On World Press Freedom day, ARTICLE 19 and regional partners Adil Soz, MPI and NANSMIT call on governments of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to stop violating freedom of expression.

“Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan should stop using repressive lawsuit politically motivated court proceedings to suppress freedom of expression” said Thomas Hughes, Executive Director of ARTICLE 19, in a joint statement together with regional partners Adil Soz, MPI and NANSMIT.

In Central Asia, draft laws and new legislation in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are aimed at further restricting the rights of people to free expression and stifling the media. In Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, politically motivated prosecutions and law suits are being used to silence dissent. The chilling effect this has on the right to freedom of expression is evidenced by the increasing environment of self-censorship in these countries.

ARTICLE 19 and regional partners Adil Soz, MPI and NANSMIT are also concerned that courts of Kazakhstan and Tajikistan are issuing overtly unjust decisions in politically motivated cases that contribute to an increasing environment of self-censorship.

One of the clearest cases of unjust decisions is the verdict recently issued against Olga Tutubalina, the editor of popular a newspaper, Asia Plus, in Tajikistan.

On 25 February 2014,Tutubalina was ordered by the Firdavsi district court in Dushanbe to apologize for the use of a Vladimir Lenin quote referring to the ‘Intelligentsia’ in derogatory terms (the “shit of the nation”), and pay 30,000 Somoni (approx. EUR 4,500) in compensation for moral damages to three people who claimed they were members of the intelligentsia. The decision was upheld by the Cassation Board on 30 April. The civil lawsuit was based on the statement by the plaintiffs that the word ‘shit’ used in the article ‘did not correspond to reality’ and insulted their honor, dignity and business reputation, even though none of them could be recognized in the article. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in Article 19, requires that all restrictions of the right to freedom of expression are proportionate to the harm of the reputation of individuals. Imposing sanctions where no individual’s reputation has been targeted or harmed violates international standards on freedom of expression. The fine of EUR 4,500, considering the low salaries of journalists in Tajikistan, is clearly intended to silence one journalist and send a warning to all others. It is entirely unjustified and disproportionate.

“The Central Asian governments should abide by their international obligations to ensure full respect for the right to freedom of expression as required by the international human rights treaties” — added Hughes.

By Frud Bezhan

KABUL —  Its entertainment shows have been condemned as «un-Islamic» by conservatives and its journalists have received death threats for critical reporting about sensitive issues.

But the Afghan-Australian family behind the Moby Group, which produces some of Afghanistan’s most popular television shows, says it’s eyeing the withdrawal of foreign forces from the country not with trepidation but with plans to expand.

In the space of a decade, the Mohseni family has built the Moby Group into a media empire that owns three of Afghanistan’s most-watched television channels — including the Tolo TV network — several radio stations, a magazine, a music label, a film-production company, and a mobile-phone broadcast service.

Moby has become a crucial part of the media landscape in Afghanistan, where independent media have been key in fostering unity in a divided country still at war. Media independence has been particularly important because some outlets are controlled by powerful former warlords and influenced by neighboring countries like Iran and Pakistan.

Moby is owned and managed by four siblings — brothers Saad, Zaid, and Jahid Mohseni, and their sister Wajma. The four left Australia, their adopted country, to return to their birthplace soon after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 that toppled the Taliban.

«It seemed to us like an important calling. Afghanistan really needed us and our skillset,» says Zaid Mohseni, who heads Moby’s technology and legal divisions.

Mohseni, who was a partner at a Melbourne-based law firm, says the media scene in those early years was extremely limited. There was only one state television and radio channel that broadcast several hours a day.

Zaid Mohseni

«In a war zone, all of those things you take for granted disappear and in Afghanistan all that was left was destruction,» says Mohseni, whose second floor office at Tolo TV’s headquarters in Kabul is flanked by a dozen small, muted, flat-screen TVs.

Mohseni, who speaks with a distinct Australian accent, is a tall, sharply dressed man. As he sits behind his desk, he fidgets with his two mobile phones, while his eyes wander at a laptop screen.

Under the Taliban, all forms of music and television were banned, as was independently reported news. There was only state-owned radio, the Taliban’s Voice of Sharia, which was dominated by calls to prayer and religious teachings.

In 2003, Moby won a broadcast license and started Arman FM, the first privately owned radio station in the country. They received around $2.2 million from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to help with start-up costs. USAID and the U.S. State Department have spent tens of millions of dollars supporting independent media in Afghanistan.

