The Uzbek state railroad company has sent a letter to Tajik authorities notifying them that it wants to close a 44-kilometer stretch of railroad connecting the two countries, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reports.

There are three separate rail links between the two countries.

Uzbekistan wants to close the southernmost, which runs from the Uzbek city of Termez to Tajikistan’s Khatlon Province. Officials say the route is not economically viable and their country can no longer afford to maintain it.

Tajik authorities agreed that the route is not profitable, but they object to its closure.

«We prefer to keep it open and will probably assume responsibility for its maintenance,» said Andrei Tropin, the deputy director of Tajikistan’s state railroad.

Tropin said he is does not understand why Uzbekistan wants to close the railway link at the same time that it blames the holdup of hundreds of freight cars bound for Tajikistan on the limited capacity of the railroad network.

Tajik officials say the so-called railroad war between the two countries broke out because of Uzbekistan’s opposition to Tajik plans to build the Roghun hydropower plant.

Tashkent fears that the plant will drastically reduce the amount of water into Uzbekistan and thus enable Dushanbe to exert leverage on the Uzbek government.

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Tajik authorities have been trying to take control of the cellular communications market, which is divided among eight operator companies, half of them foreign co-owned.
The campaign to regulate cellular provider activities began with President Emomali Rakhmon’s speech in parliament April 30, in which he claimed cell phones are unhealthy and that telecom services cost too much.
By his estimates, keeping one cell phone costs a Tajik family US $11 per month. The average monthly salary is US $80. In 2009, cellular providers earned more than US $320m. Seventy-five percent of the country’s 8m inhabitants own mobile phones, Rakhmon said.
Authorities took down cell phone billboards in Dushanbe May 6, then re-installed most just four days later. Mayoral press spokesman Shavkat Saidov said subordinates misunderstood the mayor’s orders.
“What is at issue is regulation of the advertising market, not tearing down all the billboards”, Saidov said.
Local television networks launched a campaign against cell phone use, which the president called a possible cause of cancer. Rakhmon personally instructed all educational institutions and the local media to transmit his message.
“Each reporter must prepare several stories explaining the hazards of using cellular telephones”, said a state TV journalist, who requested anonymity. “We are supposed to persuade people this is unaffordable luxury at a time of a financial crisis”.
Konstantin Bondarenko, director of the National Association of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, who has worked in telecom regulation for six years, said neither doctors nor the Transport and Communications Ministry has ever seen any medical research data showing that cellular communications indeed threaten health.
A recently completed ten-year study of 13,000 people by the World Health Organization found no conclusive link between cell phone use and brain cancer. However researchers said there were some problems with the study and that more research needs to be done.
For many, having a cell phone is a necessity. But some feel the Tajik government is now making the phones less efficient.
“When I once called my sick parents and failed to get through to them via the land line, I realised what it means to be left without the telephone”, said Sabrina, a 29-year-old Dushanbe resident.
On May 14, the Transport and Communications Ministry prohibited calls from the stationary home telephones operated by the state company TochikTelecom to clients of the cellular provider TaCom, which provides services under the Beeline trademark.
Communications Deputy Minister Beg Zukhurov pinned the blame on TaCom.
“We found that company breaching existing regulations”, he said. “It unlawfully set up a radio relay station — an antenna receiving and transmitting satellite signals — near the Afghan border”.
TaCom has a licence to operate the relay station, company spokeswoman Marina Roshkina said.
“Our subscribers are now unable to get through to emergency services, police, etc., in case of emergency”, she said. “Unless they have a land line, people may find themselves in a desperate position”.
TaCom has suffered tens of thousands of dollars in losses; if the conflict drags on, the company will have the right to sue, Roshkina said.
Telecom firms operate at the mercy of the government and have no option to take the issue to court, said an employee for a cellular provider on condition of anonymity.
“Earlier this year MLT, which is 75% owned by Megaphone Russia, attempted to re-brand to Megaphone Tajikistan and spent huge sums on advertising but finally was blocked by the Tajik government”, he said.
The newspaper Fakty I Kommentarii, citing local analysts, reported that cellular providers received unofficial suggestions to purchase shares in the Rogun hydropower project worth US $5m-10m, but they declined.
“That’s pure gossip”, said an MLT representative who asked to remain anonymous. “Of course, telecom operators did buy the hydropower project’s shares, but the whole thing most likely boils down to yet another attempt to unite us within a single switching centre (within) the state-run TochikTelecom.”
The government has been seeking to regulate cellular providers, who reported an income of US $320m in 2009 while actually earning over US $1 billion, political scientist Saimuddin Dustov said.
“Quite understandably, the state wishes to take this market under control”, he said. “To do that, it needs a Unified Switching Centre to handle all the cellular operators’ traffic and make sure they have zero opportunity to conceal their earnings. At the same time, its attempts to put the industry in order have been wrongful and aggressive.”
Government policy has only been scaring potential investors away, complained Gafur Irkayev, president of the Telecom Operators’ Association.
“With over 90% of Tajikistan’s territory mountainous, cellular providers have run a loss trying to serve the hard-to-access regions”, he said.
“Cellular communications is a dynamically developing market, and the involvement of ever more players gives the industry an additional boost”, Dustov said. “Over the past two years, our telecom operators have got a firmer foothold in Tajikistan – and this despite what they perceive as growing government pressure. I am positive the government will lose again”.
“Unfortunately, (cellular provider-bashing) policy may be detrimental to the state budget, into which cellular providers have annually paid up to US$100m in taxes”, Irkayev said.

