A group of international observers said on November 7 that Tajikistan’s presidential election, won in a landslide by incumbent President Emomali Rahmon, lacked pluralism and genuine choice. 
Tajikistan’s Central Election Commission earlier in the day announced that Rahmon, 61, had won a new seven-year term in the November 6 election, with 83.6 percent of the vote.

Andreas Baker, presidential adviser to the OSCE’s Parliamentary Assembly and an OSCE election observer in Dushanbe, said that «while quiet and peaceful, this was an election without a real choice.»

In an interview with RFE/RL’s Tajik Service, Baker criticized Rahmon for taking advantage of his incumbency.

«While there was extensive state media coverage of the official activities of the incumbent president, that meant that he had a significant advantage throughout the campaign,» Baker said.

Rahmon ran against five little-known and largely loyal candidates after his only serious rival, Oilnihol Bobonazarova, was disqualified after failing to gather the required number of signatures.

Baker also mentioned irregularities in the election.

«The observation mission took note of widespread proxy voting, family voting, and group voting, as well as indications of ballot-box stuffing on election day,» he said.

Baker noted restrictive requirements that hampered the changes of potential candidates during the registration process.

«[There were] restrictions on candidate registry, including an unreasonably large number of signatures needed for potential candidates to register,» he said. «And that posed some significant obstacles to a number of nominees, and we found that to be at odds with OSCE commitments.»

The head of the Commonwealth of Independent States’ observer mission, Sergei Lebedev, praised the «significantly high voter turnout» in the election, officially put at 86.6 percent.

Lebedev said the CIS mission had recorded some incidents of multiple voting and other minor irregularities at some polling stations. However, Lebedev said those incidents would not have had any impact on the outcome of the election.

No Congratulations

The leader of the opposition Social Democrat Party, Rahmatillo Zoirov, said his party didn’t recognize the election and «would not congratulate Rahmon» on his victory.

Zoirov said Rahmon’s «team is not capable of improving and reforming the economic, political, and social situation in the country.» The Social Democrats boycotted the election.

A representative of the opposition Islamic Renaissance Party, Jaloliddin Mahmudov, said that «since there wasn’t any real competition in the election, the voting process was transparent.»

Bobonazarova, the disqualified opposition candidate, criticized the election as a «political show staged by election officials and candidates.»

«The candidates running against Rahmon gathered 210,000 supporters’ signatures to enter the race,» Bobonazarova said. «How is it possible that the number of votes they received was a lot less than that?»

With reporting by Reuters and AFP

http://www.rferl.org/content/tajikistan-election-president-rahmon-landslide-victory/25160688.html

DUSHANBE — An opposition candidate for the Tajik presidency, Oinihol Bobonazarova, says she will not take part in the November 6 election.

Bobonazarova told RFE/RL on October 11 that her campaign had narrowly missed collecting the required number of signatures to register for the poll.

«I knew from the beginning that it was not going to be an easy campaign, but I didn’t realize there would be so many barriers and problems in the way,» Bobonazarova said.

The Central Election Commission had announced on October 10 that it was extending the registration deadline by one day — until October 11 — ostensibly to give Bobonazarova more time to hand over the required 210,000 signatures of her supporters.

She said her campaign had been «under pressure» from many sides, starting with state-run television and extending to regional governors, neighborhood committee heads, and even teachers, who did not want to see her run.

She also accused state media of unfairly focusing on incumbent President Emomali Rahmon’s campaign. «It felt like Rahmon wasn’t my only rival in this race,» she said. «My rival was the entire government with all its agencies, including its law enforcement structures.»

Bobonazarova earlier accused police of interfering in her campaign by arresting her supporters while they collected supporters’ signatures.

However, she said she was happy to see that her supporters were not willing to give up on their dreams for the country’s future, despite the abrupt end to her campaign. She apologized and said she had «tried until the last moment.»

She said none of the five officially registered candidates poses a real threat to Rahmon in the vote. She said she would have been the only «serious contender» to Rahmon and that her challenge had «frightened» the authorities.

‘No Impact’

The Central Election Commission said Bobonazarova’s decision will not have any impact on the election, which officials said would be «democratic, transparent, and free.»

