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IJNET

Источник: http://www.checkmysnaps.com/contest/elements-2013-photography-contest

Two opposition movements and dozens of media outlets critical of the government are under threat of being shut down in Kazakhstan.

Kazakh prosecutors have requested that some 30 newspapers, Internet sites, and television channels, as well as the unregistered Algha! (Forward!) and People’s Front opposition movements, be banned for allegedly propagating extremism and seeking to overthrow the government.

Judges will hear the case of Algha on December 5. The trial of «Golos respubliki» (Voice of the Republic), the first newspaper to face closure, is due to begin on December 6.

The opposition is denouncing a campaign to root out Kazakhstan’s opposition forces following riots by oil workers in the cities of Zhanaozen and Shetpe last December during which at least 17 people were shot dead by police. The violence, which capped months of protests by the striking oilmen, was the deadliest unrest in Kazakhstan’s post-Soviet history and severely dented the country’s reputation for stability cultivated by President Nursultan Nazarbaev for more than two decades.

«This is happening chiefly because of the Zhanaozen events,» says Tamara Kaleeva, head of Adil Soz, Kazakhstan’s international foundation for the protection of freedom of speech. «Our authorities were so frightened by this massive, protracted protest staged by oil workers in defense of their labor rights that they are taking steps at all levels and in all spheres in order to prevent similar unrest. They are panicking.»

‘Fomenting Violence’

Prosecutors accuse Stan-TV, «Golos respubliki,» and other leading independent media of fomenting violence in Zhanaozen.

They have asked for the closure of a total of eight newspapers and 23 Internet sites operating under the umbrella of the Respublika media group. These include the prominent opposition newspaper «Vzglyad» (Viewpoint) and satellite TV channel K+.

Prosecutors link their request to the sentencing of Vladimir Kozlov, the leader of the Algha and People’s Front opposition movements. A vocal critic of Nazarbaev, Kozlov was handed a 7 1/2-year prison term in October on charges of seeking to rally Zhanaozen’s oil workers in a failed bid to topple the government.

Authorities have also hinted at ties between Kazakhstan’s independent media and one of Nazarbaev’s biggest foes, former media and banking tycoon Mukhtar Ablyazov.

Ablyazov fled to Britain in 2009 after falling out with Nazarbaev. He has been on the run since February of this year, when British judges sentenced him to 22 months in jail for failing to disclose full details about his wealth as part of a lawsuit launched against him by his former bank in Kazakhstan, which accuses him of embezzling $5 billion during his tenure as chairman. His whereabouts is unknown.

Sergei Utkin, a lawyer for «Golos respubliki,» denies Ablyazov owns the newspaper. «It publishes material that is too independent, that displeases authorities, including [material] on Zhanaozen,» he says.

«There’s also the fact that — even though it does not legally belong to either Ablyazov or Kozlov — the authorities believe that the newspaper is linked to these individuals. And the authorities consider Ablyazov and Kozlov enemies.»

Little Support For Opposition

Utkin says «Golos respubliki» has already been shut down for the duration of the trial, and its accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and LiveJournal have been blocked.

The operations and activities of «Vzglyad» and Algha have also been suspended pending a court decision.

But Kazakhstan’s marginalized opposition enjoys little support at home and few Kazakhs — most of whom credit Nazarbaev for making their country Central Asia’s most stable and economically prosperous nation — have risen in defense of opposition journalists.

Free-speech advocates in Kazakhstan say they have little hope for the survival of «Golos respubliki,» «Vzglyad,» and other independent media.

«These publications will probably be shut down,» Kaleeva says. «Our authorities want to exterminate the opposition hydra. The fact that opposition media, and opposition in general, are necessary in a democratic society has been completely forgotten in Kazakhstan.»

The cases, nonetheless, are being closely followed by international rights groups and Western governments.

Human Rights Watch has already denounced Kozlov’s prison sentence as «a blow to freedom of expression and political pluralism,» while the United States has accused Kazakhstan of using its justice system «to silence opposition voices.»

The Norwegian Helsinki Committee has also lambasted the media crackdown as «a dramatic step in the wrong direction» and warned that a court ban on independent media would represent «a serious blow to Kazakhstan’s reputation internationally.»

