War of words as authorities and journalists accuse each other of unfair treatment.

By Lochin Karimov — Central Asia Human Rights Reporting Project

Tajik government has fallen out badly with the media, accusing journalists of poor and inaccurate reporting on recent clashes with militants in the east of the country. Media rights groups have expressed alarm at curbs placed on press and internet news outlets, while reporters say they were unable to check facts because of a virtual blackout on information about the violence.

The stand-off has got steadily worse. Media representatives refuse to acknowledge any possibility that some of the reporting might have been skewed. By placing curbs on internet and press publications, the authorities have not helped matters.

In an October 18 statement, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic voiced concern at the “ongoing deterioration of the media freedom situation” resulting from newspaper closures and blocked access to news websites.

Officials in Tajikistan reacted furiously to the way the media reported clashes between government troops and armed militants who killed 25 soldiers in a single encounter in the Rasht valley on September 19. The attackers are believed to be led by former opposition commanders from the 1992-97 Tajik civil war, possibly assisted by militants coming in from neighbouring Afghanistan.

The first criticism of media coverage came on September 25 when Tajik state TV carried a message from the defence ministry’s press office accusing private media outlets of biased reporting. The statement singled out an article in the weekly Faraj that urged the defence ministry to apologise to the families of the soldiers killed in the ambush and called for the resignation of the defence minister.

Seventeen media outlets and organisations responded to the ministry statement with one of their own, rejecting the allegations of bias, defending their right to report, and accusing defence officials of trying to persecute them.
The next move came from Defence Minister Sherali Khairulloev, in the shape of a strongly-worded statement of his own, published by the government news agency Khovar on October 4.

Khairulloev was incensed at what he felt was a “note of glee” in some of the reporting on the conflict, and said this hardly constituted true press freedom.
“Most of the articles by Tajikistan’s independent newspapers about a brutal attack by hired terrorists on a defence ministry convoy smell of support for this shameful action by ruthless murderers. Don’t our esteemed journalists realise that offering support to terrorists equals abetting terrorism, and that supporting terrorists is a serious crime?” he said.

“Many newspapers show no sign of condemning the odious actions of bloodthirsty terrorists, with the exception of a few that can be counted on the fingers of on one hand.”

The minister also referred to a wider political context in which some opposition politicians have accused the government rather than the armed militants of being principally to blame for the conflict. He dismissed opposition calls for a negotiated end to the fighting.

“At a time like this, they’re calling for dialogue and negotiations. One would like to ask, dialogue with whom? With terrorists and murderers, or with you leaders of political parties?” he asked.

As the dispute became more heated, three newspapers – Paykon, Istiqlol and Faraj – found themselves unable to publish, and access was blocked to local and foreign websites including avesta.tj, Tjknews.com, ferghana.ru and centrasia.ru.
The director of Oila-Print, Siyovush Hamdamov, which used to print all three papers, said the block on printing had nothing to do with politics – Istiqlol and Paykon owed it a lot of money. Faraj has now broken ties with the printing house as paper prices have gone up.

Nuriddin Karshiboev, who heads the National Association of Independent Media, dismissed these contractual questions and said, “It’s absolutely clear that what’s going on is the method where an official makes a phone call and issues instructions not to print them.”

The head of the Association of Internet Providers, Parvina Ibodova, said its members had been ordered by the communications ministry to block certain websites. She told the Asia-Plus news agency that they had written to request clarification from the ministry, but in the meantime had little option but to comply.

In response to what they see as intimidation, media rights groups have rallied to the cause.

Karshiboev’s association wrote to the defence minister on October 14 asking him to provide specific names of media outlets and journalists in relation to his allegations of supporting terrorism. A week later, a group of private media outlets and media rights groups set up a new Committee to Protect the Professional Rights of Journalists, which aims to put a stop to pressures on the media, restore unrestricted access to online media resources and print facilities, and in general get back to the same level of media freedom that existed until the dispute broke out.

The committee says its website will serve as a platform for media outlets and individual journalists unable to publish elsewhere.

The positions taken by the government and the media remain as far apart as ever.
Media representatives accuse the authorities of shooting the messenger instead of addressing alleged failings in the conduct of military operations in eastern Tajikistan.

Journalists also say the authorities have made it extremely difficult to get hold of information on which to base accurate reports on the ambush and on other incidents such as a helicopter crash during the security operation. They say that when they rang the defence and interior ministries, no one picked up the phones.

IWPR reporters had a similar experience when they tried to contact both ministries to get their views on the media reporting dispute.

Zebo Tajibaeva, acting director of the Asia-Plus news agency and until recently an IWPR editor, called on journalists to show restraint so as to avoid creating even greater tensions.

“I’d recommend that journalists avoid pouring oil on the flames at the moment. I think it would be better to pay more attention to behaving professionally, doing one’s job and providing objective, reliable information,” she said. “[Protest] banners and court cases won’t scare anyone and won’t resolve anything. The reactions can wait until the Rasht operation is over.”
Lochin Karimov is the pseudonym of a journalist in Tajikistan.

