Temur had a choice. When applying to university in Dushanbe, Tajikistan’s capital, he could try to win a scholarship that would cover his expenses and fees, or pay the annual $600 tuition. But there was a third, more practical option, too.
“I paid $100 to the dean to enter the university on a government-funded scholarship [with a monthly living stipend]. This meant I didn’t have to pay $600 per year for five years, so I saved a lot,” said Temur, a 23-year-old a recent graduate who spoke on condition his full name not be printed. “Some get in for free because of good test scores, but I wasn’t sure. That’s why I paid.”
Graft in higher education has long been common throughout the former Soviet Union, where instructors’ meager salaries and a culture of corruption have made paying extra fees for the right grade, or the right entrance exam score, a preferred option for many young people. Some education experts in Tajikistan estimate that only few students obtain a university diploma without paying bribes somewhere along the way. The national Anti-Corruption Agency lists the Education Ministry as the most corrupt state body, the Asia-Plus news agency reported last October. In one instance, an administrator at a medical school asked a prospective student for a $20,000 bribe to be admitted, local media reported in July 2010. To put that figure in context, roughly 47 percent of Tajiks live in poverty – that is, making due with under $2 per day – according to the most recent World Bank data.
The trend is having long-term adverse effects outside the classroom: The lack of qualified experts in every field will cause “a very big problem” for Tajikistan, said Oynihol Bobonazarova, who runs a legal-support clinic, Perspective-Plus, in Dushanbe.
“Our students are very weak in terms of the knowledge they receive,” Bobonazarova said. “Those who have the money can easily afford enrollment in any university, but the smart guys who cannot afford this remain unable to master their area of study. This is the biggest hazard for Tajikistan. Corruption leads to instability. It undermines everything – like a tree that is healthy in appearance, but which has worms eating at its roots.”
Existing flaws seem to be deeply entrenched. “Once I needed a 4 [on a 5-point grading scale] to keep my stipend, but I got a 3 on the exam,” said Temur. So I paid 30 somoni [$6.50] and the professor gave me a 4 and I got my stipend – 50 somoni every month. The math is simple.”
Commenting on condition of anonymity, a professor who himself accepts bribes explained to EurasiaNet.org how entrance fees are determined. For matriculation into a liberal arts program, students are expected to pay from $1,000 to $3,000 “depending on the prestige of the department.” Law or economics programs cost between $4,500 and $10,000 to enter.
University faculty tend to target students who are absent and do poorly on exams, the professor said, to supplement their salaries of between 450 and 1,200 somoni ($96 and $257) per month. The reasons for bribe-taking vary “but are mostly due to low salaries — to somehow feed one’s family. Mostly the students themselves force [professors to do this] in order to graduate from university at any cost,” he said.
“The students themselves don’t acknowledge, or don’t want to acknowledge the consequences of this type of learning,” the professor added. “In Tajik society, the prestige of a degree is far higher than the prestige of knowledge.”
Temur believes students share much of the blame.
“Our students only study for the diploma, not knowledge. Our students know it is easier and most common just to pay. If you study, they rarely ask you for money, though some teachers do want money no matter what you do,” he told EurasiaNet.org. “I blame the students. If our students are studying, if they want to study, they will pass. Every teacher who wants to get money will just get it from lazy students. Only 5 to 10 percent of students study.”
Officials are well aware of the problem and are working on a solution, according to Savzali Jafarov, director of the government’s new National Testing Center, which plans to implement nationwide standardized tests for university entrance by 2014. [Editor’s Note: The National Testing Center is supported by the OSI-Assistance Foundation Tajikistan, which, like EurasiaNet.org, operates under the auspices of the Open Society Foundations.]
Under the current system, “each university makes its own test, its own rules. Students apply to a university and take their [admissions] test,” Jafarov explained. “By making the tests automated [and standardized], we will eliminate the human factor.”
Though the project’s first stage will only tackle exams and the “fees” related to entry into university, many hope the system will one day confront students’ propensity to pay for grades. One recent graduate of the prestigious, Russian-government-funded Slavonic University in Dushanbe said he estimates that only three of the 40 students in his department graduated without paying bribes. Most expensive are courses in medical departments, law, business and dentistry because they are connected to professions in which graduates can quickly recoup the money they pay out, the graduate said.
“Tomorrow these will be the leaders and they are taught by the system that everything in life can be purchased. They are not prepared to live any other way,” he said.
“The big danger is that corruption will influence the knowledge base of our society,” said Jafarov at the National Testing Center. “Of course, it also influences high school education. The parents of high school students know their children don’t need knowledge to go to university and this undermines their interest in their children’s education. This is the greatest danger.”

