In this legal analysis, ARTICLE 19: Global Campaign for Free Expression, reviews the Law on Print and Other Mass Media of the Republic of Tajikistan (the Media Law), adopted in 2013. The Media Law is reviewed for its compliance with international standards on freedom of expression. Читать далее Tajikistan: Media Law
Архив за месяц: Декабрь 2014
Kyrgyz Civil Leaders Urge President Not To Pressure NGOs
By RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service
BISHKEK — The leaders of 43 nongovernmental organizations in Kyrgyzstan have urged President Almazbek Atambaev not to put pressure on NGOs.
A letter addressed to Atambaev on December 8 urges him «not to repeat the mistakes of his predecessors.»
The NGO leaders were referring to a television interview on December 1 in which Atambaev said some NGO activities may «pose a threat» to national security.
The letter says «two previous presidents who said that NGOs threaten Kyrgyzstan’s national security were threatening national security themselves, and as a result were kicked out of the country.»
Kyrgyz revolutions in 2005 and 2010 ousted Presidents Askar Akaev and Kurmanbek Bakiev, respectively.
Parliament is considering a controversial bill that would impose «foreign-agent» status on NGOs receiving foreign funds.
Critics say the bill mimics a 2012 law in Russia that was heavily criticized by rights groups and Western governments.
http://www.rferl.org/content/kyrgyz-civil-leaders-urge-president-not-to-pressure-ngos/26731254.html
We Speak English: Tajik TV Stops Dubbing Hollywood Films
By Zarangez Navruzshoh
December 07, 2014
Mehrangez is a university student in Dushanbe who says she has few opportunities to talk with native English speakers. So she didn’t expect to understand much when she watched «The Great Gatsby» recently on Tajik television.
And she was right. Now that state broadcasters no longer voiceover or dub many of the English-language movies they show, Mehrangez had a difficult time following the dialogue.
«I only understood two words,» she says. «They were ‘hello’ and ‘madame.'»
Still, she watched the film to the end, convinced that one day she will be able to understand English-only movies as easily as she and most other Tajiks understand Russian-language movies today.
«I already have watched many American films [on Tajik TV], and the one which I think is the best of all is ‘The Great Gatsby,’ the new film,» she says. «I think [watching] English films, American films can improve our English.»
Tajik state television began airing English-language films in their original versions just a few months ago. But with three channels now showing Hollywood and Bollywood films without any translation help on Sundays and Thursdays, the films are already carving out a space for English in Tajik life that it has never occupied before.
Komro Safarov, the deputy head of the country’s First Channel, says the new initiative is based on the idea that young Tajiks of earlier generations learned Russian precisely because films in that language were not translated when they were broadcast across the Soviet Union.
Now, as the number of people in the country who want to learn English increases, giving them the opportunity to hear English the same way should greatly accelerate their progress, Safarov says.
«It is through watching and hearing people speak that one accelerates the learning process for a foreign language,» he says.
Two other state channels — «Safina» and «Bahoristan» — are also now showing English-only films two days a week.
Parvon Jamshed, the chairman of Tajikistan’s Association of Teachers, says only 5 percent of the population speaks English today.
Still, interest among many young people is high. This year 1,000 Tajik secondary school students applied through the U.S. Congress-sponsored Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program to study for one year at a high school in the United States. One hundred of the applicants were accepted.
The interest in English in Tajikistan has already created a boom in English-language courses in state schools and in private training centers. But Jamshed says that what has been missing until now is any integration of English into the Central Asian country’s public life.
«Currently, there are a lot of language centers and most institutions of higher education include study of the English language,» he notes. «But because few people ever communicate in English, the only way for them to develop their fluency is viewing movies.»
Ironically, most foreign movies shown on Tajik television today are dubbed or voiced over into Russian, because they come to Tajikistan via the Russian market. The translation causes no concerns because Russian has been the country’s second language for more than a century and remains widely understood.
However, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has said that every citizen of the country should know both English and Russian, as well as their mother tongue.
The initiative to begin broadcasting English-only films came direct from the presidential office, Safarov says.
The heads of state television have announced that they will increase the broadcasting hours for original-version movies in both English and Russian in the future, though they have yet to provide further details.
http://www.rferl.org/content/tajikistan-film-industry-dubbing-english/26730066.html
Watchdog Says World Internet Freedom In Decline
A U.S.-based rights watchdog says Internet freedom around the world has deteriorated for the fourth consecutive year, with the steepest declines in Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey.