Opposition leaders have also accused the authorities of excluding more than a million Tajik migrant workers — a major opposition power base — from the signature-gathering campaign.

Tajikistan’s election commission had ruled that the migrants have the right to vote in the election, but that they were not allowed to take part in the signature-gathering process.

Bobonazarova’s candidacy had been supported by the United Reformist Forces of Tajikistan, an alliance that brings together the country’s largest opposition party, the Islamic Renaissance Party, and the Social Democratic Party, as well as several nongovernmental organizations and influential political figures.

Six presidential candidates have officially registered for the election. In addition to Rahmon, who has been in power since 1992, they are Tolibbek Bukhoriev from the Agrarian Party; Olim Boboev from the Economic Reforms Party; Ismoil Talbakov from the Communist Party; Abduhalim Ghafforov from the Socialist Party; and Saidja’far Ismonov from the Democratic Party.

http://www.rferl.org/content/tajik-opposition-president/25133663.html

By Heather Maher

The Kremlin-funded network Russia Today (RT) abruptly pulled an American journalist off the air for talking about the Russian government’s antigay laws instead of the topic at hand. 

The drama unfolded as James Kirchick, a gay journalist who has written for «The New Republic,» and «The Washington Post,» among other publications (includingRFE/RL), was being interviewed from Stockholm by the Moscow-based television station for a panel discussion about U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning.

When the host turned to Kirchick for his thoughts, he pulled on a pair of rainbow-colored suspenders and quoted the American playwright and actor Harvey Fierstein as saying, «Being silent in the face of evil is something we can’t do.»

«You know, being here on a Kremlin-funded propaganda network, I’m going to wear my gay-pride suspenders and I’m going to speak out against the horrific antigay legislation that Vladimir Putin has signed into law, that was passed unanimously by the Russian Duma, that criminalizes homosexual propaganda, that effectively makes it illegal for people to talk about homosexuality in public,» Kirchick says.

The puzzled RT host responds, «Yes..?» and Kirchick continues, saying, «We’ve seen a spate of violent attacks on gay people…» before the host jumps in again to suggest they get back to the discussion about Manning.

«I’m not really interested in talking about Bradley Manning. I’m interested in talking about the horrific environment of homophobia in Russia right now,» Kirchick says. «And to let the Russian gay people know that they have friends and allies and solidarity from people all over the world, and that we’re not going to be silent in the face of this horrific repression that is perpetrated by your paymasters, by Vladimir Putin. That’s what I’m here to talk about.»

A Russian law aimed at blocking «homosexual propaganda» that went into effect last month «bars the public discussion of gay rights and relationships anywhere children might hear it.»

For more than two minutes, Kirchick dominated the live broadcast, at one point telling the sputtering anchorwoman, «You have 24 hours a day to lie about America, I am going to tell the truth with my two minutes.»

He also got in a swipe at the hostile media environment in Russia, saying he doesn’t know how employees of RT can sleep at night, «knowing how journalists in Russia are routinely harassed, tortured, and in some cases, killed by the Russian government.»

Reached afterward by RFE/RL at the Stockholm airport where he was about to board a plane to Tallinn, Kirchick said he normally didn’t agree to appear on networks like RT, which he called «propaganda channels of dictatorial governments.»

«But I thought, because of what’s going on in Russia right now, that this would be a really good way to draw attention to this cause,» he explained.

No More Taxi Ride

Kirchick said that after RT producers in Moscow abruptly cut off his audio feed, he headed to the airport in a prearranged taxi that the station agreed to pay for as part of his appearance agreement.

«So about halfway down the highway on the way to the airport, my driver gets a phone call from his boss, saying that the car ride has been canceled and that he’ll have to drop me off on the side of the road,» Kirchick said.

«And I told him that I would pick up the tab. But at the end, actually, at the airport, he said that the ride was free, so maybe we have some anti-Putin activists in the Swedish taxi company.»

He said RT didn’t explain their actions but did call him to tell him his ride was being canceled. Kirchick said he used «adult language and told them where to put it.»

RT bureaus in Moscow and Washington did not respond to e-mailed requests for comment.