This article was produced jointly under two IWPR projects: Building Central Asian Human Rights Protection & Education Through the Media, funded by the European Commission; and the Human Rights Reporting, Confidence Building and Conflict Information Programme, funded by the Foreign Ministry of Norway.
The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of IWPR and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of either the European Union or the Foreign Ministry of Norway.

IWPR

Источник: http://iwpr.net/

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan — Europe’s main human rights and security body, the OSCE, has criticized Tajikistan over its maltreatment of independent media and urged it to improve its record.

Since Sept. 29, several Tajik and foreign news web sites have been inaccessible in the Central Asian nation, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said Monday in a statement.

A number of independent newspapers and printing houses had been subjected to tax inspections, after which the printing houses refused to print a number of independent newspapers, citing technical reasons, the OSCE said.

«The practices of blocking web sites, preventing newspapers from printing and launching tax or prosecutorial inspections … are serious non-compliance with Tajikistan’s OSCE media freedom commitments,» senior OSCE official Dunja Mijatovic told Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi in a letter.

Mijatovic, the OSCE’s representative on freedom of the media, urged Tajik authorities to recognize the importance of media pluralism and «reverse the ongoing deterioration of the media freedom situation in Tajikistan.»

Foreign Ministry spokesman Davlatali Nazriyev said the Tajik authorities had received the OSCE letter but denied the charges.

«I dare say, Internet sites are not mass media, according to legislation,» he said. «This is not only our legislation that states this, but also the legislation of countries in Europe. As for newspapers, no newspapers were shut down, while the suspension of some of them is due to purely technical problems.»
In the letter, Mijatovic raised cases pending against several local papers, several of which were facing closure because of disproportionate damages award by courts in libel cases brought by officials.

«I believe such actions [against media] are an initiative of some state officials responsible for the country’s ideology and keen to show that they are handling the situation in conditions of political instability,» said Zafar Abdullayev, director of private news agency Avesta.

Avesta’s site has been also blocked by the authorities. The agency had published critical opinions about official policies.

Reuters

Источник: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/tajiks-urged-to-stop-attacks-on-free-media/420604.html

Many Tajiks and Uzbeks believe there is no love lost between their respective presidents, Emomali Rahmon and Islom Karimov.

This week, Karimov took it one step further. He called Tajikistan’s national scheme — the Roghun hydropower plants — a «stupid project.»

If Tajikistan goes on to complete Roghun as planned, it would leave Uzbekistan facing water shortages for eight years until Roghun dam filled with water, Karimov said during his trip to Karakalpakstan autonomous republic.

Karimov likened Roghun to Russia’s Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric station, where an accident caused the deaths of 75 people in 2009. Both Soviet-era giant projects were drafted by the same people some 40 years ago with disregard to safety issues, Karimov said.

Over the past two decades, the two long-serving Central Asian leaders have had a strained relationship and frequent disagreements over almost all major bilateral and regional issues, ranging from security and common borders to transport, energy, and regional cooperation.

Roghun, however, has proved an even bigger disagreement.

Tajikistan depends on Uzbekistan for gas, transport routes, and electricity power lines. For years, Dushanbe has blamed Tashkent for leaving it in an economic blockade by frequently blocking Tajik transit trains and vehicles, cutting off gas supplies and preventing Tajikistan from importing Turkmen electricity through its territory.

Water seems to be the only thing makes Uzbekistan dependant on its impoverished, upstream neighbor.

Dushanbe’s only hope is Roghun, which Tajikistan hopes will make the country a major electricity exporter and puts an end to its energy reliance on neighbors.

Tashkent, however, has asked Russia and the United Nations to pressure Dushanbe to stop the project.

I’ve been fighting against this stupid project for five years, Karimov told Karakalpakstan farmers.

He promised not to let Tajikistan to reduce the amount of water flowing to Uzbekistan and the shrinking Aral Sea even by «one gram.»

Karimov’s speech was greeted with lengthy applause by farmers.

In private, however, some might be wondering the two neighboring nations would have been far better off if their leaders instead opted for cooperation and rapprochement.

Farangis Najibullah, RFE/RL

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/Dont_Love_Your_Neighbor/2185027.html

Tajik authorities say graduates of foreign religious schools could pose a threat to their homeland — and they’re taking steps to address the issue.

Tajik students studying at Cairo’s Al-Azhar University say they are concerned about Dushanbe’s request that the prominent Islamic school send back anyone studying outside official government quotas.

Representatives of the students told RFE/RL’s Tajik Service that they have appealed to Tajikistan’s Embassy in Cairo and the university administration to allow some 50 Tajik students to complete their studies at Al-Azhar.

The students entered the university privately and now fear the Al-Azhar might send them home, as required by the authorities in Dushanbe.

«Some students are returning home because their parents have been questioned about their children’s whereabouts,» student representatives say.

The authorities have stressed lately that Tajik citizens should only enter foreign religious schools through government quotas or at least with the knowledge of the country’s education officials.