Editor’s note:
David Trilling is the Central Asia editor for EurasiaNet.

David Trilling, EurasiaNet.org

Источник: http://www.eurasianet.org/node/63910

The lawyer for a BBC reporter in Tajikistan charged with membership in a banned Islamic radical group says investigators are denying her access to her client. Colleagues say the veteran journalist was arrested to silence his critical reporting, marking the latest attack on independent media in Tajikistan.

Fayziniso Vohidova says she has not been allowed to see BBC Uzbek Service correspondent Urinboy Usmonov, 59, since he disappeared on June 13. Two days later, investigators took him home to search for evidence. Family members present say Usmonov appears to have been beaten.
Vohidova told EurasiaNet.org on June 20 that Usmonov has been officially charged with inciting religious and racial hatred, participating in an organized criminal group, and extremism. She explained that authorities can legally keep him in custody for up to 18 months before a trial, while the investigation is underway.
Authorities in Khujand say Usmonov is a member of Hizb-ut-Tahrir, a group that seeks to establish an Islamic state in Central Asia, but which is avowedly non-violent. “For a long time Usmonov maintained contacts with party representatives in Tajikistan and abroad; he actively participated in the preparation and dissemination of printed materials promoting Hizb-ut-Tahrir’s ideas on the forcible seizure of power and changing of the constitutional regime,” said a June 18 statement from the State Security Service, Tajikistan’s KGB-successor agency.
Usmonov’s colleagues and media rights activists insist he was arrested because of his critical voice. For years he has reported on the authorities’ efforts to silence expressions of Islam. Tajikistan has jailed over 500 people for membership in Hizb-ut-Tahrir in the past ten years, according to a count published by the AFP news agency; 40 have already been convicted this year. Media rights activists say Usmonov’s reporting would easily explain any radical literature that might have been found on him.
“There is little doubt that Usmonov was arrested because of his journalistic activities. Using the fight against extremism in order to crack down on dissidents is standard practice in Tajikistan,” said Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a Paris-based watchdog, in a June 17 statement.
“People who have received leaflets should not be confused with the activists who distribute them. Being aware of press releases and statements is an integral part of a journalist’s work,” RSF added.
American and British diplomats in Dushanbe have also voiced concern.
Usmonov, an ethnic Uzbek, has also reported critically on Dushanbe’s controversial plans to build the world’s tallest hydroelectric dam, Rogun, a move that has aggravated relations with neighboring Uzbekistan and seen the Uzbek minority face increasing pressure inside Tajikistan.
“The law enforcement authorities once again have justified their poor image by holding a citizen in custody without providing him access to legal assistance,” Nuriddin Karshibaev, chairman of the Tajik National Association of Independent Media (NANSMIT), told EurasiaNet.org.
“NANSMIT demands a thorough investigation of Usmonov’s arrest and detention. As for his alleged affiliation to an illicit extremist movement, an inquiry must be conducted according to both national legislation and international practices,” Karshibaev added.
A police colonel in Dushanbe agrees that authorities have made a mistake by not granting Usmonov access to counsel, but underscored that Usmonov’s affiliation with a foreign organization does not make him above the law.
“Usmonov’s professional affiliation to BBC, the famous international news outlet, does not automatically ensure him immunity. The law enforcement authorities have made a serious mistake failing or not willing to provide him with a lawyer. But only an investigation can demonstrate the journalist’s involvement in extremist activities or otherwise prove his innocence,” the colonel told EurasiaNet.org on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with the media.
Besides frequent and financially debilitating libel lawsuits brought by government officials against independent media, physical harassment of journalists is common in Tajikistan.
Since November 2010, journalist Makhmadyusuf Ismoilov has been held in detention in Khujand, ostensibly for criticizing law enforcement bodies and exposing corruption. In February, Hikmatulloh Saifullohzoda, editor of the opposition Najot newspaper and the press secretary for the opposition Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, was brutally attacked outside his home. He connected the “assassination attempt” with his work.

Editor’s note:
Konstantin Parshin is a freelance writer based in Tajikistan

Konstantin Parshin, EurasiaNet.org

Источник: http://www.eurasianet.org/node/63704

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon was recently touring Europe but few seemed willing to meet with him. That was too bad for European officials, since Rahmon had an interesting comment.

Rahmon’s tour took him to France, Austria, Luxembourg, and Hungary. He did not meet with many high-placed government officials (except the Austrian president), but Rahmon did meet with officials from European institutions, though he seems not to have made a much of an impression.

Heidi Hautala, the chairwoman of the European Parliament’s subcommittee on human rights, met with Rahmon and later told RFE/RL’s Tajik Service that he «was not extremely open» in their conversation.