The journalist said he planned to keep speaking out on against Russia’s antigay law, and added that he would «encourage anyone who goes on RT to hijack the forum» and do the same.

http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-today-kirchick-gay-law/25082432.html

Frequently criticized for its treatment of reporters and its crackdown on free media, Azerbaijan has thought of a way to give back to its journalists — by housing 155 of them in one apartment block.

June 26, 2013

by Konstantin Parshin

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, seen here on a billboard in the capital Dushanbe, recently greeted the return of Bozor Sobir, a well-known Tajik poet who has lived in the United States for 19 years. Sobir, who received a free apartment upon his return, is now openly supportive of Rahmon’s administration, drawing fierce criticism from a prominent journalist. The leader of the official Writers’ Union has threatened to sue the journalist, Olga Tutubalina, for libel. 

Official recognition as a member of the intelligentsia in present-day Tajikistan means lots of perks, including apartments and access to state-funded vacation resorts. In exchange, members – described as the “conscience of the nation” – are expected to support incumbent authorities. But one journalist is kicking up a storm by shining light on intellectual corrosion in the existing system.

The official “intelligentsia” in Tajikistan harkens back to Soviet days, when an artist or writer whose work buttressed state policies would gain membership in one of several state-supported “creative unions,” such as the Writers’ Union. It was a quid pro quo in which the artists enjoyed a relatively cushy life, and the state enhanced its legitimacy via arts and culture.

Important elements of the old Soviet system remain in place in Tajikistan. Loyalty still matters, and members of the existing, officially recognized intelligentsia are expected to embrace President Imomali Rahmon’s policies, providing the administration with intellectual cover.

The current controversy in Dushanbe began when Bozor Sobir, a poet who had long lived in the United States, returned to Tajikistan in late May. Sobir established his reputation during the Soviet era, and supported the United Tajik Opposition during the country’s 1992-97 Civil War. The victory of forces loyal to Rahmon in that conflict prompted Sobir to leave the country, and he resided in the United States for 19 years before Tajik authorities coaxed him into returning. Upon landing in Dushanbe on May 27, he dutifully praised Rahmon, who will run for another term this fall. Sobir called on Tajiks to unite around the president, and questioned the need for Tajikistan to have multiple political parties.

Those comments prompted Olga Tutubalina, the editor of the Asia-Plus weekly newspaper, to write a scathing commentary on May 30 that condemned Sobir by name and castigated the cozy relationships that many writers and artists maintain with the state. In asserting that many in Tajikistan’s intellectual class are frauds and sell-outs, she quoted a letter that Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin supposedly penned to pro-Soviet poet Maxim Gorky: “In fact, they are not [the nation’s] brains but its [waste].”

“Now, the former democrat and revolutionary [Sobir] has transformed himself into a high priest of authorities’ will,” Tutubalina added, reminding her readers of the poet’s role in the civil war.

Tutubalina’s blast did not go unanswered. A few days later, Writers’ Union Chairman Mekhmon Bakhti reportedly told a meeting of union members that Tutubalina had insulted not only all Tajik intellectuals, but also the whole nation, and that she should be sued. “The journalist misinterpreted Lenin’s words, and it is obvious that she dislikes Tajiks,” he told the Ozodagon news agency on June 17. Tutubalina is an ethnic Russian born and raised in Tajikistan.

“Should anyone say something about the intelligentsia in the same tone in another country – Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan or Georgia, for instance – they would skin that person or would drag him like a sacrificial animal in a game of buzkashi,” added Bakhti, referring to a polo-like game played with a decapitated goat.

For her part, Tutubalina told EurasiaNet.org that she did not mean to insult anyone. At the same time, she insists she has nothing to apologize for. “One particular segment of the intelligentsia does not deserve respect. I meant those who speak only when they get permission from above,” she said.

“Maybe they will take this to court. Initially, I thought that idea comes from certain individuals from the creative unions,” Tutubalina continued. “Now, I am almost certain that this is an order from above. Bakhti said I ‘insulted not only the intelligentsia, but the nation,’ and that ‘I dislike Tajiks.’ These accusations are groundless, but someone wants to make this into an ethnic issue. These statements are pressure on me personally, and on the independent media.”

