Freedom House says a decision by Kyrgyz authorities last week to block broadcasting and Internet access to U.S. government-funded news services underscores a «growing concern for freedom of expression in Kyrgyzstan.»

RFE/RL’s affiliate television station Echo of Manas halted programming on March 10 after what the U.S.-based rights watchdog said were government threats to terminate its broadcast license.

Four RFE/RL radio affiliates and two non-U.S. news websites, Centrasia.ru and Ferghana.ru, were also forced to shut down.

Freedom House said in a statement that «Kyrgyzstan once set the standard for tolerance, expression and democratic process in Central Asia.»

It has called on the government to re-affirm its commitment to that standard.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Freedom_House_Calls_On_Kyrgyzstan_To_Loosen_Media_Controls/1985636.html

An independent journalist and two activists of the opposition Ata-Meken (Fatherland) party have been beaten in southern Kyrgyzstan, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reports.

The attack occurred as Ata-Meken party coordinator Asylbek Tekebaev, an associate, and «Press-KJ» chief editor Abdubakhab Moniev returned on the night of March 15 from a gathering of supporters of jailed opposition leader Ismail Isakov in the district of Alay.

Tekebaev said the attackers blocked the men’s car as it approached the town of Karool in neighboring Uzgen district. They broke the car’s windows and severely beat the three men. They also took Moniev’s tape recorder and video camera and told them that they «should behave themselves.»

Tekebaev told RFE/RL that he is sure the attack was politically motivated. Local law enforcement officials declined to comment on the incident.

Tekebaev is the brother of Ata-Meken leader Omurbek Tekebaev.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Kyrgyz_Journalist_Opposition_Activists_Beaten/1985102.html

The editor of an independent Kyrgyz newspaper says Bishkek police confiscated its latest issue on March 15, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reports.

Rakhmatulla Akhmedov, chief editor of the «Forum» newspaper, told RFE/RL that he believes the confiscation was ordered by authorities.

Akhmedov said three trucks carrying 7,000 copies of the newspaper were stopped by police and forced to drive to a police station.

The newspaper’s delivery workers were released by police after local human rights defenders and opposition Social Democratic Party activists got involved in the case, although the newspapers were impounded at the station.

A Bishkek police spokesman refused to comment on the incident.

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A Tajik Olympic official says the country sold one of its official accreditations to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver to a Russian comedian.

Muhammadshoh Abdulloev, the head of Tajikistan’s National Olympic Committee delegation to Vancouver, told RFE/RL that prominent comedian Gennady Khazanov officially represented Tajikistan at the Olympics last month.

Abdulloev said the cash-strapped Tajik delegation could not afford to invite Tajik guests to the Olympics and therefore had to sell two of its official accreditations to the Bosco Sport Company for $2,000 and a promise by Bosco to sponsor the Tajik delegation at the Summer Olympics in London in 2012.

It is not known how much Khazanov paid Bosco for the Tajik accreditation.

The Tajik Olympic team was represented in Vancouver by only two athletes — alpine skiers Andrei Drygin and Alisher Qudratov. The International Olympic Committee paid all expenses of the Tajik athletes, their coaches, and officials in Vancouver.

Russian media report that Armenia, Moldova, and Russia are some of the countries that brought prominent Russian actors, journalists, and businessmen as official guests to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in exchange for cash payments.

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About 150 people in northeastern Uzbekistan have held a rally to protest the arrest of a local activist, RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service reports.

Protester Olim Hasanov told RFE/RL that the people gathered in front of the municipal council building in Parkent, in Tashkent Oblast.

He said that Azamat Yakubov, the chairman of Parkent’s community committee, planned to lay a gas mainline in his neighborhood. But the prosecutor’s office accused him of embezzling some 5 million soms ($2,500) of the 10 million soms that his neighbors had contributed toward the cost of the project and ordered his arrest on March 10.

Another participant in the demonstration, who asked to remain anonymous, told RFE/RL that Yakubov was arrested because of his human rights activities.

