President of Tajikistan Emomali Rakhmon is going to hold a meeting with representatives of the mass media on 8 December in Dushanbe.

According to the President’s executive office, Rakhmon is going to discuss problems of the media, and issues of interaction between private media with ministries and other government agencies.

It is expected that the meeting will be held in the form of discussion, which will touch upon the influence of the mass media on Tajikistan’s economy.

Avesta

DUSHANBE — Tajik and Russian officials signed an agreement in Dushanbe today to fight drug-related crime, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reports.

The agreement was signed by the head of Tajikistan’s antidrug agency, Lieutenant General Rustam Nazarov, and Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan Yury Popov.

Nazarov said after signing the agreement that it creates a new framework for joint efforts to fight drug trafficking and to rehabilitate drug addicts.

Popov said it opens new ways for various Russian and Tajik ministries to crack down on drug-related businesses.

The Tajik Interior Ministry told RFE/RL that officials have confiscated some 4,200 kilograms of illegal drugs, including 1,046 kilograms of heroin this year.

Some Tajik analysts told RFE/RL that they hope the agreement will help remove Russian stereotypes about Tajiks and their involvement in drugs.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Tajikistan_Russia_Agree_To_Fight_DrugRelated_Crime/1895206.html

Aspiring veterinarian Rahmatullo Nazarov was at work at a poultry farm on the outskirts of Dushanbe in late November when he received the news he had been waiting for.

It came in the form of a verdict from the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled in favor of the 29-year-old Tajik citizen’s complaint against Russia.

Nazarov had turned to the Strasbourg-based court to seek justice for the inhumane treatment he suffered while imprisoned in Russia for three years on drug charges. The court supported Nazarov’s claims that his right to freedom and personal security had been violated, and ordered Russia to pay more than 18,000 euros ($27,000) in compensation.

Nazarov tells RFE/RL’s Tajik Service that the ruling marks the first step toward justice and the restoration of his honor.

«The same people who turned their backs on me came to tell me: ‘We heard the radio reports and want to congratulate you on your court victory and ask for forgiveness. Sorry we had bad thoughts about you,’” Nazarov says. “This was my first victory.»

Nazarov waited nearly six years for that victory.

He recalls that in April 2004 he had only three months left to go to complete the postgraduate studies in Russia that would make him a veterinary surgeon. But his dream was derailed when he was arrested on the streets of Vladimir, located 200 kilometers east of Moscow, and charged with the possession of a large amount of drugs.

According to the verdict of the European Court of Human Rights, Nazarov was placed in custody on the basis that «he had been charged with a serious crime and that, if he remained at liberty, he could have absconded or interfered with the investigation or continued his unlawful activities.»

Nazarov’s pretrial detention went on for 23 months. When his trial in a Russian court finally began, prosecutors sought a nine-year prison sentence on charges of dealing drugs. He eventually was found guilty of lesser possession charges and sentenced to three years in prison, minus the nearly two years he had already served.

Nazarov says he endured threats, beatings, and terrible conditions in prison, but maintained his innocence throughout.

«I knew that I was innocent, even though the Russian investigators wanted [to prove] the contrary,” Nazarov says. “This allowed me to cope with all the terrible conditions, hunger, and a lack of water in prison and to survive those inhumane conditions.”

“It was very difficult for me, for a child of an educated family, a postgraduate student, to fall from such a high position,” he says. “Sometimes we had just one bed for three or four inmates and we slept on it in turns.»

Long Search For Justice

Nazarov filed complaints with various Russian courts in an attempt to clear his name.

When none of his complaints were successful, he turned to the European Court of Human Rights, one of the most powerful checks on governmental abuse in Europe. As a member of the Council of Europe, which oversees the court, Russia is obliged to obey its rulings.