Hautala pressed him on human rights issues and told Rahmon there needed to be more transparency and openness in Tajikistan in terms of human rights. But Hautala said she came away with the impression that «for the [Tajik] president, it was enough that the main principles of observing human rights were outlined in the constitution.»

Such an impression is perhaps not surprising, since Rahmon did not travel to Europe to answer questions about Tajikistan’s domestic affairs but to ask Europeans to invest in Tajikistan.

Rahmon was, of course, also seeking support for building the giant Roghun hydropower plant project that neighboring Uzbekistan so vehemently opposes. And as a reward for this potential support Rahmon treated those attending his speeches to marathon oratories that likely left them with little desire to question the Tajik president about anything.

Some Tajiks have pointed out that if European officials had to endure such an hours-long speech for one day, they should consider that Tajiks are treated to these long speeches regularly.

But Rahmon’s show-stopper comment came in his meeting with Hautala, when she asked the Tajik president about increasing prohibitions against young people attending mosques or madrasahs.

Rahmon’s reply: «You prohibit minors from drinking alcohol, don’t you?»

— Bruce Pannier

Bruce Pannier RFE/RL

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/chaikhana_tajik_president_wows_europe/24231267.html

This is an installment in the WorldWatch series, «The world’s enduring dictators,» inspired by events in Tunisia and Egypt, in which CBSNews.com takes a look at the men who continue to rule their lands unimpeded by law.

See a complete explanation of the series and a list of others profiled here: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20055835-503543.html

Emomali Rahmon, Tajikistan

Length of rule: 19 years. Rahmon became de facto head of government in 1992 as speaker of parliament at the outset of a bloody civil war that ended in 1997 with an estimated 100,000 deaths, when his predecessors had resigned in an attempt to quell the violence. In 2006, he won a third term in office in an election that was described as neither free nor fair.

Most despotic acts: After an assassination attempt on Rahmon in 1997, state security services allegedly conducted sweeping arrests amid allegations of gross abuses. Despite being Central Asia’s poorest country, in a Wikileaks cable, an ambassador said: «Rahmon and his family control the country’s major businesses, including the largest bank, and they play hardball to protect their business interests, no matter the cost to the economy writ large.» A 2010 report from the U.S. State Department lists a depressingly familiar catalog of human rights abuses in Tajikistan that could be used in a similar form in many other countries ruled by despots: restricted political freedoms; torture and abuse by security forces; impunity for security forces; denial of right to fair trial; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; restrictions on freedoms of speech, press, association, and religion; corruption, which hampered democratic and social reform; violence and discrimination against women; arbitrary arrest; and trafficking in persons.

Outlook for change: While it’s unclear whether Rahmon faces political insurrection, the country as a whole faces a growing level of instability largely caused by Islamic militants, many of whom have traipsed back and forth across its 870-mile-long border with Afghanistan. In a report from the International Crisis Group, the conflict-monitoring NGO states: «Tajikistan is increasingly incapable of providing basic services to its population. Corruption remains at a breathtaking level; and recent unsuccessful military operations in the east of the country against warlords and a small group of young insurgents underline its inability to handle even a modest security threat. President Emomali Rakhmon did a deal to bring a temporary peace to the area earlier this year, but he may soon face a tougher challenge from the resurgent Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), a group with a vision of an Islamist caliphate that is fighting in Afghanistan alongside the Taliban. Tajikistan must hope it remains preoccupied there».

Tajikistan stats:
Population: 7,627,200; Tajik 79.9 percent, Uzbek 15.3 percent, Russian 1.1 percent, Kyrgyz 1.1 percent, other 2.6 percent; Median Age is 23.
Constitution and the Rule of Law: Republic; Everyday law based on civil law system.

Economic Indicators: Overall GDP is $14.6 billion (world rank is 138); Per capita GDP is $2,000 (world rank is 188); unemployment rate is 2.2 percent (world rank is 17.)

Press freedom index world rank: 115

World Watch

Источник: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20067645-503543.html

Recent developments in Kyrgyzstan are displaying the dark side of a free press.

Since Kyrgyzstan embarked on its experiment in parliamentary-style democracy in 2010, a few journalists have made commendable efforts to fulfill the traditional watchdog function of a free press. But such bright spots are being marred by a rise in chauvinistic and racist rhetoric in the Kyrgyz-language press, along with recent violent attacks against journalists.

Addressing journalists at a May 3 celebration of World Press Freedom Day, President Roza Otunbayeva praised her government’s media record: “Freedom of the press is the main achievement of the republic. No journalist has been forced to flee the country, no one has been put to the administrative grindstone, and no one has been attacked,” Otunbayeva said, referring to the period following the collapse [5] of Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s administration in April of 2010.