Education authorities and Tajik diplomats abroad – most notably the country’s ambassador to Pakistan – have repeatedly warned that some young men from Tajikistan have ended up in unregistered and underground madrasahs with extremist agendas.

The most serious warning, however, came most recently from President Emomali Rahmon.

Shortly before the start of the new school year, Rahmon called on parents to bring their children back from foreign madrasahs.

«Most of them will become extremists and terrorists, because those schools don’t only teach religion,» Rahmon said.

He added that the Tajik religious authorities had set up their own religious schools and opened an Islamic university in Dushanbe to train domestic mullahs.

The Education Ministry announced recently that students returning from foreign Islamic schools would take a «rehabilitation» program. The ministry did not elaborate on the details.

Education officials say they do not have the exact number of Tajik citizens undergoing religious studies abroad. They estimate there are at least 6,000 of them. However, they say that only some 2,000 have informed the authorities about their religious studies abroad.

Farangis Najibullah, RFE/RL

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/

As security forces in Tajikistan hunt for suspected Islamic militants in the Rasht Valley, the country’s Defense Ministry is lashing out at media outlets that have questioned the government’s crisis-management skills. Far from cowering in the face of a government attack, however, media outlets are preparing to fight back.

Telephone connections with the Rasht Valley remain severed and state-controlled media outlets are providing few details about the ongoing security sweep in the region. The dearth of verifiable information has fueled speculation about the nature of the threat: officials insist that international Islamic terrorists are behind a string of recent violent incidents [4]. But some observers believe [5] that former opposition elements from Tajikistan’s 1992-97 Civil War may be becoming militarily active again.

Whatever the source, fighting is continuing in the Rasht Valley, according to government reports. On October 4, at least four elite police officers were killed in Rasht’s Kamarob Gorge, scene of a September 19 militant ambush [6] that left at least 28 Tajik soldiers dead. Some reports put this week’s death toll higher.

In an October 4 statement, Defense Minister Sherali Khairulloyev said that media criticism of the government’s response to the militant threat was tantamount to disloyalty. Critical reports help “destabilize” the country, Khairulloyev contended, adding that journalists who continue to question government tactics and strategy could face punishment. Khairulloyev’s statement was published by the state-run Khovar news agency.

The blame and recrimination started on September 25, when the Defense Ministry repeatedly aired a news conference on state television. In the broadcast, Tajik defense officials accused private media outlets of attempting to weaken the country’s leadership by criticizing the government’s response to the recent security challenges – namely, a high-profile prison break [7] in late August in Dushanbe, followed by a suicide bomb attack in Khujand, and the ongoing military operations in Rasht.

Media rights advocates seem undaunted by the Defense Ministry’s PR offensive. In a September 27 statement, representatives of 17 media organizations, including the National Association of Independent Mass-Media in Tajikistan (NANSMIT), rejected the Defense Ministry’s accusations. “Military officials went far beyond their mandates,” the statement asserted. “This is an attempt upon the professional rights of journalists and a violation of the constitutional right of citizens on access to information.”

“We also consider that the Defense Ministry is trying to shift the blame on to the media, whereas the latter carry out their mission in compliance with legislation and professional ethics,” the statement added.

Starting on September 29, some media outlets – including the independent Avesta news agency, tjknews.com and centrasia.ru – experienced periodic access problems in Tajikistan after publishing stories that cast doubt on the government’s version of events. Media representatives suspect the government is taking action to block access to the websites.

NANSMIT chairman Nuriddin Karshibaev told EurasiaNet.org that the government had deployed the tax police in an apparent attempt to silence some nettlesome media outlets. Inspectors were said to be probing the finances of the private Oila printing press, where most of the country’s independent weeklies are printed. There is an “obvious” link between the recent critical coverage and authorities’ “punitive measures,” Karshibaev said.

Marat Mamadshoev, editor of the Asia Plus news agency suggested that recent events were highlighting a “struggle” within government. “There are many people who want to eliminate independent mass media and control everything,” he said. They do this to “avoid criticism.”

NANSMIT representatives say they are preparing for a fight. Both the journalists and the defense minister are demanding apologies from each other. “Non-state media have the duty to make a very clear statement about the suppression of freedom of expression,” Karshibaev said. He added that media representatives were considering filing a lawsuit against the Defense Ministry.
Lidia Isamova, a well-known Tajik journalist and media analyst said the Defense Ministry stance was bringing journalists together in an “unprecedented” show of “solidarity.”

Khurshed Atovullo, chairman of Tajikistan’s Media Alliance, another media rights advocacy body, told EurasiaNet.org that at least five prominent editors had agreed on a response to the defense minister’s accusations. “They will publish their next issue with a blank page carrying the headline, ‘Upon the request of the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Tajikistan, General Khairulloyev,’ instead of telling readers about the events in Rasht,” Atovullo said.