Claire Bigg, RFE/RL

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/opposition-media-kazakhstan-crackdown/24788973.html

Campaigners want to know why new sites are shut down without legal justification.

By Zarina Ergasheva — Central Asia

Tajik journalists are fighting back against what they say is a concerted attempt by their government to stifle the internet, one of the last remaining outlets for free speech.

Organisers of a campaign for “100 Days for Freedom” for the Tajik internet, launched at the beginning of October, said 50 websites were being blocked by the authorities without the required court orders being issued. They called for an end to unlawful blocking of websites, and also criticised internet provider companies for succumbing to government pressure.

The 50 sites include 15 that were blocked this summer, including the Russia-based Centrasia.ru and Fergana.ru, the leading Tajik news agency Asia Plus, and even the BBC’s Tajik service. These seem to have been blocked mainly because of their coverage of a wave of fighting in Badakshan in July and August. Access to 14 of the 15 has since been restored.

The 15th, the website of leading Muslim cleric Haji Akbar Turajonzoda, remains inaccessible.

In July, a massed military offensive to root out a group of armed men led by a renegade commander resulted in street battles and eventually an uneasy truce in Khorog, Badakhshan’s main town. (See Tajik Rebels Lay Down Arms in Badakhshan.) The government faced accusations, reported in the media, that the operation was excessive, put civilians in harm’s way unnecessarily, and might have been planned in advance, rather than a reaction to events on the ground.

As for those news sites blocked previously, the common theme seems to be their reporting on President Imomali Rahmon and members of his family.

Campaigners argue that existing internet curbs intensified during the Badakhshan unrest, and are likely to continue and worsen as Tajikistan heads towards a presidential election next year.

Media rights groups behind the campaign now plan to ask Tajikistan’s Constitutional Court to examine whether the government’s actions are lawful.

The “100 days” campaign does not cover 12 Islamic extremist and similar websites that are subject to a Supreme Court ban.

Media experts say that because of the immediacy and accessibility of online news, it is seen as more of a threat to government than print or even broadcast media.

Nuriddin Karshiboev, head of the National Association of Independent Media of Tajikistan, one of the groups behind the campaign, told IWPR that the authorities feared online media simply because they offered alternative sources of news.

“They want everyone to say in unison that everything is fine, that we don’t have any problems, and that we’re making progress,” he said.

While Karshiboev pointed to criticism of the president and his family, and of the government generally, as the usual trigger for a website to be blocked, Asia Plus executive director Zebo Tajibaeva said her agency’s troubles began with its summer’s coverage of events in Badakhshan.

Although officials accused Asia Plus of one-sided reporting of the conflict, Tajibaeva said her journalists made every effort to get government members to comment.

“No one wanted to comment or to provide information,” she said. “What we did manage to get was unofficial information quoting combatants, local residents and informal leaders.”

Tajibaeva said Asia Plus had lost at least 20,000 US dollars in revenues, including advertising, because of the disruption. Although access to the site was restored in September, Asia Plus managers are pressing for an official explanation both from the state telecoms agency and from web providers.

In September, state telecoms agency chief Beg Zuhurov denied ordering a block on Asia Plus, and blamed the provider companies instead. He insisted Asia Plus was not on a list of sites deemed to be publishing negative or libellous information about Tajik officials.

Another news agency, TojNews, began experiencing problems in September. Saymiddin Dustov, who heads the Indem organisation which set up Tojnews five years ago, says it has been blocked on 11 occasions during its existence.

“This year, we set up the first unmoderated discussion forum, and this played a role in the [site] getting blocked,” he said.

Turajonzoda, whose personal site has been blocked since May, predicted that pressure on media would grow as next year’s election approached, although he questioned why the authorities would worry since President Rahmon was certain to win another term in office.

“Maybe it’s just a fear of comments and views that different from theirs,” he said.

IWPR contacted the state communications agency repeatedly for a comment on its position, without success. The responses included a staff member promising to put someone up for interview, but not delivering; another official saying the matter had nothing to do with the agency; and phones not being picked up.

However, the deputy director of the Centre for Strategic Studies, which is linked to the presidential administration, did offer a justification for blocking certain sites.

“It’s impossible to completely block sites and deny access to the internet, but doing so for short periods can be essential for security reasons,” Saifullo Safarov said, adding that less well-informed members of the public were liable to panic or be misled by certain kinds of information.