After assuming power, the new government lifted most Bakiyev-era controls [6] on broadcast and print media outlets, launched investigations into prior abuses, and pledged to introduce public control over the main government radio and television broadcasting company. Last month, moreover, parliament approved a resolution that de-criminalized defamation and libel. Although the measure abolished jail terms for those found guilty of libel, it did allow for a steep increase in fines against journalists in civil actions.

Despite such improvements, observers say there are many reasons to remain concerned about Kyrgyzstan’s media environment. For one, journalists are “afraid to write on political issues and often employ self-censorship,” Аlmas Ysman Kalet, an Osh-based freelance journalist, told EurasiaNet.org. Self-censorship became an acute issue after southern Kyrgyzstan was consumed by violent ethnic clashes in June 2010, Kalet said. Hundreds of people, mostly Uzbeks, died in the violence [7].

In recent weeks, many Kyrgyz-language news outlets have explored the extreme limits of editorial freedom, publishing articles expressing chauvinistic and xenophobic views. In one instance of hate-speech, a May 11 commentary published by the Kyrgyz-language newspaper El Sozy [8] — translated into Russian by the gezitter.org website — blamed Jews for most of the country’s current problems.

“Freedom of expression has revealed the other side of the coin; it turned out that journalists are lacking responsibility and professional ethics. Due to increased competition for scandalous materials, journalists are publishing unverified facts. Media outlets are teeming with anti-Semitic views, especially the Kyrgyz-language ones,” said Dinara Oshurahunova, the director of the Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society, in comments carried by the 24.kg news agency on May 3.

“The media can serve evil purposes,” Edil Baisalov, a Kyrgyz civil society activist and Otunbayeva’s former chief of staff, told EurasiaNet.org. “There are many examples when newspapers are exacerbating existing political tensions and casting ethnic minorities as enemies.”

Some of the Kyrgyz-language newspapers containing chauvinistic and xenophobic content are being printed at a publishing house operated by the Media Support Center Foundation (MSCF). The MSCF is a commercial entity that was founded in 2003. Initial funding for the MSCF came from the US State Department. According to the foundation’s website, the MSCF’s Supervisory Committee is headed by Martin Callanan, a member of the European Parliament.

On April 29, the Prosecutor General’s office warned media outlets to stop publishing material that incites inter-ethnic animosity. But the hate-filled articles continue to appear. Many observers suspect that much of the controversial coverage is being encouraged and funded by politicians with an eye on this fall’s presidential election [9].

Economics may be a big part of the problem. The prolonged bout of political instability that began with Bakiyev’s ouster took a toll on many media outlets, causing a precipitous drop in ad revenue. Media outlets in southern Kyrgyzstan were especially hard hit, with most experiencing approximately a 50-percent loss in income. As they struggle to recover, newspapers are especially vulnerable to deep-pocketed politicians and wealthy entrepreneurs, who can offer financial relief in return for desired coverage.

“It is no secret that these days most media outlets represent the interests of powerful politicians. I doubt that journalists will be neutral [during the election campaign]. They will defend the interests of politicians who pay them,” said an Osh journalist speaking on condition of anonymity.

Beyond the profusion of hate-speech and calumny in the press, several suspicious attacks against journalists have occurred in recent weeks. For instance, On May 1, Jyldyz Bekbaeva, a correspondent for Russia’s Interfax news agency, was assaulted in Osh. She is convinced she was not the victim of a random criminal act, but was intentionally targeted because of her professional activities.

Meanwhile, many ethnic Uzbek media representatives in Kyrgyzstan are disgruntled, including Khaliljan Khudaiberdiev, the former owner of Osh-TV who is facing charges of inciting interethnic hostility in connection with last June’s violence. In the wake of the rioting, authorities in Osh shut down Osh-TV and other Uzbek-language outlets. These days, Osh TV is broadcasting again, but mostly in Kyrgyz. Khudaiberdiev maintains that authorities illegally seized the station from him.

In addition, efforts to introduce public control over state media, as promised by Otunbayeva’s provisional government immediately after Bakiyev’s ouster, are encountering resistance from well-connected politicians, Elvira Sarieva, a Bishkek-based journalist and member of the board of the new public broadcaster, OTRK (Obshestvennaya Teleradiokompania), told EurasiaNet.org.

Editor’s note: Alisher Khamidov is a freelance writer specializing in Central Asian affairs.

Alisher Khamidov, EurasiaNet.org

Источник: http://www.eurasianet.org/node/63473

A panel of journalists and experts at the World Press Freedom Day global conference at the Newseum expressed hope Monday that people would continue to use social media to fight oppressive regimes, despite censorship tactics used by those governments.

Some of those tactics include tracking protests, shutting down social media sites and discrediting bloggers.