2010 © Eurasianet

EurasiaNet

Источник: http://www.eurasianet.org/node/62089

Dozens of Tajik students, professors, and scholars were taken off a Tehran-bound plane at Dushanbe’s airport as they were traveling to Iran on various religious education programs, officials in Dushanbe have said.

Officials removed the group from the plane on September 4, but did not publicly comment on the issue until today.

Education Ministry officials said the authorities had acted because they did not have enough information about the aim of the trip to Iran.

Rajabali Sangov, head of the ministry’s department of international relations, told RFE/RL’s Tajik Service that the ministry received a vague letter from the Iranian Embassy in Dushanbe informing them that 71 Tajik students and professors, among others, were traveling to Iran to undergo short-term educational courses.

He said the letter came only the day before the group was planning to get on a flight to Tehran. Sangov said the ministry found out that none of the group had official permission from the relevant authorities to leave their studies or jobs to go abroad.

«If they were indeed going with educational programs, why didn’t they inform the Education Ministry about their plans?» Sangov asked.

«After all, the ministry is in charge of educational matters and projects in Tajikistan. Besides, most of them are students and teachers and they were going away at the beginning of the academic year,» he added.

«They should have informed education officials that they were going to be absent for some time. They were to spend one month in Iran, and we don’t know what exactly they would study there.»

‘Bring Them Home’

It’s not the first time Tajik officials have stopped students from traveling abroad to study at foreign religious schools.

Late last month, the ministry canceled its earlier decision to send 10 Tajik students to Pakistani madrasahs, citing «technical» reasons and a «lack of clarity» in their learning programs.

The moves came days after President Emomali Rahmon urged parents to remove their children from foreign madrasahs.
During a trip to southern Khatlon province shortly before the new academic year started, Rahmon said foreign madrasah graduates could pose security threats to the country.

«We have opened our own religious university, and we prepare our mullahs right here,» Rahmon said, and implored parents to bring any of their children studying abroad home, «otherwise the majority of them would turn into extremists and terrorists in five, 10 years time.»

«They don’t only study religion there,» the president said. «They will come back and create problems for the nation and government.»

Religious Renaissance

People in the predominantly Muslim country have attained considerable religious freedom since the collapse of communism nearly two decades ago.

Tens of thousands of mosques have been built, thousands of Muslims have been given an opportunity to perform the hajj pilgrimage each year, and major celebrations in the Islamic calendar have been approved by the government as public holidays.

At least 20 official Islamic madrasahs and an Islamic university operate in the country. In addition, hundreds more students attend religious schools in countries like Iran, Pakistan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.

However, Rahmon’s secular government has come under criticism in recent years for restricting Islamic practices.

Security and law enforcement agencies have conducted raids on mosques and private houses to prevent mullahs from running unsanctioned religious classes. Officials have outlawed the Islamic head scarf, or hijab, in schools and public offices.

And this week, Tajikistan’s Council of Islamic Ulema, a pro-government independent religious body, urged imams not to call children and students for prayers in mosques.

The council insists its only aim is not to harm school attendance, as some prayers take place during school hours. Yet the call has outraged some imams, who say the authorities are unhappy with the steadily increasing number of children turning up for mosque prayers.

Importing Extremism?

The authorities have repeatedly highlighted the threat of extremism and terrorism posed by graduates of foreign religious schools, notably by those who attend unofficial madrasahs.

Authorities say officially 2,000 Tajiks are studying at foreign madrasahs through educational grants and quotas, and intergovernmental agreements.

But regional media estimate that several thousand more students have been sent privately to foreign religious schools. An estimated 4,000 Tajiks reportedly study in Pakistani madrasahs alone.

Tajikistan’s embassy in Islamabad has repeatedly expressed its concern that some of the students have ended up in underground schools run by extremist groups.

Tajikistan has banned a number of religious groups, including the Salafi movement, which the government claims is being run by foreign madrasah graduates with radical ideas.

Many such graduates, however, insist the authorities’ fears are baseless.

Dushanbe resident Said Muhammad Ghozi says he studied in a madrasah in Pakistan along with his four brothers in the 1990s. Now his sons and several of his nephews study at the same religious school.

«We didn’t study anything remotely radical there,» Ghozi said. «Our educational program solely focused on Islam and also on computer studies.»

Many others in Tajikistan, however, share the government’s concerns.

Abdullo Rahnamo, a Dushanbe-based analyst of religious and social issues, says that unfortunately, there have been real security threats posed by graduates of foreign schools, particularly those who attend underground schools, and promote the ideas of different religious sects upon their return.

RFE/RL’s Tajik Service contributed to this report

Farangis Najibullah, RFE/RL

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/Tajiks_Stopped_From_Traveling_to_Iran_Pakistan_For_Religious_Courses/21

For the first time in nearly two decades, Tajiks will be able to start their day by leafing through the pages of their own daily newspaper.

«Imruz News» (News Today), launched on Monday, is a fairly standard black-and-white, four-page newspaper that covers a broad range of issues — politics, economics, international news.

But the paper, in becoming the first Tajik daily to be published regularly since 1992, is turning modern convention on its head.