Over the years the Mohsenis have also invested several million dollars of their own money. After Arman took off, Moby moved into television and soon after Tolo TV was launched.

Breaking Taboos

In a deeply religious and conservative country, the content of Moby’s channels has been groundbreaking. Tolo TV initially broadcast Indian soap operas, Turkish serials, and reruns of American programs like «24.» It still does, but it has also produced its own content.

It created one of the country’s first soap operas, an Afghan version of «The Office,» a phone-in program for women, children’s shows, and its biggest success, «Afghan Star,» a singing contest not unlike «American Idol,» where people send text messages to vote for their favorites performers. Last year, Moby also launched the hugely successful Afghan Premier League, a national soccer competition.

Moby, strongly associated with the pro-Western development effort in Afghanistan, has come under constant attack and pressure from religious leaders, ex-warlords, and even the government itself.

It has been condemned as «un-Islamic» by conservatives for letting women appear alongside men on its radio and television programs. Similarly, it has been criticized by some for showing foreign soap operas that feature unveiled women as well as allowing female contestants on its singing contests.

Moby’s journalists have been arrested and received death threats because of critical reports about sensitive issues such as government corruption and electoral fraud. In Iran, Moby’s leadership have been labelled Zionists and slammed for corrupting moral values, while in Afghanistan they have been accused of being Iranian sympathizers.

Moby’s staunch opposition to the Taliban and other insurgent groups has also led to accusations that it is a U.S. agent. Meanwhile, Pakistani officials have been infuriated by reporting by Moby’s journalists alleging Islamabad’s interference in Afghanistan.

What The People Want

«We don’t actually set out to be controversial,» says 44-year-old Zaid Mohseni. «However, sometimes controversy surrounds us because we have such a large and diverse viewership.» He says the company has to cater to the needs and wants of its core audience — youth and women — otherwise it would lose them.

At the same time, Mohseni says Moby’s channels are «fitted within what is acceptable in Afghanistan.» That includes self-censorship, meaning no nudity or coarse language, and violence is toned down.

The controversy over Moby’s programs has not dented its popularity. According to Mohseni, Moby’s channels reach two-thirds of the television audience in Afghanistan, where half of the estimated 30 million population has access to television.

With the majority of foreign combat troops preparing to leave Afghanistan at the end of the year and a political transition under way, there have been concerns that the media could be vulnerable to any return of the Taliban to power or the rise of a more conservative government.

In a report released just days before World Press Freedom Day on May 3, Freedom House said Afghan journalists face physical threats and a lack of security. It cited numerous murders of journalists in the country in the last 12 months. Afghanistan is ranked 147th in its press-freedom index.

But Mohseni says the scheduled pullout does not hold fear for Moby. In fact, the company is looking to expand.

«For us, the 2014 deadline is just a date. Our plan is to continue our broadcasts and continue serving our audience,» he says. «We plan to expand our production and build the capacity of our Afghan staff. We really want to take it to the next level.»

Moby employs more than 1,000 people, most of them in Kabul. Its headquarters is in Dubai, and its aim to expand in the region, adding over a dozen offices in six countries.

Its expansion is well under way. In 2009, Moby partnered with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation to create the Farsi1 satellite network. Entertainment programs are packaged in Dubai and beamed from Britain into Iran. Moby also does television production in Yemen. Later this year, the company plans to launch an entertainment television channel in Iraq.

«We’re looking to expand in similar markets like Afghanistan which are underdeveloped and underserviced,» Mohseni says.

---

Frud Bezhan

Frud Bezhan covers Afghanistan and the broader South Asia and Middle East region. Send story tips to bezhanf@rferl.org.

WISE – an initiative of the Qatar Foundation — is a global platform for debate and action that contributes to building the future of education through various programs throughout the year.

The annual WISE Summit brings together over 1,000 thought leaders, decision-makers and practitioners from diverse sectors, including education, business, politics, civil society and the media. You can find further information about the mission and vision of WISE in the attached brochure The WISE Education Leadership Program (WISE PEL) will take place in Doha, Qatar from November 1 – 3, 2014 and all participants are invited to attend the Summit that follows it, from November 4 — 6.