“I don’t believe in technologies, but I hope in people,” said Chiranuch Premchaiporn, who is director and webmaster of Prachatai, an alternative news website in Thailand.

Premchaiporn, who faces charges in Thailand for disparaging the Thai monarchy, spoke at a panel titled “New Barriers: Censorship in the Digital Age” at World Press Freedom Day in Washington, D.C.

Premchaiporn faces up to 82 years in prison in Thailand for violating the country’s 2007 Computer-Related Offences Commission Act. Government officials are holding her liable for negative online posts about the monarchy even though she did not make the comments and she removed them as soon as the Thai police notified her of the posts.

Social media outlets, such as Facebook and Twitter, are making it easier for citizens of oppressive regimes to organize protests and expose wrongdoing, said Wael Abbas, founder and blogger for Misr Digital in Egypt. He has gained credibility — and widespread attention—from readers by posting videos of police crackdowns on YouTube.

Poverty is not insurmountable, Abbas and other panelists said. Although only 25 percent of the Egyptian population has Internet access, most people – even in rural areas – have mobile phones. It costs little to access the Internet at cyber cafes, where people download information and share it with others, he said.

The government does not have enough people to monitor the phone calls, Abbas said. Protesters have used SMS texts to relocate protests in real-time to avoid police crackdowns.

Governments, however, also are finding innovative ways to use new media. In China, the government tracks bloggers and posts false information to try to discredit the ones it doesn’t like, a practice used in other countries, said Xiao Qiang, a Chinese expatriate who is director of the China Internet Project at UC-Berkley. The Chinese government has arrested bloggers and shut down Twitter.

Nevertheless, the Internet has provided an alternative source of news, Qiang said.

“People have more of a sense of what they’re not being told,” he said.

The panelists agreed that new media has provided a catalyst for change, but ultimately, people bring about reform.

“Without social media they could have a revolution, but maybe later and in a slower fashion,” Abbas said.

Michael Koma, an audience member and journalist from South Sudan, said that the panelists’ comments might help his country in the future as it wades deeper into social media. Although most of his readers do not have Internet access, they do have mobile phones and already use them to tip him off to stories.

“There is no reason to be pessimistic,” said Koma, who writes for The Juba Post. “I’m hopeful in 10 years time that it [social media] will make a difference.”

You can read more of IJNet’s ongoing coverage of World Press Freedom Day here: http://ijnet.org/topics/world-press-freedom-day

The United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) organizes World Press Freedom Day commemorations to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom; to evaluate press freedom; to defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty. For complete information on the 2011 World Press Freedom Day global conference in Washington DC, see www.wpfd2011.org (in English).

Susan Schept, IJNET

Источник: http://ijnet.org/stories/hope-survives-government-censorship-panelists-say-world-press-freedom-day

Press freedom worldwide has dropped to its lowest point in more than 10 years, with only one in six people now able to access free and independent media.

The democratic watchdog group Freedom House discovered that sobering statistic while researching its latest annual report, which it is releasing in Washington today, the eve of World Press Freedom Day.

The report, «Freedom of the Press 2011: A Global Survey of Media Independence,» documents what the group calls «significant declines in press freedom» over the past year in several countries, including Egypt, Hungary, Mexico, Turkey, and Ukraine.

It names the Top 10 worst countries for free media — defined as where the press can operate independently and does not face pressure or interference from outside forces — as Belarus, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Myanmar, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, and North Korea.

In these states, Freedom House says, «independent media are either nonexistent or barely able to operate, the press acts as a mouthpiece for the regime, citizens’ access to unbiased information is severely limited, and dissent is crushed through imprisonment, torture, and other forms of repression.»

A total of 63 countries were rated «not free» in 2010, including Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan.

The press is only «partly free» in 65 countries, including Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Kosovo, Moldova, and Ukraine.

Of the 196 countries and territories assessed during 2010, just 68 were rated «free.»

Key Trends

In its report, the group identified key trends in the conditions for press freedom around the world.

WORST OFFENDERS
Belarus
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Iran
Myanmar
Cuba
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Libya
North Korea
First, partly democratic and authoritarian countries are increasingly misusing «licensing and regulatory frameworks as a key method of control.» Researchers found that in Russia, for example, denial or suspension of broadcast licenses and the shuttering of media outlets on fabricated grounds is one of the Kremlin’s favorite ways to quash unpopular points of view.

Freedom House also found that authoritarian governments have increased their efforts to control how news is disseminated. Recognizing that information is now being passed via social networking websites, mobile phones, and satellite television, regimes are taking steps to block broadcasting transmission signals — as Iranian authorities have done — and access to websites like Facebook, which Pakistan did briefly and which China has done for much longer.