Tracey Turner-Tretz, a spokeswoman for the Strasbourg court, tells RFE/RL that Nazarov’s complaint centered on the poor conditions he endured while in pretrial detention, the excessive length of his custody as he awaited trial, and Russian judicial authorities’ failure to examine his appeals in a speedy fashion.

«The court found Russia breached Article 3 and 5 [of the European Convention on Human Rights] on all the counts invoked by Mr. Nazarov and awarded him 15,000 euros nonpecuniary damage and 3,500 euros for costs and expenses,» Turner-Tretz explains.

Nazarov’s lawyer, Mikhail Ovchinnikov, tells RFE/RL that he and his client are satisfied with the court’s decision, made on November 26. Ovchinnikov expects Russia to pay the settlement after 90 days.

The Russian side “can appeal to the Grand Chamber, but such appeals are not usually upheld,” Ovchinnikov said. “We bear in mind that all the judges ruled in favor of Nazarov, so we are sure that this victory is final.»

Not An Uncommon Story

After being freed from Russian prison in 2007, Nazarov returned to Tajikistan. Today he is married and has a young daughter.

But in search of justice and the restoration of his honor, Nazarov plans to take one more step — returning to Russia to complete his studies and receive his degree.

Nazarov’s case is not the first time a Tajik citizen has won a ruling against Russia at the European Court of Human Rights.

In 2008, Tajik citizen Doniyor Khudoyorov was awarded 50,000 euros ($75,000) after the court ruled in favor of his complaint stemming from his 1999 arrest in Russia on drug-related charges. Khudoyorov was freed in 2004 after Russian investigators failed to provide evidence to back the charges against him.

The experiences of Nazarov and Khudoyorov in Russia are not unique among Tajiks living in Russia.

Officially, about 300,000 to 400,000 Tajiks travel to Russia for seasonal work as migrants, although unofficial estimates place that number at closer to 1 million.

According to Russian data, about 3,500 Tajik citizens are currently imprisoned in Russia, most charged with drug possession or drug dealing.

Said Boev, a Tajik migrant in Moscow, acknowledges that some Tajiks living in Russia are involved in illegal activities. But he says they are the exception, not the norm, and that in most cases charges against them are groundless.

Boev claims that Russian police target Tajiks because they know they are afraid of the police and are not likely to contest their treatment. «Our citizens never complain to Russian Interior Ministry offices or the Russian authorities. They try to avoid it,» Boev said.

And this, Boev says, makes it easy for the Russian police to prove migrants’ «guilt.»

Iskander Aliev, Khiromon Bakoeva, Tohir Safarov

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/Tajik_Wrongly_Imprisoned_In_Russia_Finds_Justice_In_Strasbourg/1895480.

DUSHANBE — Tajik human rights activist Nigina Bakhrieva says the decision by Kyrgyz officials to ban her from entering Kyrgyzstan was a great surprise, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reports.

Bakhrieva told RFE/RL that border guards at Bishkek’s Manas Airport did not allow her to enter the country on December 2 when she arrived and told her she cannot enter Kyrgyzstan until 2019.

No explanations for the refusal were given.

Bakhrieva says she was invited by the Kyrgyz nongovernmental organization Voice of Liberty to take part in training for employees in the Kyrgyz ombudsman’s office.

She said rights activists will ask Ombudsman Tursunbek Akun to seek an official explanation for the ban against her.

Bakhrieva said she has traveled to Kyrgyzstan regularly since 2004 and it is «a pity» she will not be able to go there for 10 years.

She added that she has never been involved in politics and went to Bishkek as a human rights expert for seminars held by the United Nations’ office in Bishkek.

Bakhrieva said she has a visa to take part in a conference in the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat, next week «so I do not have any problems entering Turkmenistan, but I now have problems to enter the so-called ‘island of democracy’ in Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan.»

Bakhrieva was one of the experts who filed a report on the situation in the southern Kyrgyz village of Nookat where, in October 2008, Nookat residents protested after not being allowed to celebrate in a stadium the Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of Ramadan.