Individual internet companies, meanwhile, have been reluctant to talk about their role in blocking sites.

The head of the Association of Internet Service Providers, Asomiddin Atoev, confirmed that instructions to block sites came from state authorities with no accompanying court order. He also acknowledged that when some provider companies pleaded technical maintenance as a reasons for bringing down websites, this was not entirely accurate.

The association’s lawyer, Parvina Ibodova, added that no legislation existed to define reasons for halting web access, so it was hard to argue that anyone had broken the law by doing so.

She said provider companies probably felt bound by clauses in their operating licenses allowing the state regulator to request the closure of websites.

“But everything should go through all the judicial mechanisms and all the relevant procedures,” she added.

Zarina Ergasheva is an IWPR-trained journalist in Tajikistan.

Zarina Ergasheva, IWPR

Источник: http://iwpr.net/report-news/tajik-government-accused-online-media-clampdown

MOSCOW – The law was supposed to make the Internet safer for children. So far, it has led to the brief blocking of an electronic library, a popular satirical encyclopedia, and the country’s most highly trafficked torrent-tracking website.

The sites are just the first collateral damage from controversial legislation aimed at regulating the Internet that came into effect across Russia on November 1. Internet users and online activists expect more snafus to come.

The law is purportedly designed to protect children by blacklisting – and blocking — child-pornography sites, forums assisting suicide, and websites encouraging drug abuse. But critics say the loose wording is prone to malfunction, misinterpretation, and abuse.

It has also sparked fears of an impending crackdown on the Internet, which is seen as a vibrant platform for free discussion outside state-dominated traditional media.

‘This Is The Problem’

Oleg Kozyrev, a Moscow-based opposition-minded blogger and new-media analyst, said the law was rushed through the State Duma as part of a series of measures targeting the opposition in response to this year’s wave of anti-Kremlin protests.

He cites the lack of judicial oversight in the mechanism for blacklisting as a concern. “My main worry is that the decision to ban a website is not reached in a courtroom. This is the central problem of this law,» Kozyrev says. «It shows that there was no attempt to really prepare this law correctly and close sites that are actually a threat to children or which are criminal.»

Since the law came into effect, more than 180 websites have reportedly been placed on the blacklist, although no official list is available.

Roskomnadzor, Russia’s state telecoms regulator, said on November 14 that 21 sites had since been restored now that offending pages had been removed.

These included three popular entertainment websites. Lurkmore, a joke encyclopedia with cult status on the Russian Internet, was taken offline because it had displayed an entry for marijuana.

RuTracker, one of Russia’s largest torrent-tracking services, was blocked because users had exchanged a file titled the “Encyclopedia of Suicide.” The file later reportedly turned out to contain no information.

Lib.Rus.Ec, a popular online library, was blacklisted and taken offline on November 13 because it provided access to the «Anarchist Cookbook,» an antiestablishment guide to manufacturing homemade explosives written by an American in 1971.

The authorities struck the sites from the blacklist after they deleted these entries. Website administrators, however, complained they were given no advance warning to remove offending information before being blocked.

Preparing An Appeal

Although the sites were restored, Kozyrev says the mechanism remains a cause for concern. «It is true that there have not yet been attempts to close, for instance, key opposition websites,» he says.

«But at the same time, there have been cases concerning Internet freedoms, like the Internet library that fell foul of this law. Happily, the decision was overturned and they appear to have taken them off the register of banned sites. But I think cases like this will only continue.»

Moreover, critics of the law have noted that Roskomnadzor declined to close the profile page of Dmitry Vinogradov on the popular social-networking site Vkontakte. Vinogradov, a 30-year-old Moscow lawyer, posted a manifesto professing hatred for humankind before going on a shooting spree at his workplace earlier this month, killing six colleagues.

A small group of Moscow Internet users picketed outside the Communications Ministry on November 13.

The Russian daily «Izvestia» reported on November 14 that Russian Wikipedia is preparing an appeal to President Vladimir Putin and the State Duma over its fears that the law will contribute to censorship of the Internet.

A government watchdog, meanwhile, has opened a website where Internet users can check if a specific domain name is banned.

And although there is no official list of the banned sites, a blogger using the online handle «ntv» published an alleged version of the list on November 12.