The group also found many incidents of journalists censoring their own reports or deciding to leave their countries because they fear attacks or harassment. This happened «everywhere from conflict zones to struggling democracies with a weak rule of law,» Freedom House researchers said, noting that it was especially prevalent in Iraq, Pakistan, Mexico, and Indonesia.

Outside Pressures

But even in established democracies, media freedom is under threat, the group found. In places more associated with democracy than oppression — India and Israel, Italy and Hungary — Freedom House documented outside pressures that it said are eroding the ability of the press to operate freely and independently.

In the region encompassing Central and Eastern Europe and Newly Independent States, the press watchdog group says a majority of people — 56 percent — live in media environments that are «not free.» Twenty-six percent live in «partly free» media environments, and 18 percent live in countries where the press is rated «free.»

The group also noted some significant developments in that region.

First, press conditions declined last year overall in Central and Eastern Europe, where the environment for media has generally been favorable and improving.

Second, there was progress in unexpected places. Moldova experienced what the group called a «dramatic opening,» and Georgia and Kyrgyzstan each benefitted from «smaller positive steps» that aided media freedom.

«Kyrgyzstan, although there was a lot of political ferment last year with the change of government and the serious outbreak of ethnic violence, there was a positive reform of the public broadcasting law, there was a decrease in libel suits against journalists, and there were some other positive trends that we saw,» says report editor Karin Karlekar.

«So Kyrgyzstan actually improved, and we hope that under the new government things will continue to improve in Kyrgyzstan. It’s actually a relatively bright spot in the region compared to its neighbors, which, as I said, rank among the worst performers worldwide.»

But Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia remain countries of concern, and the group documented significant negative trends in Ukraine and Hungary, which last year passed a controversial media law that gives the country’s media authority the power to monitor and impose fines on the media for violating «public interest, public morals, or order.»

INDIVIDUAL COUNTRY SUMMARIES

Turkmenistan’s media environment worsened owing to the shutdown of a major mobile-phone service provider, which cut off many residents from outside sources of information, and Iran suffered further declines as a result of blocked satellite television and Internet services.

Journalists in Uzbekistan faced additional repercussions for their work, including a spate of criminal libel prosecutions.

Iraq’s score worsened slightly because the government issued restrictive media guidelines and created a special court to try journalists. Moreover, additional journalists were assassinated, attacked, and jailed without charge, and parts of the country became more dangerous for reporters to work in.

Iran suffered further backsliding in 2010 due to the government’s imposition of additional blocks on the Internet and satellite television, and its decision to restrict funding for antigovernment publications.

The media environment in Russia, which serves as a model and patron for a number of neighboring countries, is marked by the use of a pliant judiciary to prosecute independent journalists; increased self-censorship by reporters; impunity for the physical harassment and murder of journalists; and continued state control or influence over almost all media outlets.

In Azerbaijan, the state and ruling party dominate the media landscape, and independent journalists and bloggers continue to face legal and physical harassment for expressing dissenting views. In 2010, Azerbaijani officials openly disregarded repeated orders from the European Court of Human Rights to release Eynulla Fatullayev, a wrongfully imprisoned journalist.

Despite the Kazakh government’s promises to enact reforms as a condition of its chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 2010, conditions in Kazakhstan also deteriorated. A spate of libel suits were filed against journalists and authorities implemented a new law designed to increase controls over the Internet.

In one of the year’s largest numerical jumps, Moldova’s score rose dramatically, and was upgraded from «not free» to «partly free» to reflect the new ruling coalition’s steps to increase legal protections for journalists’ rights and reform the regulatory framework. In addition, management at the state broadcaster was professionalized, new private broadcast outlets began operating, and officially sanctioned legal harassment of journalists declined substantially.

Significant gains were noted in Georgia due to an improved political environment that led to a reduction in legal and physical harassment of journalists, fewer instances of official censorship, and more balanced coverage by the public broadcaster.

Despite an outbreak of serious ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan, the country’s score improved to reflect a lack of libel prosecutions and a new public-service broadcasting law. In addition, the interim government, which took power after the overthrow of President Kurmanbek Bakiev in April, lifted bans on RFE/RL and several websites and newspapers.

Ukraine, which has consistently been one of the best performers in its sub-region in recent years, saw an erosion of media freedom in 2010. After pro-Russian opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych took office as president in February, broadcast frequencies were withdrawn from critical outlets and extralegal harassment of journalists increased, leading to greater self-censorship.

By Heather Maher, RFE/RL

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/press_freedom_worldwide_freedom_house/16799961.html

MOSCOW — Some of Russia’s most prominent opposition figures have produced a report accusing Prime Minister Vladimir Putin of presiding over a boom in corruption and enriching his inner circle over the past decade.