He added that town prosecutor Abdugani Nabiev, who met with the protesters earlier today, told them that if they do not end the picket they will be taken to jail.

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BISHKEK — A Kyrgyz rights group says it is seriously concerned by what it calls a coordinated attack by authorities on freedom of speech.

In a statement, the For Democracy and Civil Society coalition said most Kyrgyz Internet users since March 10 had not been able to access popular news websites such as fergana.ru and that broadcasts of RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service had been stopped in recent days.

In a statement, RFE/RL President Jeffrey Gedmin said: «The Kyrgyz government has been hostile to freedom of the press for some time. This incident is the latest effort by the government to restrict access to free, unbiased, and independent news. Unfortunately, as Freedom House noted in its most recent ‘Freedom in the World’ report, the situation is only getting worse.»

The group and opposition party Ata Meken linked the moves to reports carried on the websites and on RFE/RL about an arrest warrant issued by Italy for a business associate of President Kurmanbek Bakiev’s son, Maksim.

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The BBC’s local-language service in Kyrgyzstan experienced an unexplained interruption today, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reported, sparking concerns the U.K.-funded broadcaster might share the fate of other media outlets suffering setbacks there.

One of three BBC broadcasts was unavailable today, although its 9:00 p.m. program was back on the air.

Aslan Kapai, a BBC Kyrgyz Service producer, told RFE/RL the service’s 30-minute program at 8 p.m. Bishkek time was not available to Kyrgyz listeners.

He said no explanation has been given either by the BBC’s affiliate stations or by Kyrgyz officials.

The BBC’s Kyrgyz Service has been operating since 1996. It broadcasts a 30-minute program three times daily.

Seven correspondents in Kyrgyzstan work for the BBC’s Kyrgyz Service while three others work in London. The BBC has a joint television project with Kyrgyzstan’s National Television and Radio Corporation.

Since March 10, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz television and radio programs have been off the air in Bishkek and other parts of the country in what rights activists are calling a government clampdown on the media.

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DUSHANBE — A Kyrgyz human rights activist who disappeared in Dushanbe last month is being held in a detention center for homeless people, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reports.

Muhammadsoleh Muhammadtohir told RFE/RL that his brother, Nematullo Botakoziev, is ill and needs medical treatment. Botakoziev sought political asylum in Tajikistan after Kyrgyz authorities accused him of organizing mass protests in 2008 and issued a warrant for his arrest.

The Tajik Interior Ministry has confirmed that Botakoziev was arrested. Officials say his case is being investigated by Tajikistan’s National Security Committee.

Muhammadtohir expressed concern that international organizations have failed to publicize his brother’s plight. He said he fears Tajik authorities will deport Botakoziev to Kyrgyzstan where he could face a lengthy prison sentence.

Dushanbe-based human rights activist Payam Furughi told RFE/RL’s Tajik Service that this is not the first time a Kyrgyz citizen has been detained in Tajikistan. He said that several years ago Muhammadali Salimzoda, a Kyrgyz citizen born in Tajikistan, was held for five months before officials informed his family he was under arrest.

Furughi added that Botakoziev is being held in a detention center with criminals and has been deprived of meeting with his relatives or lawyers.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Missing_Kyrgyz_Rights_Activist_In_Detention_In_Tajikistan/1984545.html

BISHKEK — Some 250 people — prominent opposition politicians, lawmakers, and rights activists among them — gathered today outside the offices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Bishkek to ask for help to protect freedom of speech in the country, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reports.

Protesters said the government has closed down the last avenues of freedom of speech after blocking access to several websites last week, including centrasia.ru, ferghana.ru, and Azattyk, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service website, as well as taking Azattyk’s television broadcasts off the air.

Demonstrators carried placards reading «Take Your Hands Off the Truth,» «You Can’t Close Every Single Mouth,» and «Freedom to Azattyk.»