The goals of the WISE PEL are to enhance leadership skills for new university presidents from developing countries and to equip them with the knowledge and skills needed to exercise leadership on behalf of innovation in the face of change within a wide variety of institutional, social, political, and economic contexts. Specifically, the 2013 WISE Education Leadership Program will support university leaders in identifying a specific “innovation” and implementing that innovation at their institution within a year. Presidents, vice-chancellors, and other heads of tertiary education institutions who took up office on or after January 1, 2013 are eligible to apply to the WISE PEL. Participants must be chief executive officers of their respective institutions and not subordinate officials.

The WISE PEL will help prepare the next generation of global higher education leaders to manage diverse challenges and opportunities and identify innovative solutions. This three-day workshop will provide experience-based training through case studies, workshops, expert speakers and other exercises. Topics that will be covered during the WISE PEL include: Strategic planning Designing innovation systems and structures and establishing an innovative organizational culture Innovation as a leadership style Encouraging creativity and idea generation within the administrative structures; Removing organizational impediments to innovation Implementing systems and structures for idea generation, evaluation, and implementation to create a more innovative organizational culture Principles of Leadership and Variety of Leadership Styles Participation in the WISE PEL is free of charge and includes round-trip airfare to Doha, hotel accommodations, local transport, meals and conference materials.

The WISE PEL is organized by the Institute of International Education (IIE) in collaboration with the Qatar Foundation’s WISE Initiative. All applications must be received by June 13, 2014. Participants who are selected for the program will be notified by the beginning of August.

To apply, please complete the application form and submit the form by email to nup@wise.org.qa.

Participants will be selected based on geographic, gender and institutional diversity. For inquiries, please email nup@wise.org.qa or call +1 (212) 984-5481. We look forward to receiving your application.

Looking for some in-depth knowledge about Central Asia from an authority in the field? 

Need it in a hurry?

Or are you already an authority in Central Asian studies but are having trouble gaining some notoriety?

Or maybe you are looking for someone to compare notes with on some Central Asian topic, someone from Central Asia, or someone who has spent some serious time in the region.

The Central Eurasian Scholars and Media Initiative, or CESMI, can help solve all these problems.

CESMI is a bridge, two bridges actually: one connecting the Central Asia to the West, and another connecting Central Asian scholars to those in the media who are reporting about Central Asia.

The recently started project is run by a group of bright, ambitious, and highly motivated people, all volunteers, in areas stretching from the western borders of China to the western coast of North America. They are out to show Kipling might not have been entirely correct about the “twain.”

Jeanne Feaux de la Croix is the German-based junior research leader of CESMI and since 2006 has been traveling every year to Kyrgyzstan for fieldwork, with side trips to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. She is currently working on a comparative study of water issues in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

“Both journalists and scholars do research and offer their results and opinions to the public, but they do this in very different ways,” she said. “Like a race horse, journalists have to chase deadlines and supply the public with the most up-to-date information possible. More like the Central Asian camels of old, scholars take their time in delivering their ’goods’, but have rich parcels to offer at the end.»

Getting those “rich parcels” into media reports is the difference between a cursory and a comprehensive look at events.

Maral Madieva-Martin is originally from Bishkek but currently lives in Paris. Madieva-Martin has worked for the World Bank and Save the Children UK in Central Asia as well as conducting field research in 2005 for the UNODC on the narcotics situation in southern Kyrgyzstan. She is currently a consultant on Central Asian affairs for the French Foreign Ministry, the Indian Embassy and the Kyrgyz Embassy in Belgium.

She mentioned the need for “quality knowledge” about Central Asia is most required in the Central Asian countries themselves. State media is dominant in four of the five Central Asian states and Madieva-Martin noted that in the fifth country, her homeland of Kyrgyzstan, while there is “an abundance of news outlets, most [are] owned by politicians and a balanced view is becoming a rarity.”

Madieva-Martin also said, “media cooperation between Central Asia and the West can have numerous benefits, including: giving a voice to unbiased opinions or takes on crucial events; direct access to local informed sources in Central Asia, promotion of opinions of Central Asia specialists including journalists to offer an alternative to Russian media outlets.”

Sounds a little bit like Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; and at this point I’ll mention that the BBC Central Asian Service, thanks to Hamid Ismailov, has made space available for CESMI members to post their blogs (“My Take On”) in English, Kyrgyz, or Uzbek.