Kozyrev lamented that the law was emasculating one of the most dynamic sectors of the Russian economy. «The Russian Internet was one of the few spheres where we could compete with leading international companies. Now it turns out that the sector where we have leading companies — ones that earned money with their intelligence — is dying,» he says.

«In contrast, the raw materials sector, which is sucking our economy dry and is making the economy raw, is blossoming with its oil and gas and so on. It’s a pity. This is sad.»

Tom Balmforth, RFE/RL

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-internet-law-collateral-damage/24770737.html

Journalists’ desire to feed the public’s curiosity can sometimes take them very far — but it can also be their downfall.

That was the case this week in Kyrgyzstan, when well-known television presenter Nazira Aitbekova was the victim of a cruel prank that has led to the firing of two journalists and prompted a police investigation.

Aitbekova provided details of the incident at a press conference on November 1.

The anchor for the public television station KTR said that on October 30 she was approached by two men who «put a pistol to my head, put me in a car, and took me away.»

The men drove Aitbekova to a deserted area outside Bishkek, forced her to partially undress, and threatened to kill her. She was told to close her eyes before being ordered to open them again.

It was then that she realized she was a victim of «tamashator,» a practical joke, concocted by journalists from the tabloid «Super-Info.»

«When I heard ‘This is a surprise from «Super-Info,»‘ I understood they had humiliated me for so long, and I fell down [to the ground] and started crying,» Aitbekova told RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service in an interview.

«At that moment, they started asking me again and again: ‘How do you feel?’ How should I feel when I was sure [I was going to] die and say goodbye to my child?»

Police Investigating

Aitbekova filed a complaint over the two-hour abduction, which she says was recorded on camera.

Police say they are investigating but that no criminal case has yet been opened.

Aitbekova’s husband, Iskender Sharsheev, said he will complain to the president and the prosecutor-general.

«This is not a practical joke. I guess this is some kind of order,» he said. «They just want to soften their action and describe it as a practical joke. This is a crime.»

The prank was intended for publication under the tabloid’s «amusement» rubric.

«Super-Info’s» management has expressed «sympathy» for Aitbekova and newspaper owner Shaista Shatmanova has said two journalists were fired because they did not follow editors’ instructions.

«The journalists were told by the editor and chief editor not to scare [her], not to endanger her life, and not to step over the line,» Shatmanova said. «In this case, our correspondents acted according to their own decisions.»

Who’s Responsible?

Justice Minister Almambet Shikmamatov described the journalists’ actions as «uncivilized, inhuman, and completely illogical.»

Shikmamatov advised Aitbekova to «defend her rights in court and to defend her rights through the journalistic community. I think that those journalists — they call themselves journalists — have to bear responsibility for this bad precedent.»

The abduction has triggered numerous reactions on social networks in Kyrgyzstan, where a number of people are questioning the responsibility of the newspaper’s management.

Kyrgyz Social Affairs Minister Kylychbek Sultanov is believed to have close ties to «Super-Info» — a popular weekly tabloid with a print-run of more than 100,000.

Aitbekova, 27, is known in Kyrgyzstan for moderating talk shows and entertainment programs. She recently came under criticism from conservative Muslims when she started the program «Mystery of the Universe,» in which she presents guests with paranormal abilities.

RFE/RL’ s Kyrgyz Service and Robert Coalson contributed to this report

Antoine Blua, Gulaiym Ashakeeva, RFE/RL

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/kyrgyzstan-newscaster-kidnapping-no-joke/24757999.html

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned Turkey for being «the world’s leading jailer of journalists.»

In a report issued on October 22, the New York-based group said 76 journalists were in Turkish jails as of August 1, adding that 61 of them seemed to be there as a direct result of their work.

The report says the cases of the remaining 15 journalists are still being investigated by CPJ workers.

The report also notes that 70 percent of those journalists were Kurdish.

It says 30 percent of jailed journalists were accused of participating in plots against the government or membership in outlawed organizations.

The report also claims that three-quarters of jailed journalists have not yet been convicted of any crime but are held while they await «resolution of their cases.»

According to the CPJ, the charges against these journalists often originate from the journalists speaking with «security officials or obtaining documents.»