Dire financial straits wreaked havoc on many Soviet-era Tajik news publications following independence, forcing those that survived to become weeklies. Now, as media outlets worldwide struggle to reinvent themselves for an online future, «Imruz News» is taking a page from tradition and will come out five times a week.

As newspapers worldwide have killed their foreign bureaus, «Imruz News» has set up a network of correspondents placed in Tajikistan’s regions and far-flung places such as Washington, Tehran, Istanbul, as well former Soviet republics such as Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.

The opinion of Tajik media is that «Imruz News» won’t be struggling financially. Editors of the newspaper have said they are operating with a loan from Tajikistan’s Orienbank — controlled by Hasan Asadullozoda, a highly influential tycoon and brother-in-law of President Emomali Rahmon.
The choice of the editor in chief for the new daily, Rajabi Mirzo, was a pleasant surprise for many newspaper readers in the country. Mirzo enjoys a reputation as an experienced journalist and outspoken critic of the government and of president himself.

Mirzo’s own publication, «Ruzi Nav» (New Day), was closed down six years ago by authorities amid widespread criticism that its content had outraged officials.

Mirzo was unemployed for several years until he was offered the editor’s position at «Imruz» radio, another independent media organization widely linked to Orienbank.

Can «Imruz News,» with its experienced editor in chief and the alleged support of a powerful oligarch, be able to overcome all odds and reacquaint Tajiks with the daily newspaper?

To succeed, it will have to overcome a major obstacle that has doomed its predecessors.

First and foremost, as a daily, «Imruz News» must be able to reach its customers, well, daily. This is no easy task in Tajikistan, where the newspaper, like others, must depend on the Tajik postal service to distribute its product in the regions. The postal service, lacking funds, transport, and personnel, often takes weeks to get letters and publications to addressees.

As a result, newspapers have become a things of the past for many Tajik villagers, and considering that city dwellers have increasingly turned to the Internet for news, it’s hard to see how this daily will be able to deliver.

Farangis Najibullah, RFE/RL

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/Daily_Ambitions_Tajikistan_newspaper/2143514.html

A major international manhunt is under way after dozens of enemies of the Tajik state broke out from prison this week, but you wouldn’t know it from the official reaction.

Among the 25 men who escaped from a high-security State Security Ministry prison on the night of August 22-23 were Tajiks convicted of planning to overthrow the government. Others had been imprisoned for terrorist and Islamic militant activities. Eleven were foreigners, including Uzbek, Afghan, and Russian citizens of North Caucasus origin.

The prison break was carried out within sight of the presidential palace and left one guard dead and another beaten up. Just hours later, in a prison belonging to the Justice Ministry within the same walled complex, four guards were killed in a firefight with the escapees.

The brazen escape has led the authorities to dispatch additional troops in an attempt to catch the fugitives before they can leave the country. Their presumed destination is Afghanistan, where some of the escapees reportedly spent time in the 1990s.
The escape has attracted the attention of outsiders, with Russia’s Federal Security Service agreeing on August 25 to help with the search operation, and Tajik authorities requesting help from Interpol and neighboring countries. Kyrgyzstan has responded by strengthening security measures along the Tajik border.

And inside the country, as Tajiks question how such a bold maneuver could be carried out without inside help, the Prosecutor-General’s Office has opened a criminal investigation and discussed whether to press charges against prison officials.

But while the escape might appear to be too close for comfort for Emomali Rahmon, the Tajik president has gone about business as usual.

On August 25, Rahmon went ahead with a scheduled trip to the southern Khatlon region, opening new schools and discussing education. And during his numerous meetings with local people, Rahmon made no mention of the escape that is on the minds of so many in Tajikistan.

High-Profile Prisoners

Upon hearing news of the prison break, speculation was rife in Dushanbe that family members of two high-profile men with ties to the government were involved.

One of these central figures is the former chief of the presidential government, Ghaffor Mirzoev, a onetime Rahmon ally who is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence on charges including uprising against the government.

The second is Mirzo Ziyoev, a former Islamic opposition commander who went on to join the government as emergency situations minister and who was killed during a mysterious military operation in the eastern Tavildara district in 2009.

The Tajik government has since provided clarity by releasing a list of the 25 wanted men and their pictures. The list indeed included the names of a brother of Mirzoev and an uncle and brother of Ziyoev. However, Mirzoev himself and two of Ziyoev’s sons who were sentenced to long prison terms in separate cases this year were not on the list.
Many of the fugitives, including Hikmat Azizov and Juma Ibrohimov, are believed to be loyal allies of Ziyoev who fought alongside him against the secular government during Tajikistan’s 1992-97 civil war.

The whereabouts of the men is unknown and details of the break sparse, with government officials reluctant to disclose any details that could hinder the ongoing investigation and search operations.

However, it is known that at least seven security checkpoints have been set up on the highway connecting the Tajik capital and the northern province of Sughd.