Bakhti’s comments have divided Dushanbe’s educated class, many of whose members are privately critical of the government’s handling of the Tajik economy, specifically widespread corruption and the implementation of extravagant construction projects. Meanwhile, outsiders are critical of official creative unions for being silent about the problems facing Tajikistan.

“This so-called ‘conscience of the nation’ has slept for so long in cahoots with all the nasty things around it,” author Temur Varky told EurasiaNet.org. “Now, they are shouting about their honor and dignity. Their essence – their adaptive behavior, cowardice and uselessness – has not changed.”

Galina Elbaum, a filmmaker and a member of the Cinematographers’ Union, emphasized that Bakhti should not be seen as a spokesman for all in the creative class. “Not all of the creative unions share the opinion of Mekhmon Bakhti. It is unlikely that they would sign a petition against the journalist,” she told EurasiaNet.org. “A professional journalist has the right to argue and reason, and to do this publicly.”

Bakhti maintains that he and at least nine others plan to file a lawsuit. Libel was decriminalized last year, but it remains a civil offense. Press freedom advocates say that Tajik courts have in the past manipulated damage awards so that they, in effect, cause the bankruptcy of media outlets that have fallen out of official favor. So far this year, according to the National Association of Independent Media, six lawsuits have been brought against journalists, mostly by officials.

Abdugani Mamadazimov, head of the National Association of Political Scientists, told EurasiaNet.org that Tajikistan’s few independent media outlets are more active than its opposition parties, which explains why they face more pressure, especially in election years. “Our mass media and independent journalists are the first to fight for democracy and civil society,” he said. Asked why the Writers’ Union chief cares so much about Tutubalina, Mamadazimov pointed at the ceiling and said, “He got a call from the top and was told to do this.”

Editor’s note:

Konstantin Parshin is a freelance writer based in Tajikistan

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67181

In a statement on its website, Uzbekistan’s Culture and Sports Ministry has announced a ban on «meaningless» songs that fail to «praise the motherland.»

In a rather insensitively worded ruling, the music of pop groups Mango and Ummon and singers Dilfuza Rahimova, Otabek Mutalhojaev, and Dilshod Rakhmonov were condemned as being «meaningless from musical and lyrical standpoints.» (Ouch!)

They were stripped of their performing licenses, which are issued by an agency within the ministry, Uzbeknavo, and which are needed in order to perform in public in Uzbekistan.

Says the ministry:

Seven other performers were issued «harsh warnings» and given a deadline of July 1 to eliminate what the ministry euphemistically calls their «creative shortcomings.»

Unsurprisingly, the ruling does not apply to the musical oeuvre of the Uzbek pop star Googoosha, also known as Gulnara Karimova, also known as the daughter of authoritarian Uzbek President Islam Karimov, whose most recent music video, «How Dare,» features her gyrating sexily to a thumping beat in front of a half-naked man in a chair who appears to be in some sort of distress.

Perhaps Mango and Ummon and all the others should count their blessings, though. As RIA Novosti points out:

— Grant Podelco

http://www.rferl.org/content/uzbekistan-meaningless-pop-songs/25023250.html

Across the former Soviet Union, entrepreneurs may be skilled in the art of making money, but they soon find themselves out of their depth when it comes to the business of politics.

The poster boy for the inadvisability of trying to make the cross-over from business to politics is, of course, Mikhail Khordokovsky, the one-time Russian oil magnate who has been imprisoned since 2005. There is also the example of Kazakhstan’s Mukhtar Abylyazov, a co-founder of the Democratic Choice Movement that briefly challenged President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s authority in the early 2000s. Ablyazov is now in exile, hounded by a protracted and expensive embezzlement case against him.

The latest example of an oligarch falling on hard times after challenging established authority is Tajikistan’s Zaid Saidov, a well-known businessman and former minister of industry who was detained May 19 at Dushanbe Airport upon arrival from a trip abroad. He is facing embezzlement and polygamy charges.

Only last month, Saidov emerged as a driving force behind the formation of New Tajikistan, a group comprised largely of businessmen and intellectuals who promised to focus on economic development. The party made it clear it had no interest in fielding a candidate for the presidential election this autumn. Yet it also stressed it was not a “pocket” party designed simply to create the appearance of a more vibrant political playing field in Tajikistan.