Opposition lawmakers Roza Otunbaeva and Irina Karamushkina, Ak Shumkar opposition party leader Temur Sariev, and the head of the Ata Meken opposition party, Omurbek Tekebaev, were among the prominent political figures who joined the demonstration.

«Journalists have been killed [and independent] media outlets have been closed,» Otunbaeva told RFE/RL. «We consider the [Kyrgyz] government to be harming stability.»

The OSCE office in Bishkek told the demonstrators their message will be conveyed to the organization’s representative on freedom of the media, who monitors violations of freedom of expression in OSCE member states and promotes full compliance with democratic principles of freedom of press and expression.

Access to the popular news websites has been blocked since March 10. Kyrgyz rights activists last week condemned the development as a coordinated attack by authorities on freedom of speech.

Since March 1, RFE/RL’s affiliate partners — Radio OK, Radio Most, Radio Royal, and Radio Almaz-Naryn — have not been re-broadcasting the programs of RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service. Also, the private television company Manas Janyrygy (Echo of Manas) stopped broadcasting RFE/RL’s television shows in Kyrgyz. The affiliates told RFE/RL they had to stop broadcasting the programs due to pressure from the government.

However, Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov told RFE/RL at a press conference in Bishkek today that he is unaware of the situation. He promised RFE/RL’s correspondent help to solve the issue, adding that RFE/RL’s leadership should send him an official letter regarding the situation.

Demonstrators went beyond attacks on media freedoms today, calling on the government to be held accountable for the nation’s income, including gold revenues, Kyrgyzstan’s key export asset.

Today’s protest comes two days ahead of nationwide antigovernment rallies by opposition supporters planned on March 17.

President Kurmanbek Bakiev, who swept to power amid popular protests in 2005, has come under extensive criticism by opponents for failing to institute reforms and for widespread corruption and nepotism. Bakiev’s popularity suffered another blow after he appointed his son, Maksim, to a top post overseeing the country’s economic affairs last November.

Several thousand people demonstrated last week in the central city of Naryn to demand that Maksim Bakiev leave the country.

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DUSHANBE (Reuters) — Tajikistan’s opposition threatened today to call street protests to challenge the result of a parliamentary election in the impoverished nation bordering Afghanistan.

Any unrest in Tajikistan could worry the West, which uses the Muslim nation of seven million as part of a northern route supplying NATO troops fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Western monitors have denounced the February 28 vote for failing democratic standards. President Emomali Rahmon’s party won 54 out of 63 seats in the lower house of parliament.

The opposition Islamic Revival Party — Central Asia’s only official Islamic party — won only two seats and has vowed to challenge the result in court.

«If the courts take unfair decisions, we can organize public acts of protest as well as other actions within the country’s legislation,» said the party’s leader Mukhiddin Kabiri.

Speaking at a party meeting, he said he would take legal action as soon as this week but gave no further details.

Kabiri’s party is a reformed wing of the once-powerful United Tajik Opposition which fought Rahmon’s government in a 1992-1997 civil war. More than 100,000 people died in that war.

Spurred by an economic crisis, discontent has been on the rise in Tajikistan in the past year because of growing poverty and crumbling Soviet-era infrastructure.

The inflow of remittances, one of the country’s key sources of foreign currency, dropped almost by a third in 2009.

Despite growing hardship, outward gestures of protest remain rare in a country where Rahmon tolerates little dissent.

The election monitoring arm of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said on March 1 that serious irregularities meant Tajikistan’s parliamentary election failed to meet basic democratic standards.

The opposition has said it had evidence of mass vote rigging. The central election commission has rejected all criticism, saying it had no evidence of large-scale violations.

Rahmon has ruled Tajikistan, the poorest nation in the ex- Soviet Union with an average monthly wage of $70, since 1992.

Signaling a possible succession plan to his long rule, Rahmon’s 23-year-old son Rustami Emomali was elected into the capital Dushanbe’s city council in a separate election held on February 28, the central election commission said.

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