The report, titled «Putin. Corruption,» was produced by the newly formed People’s Freedom Party and authored by key opposition figures including former First Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, former State Duma Deputy Vladimir Ryzhkov, and former Deputy Energy Minister Vladimir Milov.

It details how once relatively obscure businessmen used their ties to Russia’s powerful prime minister to amass personal fortunes over the past decade.

One such acquaintance, Gennady Timchenko became a dollar billionaire while his Swiss-based company Gunvor exported at least a third of Russia’s oil, which it bought at preferential rates, the report alleges in a section titled «Putin and his billionaires.»

Nemtsov tells RFE/RL’s Russian Service the general public is largely unaware that people like Timchenko, Putin’s former judo partner Arkady Rotenburg, and Bank of Russia head Yury Kovalchuk have enriched themselves due to their ties to the prime minister and former president.
«They [the public] don’t know that Timchenko, Rotenberg, Kovalchuk have got rich not because they created Facebook or Google, or something else, but did so absolutely at the expense of the state and state property,» he says.

Nemtsov adds that corruption is directly responsible for harming Russians’ quality of life. «We have bad roads. This is because of corruption,» he says. «The fact that prices are going up on utilities in our country, this is because the tariffs are going up on gas, and the tariffs on gas are going up because Putin’s friends have taken $60 billion worth of property.»

Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev themselves have 26 «palaces» and five yachts, which in turn require costly state upkeep, according to the report.

‘Nothing Being Done’

Published roughly a year before Russia’s presidential election, the report is the first project produced by the People’s Freedom Party, which operates under the slogan «For a Russia without tyranny and corruption.»

Nemtsov says reports like this are necessary because the state-controlled networks are not reporting on corruption among Putin and his inner circle.

«If there was a place for discussion, if there was a place for discussion on federal television, then of course, there would be no need for reports like ‘Putin. Corruption,'» Nemtsov says.

Corruption rose steadily in the first five years of Putin’s tenure costing Russia $300 billion a year, the equivalent of 25 percent of its gross domestic product, according to the report, which cites the Indem think tank. «Supporters of Putin often assert that corruption in the so-called ‘wild 1990s’ was worse than it is now. But the facts speak to the opposite,» the authors write.

President Medvedev’s flagship anticorruption campaign, which he announced shortly after he assumed office in May 2008, has had little impact, according to international corruption watchdogs. Medvedev himself has acknowledged that the campaign has thus far had little impact.

Transparency International found that Russia’s perceived levels of corruption increased last year, while its global corruption ranking slumped from 146th to 154th out of 178 countries.

Going To Court

Nemtsov says 11,000 copies of the report have already been printed and will be made available at Strategy 31 opposition rallies scheduled to take place on downtown Moscow’s Triumph Square on March 31. Nemtsov says that 100,000 Russians visited the report’s website in the first 36 hours of its publication.
In the past, Nemtsov and Milov have co-authored similar reports, including one accusing former Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov of using his position to enrich himself and his wife, Yelena Baturina. The latter report generated a drawn-out legal battle between Nemtsov and Luzhkov.

Timchenko took Nemtsov and Milov to court over another opposition pamphlet titled «Putin. The Results. Ten Years.» In February the pair were required to retract two statements that were deemed slanderous and pay 200,000 rubles (about $7,000) in compensation.

No lawsuits have been filed against the authors of «Putin. Corruption.»

In December Nemtsov, Milov, and Ryzhkov filed their own defamation suit against Putin, seeking $34,000 in damages after the prime minister suggested in a nationally broadcast address that the three siphoned off budget money while they were in government in the 1990s.

In the same breath, Putin said that «extremist» rallies should be «cut short immediately.»

The lawsuit was unsuccessful and Nemtsov was subsequently arrested at a New Year’s Eve opposition rally and detained for 15 days.

RFE/RL’s Russian Service contributed to this report

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/russia_opposition_party_says_corruption_rose_under_putin/3541988.html

As governments including Egypt and Cameroon make headlines for shutting down Internet access, Reporters Without Borders issued a new report detailing other countries where access is at risk.

The report was issued in conjunction with the World Day Against Cyber-Censorship. Reporters Without Borders issued an updated list of governments from Australia to Uzbekistan that are restricting or censoring the Internet.

The current list of “Enemies of the Internet” includes: Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. Burma, for example, made the list after the government took drastic measures in 2010 to reorganize the country’s Internet and to arm itself with the means to cut off its population’s web access without affecting official connections.

A list of «Countries under Surveillance» includes Australia, Bahrain, Belarus, Egypt, Eritrea, France, Libya, Malaysia, Russia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. Australia is on the list because the government has not abandoned its dangerous plan to filter online traffic, even though this will be hard to get parliamentary approval.