CESMI, by its nature and considering the nationalities of its members, is a multilingual organization and tries to promote the publication and broad dissemination of work in a number of languages. The CESMI website, for example, is in English and Russian but work is under way to have more languages represented.

CESMI was formed after the June 2010 interethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan when scholars well acquainted with that area watched with frustration as big media outlets struggled to understand and report the roots of the problems.

Jeanne was one of the founders as was Gulnara Aitpaeva from Kyrgyzstan, but the idea for CESMI predates 2010 and is the brainchild of John Schoeberlein, formerly of Harvard University, currently teaching at Nazarbaev University in Astana.

And if you don’t know who John Schoeberlein is, and you claim to know something about Central Asia, all I can say is shame on you.

Seriously.

If I had to count off the top five people in the field of Central Asian studies today on one hand, Dr. John would certainly be one of those fingers. I won’t say which finger (joking, we’ve known each other a long time).

John, who has been studying Central Asia since the early 1980s, has dreamed of bridges between Central Asia and the West for more than a decade and he has found qualified people to help realize this dream.

CESMI is not simply advertizing the expertise of its members. CESMI also organizes a variety of events.

Till Mostowlansky, currently living in Switzerland was CESMI’s first president and is still on CESMI’s board. Till previously did research in Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan, in the latter country he focused on life in the Pamir Mountains (his dissertation topic), but he has also traveled around the other Central Asian countries.

Till pointed out, “CESMI members have organized events such as roundtables at conferences from the US to Central Asia since 2011. There is a very active group in Almaty organizing a workshop for scholars at the moment.”

Jesko Schmoller is a Berlin-based Central Asia scholar who has been conducted his field work mainly in Uzbekistan, since 2006, but like all the CESMI people mentioned here, has done a fair amount of traveling around other parts of the region.

Jesko has arranged roundtable panel discussions at Central Asian conferences. One of the most recent was at the last annual conference of the Central Eurasian Studies Society in Madison, Wisconsin last October. That panel included Monica Whitlock of the BBC, author of several books, including “Beyond The Oxus: The Central Asians” and Navbahor Imamova from Voice of America’s Uzbek Service and provided the mainly academic audience at the conference with an opportunity to ask questions and exchange views on what constitutes good, accurate coverage of Central Asian events.

One of CESMI’s goals is to help scholars communicate better with the public, through the media.

Jesko summed up the potential symbiotic relationship between the two fields this way: “Academic knowledge is very specific and can help a journalist writing on a particular topic to frame the article. Journalists, on the other hand, usually know better how to bring out the essence of an event or a phenomenon.”

Daniyar Karabaev is an ethnic Kyrgyz from the Murghab district in Tajikistan’s Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast. Daniyar studied at Khorog State University before moving on to the OSCE Academy on Central Asian Politics in Bishkek, then receiving a second MA in international studies at Tsukuba University in Japan.

Working with other CESMI members, Daniyar is attempting to change what he called “inactive cooperation of local scholars and media representatives” in Kyrgyzstan.

Daniyar is currently organizing a workshop for local journalists and scholars “aimed at building a good bridge for collaborative cooperation.”

To be sure, others have a hand in working with or helping CESMI. The pedigree of its founders and the organizations helping the group testify to the fact that those knowledgeable in Central Asian studies see something special in CESMI.

CESMI’s advisory board also includes, Dr. Beate Eschment (Zentralasien Analysen, Germany) Professor Eric Freedman (Michigan State University), Dr. Madeleine Reeves (University of Manchester), Bettina Ruigies (Deutsche Welle Academy, Germany), and Chris Schwartz (Neweurasia/University Leuven, Belgium).

It cost nothing to become a member. CESMI is assembling an “experts directory” on its website and though it is still a short list the qualifications of those on it speaks for itself.

CESMI member Emily Canning has already done a book review for Qishloq Ovozi and it is my hope we will hear from more CESMI members in the coming weeks and months.

Central Asia has long been, is still and will continue to be a major crossroad of civilizations. Therefore, understanding what is happening and why it is happening will be important and people like those involved with CESMI hold this knowledge.

And it is only one click away on your computer.

— Bruce Pannier

http://www.rferl.org/content/cesmi—a-bridge-between-east-and-west-scholars-and-media/25369678.html

Freedom House’s latest report on media freedom asserts that Eurasian countries continue to have the world’s poorest ratings, with no country in the region rated as “free.” 