Dozens of people were sentenced to jail for «organizing unsanctioned mass gatherings that led to mass disorder.»

Human rights activists consider the incident a politically motivated move against practicing Muslims.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Tajik_Activist_Surprised_At_Kyrgyz_Entry_Ban/1894996.html

Human Rights Watch is urging the Kyrgyz government to immediately stop harassing human rights monitors doing research in southern Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyz authorities recently denied entry to prominent Tajik human rights activist Nigina Bakhrieva. She was the third foreign advocate working in southern Kyrgyzstan to be denied entry or deported in 2009.

Bakhrieva was preparing a report about the arrests and sentencing of residents of the southern village of Nookat.

Nookat residents had taken to the streets in protest after they were denied the right to publicly celebrate the Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of Ramadan.

In a statement, Andrea Berg, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, says: «Kyrgyzstan is increasingly harassing rights advocates investigating the government’s abusive campaign in southern Kyrgyzstan. It’s no coincidence that Bakhrieva was denied entry after having been in touch with Nookat lawyers.»

HRW says the government is carrying out a campaign in the south against what it views as Islamic extremism.

http://www.rferl.org/content/HRW_Tells_Kyrgyzstan_To_Stop_Harassing_Rights_Monitors/1895334.html

Rights campaigners in Bishkek say a Tajik human rights activist was not allowed to enter Kyrgyzstan today, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reports.

Aziza Abdyrasulova, chairwoman of the Kylym Shamy (Torch of the Century) human rights center, told RFE/RL that border guards at Bishkek airport did not allow Negina Bakhryeva to enter the country, saying they had an order barring her from entering until 2010.

Abdrasulova said Bakhryeva might have been added to a «black list» because of her work in monitoring the situation with human rights in Kyrgyzstan’s south, in particular a report she was preparing about the arrests and subsequent sentencing of dozens of people in the southern village of Nookat in October 2008.

Nookat residents had taken to the streets in protest after they were denied the right to celebrate the Eid-al-Fitr festival marking the end of Ramadan in a local stadium.

Dozens were sentenced for «organizing unsanctioned mass gatherings that led to mass disorder.»

Human rights activists consider the Nookat case a politically motivated move by Kyrgyz authorities against Muslims.

Two Russian human rights activists — Vitaly Ponomarev and Bahrom Hamroev — were deported from Kyrgyzstan’s south on separate occasions earlier this year.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Tajik_Human_Rights_Activist_Not_Allowed_Into_Kyrgyzstan_/1893609.html

(New York) — The Kyrgyz government should immediately stop harassing human rights monitors doing research in southern Kyrgyzstan, Human Rights Watch said today. On December 2 Kyrgyz authorities denied entry to prominent Tajik human rights defender Nigina Bakhrieva — the third foreign advocate working on southern Kyrgyzstan to be denied entry or deported in 2009.

Bakhrieva, the former head of the Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law in Tajikistan, had been invited to Kyrgyzstan as an independent expert by the Kyrgyz ombudsman’s office. In September, she provided advice about the process for filing individual complaints with the United Nations Human Rights Committee to lawyers representing individuals convicted of criminal charges after a protest in Nookat in 2008.

«Kyrgyzstan is increasingly harassing rights advocates investigating the government’s abusive campaign in southern Kyrgyzstan,» said Andrea Berg, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. «It’s no coincidence that Bakhrieva was denied entry after having been in touch with Nookat lawyers.»

The government has been carrying out a campaign in the south against what it views as Islamic extremism. Residents of Nookat held the protest because they were denied permission to celebrate a Muslim holiday.

Two weeks ago, Kyrgyz authorities summarily deported Bakhrom Hamroev, a human rights defender with the Russian organization Memorial, after he had spent a week conducting research in southern Kyrgyzstan. The Kyrgyz National Security Service detained him for one night and confiscated material he had gathered on alleged human rights violations by Kyrgyz law enforcement and security services in cases of alleged religious extremism and terrorism.