CPJ executive director Joel Simon said, «Turkey’s tendency to equate critical journalism with terrorism is not justified by the country’s security concerns.»

The report cites Turkish media-freedom groups as reporting at the end of 2011 that there were some 5,000 criminal cases pending against journalists.

It also criticizes Turkish authorities for a 2007 Internet law that allows ad hoc filtering, which CPJ says is particularly noticeable against opposition and Kurdish websites.

The CPJ recommends that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan «should cease his attacks on the press and instead provide justice for journalists while pursuing reforms that guarantee freedom of expression.»

The CPJ’s Simon said, «As a rising regional and global power, Turkey’s economic and political success should be matched by respect for the universal right to freely exchange news, information, and ideas.»

According to the CPJ, the number of journalists in Turkish jails surpasses figures in Iran, China, or Eritrea, qualifying Turkey for the title of the world’s leading jailer of journalists.

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/cpj-says-turkey-worlds-leading-jailer-of-journalists/24746957.html

In a country with no daily newspapers and soft-hitting state media outlets, the Internet is where an increasing number of curious Tajikistanis go for news and information. That’s apparently got officials worried.

In recent months, some 50 websites, including independent news portals and the video-sharing platform YouTube, have been blocked in Tajikistan. Though most of the sites were reopened on October 10, the government’s communications service won’t say what’s going on.

The mass blockade started during a violent confrontation this summer between government troops and forces loyal to local warlords in the eastern Gorno-Badakhshan region. Authorities in Dushanbe said little about the operation – which is thought to have left about 70 people dead – but they immediately severed telephone and Internet connections with the region and started blocking websites reporting on the conflict. At the same time, state media outlets all but ignored the developments in Gorno-Badakhshan, instead running programs featuring traditional songs and dance.

Long after the violence was over, the restrictions persisted. To raise awareness about government censorship, on October 3 journalists launched a campaign called “100 Days for Internet Freedom in TajNet.” Comprising prominent journalists and civil society activists, the group, in a statement, condemned the blocking of websites without a court ruling as illegal, and warned that the government was becoming an “enemy of the Internet.”

The most prominent figure in this story is Beg Zukhurov, the head of the state communications service, who answers to President Imomali Rahmon. Few are satisfied with his explanations regarding recent government actions. At times, questioned over website blocks, he’s denied knowledge of any official orders; in other conversations, he has said his institution has a “special unit” tracing “black PR agents” that are deliberately slandering Tajikistan. When communications with Gorno-Badakhshan first went down, he suggested that a stray bullet might have taken out the cables.

Earlier in the year, when Facebook was blocked for a week, Zukhurov denied that there had been any order to shut down the site – where, he lamented, people criticize Rahmon. In a move that prompted widespread ridicule, his office then said Facebook was down for “prophylactic maintenance.”
Representatives of two Internet service providers (ISPs) told EurasiaNet.org that they receive their blocking orders by telephone directly from Zukhurov’s office. Failure to comply, they say, can mean losing a license, or an unexpected audit by the tax police. EurasiaNet.org’s repeated attempts to reach Zukhurov for this story failed.

Zukhurov has promised to create a larger office to monitor online publications, without explaining how members would be chosen, or what legal mandate they would have. Reporters Without Borders responded with “profound concern” that “such a system of control could lead to the wholesale blocking of online publications and websites.” The watchdog organization also fears that the system could be abused, noting that the communication service “has regularly targeted the websites of leading independent news organizations,” including Dushanbe’s Asia-Plus.

Asia-Plus, perhaps the most prominent independent news agency in Tajikistan, was blocked in July and became available again in late September. At different times, blocked sites have included the BBC’s Tajik Service, RIA Novosti, and prominent Russian-language news portals. As of October 11, the BBC, RIA Novosti and YouTube were again available on most ISPs.

Nuriddin Karshiboev, the head of the National Association of Independent Media (NANSMIT) and one of the initiators of the 100 Days campaign, told EurasiaNet.org that the government regularly reacts to political uncertainty with Internet restrictions. The same thing happened, he said, during fighting between rebels and the government in the Rasht Valley in 2010. “[Then] the authorities did the same thing. They ordered mobile phone operators to shut down connections, and the Internet providers were advised to block access to important news portals – those covering the clashes between Mullo Abdullo’s rebels and the government,” he said.