Rukhshona Ibragimova, CentralAsiaOnline.com

Источник: CentralAsiaOnline.com

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Transitions Online

Kamol Azizov’s daily routine isn’t so different from that of any other villager living in the Ferghana Valley: he walks to work every morning, gets his weekly supplies from a nearby bazaar, and runs errands for his elderly parents, who live just around the corner.

Except, to complete his tasks, Azizov must trek across an international border multiple times. Azizov’s native village, Chashma, is located in the Uzbek enclave of Sokh, which is located inside the southern Kyrgyz province of Batken. What this means for Azizov is that the nearest bazaar is in a foreign land, Kyrgyzstan, as is his parent’s home, while Azizov’s work at the local job center is located in Uzbekistan.

«My house is located less than 300 meters from the Kyrgyz border,” Azizov explains. “There are some houses in our neighborhood — my house is on Sokh territory but its veranda is on Kyrgyz territory. And there are many split families in Chashma. Parents registered as Kyrgyz citizens, their sons and grandchildren as Sokh residents [and thus Uzbek citizens], and their homes are separated by barbed wire. There are Kyrgyz border posts everywhere and it’s very difficult to move around.»

Like other Sokh residents, Azizov has become accustomed to carrying his passport at all times. «Being stopped and searched at Kyrgyz checkpoints has become a part of our everyday lives,» says Azizov.

Recent tensions between Sokh residents and their Kyrgyz neighbors over the right to graze their animals on local pastures have further complicated an already-complex cultural and political situation.

Kyrgyzstan last month stopped allowing Sokh residents to graze their livestock on Kyrgyz pastureland, affecting many Sokh households’ livelihoods. With pastures no longer available, having to keep their sheep, goats, and cattle penned up inside barns poses tremendous difficulties for the villagers.

Some Sokh residents reportedly responded by attacking Kyrgyz cars passing through the Uzbek enclave territory. Their Kyrgyz neighbors, in return, blocked the main highway connecting the enclave with rest of Uzbekistan, and demanded protection.

Pacifying Measures

Officials from the both sides met on June 1 to discuss the rising tensions in the area as well as other longstanding disagreements over the enclave, and managed to sign an agreement.

To ease the tension between the two countries, Uzbekistan began to withdraw armored vehicles it stationed in Sokh after a 1999 incursion into southern Kyrgyzstan by Uzbek militants.

The Kyrgyz side has yet to allow Sokh residents to use the pasture land. But Kyrgyz officials agreed to eliminate several checkpoints in the area.

«It’s welcome news,» Azizov says. «When we travel from Sokh to the provincial center, Ferghana, or to the nearest city, Rishton, we have to pass at least five Kyrgyz checkpoints. They stop us, check our passports and cars, and sometimes they keep us for longer. And some of them have a habit of extorting money.”

“And even in my village, Chashma, when we go to the nearby market, which is on the Kyrgyz land, we need to pass a checkpoint, where Kyrgyz soldiers check us and ask for money,» Azizov says.

With 325 square kilometers of mountainous land, Sokh is the largest Uzbek enclave on Kyrgyz territory. To further complicate things, the majority of its some 65,000 citizens are ethnic Tajik.

Altogether there are eight enclaves in the Ferghana Valley, including four Uzbek enclaves inside Kyrgyzstan and the Kyrgyz village of Barak on Uzbek territory. Tajikistan has two enclaves on Kyrgyz territory and the village of Savak inside Uzbekistan.

The enclaves were carved out during the Soviet era based on the main language spoken by the majority of the population living there.