When they detained Hamroev on November 18, Kyrgyz security officials also detained Kyrgyz human rights defender Izzatilla Rakhmatillaev, who had been working with Hamroev. They questioned Rakhmatillaev and released him that evening.

On February 26, Hamroev’s colleague Vitalii Ponomarev, director of Memorial’s Central Asia program, was stopped at the Kyrgyz border and declared persona non grata. Ponomarev was denied entry a month after he published a 24-page report about religious persecution, torture, and other abuse in southern Kyrgyzstan.

Human rights defenders from Kyrgyzstan have told Human Rights Watch that the number of arrests of alleged extremists and terrorists in southern Kyrgyzstan is rising, and have expressed concern about abuses related to these arrests, including: arbitrary detention; torture and other ill-treatment in custody; and violation of fair trial rights. They express concern that the authorities’ harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders has made monitoring the situation more difficult.

For example, since late 2008 the National Security Service has harassed several members of a commission established by the Kyrgyz ombudsman to investigate the situation. National Security Service personnel visited the office of the human rights group, Kylym Shamy, and several times informally questioned the relatives of its director, Aziza Abdurasulova, an outspoken critic of the authorities’ response to the Nookat events. Another member of the commission received repeated phone calls from the National Security Service with requests to meet.

The UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders provides that «for the purpose of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, …[t]o communicate with non-governmental or intergovernmental organizations.» Additionally, everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to «know, seek, obtain, receive and hold information about all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including having access to information as to how those rights and freedoms are given effect in domestic legislative, judicial or administrative systems.»

«The government’s harassment of local and foreign rights advocates shows why monitoring the anti-extremism campaign is so crucial,» Berg said. «The authorities should stop their repressive tactics and allow unhindered fact-finding and trial monitoring.»

Background on the deportation of Nigina Bakhrieva

Bakhrieva was pulled out of line when she arrived on December 2 from Dushanbe, Tajikistan at the Manas airport in Bishkek. A Border control representative asked her if she had experienced problems with the authorities in September. She replied that she had not, but then the officer told her that she was denied entry to Kyrgyzstan until 2019. When she asked for the reason the officer said «We don’t know. You will fly back now.» Bakhrieva boarded the same airplane back to Dushanbe.

The Kyrgyz immigration service gave Bakhrieva a deportation document stating that she is not allowed to enter Kyrgyzstan, noting persona non grata as the reason. The document notes her arrival and departure dates but does not indicate when the ban on her entry ends.

Background on the Nookat events

The Nookat events stand out in the government’s anti-extremism campaign in the south. On October 1, 2008, Nookat residents protested in front of the municipal building in response to a decision by local authorities prohibiting a public celebration of Eid al-Fitr, a Muslim holiday commonly celebrated throughout Kyrgyzstan. On October 13, 2008, the State Committee for National Security announced that it had detained 32 people whom it alleged were members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, an international Islamic organization that is banned in several countries in the region.

At their trial in late November 2008, 30 of 32 defendants testified that they had been tortured and ill-treated, but the judge neither urged the prosecutor’s office to investigate nor dismissed the evidence allegedly obtained under torture. The defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 9 to 20 years. In May 2009, Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court upheld the verdicts, reducing a few sentences slightly. It did not respond to the defendants’ torture allegations.

Human Rights Watch

Источник: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/12/03/kyrgyzstan-allow-rights-monitors-country

This report is based upon messages from the Tajik media and the NANSMIT monitoring network.