At that time, the defense minister said journalists’ criticism of the military operation helped “destabilize” the country.

Parvina Ibodova, head of the National Association of Internet Providers, says Zukhurov’s office has fueled confusion. “Mr Zukhurov is the public official in charge; he should have clarified the situation with an open statement. Regrettably, the government also ignored the situation,” she told EurasiaNet.org.
For their part, officials often insist that independent media should not question the government. On September 24, at an OSCE meeting in Warsaw on human rights, Muzaffar Ashurov, the president’s representative for constitutional and human rights, had stern words for an Asia-Plus correspondent, alleging that the news agency essentially supported the militants in Gorno-Badakhshan. “You write that the government acted incorrectly by using force in Khorog [the capital of Gorno-Badakhshan]. … You are encouraging people … to come out against the government,” he said.

His comments came shortly after Olga Tutubalina, a deputy editor at Asia-Plus, told participants at the OSCE gathering that information blackouts have become Dushanbe’s routine method for dealing with times of trouble. “Almost every time when the economic and political situation worsens in the country, it’s accompanied by the blocking of sites and the disabling of [phone] connections,” Tutubalina said. “During the military operation in […] Khorog, the official media didn’t even mention it [the events] once. Endless concerts and celebrations were broadcast on state television.”

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

Konstantin Parshin, EurasiaNet.org

Источник: http://www.eurasianet.org/node/66043

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says human rights workers in Russia currently face a «hostile climate» and the situation is becoming worse, pointing to one of HRW’s employees in Russia who has recently received threats sent by text message.

HRW said on October 4 that senior researcher in Moscow Tanya Lokshina was sent threats from unknown sources «two to five times per day from September 28 to 30, 2012.»

Lokshina, said such threats were nothing new, but the current ones were marked by an unprecedented «level of cynicism and meanness.»

«To be honest, it’s not the first time that I’ve received threats, including text messages. This is not the first time that the workers of our organization and our Moscow bureau have faced threats. But the level of cynicism and meanness of what I received on my mobile phone, nine messages within three days, was in fact unprecedented,» Lokshina said.

HWR executive director Kenneth Roth said it was clear from the threats that people were following Lokshina.

«Tanya Lokshina, the senior researcher in Human Rights Watch’s Moscow office has just received a series of texted threats from unknown sources. These threats demonstrate that the sender clearly was following Tanya’s every move. They knew where she lived, what she was doing,» Roth said.

«They made explicit reference to the fact of her pregnancy, they threatened harm to herself and to her unborn baby. They were clearly made with the intent of scaring Tanya and Human Rights Watch to stop our monitoring and reporting on human rights in Russia.»

HRW said Lokshina worked on a wide range of issues but is widely known as one of Russia’s leading experts on human rights in «Russia’s troubled North Caucasus region.»

Roth said HRW would not allow «threats» to prevent the organization from continuing its work in Russia.

«Human Rights Watch worked in the Soviet Union in the darkest days. We certainly are not going to allow a cheap set of vile and depraved threats of the sort that were sent to Tanya to stand in the way of our continued work today,» Roth said.

Roth said the fact that the threats included confidential information known only to Lokshina and a very small circle of friends suggested information was obtained through surveillance, with the possible involvement of law enforcement and security officials.

Roth said HRW will be aggressive in pursuing these threats with authorities inside Russia and outside that country.

«Human Rights Watch intends to use every available avenue of address both nationally and internationally to ensure that an investigation of vigorous quality is pursued and that the perpetrators behind these threats are brought to justice,» Roth said. «The climate for human rights advocacy in Russia is as bad as we’ve seen in 20 years.»

Russia’s Interior Ministry said Lokshina had filed a report with authorities and that «this document will be considered in accordance with the procedures envisioned by the legislation.»

With reporting by ITAR-TASS and IFX Rus

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/hrw-says-dangerous-for-rights-workers-in-russia/24729448.html

There is nothing silly about food shortages. There are, however, silly statements. On September 26, Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon urged his countrymen to store two years’ worth of food reserves in order to prepare for the upcoming harsh winter.

Rahmon also reminded his countrymen that rising commodity prices makes the effective use of agricultural resources imperative.

In a country where food shortages are a serious issue, urging people to store two years worth of food reserves over the duration of several months, may prove difficult.