“One in three of the world’s Internet users does not have access to an unrestricted Internet,” Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Jean-François Julliard said. “Around 60 countries censor the Internet to varying degrees and harass netizens. At least 119 people are currently in prison just for using the Internet to express their views freely. These are disturbing figures.»

The potential of the Internet to spread information scares governments and makes traditional censorship less effective. In many countries, officials are trying to use the Internet to spread official propaganda and increase control over citizens.

For example, the President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez announced on TV that «the Internet cannot be something open where anything can be done and said. No, every country has to impose its rules and regulations.»

The complete report is available in PDF here: http://12mars.rsf.org/i/Internet_Enemies.pdf

A version of this story first appeared in IJNet’s Russian edition: http://ijnet.org/ru

IJNET

Источник: http://12mars.rsf.org/i/Internet_Enemies.pdf

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says the Uzbek authorities have forced it to close its office in Tashkent, ending the advocacy group’s presence in the country after 15 years.

The group said the government in Tashkent had for years been trying to obstruct its work in Uzbekistan by denying visas and work accreditation to its staff.

In a statement by Executive Director Kenneth Roth posted on the group’s website, HRW said it was officially informed of the move on March 10.

«With the expulsion of Human Rights Watch, the Uzbek government sends a clear message that it isn’t willing to tolerate critical scrutiny of its human rights record,» the statement added.

Roth wrote that HRW would continue to report on rights abuses in Uzbekistan.

‘Mentality’ Questioned

In December 2010, the director of HRW’s Tashkent office, Steve Swerdlow, was denied accreditation by Uzbekistan’s Justice Ministry to represent HRW in the country.

That followed a similar incident in 2008, when the group’s Tashkent representative, Igor Vorontsov, was banned from working in the country. Uzbek authorities said the Russian national did not understand the Uzbek «mentality» and wasn’t the right person for the job.

Prior to Vorontsov’s case, in 2007 the Uzbek authorities refused to extend work accreditation for the head of the office, Andrea Berg. Berg, who had been based in Tashkent since 2005, was forced to leave the country.

According to Swerdlow, the government wields almost total control over civil society and has closed off the country almost entirely to the outside world. «The sense of isolation is very palpable when you get to Tashkent,» Swerdlow says. «In a sense, you can almost feel you are entering a vacuum, a time warp of sorts.»

Tashkent came under international condemnation after government forces cracked down on a popular uprising in the eastern city of Andijon in May 2005. The bloody clampdown prompted the European Union to impose limited sanctions on Uzbekistan, which were eventually lifted.

Following the Andijon events, the government put pressure on international media organizations and NGOs operating in the country, denying them official registration.

Media organizations, including RFE/RL and the BBC, were forced to close their bureaus in Tashkent.

Bad On Human Rights, Good On Afghanistan

But while criticizing Tashkent for systematic violations of human rights and a lack of democratic reforms, Western states like the United States have acknowledged Uzbekistan’s vital role in supporting NATO-led troops in neighboring Afghanistan.

«Uzbekistan is increasingly playing a strategic role in the war in Afghanistan,» Swerdlow says. «For that reason, NATO and Germany, which has an air base in Uzbekistan now, and the United States, which is using what is known as the northern distribution network to route these supplies, and the EU, have been increasingly warming ties with Uzbekistan and engaging with the government.»

Swerdlow calls on the international community, in particular the United States and the European Union, to condemn Uzbekistan’s actions in regard to HRW and overall human rights issues in the country.

They should make it clear to the Uzbek government that there will be real consequences for not living up to its international human rights commitments, Swerdlow said.

He said the issue of HRW’s presence in Uzbekistan was brought up by Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, during Karimov’s visit to Brussels in January. The United States also recently raised the issue in annual bilateral consultations held in Tashkent.

Despite that, Tashkent has persisted in violating its human rights obligations, Swerdlow says.

Vorontsov, the previous HRW representative in Tashkent, tells RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service that the EU’s decision to lift its limited sanctions on Tashkent — and the West’s improving ties with the Uzbek government — has emboldened the Uzbek authorities.

«The Uzbek side now apparently thinks that they shouldn’t listen to any criticism anymore and that the country no longer needs — even for propaganda purposes — to tolerate even the nominal presence of HRW,» Vorontsov says.

Abdurahmon Tashanov, an Uzbek human rights activist, says HRW’s presence in Uzbekistan provided important «moral support» for local rights defenders. «Without HRW, human rights issues in Uzbekistan will be left like orphans,» he says.

written by Farangis Najibullah, with contributions from RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service

Farangis Najibullah, RFE/RL

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