And RFE/RL’s Tajik Service has reported that government troops have been dispatched to the Rasht Valley, including the Tavildara district, a onetime stronghold of the Islamic opposition and birthplace of many of the fugitives.

RFE/RL’s correspondent in Rasht, Mahmud Shodi, reports that a search operation for the escaped convicts is taking place in the area, and is causing panic and fueling speculation among locals.

Challenge To Government

The “prison break of the century” is also a hot topic among insiders and experts on Tajikistan.

”Under the current circumstances in Tajikistan, it is very difficult for these men to unite under one specific aim and cause trouble for the government,” says Davlati Usmon, a former member of the Islamic opposition and former presidential candidate. “It’s very difficult but not impossible. The government, too, is concerned that they would create serious problems for authorities.”

Parviz Mullojonov, a Dushanbe-based political expert, suggests that the fugitives “have no clear support base in Tajikistan now, therefore it would be impossible for them to destabilize the country,” but that this could change if they “and other forces who oppose the government decided to cooperate.”

Andrei Grozin, the head of the Central Asian department at the Moscow-based Institute of CIS Countries, suggests that the escape puts the spotlight on widespread corruption in the Tajik prison system. Grozin does not rule out that “someone from very high position” could have been involved.

…And Serious Signal To President

Tajikistan’s security service is largely filled with people loyal to Rahmon. Many of the highest positions are held by people from the president’s native south.

But Usmon says this incident is a serious warning to the president to review his security policies.

Whatever the reason behind the prison break—corruption or the incompetence of current security officials—the president can no longer rely on these people, Usmon says.

”It’s time for the president to change his criteria for selecting security officials, and it better be based on professionalism.”

RFE/RL’s Tajik Service contributed to this report

Farangis Najibullah, RFE/RL

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/Tajikistans_Official_Calm_Belies_Potential_Prison_Break_Crisis/2138513.

Stark differences have emerged in how the Kyrgyz media have covered the origins and aftermath of the interethnic violence that erupted the Central Asian country in mid-June.

In some cases, ethnic Uzbeks are vilified and accused of sole responsibility for the unrest that left more than 350 people dead and 400,000 displaced in the southern provinces of Jalal-Abad and Osh. Other coverage is notable for its failure to address the Uzbek side of the story, or to downplay the scope of the violence against ethnic Uzbeks.

Nationalistic rhetoric and open calls for violence have threatened to heighten interethnic animosity at a time when international organizations, foreign donors, and human rights groups are working with the interim government to calm the situation and prevent another outbreak of violence.

Sultan Jumagulov, a Bishkek-based independent media consultant, says several independent newspapers, including the independent Kyrgyz-language newspapers «Alibi» and «Apta,» took a decidedly pro-Kyrgyz stance from the beginning.

«When interethnic clashes in the south began, these papers started publishing materials under such slogans like ‘Kyrgyzstan For Kyrgyz people,’ ‘Our Fatherland Is In Trouble,» Jumagulov says. «And these publications had this mood of instigation against some minorities.»

Dangerous ‘Alibi’

Just days before interethnic clashes broke out in Osh on June 10-11, «Alibi» published an editorial on June 8, which contained inflammatory passages and was illustrated with a picture of a clenched fist:
Without any doubt, under the current circumstances Uzbeks will become even more impudent if we don’t attack them seriously…

We say so, because we heard several groups of Kyrgyz in Talas region say: ‘If Uzbeks in Jalal-Abad do not stop bothering the Kyrgyz, we will go there and put [Uzbeks] in their place…

Therefore, if [Uzbeks] don’t appreciate our hospitality, then the government along with people would have to properly attack Uzbeks.

Jumagulov says that «Alibi» and «Apta» have for some time been publishing material of an ultra-nationalistic nature. They would rhetorically ask why the Kyrgyz were «poor in their own country,» while «other nationalities were rich.» Alternatively, he says, they would ask why other nationalities were not «respecting» the Kyrgyz.

«Alibi,» a weekly based in Bishkek but distributed nationwide with a circulation of about 10,000, provides recent examples of content that could be read as a provocation to violence.

The July 13 editorial titled «‘Alibi’ Withdraws The Line Under This Argument» appears to pin blame for the violence on ethnic Uzbeks, the country’s largest minority, even if it they are not mentioned by name:
These other nationalities who started this war and murdered Kyrgyz people, then — being unable to defend themselves — ran away, would be put in their place by our very united efforts.

The coverage of mainstream Kyrgyz news agencies, such as «24kg» and «AkiPress,» both of which are privately owned and are published online in Kyrgyz, Russian, and English, have tended to downplay the extent of violence in the south.

While international media were quick to identify the interethnic nature of the violence, «24kg» and «AkiPress» adopted the terms «mass unrest» or «June events» and took care to avoid mention of the ethnicity of the two battling sides.

In recent weeks, international media have focused much of their coverage on how ethnic Uzbeks have been disproportionately targeted by police raids, arbitrary arrests, and even torture while in detention.