Investigators at the state anti-corruption agency are currently holding Saidov, 55, according to local media reports.

New Tajikistan members say Saidov was targeted for his political activity, stressing that he must have become a source of concern to long-serving President Imomali Rahmon, who is expected to run for another term this year.

Saidov’s party colleagues tend to avoid commenting on the record for fear of suffering a similar fate, or making his situation worse. Saidov denies the charges against him, including taking a $100,000 bribe while minister of industry and embezzling $400,000 during the construction of Dushanbe’s tallest building.

On social networks, loads of Tajiks are lamenting what they call the worst political crackdown since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Many in Dushanbe’s chattering class feel Saidov’s ties to Russia, in particular the Russian business community, may have factored significantly in his arrest. Moscow is engaged in a protracted negotiation with Rahmon over the fate of a Russian army division stationed in Tajikistan. Media in both countries have speculated that Moscow, reportedly vexed, may be interested in finding a replacement for Rahmon to lead the former Soviet republic.

On May 10, several newspaper editors received a letter alleging that Saidov had ties to a now-deceased Islamist guerrilla leader. At the time Saidov was in France, acting in his capacity as head of Tajikistan’s National Table Tennis Federation, accompanying the national team during a tournament. On May 11, police searched his home and questioned his family members, reportedly hauling all, including a five-year-old, to a police station. This week authorities began auditing his businesses and, Dushanbe’s Asia-Plus news agency reported, pamphlets discrediting Saidov began appearing around town. State television has gone on the attack too, airing programs that accuse Saidov of perpetrating vast economic crimes.

Prominent religious leader Haji Akbar Turajonzoda says the case demonstrates the incumbent administration’s intolerance of even the potential for dissent. “Unfortunately, the reality in Tajikistan is such that anyone who wishes to participate in running the country, irrespective of his or her good intentions for the sake of the people and motherland, is going to face retribution,” Asia-Plus quoted Turajonzoda as saying on May 20.

Some opposition politicians have publicly expressed their support for Saidov. The Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) – which itself has come under withering attack in recent months – has called the case against Saidov “purely political” and “biased.” In a May 21 statement, the party asked why authorities waited until now to level corruption charges that date back to his time in government; Saidov left his post in 2006.

Fostering suspicion that Saidov’s allies are being pressured to turn on him, on May 13, while he was still abroad, the general assembly of the Coordination Council of Business Associations, a lobby he headed, voted to dissolve the body. Several former colleagues accused Saidov of using the council as a platform for his political agenda. Mikhail Petrushkov, a council member, told EurasiaNet.org that the members did not present any evidence of abuse of power. “In the presence of Saidov, the council members would always applaud him and support his proposals. Now, when he is absent, they have declared him incompetent.”

“The decision to liquidate the council will have political consequences,” Petrushkov added. “The move will spoil the image of Tajikistan and have a negative impact on Tajikistan’s investment climate.”

Saidov is not the only political figure in Tajikistan to come under pressure in recent months. The IRPT has faced near-constant harassment as the elections approach. On April 19, a senior party official was savagely beaten outside his home. And earlier this month the head of the party in the restive eastern mountains was sentenced to 14 years in prison on charges that Freedom House says appear to be part of a “sustained campaign to eliminate the government’s main rivals.”

The IRPT is considered the only clear-cut opposition group in Tajikistan’s rubberstamp parliament; it holds two of the legislature’s 63 seats.

In March, the head of Tajikistan’s Uzbek community went missing shortly after declaring his support for another opposition figure. He has not been heard from since. Many suspect Salimboy Shamsiddinov, who was beaten in broad daylight by unknown assailants in front of the local KGB building last year, was singled out for his political activities.

Authorities have also targeted opposition-minded figures abroad, attempting to extradite a former premier from Kiev (that case failed) and a critic currently being held in Dubai.

Editor’s note: 

Konstantin Parshin is a freelance writer based in Tajikistan

http://eurasianet.org/node/67005

May 3 marks the 20th annual World Press Freedom Day, aimed at calling attention to the fundamental right to freedom of expression and threats to it. 