Sokh, however was an exception. No one can explain how an area that had a vast Tajik majority was made an Uzbek enclave. Many people in Ferghana Valley believe the enclave of Sokh has proven to be one of the strangest creations of Soviet-era leaders.

There are 26 schools and four colleges in Sokh’s roughly 20 villages. All the schools and colleges operate in Tajik. So does the local media, including a news and entertainment television channel and the weekly newspaper, «Sadoi Sokh» («Voice of Sokh»).

Politics Felt In The Village

The enclave’s unusual circumstances have made its inhabitants vulnerable to political tensions in all three countries.

«When there are tensions in Kyrgyzstan or Uzbekistan — in Bishkek, or, for instance, in Andijon — Uzbekistan closes its borders and intensifies controls and checks,» says Bolta, a Sokh resident who did not want to give his full name. «When the Uzbek border is closed, it cuts us off too; we can’t enter Uzbekistan easily. Imagine, you need to go to a funeral, or you’re seriously ill and want to visit a city hospital, but you can’t go there because the border is closed, and no one knows when it will reopen.»

The nearest airport or railway station for Sokh residents is some 120 kilometers away in Ferghana city, which is also a provincial center. The nearest Uzbek town is Rishton, 70 kilometers from Sokh.

There are no regular buses or trains connecting Sokh to any other city. Private cars or taxis are the only means of transport, but not everybody can afford to use them.

Further adding to Sokh inhabitants’ isolation is the fact that Uzbekistan closed its borders with Kyrgyzstan following the April riots in Bishkek. Sokh has also suffered from long-standing political disagreements between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

For many decades, Tajik universities were the main destination for further education for graduates of Sokh’s schools.

With souring relationships between Tashkent and Dushanbe, Uzbek education officials no longer recognize Tajik university degrees. Sokh school graduates were left with no other choice but to enroll in Uzbek universities.

After severing cultural and educational ties with Dushanbe, Sokh libraries no longer receive Tajik-language books and publications from Dushanbe. The district’s main library is almost devoid of any new books.

«But it’s not all bad news,» says Azizov. «Living in an enclave has its positive sides, too. Everyone in Sokh is fluent in three languages — Uzbek and Kyrgyz in addition to our mother tongue, Tajik — without getting language classes.»

«We don’t care about politics, but politics have so much impact on our lives,» says Akramjon, a 41-year-old amateur singer who didn’t want to give his full name.

The realities of every day life are emerging even in Sokh villagers’ traditional folk songs, known as «Yovailo.» «Yovailo» are love songs, sung by young men at wedding parties and other gatherings, as well as during wheat harvests.

In recent years, however, «Yovailo» lyrics have come to include new themes — such as long roads, long waits, and isolation.

In one song, Akramjon sings mournfully about being stuck in the enclave. «I sit on a rock and wait for you in Sokh,” he sings. “It’s a faraway place near the mountains. I would move to Tashkent or Jizzah to be closer to you, but I can’t leave Sokh behind.”

Farangis Najibullah, RFE/RL

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/Uzbek_Kyrgyz_And_Tajik_Lives_Collide_In_An_Enclave/2061404.html

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Transitions Online

A rights organization says a Tajik citizen wanted by the Uzbek authorities for terrorism has been detained in southern Kazakhstan, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reports.

Vitaly Ponomarev of the Moscow-based human rights watchdog Memorial told RFE/RL on June 1 that Umarali Abdurakhmonov was detained in the town of Taraz on May 21.

Ponomarev said Memorial had learned of the detention from an associate of Abdurakhmonov who had traveled to Moscow and visited the rights group.

There’s been no official confirmation that Abdurakhmonov is in Kazakh custody.

But a lawyer representing Kazakhstan’s Bureau for Human Rights in Taraz told RFE/RL on June 1 that Abdurakhmonov is currently being held at the detention center in the Merke district of southern Zhambyl Oblast.

Ruslan Khalidov said Abdurakhmonov will be transferred to a detention center in Taraz on June 5. He added that Abdurakhmonov has officially asked for political asylum in Kazakhstan.

Abdurakhmonov is wanted in Uzbekistan for conspiracy and for his alleged participation in the activities of banned religious organizations.

The Uzbek authorities launched a search for Abdurakhmonov in March 2004 after terrorist acts in Tashkent that killed three people and injured over 20.

In September 2004, a court in Tashkent found 33 citizens of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan guilty of perpetrating the attacks and sentenced them to long terms in jail. An international search was announced for six more suspects, including Abdurakhmonov.