Reporting from Osh and Jalal-Abad by «24kg» and «AkiPress,» meanwhile, has generally focused on investigations into the origins of the unrest, the official number of casualties, local government appointments, and reconstruction efforts.

«Local people’s» anxiety about the possibility of future unrest is mentioned almost as an aside in a July 28 article published by «24kg» and titled, «The City Of Osh Remains The Most Painful Place In Osh Province.»

The day before, on July 27, the news agency did concede that there were «different explanations» for the unrest. The solitary comment of Human Rights Ombudsman Tursunbek Akun explained the situation by saying «most international organizations accuse Kyrgyzstan, including the Kyrgyz, of genocide of Uzbeks.»

No Coverage, No Problem

State-run broadcast media have been remarkable mainly for what has been lacking in their coverage. In the early days of the June violence, there was a scarcity of reporting of fighting in the south, and very limited coverage of the plight of ethnic Uzbeks during and after the violence, according to media observers and ethnic Uzbeks questioned by RFE/RL.

In one Uzbek neighborhood right off the main Masaliev street in Osh, a woman gave a dour assessment of the television coverage. «On television they’re saying everything is fine,» she said on condition that her name not be used, out of fear for her safety. «We never see a single Uzbek being interviewed.»

In the southern village of Mazhnun-tol, a man named Mamirjan said that «TV broadcasts only one way. Uzbeks are always being blamed.» He alleged that state broadcasters were «showing Uzbek homes and saying they’re Kyrgyz.»

Media consultant Jumagulov says one of the country’s major television channels, EITR, has not broadcast a single report over the past two months on the thousands of ethnic Uzbeks who were forced to leave their homes.

He adds that his monitoring of national-television programming has revealed that the state channels’ coverage of the situation in the south has largely been limited to reports on officials’ visits and statements and on the delivery of humanitarian aid. Most interviewees, he says, call for peace or praise reconciliation efforts.

Correspondents from the two channels have offered explanations for the dearth of coverage.

Gulbara Kenjeeva, a regional correspondent of NTRK, told a media-monitoring group from the NGO «Journalists» that the threat of violence played a large part.

Kenjeeva recalled that on June 11 a young man with a knife attacked her and Ibragim Ashurov, NTRK’s cameraman. Only because they were able to drive away quickly, she said, were they able to survive. After that incident, they didn’t go out to cover events because all journalists were under threat, she said.

EITR correspondents were also attacked, according to «Journalists.» The NGO reports that Rasul Nasirdinov, an EITR cameraman, was beaten badly and his car damaged when he attempted to cover events.

Image Crisis

Kuban Abdymen, director of the Zamandash press agency in Bishkek, suggests that bias in some Kyrgyz media could be attributed to an effort to instill balance to the overall coverage, often seen to disproportionately portray ethnic Uzbeks as the main victims of the unrest.

«Since in the international media there were lots of one-sided articles about the events and the tragedy in Osh, these materials [in the Kyrgyz press] may be considered a natural response to them,» Abdymen says. «If the foreign media would try to be objective about the events in Kyrgyzstan, then there would be no reason to publish such articles.»

The international media focused much of their reporting on attacks on businesses and properties of ethnic Uzbeks, broadcasting images of the burning and looting of homes in Uzbek neighborhoods into living rooms around the world.

In some cases, ethnic Kyrgyz have come under fierce criticism in the Kyrgyz media for contribute to this portrayal of events.

Rights activist Tolekan Ismailova, who was oft-quoted by international media in the early days of the violence, has been called a «traitor» in Kyrgyz online forums for describing atrocities being committed. She announced in early July that she left the country after hearing that her life was under threat.

Bermet Malikova, a journalist with a Russian-language daily, says she was described by several Kyrgyz newspapers as having been «unpatriotic» for her coverage of the events. Malikova works for «Vecherny Bishkek,» which media observers widely mention as the most outspoken publication in Kyrgyzstan during the crisis. She says several Kyrgyz newspapers warned her not to become an «enemy of the Kyrgyz people.»

«Alibi,» for example, wrote in July that journalists such as Malikova have «no respect for their native language,» and called on her to make amends for her actions: «At this moment, when Kyrgyz people are swallowing blood, suffering, and expecting condolences and support, why don’t you offer your sincere condolences?» the paper asked.

One Story, Two Sides

The reporting by «Vecherny Bishkek» does not stand out as having been pro-Uzbek. A review of its coverage over past weeks reveals few interviews with ethnic Uzbeks. It had no reports from camps along the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border where tens of thousands of displaced ethnic Uzbeks sought shelter in the aftermath of the violence. Slide shows depicting burned-down Uzbek neighborhoods or displaced ethnic Uzbeks do not feature prominently on the paper’s website, as they have on many international news sites.

However, » Vecherny Bishkek» was one of very few Kyrgyz publications that openly — albeit sparsely — mentioned the Uzbek side of the story. «The Uzbek community claims the deaths of some 700 people,» the paper wrote on June 15 in a chronicle of events in Osh. «In Uzbek neighborhoods, residents are too afraid to call the ambulance,» the chronicle’s author, Andrei Oreshkin wrote.