In its «Freedom On The Net 2014» report, released on December 4, Freedom House says that Iran, Syria, and China are the world’s worst abusers of overall Internet freedom.
The report, which covers the period between May 2013 and May 2014, assesses the level of Internet and digital-media freedom in 65 countries, with each receiving a score from 0 for the most free to 100 for the least free.
It says that of the 65 countries assessed, 36 have experienced negative trends since May 2013.
Based on the scores, the report ranks countries as free (0-30 points), partly free (31-60 points), or not free (61-100 points).
INFOGRAPHIC: World Map Of Internet Freedom
Of the countries in RFE/RL’s broadcast area that are covered by the report, only two are ranked as free: Georgia, with 26 points; and Armenia, with 28 points.
Ukraine (33 points), Kyrgyzstan (34), Azerbaijan (55), Russia (60), and Kazakhstan (60) are among countries in the «partly free» category.
The report says that Russia’s score fell by 11 points over the past five years. It says that since Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency in 2012, authorities have implemented legislation to block online content, critical or opposition media outlets, and mentions Putin’s signing a bill authorizing the blocking — without judicial oversight — of any website that hosts content deemed as «extremist» or calls to protest.
The Freedom House paper says the bill, which became effective in February, was used to crack down on websites critical of Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s ranking declined five points, mostly because of violence targeting social media and online journalism during the Euromaidan protests, and additional evidence revealing that ousted President Viktor Yanukovych’s government had been keeping activists, journalists, and political opponents under Internet surveillance.
The report mentions Azerbajian’s moves to expand criminal defamation to Internet content, further muzzling government criticism. It notes the case of Khadija Ismayilova, a journalist for RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service, who has repeatedly been subjected to blackmail and gender-based smear campaigns.
Iran (89), Uzbekistan (79), Pakistan (69), and Belarus (62) are states where the Internet is not free.
The paper says that Iran remains the worst country in the world for Internet freedom, despite initial hopes over the election of reformist President Hassan Rohani. It says the government continued to hand down harsh punishments, sentencing people to lengthy jail terms for promoting Sufism online, among other online activities.
In Pakistan’s case, it mentions the case of a woman who was stoned to death by local men in June 2013 after a tribal court found her guilty of possessing a mobile phone.
The report notes an improvement in Belarus, where authorities eased enforcement of some restrictions, but mentions the case of a blogger who exposed police corruption and was subsequently harassed and forced to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
The report says that, from May 2013 to May 2014, some 41 countries adopted or proposed laws to penalize free speech online, step up control over Internet content, or expand Internet surveillance.
The United States, while ranked the sixth-most-free country in terms of internet use, saw a two-point decline over the past year.
But the report says that efforts to reform U.S. surveillance legislation gained momentum in the aftermath of revelations by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
http://www.rferl.org/content/internet-freedom-in-decline/26724869.html
Journalism master’s program offers scholarships
Students who wish to pursue a graduate degree in journalism can apply for a scholarship.
The Erasmus Mundus Master’s in Journalism, Media and Globalisation welcomes applications from graduate students around the world. Students spend their first year studying at Aarhus University in Denmark. They spend their second year studying at a different European partner university: University of Amsterdam, City University London, University of Hamburg or Swansea University.
Students also have an opportunity to study at a non-European university during the second semester of their first year. The non-European partner universities are University of California at Berkeley, University of Technology Sydney and Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile.
The Mundus Journalism Consortium is able to offer a limited number of student scholarships. The scholarships are divided in two categories. Category A scholarships are worth EUR48,000 (US$60,206) and are available to students from non-European Union countries. Category B scholarships are worth EUR23,000 (US$28,849) and are available to students who do not fulfill the requirements to apply for Category A.
Proficiency in English is required to apply to the program.
The deadline to apply is Jan. 10, 2015.
For more information, click here: http://mundusjournalism.com/admissions
IJNet Live: why and how to protect your digital security
Journalists, bloggers and anyone else interested in improving their digital security are invited to a free, live chat.
As journalists, we use an ever-increasing number of digital devices, accounts, channels and tools. These make us more effective at our work, but also more vulnerable to attacks from those who want to compromise our information, steal our identities or even silence us. It’s time for journalists to get serious about protecting our digital security, but where do we start?
Bring your questions for digital security experts Javier Garza, a Knight International Journalism Fellow in Mexico, and Fellowships Director Jorge Luis Sierra, as they chat with IJNet’s Jennifer Dorroh about how to make your newsroom and your digital life more secure.
http://ijnet.org/en/opportunities/ijnet-live-why-and-how-protect-your-digital-security-worldwide