Ponomarev said that about two years ago, Abdurakhmonov applied for refugee status at the UN Office in Moscow but was refused.

He said that Abdurakhmonov could face torture and an unfair trial if extradited to Uzbekistan.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Tajik_National_Wanted_By_Uzbekistan_Detained_In_Kazakhstan/2060224.html

In May 2010 the NANSMIT Monitoring Service received 18 reports. Ten of them describe the factual situation in the media in the light of socio-legal and political environment; six reports describe direct violations of rights of media professionals; and two reports describe conflicts and accusations against the media and journalists.

I. PECULIARITIES OF POLITICAL, SOCIAL, ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL CLIMATE IN THE COUNTRY DEFINING THE FACTUAL SITUATION IN THE MEDIA

1. Public speeches and statements of superior officials defining the factual situation in the mass media

7 May
All media, Dushanbe

On 7 May Tajik radio journalists and communication specialists celebrate their professional day. Radio appeared in the Tajik Soviet Socialist republic in 1932, and by the early 1940-s it was covering only 30 percent of the country territory.

In the first years of independence the national radio kept monopoly in the air. The first private FM radio station – Radio Tiroz – was set up in the northern city of Khujand in Sughd province.

15 May
Subkhidam, private newspaper, Khujand, Sughd province

The first issue of the Subkhidam (The Dawn) weekly in Tajik and Uzbek languages came off the press in Sughd province. This is a public-political and linguistic-educational outlet with the editing board in the Proletarsk settlement, Jabbor-Rsulov district.

The newspaper will be published in 1,2 thousand copes. Its founder is Alijon Yuldashev, a well known journalist having a 45-year experience of working in the media.

25 May
All media, Dushanbe

On 25 May the Russian-Tajik Slavic University held a conference “Problems of the Russian-language media in Tajikistan”. The conference was supported by the Russian World Foundation.

Participants discussed trends of development among radio companies and periodicals broadcasting and publishing materials in Russian language.

It was noted that the problems of the Russian-language media are very typical for other Tajik media. First of all, this is the problem of survival in conditions of crisis, lack of professionals, a weak advertisement market, the absence of domestic paper manufacturing industry, etc.

2. Journalists protecting their civil and professional rights

3 May
All media, Dushanbe

Participants of the round table “Media freedom and problems of the Tajik media” adopted the Declaration on Social Responsibility of Journalists. The document reflects the key principles of media activities. The Declaration is meant for maintaining a consensus in the issues of observing Tajikistan’s media legislation by journalists and editors. It concerns ethical and professional standards, as well as moral obligations.

The event was organized by the Tajik Union of Journalists, the Tajik National Association of Independent Mass Media, the Media Alliance of Tajikistan and the Tajik National Association of Electronic Media.

7 May
All media, Dushanbe

The Tajik Union of Journalists announced the results of a contest on the best coverage of Tajikistan’s input in achieving victory in World War II (1941-1945).

The winners are defined in four nominations. Among the best authors are Oleg Sobolev, Irina and Victor Dubovitskie, Galina Dzutseva and Umarali Sherkhonov.

15 May
All media, Khujand

On 14-15 May, the British Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) held a training session for human rights watchdogs and NGOs on the topic “Communication, communication strategies and reporting techniques”. The seminar was organized within the framework of the project “Human rights and education through the media in Central Asia” funded by the European Commission.

Sixteen participants from the cities of Sughd province gained skills for communication with the media and communities. They also practiced in developing communication strategies for their own organizations.

26 May
All media, Dushanbe

Participants of the XII Central Asia Media Conference held on 25-26 May in Dushanbe adopted a Declaration calling the government on ensuring transparency and observing access to information to the media.

In particular, the document reflects the importance of having access to information in government offices and public participation in decision-making processes.

28 May
All media, Dushanbe

On 24-28 May Public organization Khoma held a training on the topic “Journalism and climate change” for TV, radio and printing media. The event is supported by the international organization Act Central Asia/CAID.

II. VIOLATION OF RIGHTS IN THE MEDIA

1. Obstructions to professional activities

4 May
Radio Sadoi Khuroson and Nigokh weekly, Khatlon province

Journalists Orzu Karim and Rustami Safar representing respectively radio Sadoi Khuroson and the Nigokh weekly approached the chairman of Bokhtar district A. Ismoilov to share concerns about violation of civil rights in their area in the course of the army draft campaign.

The journalists told the official that the military commissioner officers organize raids thus violating the rights of young people.