The U.S.-based democracy watchdog released its annual report, «Freedom of the Press 2014: Media Freedom Hits Decade Low,» on May 1, assessing the situation in 197 countries and territories during 2013.

According to the report, conditions in Russia remained grim, as the RIA Novosti news agency was closed and the government enacted additional legal restrictions on online speech.

The report says Russia maintained a tight grip on local media while also attempting to control more independent views published either in the blogosphere or by foreign news sources.

«Most of the broadcast media is under state control and then also most of the private print media as well,» the report’s project director, Karin Karlekar, said. «So the Internet is really one of the only spaces in Russia for free expression, and we did see attempts to sort of extent controls over online content last year by passing a law which would help to enable them to prosecute online content.»

Ukraine was downgraded to the “not free” category for 2013 due primarily to attacks on journalists covering the Euromaidan protests.

Karlekar said there was a «sharp rise in physical violence and attacks against journalists as they were trying to cover major political events in Ukraine.»

«What we saw at the end of 2013 was, as the protest movements and the Euromaidan movement started up, we saw many instances of journalists being attacked and targeted who were trying to cover those protests,» Karlekar told RFE/RL.

Nowhere To Go But Up?

Belarus, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Iran remained among the world’s eight worst-rated countries on press freedom.

«In [all of these] countries the media environment is incredibly restricted,» Karlekar said. «There are basically no private media outlets. There is very little influence from online media. It’s a very closed environment even for the Internet. And there is state repression and crackdown against any sort of independent voices.»

Karlekar said the media environment in the rest of Central Asia also remained «very, very bleak.»

But the report praised as a «relative bright spot» some positive developments in Kyrgyzstan — despite its rating as «not free.»

Karlekar said there was a «decline in physical attacks and a decline in the use of restrictive laws against the press» in Kyrgyzstan during 2013.

The report says Azerbaijan’s already repressive media environment worsened due to increased government surveillance of journalists’ and bloggers’ online and telephone correspondence.

It also noted other measures to restrict Internet freedom in Azerbaijan.

Freedom House noted positive trends in neighboring Georgia due to legislation that made permanent the country’s “must carry, must offer” regulations — which require cable operators to carry all television stations.

Georgia and Moldova were the only two Eurasian countries where the media environment was rated as «partly free» by Freedom House.

Europe On Top

According to the report, Europe boasts the highest level of press freedom worldwide.

However, the report noted some setbacks in a number of European countries.

In Montenegro, for instance, the situation worsened as a result of hostile official rhetoric against the press and impunity for attacks, which included bombs targeting journalists and news outlets.

In conflict-hit Afghanistan and Iraq, it said major challenges continue to be a lack of security and physical threats against journalists.

It cited numerous murders of journalists in both countries during 2013.

(INSERT AUDIO – Karlekar in English – length :23 — NC043020)
«Kyrgyzstan is really, I would say, a relative bright spot [in Central Asia]. It is in the ‘Not Free’ category but its numerical score is much better than the other countries. And we did see some positive trends and developments in Kyrgyzstan this year. Basically, what we’ve seen is a decline in bad things happening. So, a decline in physical attacks and a decline in the use of restrictive laws against the press.»

CAUCASUS

(INSERT AUDIO – Karlekar in English – length :36 — NC043021)
«Azerbaijan is rated very badly and it’s also moving in the wrong direction, I would say, in terms of cracking down on any remaining independent voices, which is mostly on the Internet. The conditions are a little bit better in Armenia. In Georgian we did see some improvements, we saw some positive movements because of a legislation passed last year which basically requires different cable operators and broadcasters to cover a variety of coverage. We also saw a decline in physical attacks against journalists in Georgia as well, which was particularly notable because it was an election year.»

MOLDOVA

(INSERT AUDIO – Karlekar in English – length :27 — NC043022)
«Over the last several years, what we have seen that has been very positive has been an opening in the broadcast environment, so what we’ve seen is a lot of new broadcast TV and radio stations opening, and that has improved the level of media diversity in the country. And we’ve  also seen reform of some of the laws, and a less restrictive environment. And the authorities are more willing to tolerate criticism and have a more open free flow of information.»

http://www.rferl.org/content/freedom-house-press-freedom-lowest-in-decade-report-media/25369191.html

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