May 3 was proclaimed World Press Freedom Day by the UN General Assembly in 1993. Freedom of expression is enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon marked the day on May 2 at a conference in New York. He said international cooperation under UN supervision is necessary to protect journalists from attacks.

«The violence we condemn today highlights the relevance of the United Nations Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity,» he said. «The plan and its recently adopted implementation strategy aim to promote collaboration among governments, regional human rights bodies, nongovernmental organizations, media organizations, and the UN family.»

Ban also highlighted the importance of media freedom for democracy and human rights.

«All journalists, across all media, need to be able to do their jobs,» he said. «When it is safe to speak, the whole world benefits.»

ALSO READ: Sound Bites Aside, Azerbaijanis Have Little To Celebrate This Press Freedom Day

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has, meanwhile, released its annual list countries where journalists are murdered regularly and governments fail to solve the crimes.

The 2013 Impunity Index is led by Iraq, which the CPJ says «has the world’s worst record on impunity,» with 93 cases of journalists killed over the past 10 years in which no one was convicted. The vast majority of those killed — 95 percent — were local journalists.

Iraq is followed by Somalia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Colombia, Afghanistan, Mexico, Pakistan, Russia, and Brazil.

The CPJ says that although no journalists have been murdered in Afghanistan since 2008, authorities «have shown no progress in pursuing suspects in the five unsolved cases over the past decade.»

The CPJ also noted Pakistan’s failure to prosecute a single suspect in the murders of 23 journalists over the past decade and said that five journalists were murdered in 2012 alone.

Russia comes ninth in the index, with 14 unsolved murder cases since 2003. The CPJ says journalists in the North Caucasus have been the most vulnerable in recent years, highlighting the case of Kazbek Gekkiyev, a state television anchor working in the region who was shot dead in December 2012.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International, in a report released to mark the day, said Syrian rebels and regime forces are both responsible for killing, arresting, and torturing scores of journalists.

With reporting by AFP and AP

http://www.rferl.org/content/world-press-freedom-day/24975281.html

WASHINGTON — Media freedom throughout the world declined last year to its lowest point in almost a decade, according to a new report from Freedom House, a U.S.-based democracy monitoring organization. 

The group’s annual “Freedom of the Press” report was released on May 1 in Washington, D.C.

Project director Karin Deutsch Karlekar says the findings show «negative trends in most regions of the world.»

North Korea and Turkmenistan tied for the title of the worst country for media freedom, with Uzbekistan and Belarus close behind.

Karlekar maintained that, although Kyrgyzstan was in the «not free» category, it has a number of independent outlets and called it a «bright spot in the Central Asia region.

She also noted that Kazakhstan appeared to be heading in the wrong direction.

«Kazakhstan is also very restricted and actually this year we’re highlighting Kazakhstan because of a fairly significant decline that we noted in 2012, where the space for independent voices was sort of narrowed even further,» she said, making reference to the «authorities banning around 40 opposition media outlets, increasing levels of violence and [the] legal persecution of independent media and journalists.»

Georgia and Armenia were praised for showing strong improvements, but Karlekar warned that Azerbaijan’s media environment had deteriorated.

«Azerbaijan is also a country of concern for us and scores quite bad,» she said. «It’s similar to [the] situations in Kazakhstan and Russia.»

Karlekar attributed the decline in Azerbaijan’s rating to «increased violence against journalists and also legal amendments that further limited access to information.»

‘Big Improvement’ In Afghanistan

Freedom House found the Russian government has almost «complete control over television, radio, and the print press.»

Karlekar suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin used that control during last year’s presidential elections and in a number of other ways.

«The situation continued to be quite bad and quite restrictive in Russia and we were particularly concerned with some of the laws that were enacted during the year, particularly, on the media front, a law that basically would allow for further censorship of Internet-based content, and that law took effect in November,» she said. «And, given that the Internet is this sort of relatively open space in Russia, that was definitely an issue that caused concern during the year for us.”

Afghanistan ranked as the second most improved country in Asia and was considered to have been one of the year’s «success stories» thanks to the decrease in violence against journalists and a reduction in the official censorship and prosecution of the press.

