speak only Kazakh with him.

The editor was accused of hooliganism, and spent three days in jail.

— Farangis Najibullah and RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service

It’s only halfway through April and it has already been a tough year for the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT). 

State media has been reporting the alleged misadventures of IRPT members, which is not so unusual. But there has been a recent focus on salacious, and in this conservative Muslim country, scandalous sexual misdeeds of IRPT members and an alleged member, which the IRPT says is part of a government campaign to blacken the party’s image.

RFE/RL’s Tajik Service, Radio Ozodi, has been following the critical reports inside Tajikistan about the IRPT in recent weeks. Ozodi notes in its reports that next February the country holds parliamentary elections, so the recent misfortunes of opposition parties, and any in the coming months, might not be a coincidence.

The most recent PR blow to the IRPT came last week when two different videos were posted on Tajik social-network sites. Each purportedly showed an IRPT member in a sexual encounter, one with a woman, and the other with a young man.

The video allegedly of the IRPT member and woman is certainly an embarrassing indiscretion but there have been similar videos posted in Tajikistan in recent months so the public’s sense of shock is not what it once was.

The video of the two men, however, could cause some damage to the IRPT’s reputation.

Tajikistan’s chief mufti, Saidmukarram Abdulkodirzoda, the state-selected head of Tajikistan’s Muslims, said in a Friday sermon in February: «I am ashamed that this topic is to be discussed in the mosque. Unfortunately, I have heard about the homosexual orientation of educated and cultural people, who refused relationships with their wives and women and who commit the sin of sodomy.»

These words indicate that for many the second video won’t be forgotten very quickly in Tajikistan.

There’s more. There’s always more.

A voice on the videos claims they were secretly filmed by the IRPT by a sort of behavior-police unit formed by deputy IRPT leader Muhammadali Hait meant to expose immoral conduct by members.

In comments to Ozodi, Hait flatly rejected any such IRPT unit exists and said the videos were likely «produced» by people splicing and altering film at the Interior Ministry.

Hait pointed out the posting of the videos was only the latest in what he and other IRPT leaders say is a state-sponsored campaign to deprive the IRPT of any credibility. And they do have other examples.

On February 7, two state television channels reported an IRPT member in the northern town of Isfara had raped his two stepdaughters and one of them was pregnant as a result. The reports showed the suspect’s IRPT membership card.

The IRPT said the suspect, Mahmadullo Kholov, was never an IRPT member and that the serial number of the card shown in the state television reports was for a card belonging to a female IRPT member in Isfara named Aziza Solivaya.

The IRPT said the card was a fake printed by the Interior Ministry.

On February 14, state television reported that IRPT member Bahriddin Muminov was imprisoned after being convicted of traveling to Syria to join the Jabhat al-Nusra group fighting government forces. The IRPT admitted Muminov was a member, but denied sending him to Syria or having any influence over his decision to go there.

The IRPT also complained it was the second time in just over a week state television aired reports connecting the party to crimes committed by an individual. A statement posted on the IRPT website Nahzat.tj on February 17 claimed hypocrisy: «Officials who are members of the ruling party [People’s Democratic Party of Tajikistan] also commit crimes. What an injustice that television reports do not disclose their affiliation to the party.»

It’s a legitimate complaint. Tajikistan ranked 154th out of 177 countries on Transparency International’s «Corruption Perception Index» for 2013. Everyone in Tajikistan knows there is plenty of corruption in the government but that, naturally, is not reported by state media.

There has also been what could be described as petty harassment of the IRPT.

In January, when IRPT leaders traveled to the Isfara area to investigate thedeath of a member while in prison and could not find accommodations, a local resident who was also an IRPT member allowed the group to stay at his house. When the IRPT delegation left, local police summoned the man for questioning and told him not to repeat his generosity.

Last November, authorities visited a store owned by an IRPT member in northern Tajikistan’s Asht district that was selling school textbooks, language books, and such. State inspectors declared some books had mildew, which is a violation of the law. Other books contained print that was deemed too small. The shop was ordered closed.

This campaign against the IRPT is worrying because elections are coming and unlike Tajikistan’s presidential election that incumbent President Emomali Rahmon always wins, opposition parties do have a small chance in elections for parliament. The IRPT has two seats in parliament now.

But this smear campaign is more concerning because the IRPT has become a relatively moderate Islamic party since the days of the 1992-97 civil war when its forces battled the government. Harassing IRPT members and seeking to tarnish the party’s reputation plays into the hands of more radical Islamic groups.

The IRPT is not just the sole officially registered Islamic party in Tajikistan; it is the only officially registered Islamic party in all of Central Asia, a region ruled by officials who grew up in the officially atheist Soviet Union.

Central Asia is the land of Islam and has been for more than 1,000 years and future governments in the region are going to have to strike a balance with the religion, its leaders, and its adherents.

Hounding the IRPT serves no good purpose. The party is not strong enough to challenge the current regime but it does provide an outlet for those who see a need for Islam to play a greater role in the politics of Tajikistan.

— Bruce Pannier with contributions from Mirzo Salimov of RFE/RL’s Tajik Service and Farangiz Najibullah

http://www.rferl.org/content/tajikistan-islamic-party-pressured/25352344.html

The media-freedom representative for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) says the situation for reporters in Ukraine has reached a dangerous stage. 

Dunja Mijatovic spoke to reporters on April 16 after making a three-day trip to Kharkiv, Odesa, and Kyiv, where she spoke with journalists from those regions as well as with reporters from Donetsk, Mykolayiv, and Crimea.

She said journalists in Ukraine’s conflict areas are «under attack, both physically and as part of ongoing psychological warfare.»

Mijatovic said: «Journalists in conflict areas face violence, seizure, and destruction of equipment, and threats on a daily basis.»

She said journalists in Crimea, the Ukrainian territory annexed by Russia in March, must contend with additional problems such as re-registration, possible eviction from the region if they are deemed as disloyal and do not obtain Russian citizenship, threats, and denial of access to public information.

Mijatovic urged journalists in Ukraine to have solidarity, and to «report the truth and to stay safe.»

http://www.rferl.org/content/osce-ukraine-journalists-violence-intimidation/25352005.html