«Vecherny Bishkek» also published some photos of dead bodies gathered on a street corner, tanks moving down streets, and burning homes and cars — although there is no mention of location or names that would indicate the ethnicity of the victims.

Overall, explains Akmat Alagushev, a Bishkek-based observer for the Media Policy Institute, coverage of the unrest has revealed that Kyrgyz journalists «have split into two groups.»

«They keep accusing each other, with one side saying that the other papers are unpatriotic, and that group of papers calling the others too nationalistic,» Alagushev says.

RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service correspondent Venera Djumataeva contributed to this report

Farangis Najibullah, RFE/RL

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/Is_Kyrgyz_Media_Providing_The_Whole_Picture/2114927.html

The son of former Tajik Prosecutor-General Bobojon Bobokhonov has been arrested on corruption charges, the latest in a string of moves initiated against current or former judicial officials by Bobokhonov’s successor.

The arrest of Faizullo Bobokhonov, a former regional prosecutor, on July 23 in Dushanbe follows the dismissal of 15 regional prosecutors amid graft allegations over the past six months.

The arrest is seen as the climax of an anticorruption effort orchestrated by Prosecutor-General Sherkhon Salimzoda, who in his previous capacity as head of the state anticorruption agency had a longstanding feud with his predecessor as prosecutor-general.

Faizullo Bobokhonov was charged with being an accomplice in a bribe-taking incident involving $20,000 while serving as chief prosecutor of Hisor, a suburban district outside the capital. Bobokhonov was dismissed from that position earlier this year, shortly after his influential father retired as prosecutor-general after serving for 10 years.

Mounting Problem

Prosecutor-General Salimzoda told reporters last week that he was determined to cleanse the judicial system of «elements involved in corruption.»

«We dismissed prosecutors whose subordinates were arrested in connection with corrupt activities, including taking bribes,» Salimzoda said. «The list includes the prosecutors of Vose and Jillikul districts and a deputy prosecutor of Khatlon province, whose subordinates were arrested on corruption charges, including taking bribes in the amount of $500 to $6,000.»

Listed among 20 most corrupt countries in the world by the Transparency International, Tajikistan’s government has come under immense criticism and pressure by international donors to launch an effective anticorruption campaign.

Domestically, too, the state has come under criticism from citizens over rampant bribery, particularly among law-enforcement agencies and the judicial system.

In May 2007, President Emomali Rahmon created a special anticorruption agency. Salimzoda, a former Dushanbe city prosecutor and parliament member who enjoyed a reputation as an assertive antigraft campaigner, was placed in charge of the new state agency.

Homing In

Soon after his appointment, Salimzoda began to focus on the Prosecutor-General’s office headed by Bobojon Bobokhonov, accusing prosecutors of protecting corrupt officials and dismissing high-profile criminal cases in return for bribes.

The anticorruption agency has detained several regional prosecutors and their deputies on bribery charges. Prior to Bobokhonov’s arrest, the most high-profile were the detentions in 2009 of the prosecutor of Muminobod district and deputy prosecutor of Vose district, both in the southern Khatlon Province.

The agency claimed both were caught «red-handed» while accepting bribes, but lacked the authority to detain suspects for longer than three days.

In both cases the Prosecutor-General’s Office, then headed by Bobojon Bobokhonov, succeeded in dismissing both cases and setting the suspects free.

Special Treatment

Salimzoda subsequently convinced parliament to change the law to allow decisions on the extension and modification of detention periods to fall exclusively to the courts.

According to anticorruption agency sources, the agency since its establishment has managed to bring to justice two prosecutors, four judges, and some 30 others within judicial system. Nearly 100 law-enforcement officers and dozens of other officials have also been slapped with corruption charges.

The agency’s activities riled Bobojon Bobokhonov, who as prosecutor-general publicly accused the anticorruption body of «provocations» against prosecutors and the police.

Bobojon Bobokhonov’s office also accused the anticorruption agency itself of involvement in graft, and opened several criminal cases on bribery charges against the agency’s employees.

Clearing The Air…Or Settling A Score?

Claims and counterclaims between the two bodies and the rumored feud between their former heads were well-documented in local media.

In 2009, Salimzoda was transferred from his post as the head of the anticorruption agency, and was appointed as a presidential adviser.

In January 2010, Bobokhonov unexpectedly retired from the prosecutor-general’s post, fueling rumors that he had done so under pressure.

Days later, Salimzoda was appointed as prosecutor-general.

The dismissal of regional prosecutors began shortly after Salimzoda’s appointment.

Many Tajiks have welcomed the prosecutors’ removals, while others suspect revenge could be at play, noting that many were close associates of the former prosecutor-general.

RFE/RL’s Tajik Service contributed to this report

Farangis Najibullah, RFE/RL

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/Tajik_ProsecutorGenerals_Antigraft_Efforts_Target_Predecessors_Son/2108