In Tajikistan, the majority of the population spend between 70 and 80 percent of their income on food and 47 percent survive on less than $1.33 a day.

In 2011, high food and fuel prices led to crop and livestock losses. Rahmon blamed the increasing food prices partially on local farmers, saying that prices increased because “we did not work properly last year and did not fulfill the instructions in time.”

This latest presidential decree comes at a time when there are fears of a global food crisis. This year, the United States experienced its worst drought in more than 50 years, raising fears that it could lead to major hike in maize and soybean prices.

According to the World Bank, droughts in the U.S. and Eastern Europe caused global food prices to increase by 10 percent in July.

This situation shouldn’t bother Tajiks, however, as Rahmon appears to have a plan in place to handle any food shortages that might arise…

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/silly-dictators-rahmons-solution-to-food-shortages-tajikistan/24720708.

By Richard Solash
September 24, 2012

Attacks on Internet freedom are on the rise, and the tools employed by repressive governments are becoming increasingly sophisticated.

That’s according to «Freedom On The Net 2012,» a newly released report by U.S.-based rights watchdog Freedom House, that assesses 47 countries’ online track records between January 2011 and May 2012.

Sanja Kelly, the report’s director, says more «traditional» methods employed by repressive governments, such as filtering and blocking of undesirable content or imprisonment of prominent online figures, are being supplemented with more nuanced means.

«Threats to Internet freedom are becoming more diverse and are becoming much murkier than in the past,» Kelly said.

«What we’ve seen over the last year and a half is that more and more governments are turning to tactics such as proactive manipulation of online content and extralegal surveillance to more covertly manipulate and influence internet content.»

Of the countries surveyed in the report, more than a quarter used cadres of paid pro-government bloggers to try to discredit the opposition, spread false information, or prop up the official state line. Freedom House says the tactic was in the past «largely limited to Russia and China,» but has now extended to Belarus, Ukraine, Iran, and beyond.

Freedom House says cyberattacks against government critics or efforts to impersonate and discredit activists online are also becoming more common, employed from Bahrain to Burma, Kazakhstan to Syria, and Uzbekistan to Zimbabwe.

Pro-Government Bloggers

«Freedom On The Net» highlights reports in the Russian media of an alleged plan by President Vladimir Putin’s ruling United Russia party to invest more than $300,000 in an online scheme to undercut opposition blogger Aleksei Navalny.

While the Internet is considered to be a relatively open space in Russia, Kelly says the authorities have stepped up their attacks in response to the recent wave of antigovernment protests, many of which were organized through online networks.

«When we talk to the people on the ground, we hear about an increased number of phone calls by authorities, particularly in regions and on the local level, telling you that unless you stop posting online, not only will you suffer the consequences, but your family will too,» said Kelly.

Freedom House also reports an uptick in various methods of surveillance, including new regulations passed in Kazakhstan, Syria, and Saudi Arabia that increase restrictions on user anonymity.

Just under half of the countries in «Freedom On The Net 2012» passed new legislation during the survey period that could hamper free speech online.

The report also notes an increase in physical assaults — sometimes with deadly consequences — against bloggers and citizen journalists from Central Asia to the Middle East.

Overall, Iran, Cuba, China, and Syria were judged to have the least online freedom, while countries including Uzbekistan, Belarus, and Pakistan were also classed «not free.» Estonia, the United States, and Germany are rated freest.

Azerbaijan, Libya, Pakistan, and Russia were among the nations considered «particularly vulnerable to deterioration in the coming months.»

According to Kelly, Baku is beginning to implement sophisticated surveillance of the Internet and authorities are stepping up their harassment of bloggers. It may be a sign of things to come.

«When the Internet Governance Forum, which will take place in a couple of months [November 6-9] in Baku, is over, I think the strong sense is that the authorities will not have to hold back because the international attention is not going to be on them and they’re going to pursue some of these measures more harshly,» said Kelly.

Despite the negative trends, Freedom House also says pushback by civil society and technology companies have also increased, with a «victory» reported in half of the countries surveyed. For example, proposals for national firewall in Pakistan were defeated after protest by civil society.

Richard Solash, RFE/RL

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/freedom-house-says-online-repression-increasing-diversifying/24717793.h