«Afghanistan actually showed a big improvement this year in our index,» Karlekar said. «Apart from Burma, it was the country in Asia that showed the biggest improvement, and we really saw a number of positive trends in 2012, including a decrease in violence against journalists, an increase in the number of new private media outlets that were more able to freely criticize the government and other political actors, and a decline in [the] official censorship and prosecution of journalists.»

Karlekar said little has changed in Iran and the Islamic republic remained ranked in the bottom eight worldwide for media freedom.

She described Pakistan as having a very vibrant media, but cited a «very high level of violence and intimidation against journalists.»

http://www.rferl.org/content/freedom-house-media-freedom-low-point/24974229.html

By Richard Solash

WASHINGTON — A U.S. government advisory body says that Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan are among the world’s worst violators of religious freedom. 

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s 2013 report says the countries should be designated “countries of particular concern” by the U.S. government for “particularly severe” violations — a designation that allows for arms embargoes and other restrictions.

The countries’ violations are said to include carrying out or tolerating «acts such as torture, prolonged detention, or disappearances, or other flagrant denials of the right to life, liberty, or the security of persons.»

Iran and Uzbekistan, along with China, North Korea, and several other countries, have already been designated by the White House, although restrictions on Uzbekistan have been waived.

Restrictions based on the designations also expire in August if the Obama administration does not renew them.

The report also listed Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia among second-tier violators, where «at least one, but not all three, of the elements of the ‘systematic, ongoing, egregious’ standard» for violations is met.

The second-tier designations are meant to «provide advance warning of negative trends.»

The commission, a bipartisan body, said it based its recommendations on «the standards found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international documents.» The commission said it also worked with human rights groups, victims of religious persecution, policy experts, and U.S. officials and made country-visits in formulating its findings.

This year’s report covers from January 31, 2012 to January 31, 2013.

According to the commission, that period saw continuing deterioration of religious freedoms in Iran — a trend it say is «likely to worsen» as the June presidential election approaches.

Alleged violations include continued imprisonment Baha’is, abuses against Christians and Sufi Muslims, and state-sponsored anti-Semitism.

The commission called on the U.S. administration to «continue to identify Iranian government agencies and officials — including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and President [Mahmud] Ahmadinejad — responsible for severe violations of religious freedom» and sanction them.

In Iraq, the report said religiously motivated violence by extremist groups «continues with impunity.» It also said the government in Baghdad last year «took actions that increased, rather than reduced, Sunni-Shi’a and Arab-Kurdish tensions.»

The report blasted Pakistan for «fail[ing] to protect members of religious minority communities, as well as the majority faith.» It described sectarian violence as «chronic.» It also said Islamabad’s anti-blasphemy laws and related legislation «foster an atmosphere of violent extremism and vigilantism.»

The three Central Asian countries listed among the report’s worst of the worst were all cited for severe repression of nearly all religious activity beyond what is sanctioned by the state.

Prison terms for attending unapproved religious gatherings in Tajikistan, raids on religious communities in Turkmenistan, and state censorship of all religious materials in Uzbekistan were among the restrictions cited.

The report recommended making U.S. aid to Tajikistan contingent upon improvements, boosting U.S. broadcasting to Turkmenistan, and removing a waiver on penalties against Uzbekistan.

The U.S. waiver on penalties against Tashkent on religious freedom grounds has been in place since 2009.

This year’s report said, «There is concern that U.S. policy on Uzbekistan prioritizes that nation’s strategic importance as a key part of the Northern Distribution Network.»

Among second-tier countries, the report decried the Afghan constitution’s «explicit fail[ure] to protect the individual right to freedom of religion or belief.»

It highlighted the detention and imprisonment of «nonviolent religious activists» in Azerbaijan.

The commission said a religious registration law in Kazakhstan had led to «a sharp drop in the number of registered religious groups, both Muslim and Protestant.»

In Russia, the report said that «various laws and practices increasingly grant preferential status to the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church.» It also cited rampant abuses in Chechnya.

http://www.rferl.org/content/religious-freedom-us-iran-iraq-pakistan-uzbekistan-tajikistan-turkmenistan/24973030.html