After the conversation, journalists were approached by military people who promised to retaliate and conscript them unless they stop complaining. Both journalists are university students, and they cannot be conscripted until the end of their study in the university.

5 May
Juma Tolib, editor of the Paykon weekly, Chkalovsk, Sughd province

Juma Tolib, chief editor of the Paikon weekly published an article (#18, 05.05.2010) telling a story about Jakhongir Akhmedov, deputy prosecutor in the city of Chkalovsk who illegally took identification card from him.

The reason for conflict was Tolib’s “behavior” – the journalist was walking along the lake, taking pictures, and saw a dead body being pulled out of the water. Having shown his identification card to the police officers, the journalist asked some questions, but instead of getting answers, he was brought to the prosecutor’s office.

The journalist was requested to write an explanation note indicating the purpose of having the photo camera. Tolib told the NANSMIT monitoring service that he managed to cope with the situation, but any young and inexperienced journalist would hardly be able to communicate with the arrogant representatives of the law enforcement agencies.

14 May
All media, Dushanbe

On 14 May, during the Fifth Forum of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), at Strategic Research Center in Dushanbe, eight journalists representing local and foreign media were asked to leave the place.

Vafo Niyatbekov, representative of the Strategic Research Center, explained that the journalists can meet participants of the Forum at the end of the session and collect copies of presentations, but they are not allowed to stay in the conference room during the day.

The journalists had to obey in order not to compromise Tajikistan’s image before the foreign participants.

It should be noted that the journalists were attending the second session of the Forum, where participants discussed the issues of cultural and international cooperation, and the information presented there had nothing to do with security data.

20 May
Millat weekly, Dushanbe

Representatives of the Tajik media visited the city of Kulyab in Khatlon province, which was severely affected by floods. When journalists came to the stadium where the victims were accommodated in tents, the entrance was blocked by the policemen who said that “journalists spread infections”. (Millat weekly, #20, 20.05.2010)

Residents in the camping area complained that the police confiscated all newspapers brought by journalists. The policemen said that “the papers bewilder and muddle your mind”.

20 May
Sharifi Khadampur, editor of the Tojikiston weekly, Dushanbe

The editor of the Tojikiston weekly Sharifi Khadampur was forcedly brought to the police station in Ainy district. Reportedly, Khadampur was filming a check point at the Varzob highway tolling station. In his article (Tojikiston weekly, 20 May 2010) Khadampur describes unlawful actions of the deputy head of the Ainy interior department, lieutenant colonel Nasriddin Ruziev who spoke with drivers in a very rude and indecent manner.

III. CONFLICTS. VIOLATIONS INCRIMINATED TO THE MEDIA AND JOURNALISTS

1. Protection of honor, dignity and business reputation

14 May
Asia Plus, Ozodagon, and Farazh, Dushanbe

Speaking at a press conference in Dushanbe, Nusratullo Abdulloev, chairman of the Tajik Supreme Court told the media that he has no right to make comments on the legal actions against the three Tajik weeklies – Farazh, Ozodagon and Asia Plus. “I can only evaluate the validity and legitimacy of the court’s verdict – when it is made,” — he added.

In March 2010 the Sino district court in Dushanbe started hearings on the legal action against the three private newspapers. The complaints are two judges of the Tajik Supreme Court – Nur Nurov and Ulugbek Makhmadshoev, and a judge of the Dushanbe city court – Fakhriddin Dodometov. The complaints demand compensation for “moral damage” in the amount of 5,5, million Somoni ($1,2 million) claiming that the weeklies have defamed their honor, dignity and business reputation.

The dispute was caused by a publication based upon information voiced at a press conference held by Solejon Juraev, the lawyer who stated that in a court proceeding the chairing judge Nur Nurov violated the rights of defendants, and that the verdict was unfair.

Many authoritative international organizations and media communities – both local and foreign – have publicly expressed their concern about the situation.

“Persecution of citizens, in particular, rights advocates, who use their constitutional rights and freedoms, criticizing the judicial and executive powers, as well as the application of punitive measures against those who freely express their opinions, contradict the democratic principles and undermine Tajikistan’s image in the global community”, — says the public statement made by the Tajik Union of Journalists.

Media experts say that the hound on the non-state media is seen as a very negative trend leading to limitations of the freedom of speech and expression, increasing self-censorship among Tajik journalists.

This report is based on compiled materials from the media and private information presented by correspondents of the NANSMIT Monitoring Network

Coordinator of the Monitoring Service
Abdufattokh Vokhidov

Project Manager
Nuriddin Karshibaev