Moderator of the monitoring network in Tajikistan
Abdufatoh Vohidov

Chief of legal service
Orifjon Azimov

Chief of project in Tajikistan
Nuriddin Karshiboev

Freedom of Speech in Tajikistan November 2009

In November 2009 the NANSMIT Monitoring Service received 15 reports. Seven of them describe the factual situation in the media in the light of socio-legal and political environment; three reports describe direct violations of rights of media professionals; and five 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

5 November
Kodir Kosim, chairman of GBAO

Head of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province (GBAO) Kodir Kosijm intends to facilitate the creation of independent media in his region. Speaking with journalists at a press briefing in Khorog, administrative center of GBAO, he said that “competition in the information space is one of the main incentives for the media in their endeavors, which helps improve their quality”.

14r November
Zafar Azizov, deputy chairman of the Tajik Supreme Court, Dushanbe

Speaking at a legal counseling meeting in Dushanbe on the issues of Judicial Power and the Media, the deputy chair of the Tajik Supreme Court Zafar Azizov noted that many Tajik citizens know very little about their civil rights and thus, cannot protect themselves. “The media can play an important role in public awareness and promotion of legal rights”, — he said. — “Journalists must provide the society with comprehensive, veracious and objective information”.

2. Changes and amendments to the legislation affecting the media

20 November
All media, Dushanbe

The government of Tajikistan has endorsed a regulation obliging individuals to pay for information acquired from state institutions. This document is the Government Resolution #610, 31 October 2010 “On the order of reimbursement to government institutions for information provided to citizens”.

Explaining the reasons for such a move, government officials refer to the necessity of regulating the provision of information and potential expenditures related to that. The Resolution describes only open (unclassified) information.

According to the regulation, the cost of one printed page cannot exceed 35 dirams ($0,09); however, government officials are allowed to define the cost of their own response depending on the importance of requested information or data.

Individuals will be charged not only for printing documents; from now on, they must pay for any verbal comments of laws, bylaws and government decrees, resolutions, etc.

3. Journalists protecting their civil and professional rights

13 November
All media, Dushanbe

The Tajik Union of Journalists held legal counseling on the topic “Judicial Power and the Media”. The meeting was attended by legal and media professionals.

The meeting was held within the framework of the project “Support to Independent Media in Tajikistan”, which is being implemented by the Tajik National Association of Independent Media (NANSMIT) under the US-based organization National Endowment for Democracy (NED.

Participants discussed the issues of relations and interactions between the judicial power and the media.

22 November
IWPR, Almaty, Kazakhstan

On 20-21 November Almaty hosted representatives of human rights NGOs and journalists from the countries of Central Asia. The training was held within the framework of a project “Protection of human rights and legal education through the media in Central Asia” implemented by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) under support of the European Commission.

The main purpose of the training is to provide participants with training skills and new methodologies for their future activities.

Vyacheslav Abramov was the chief trainer. He is the director of the International Journalism School MediaNet in Kazakhstan, and the editor of the information portal Voice of Freedom Central Asia www.vof.kg

II. VIOLATION OF RIGHTS IN THE MEDIA

1. Compensation for moral damage (Article 174, Civil Code of Tajikistan)

5 November
Paykon weekly, Dushanbe

Jumaboi Tolibov, editor of the Paykon weekly appealed to the Firdausi district court with a complaint against its verdict dated 26 October 2006 regarding the lawsuit initiated by the Tajik Agency on Standardization, Metrology and Trade Inspection under the government (TajikStandard). The agency demanded compensation for moral damage.

The court obliged the newspaper to pay TajikStandard the amount of 300 thousand Somoni.

According to Tolibov, the decision contradicts the law on protection of honor and dignity, business reputation and compensation for moral damage.

1. Libel (Article 135, part 2 of the Tajik Criminal Code)

18 November
Ozodbek Khosabekov, GBAO

The Farazh weekly published a copy of a letter by Ozodbek Khosabekov addressed to the chairman of the Tajik Supreme Court N. Abdulloev (#54, 18.11.09).

The author describes a legal trial, which he had to go through since 2008. The case was initiated by the chairman of the Rushan district, following Khosabekov’s publication in the Asia Plus weekly (#2, 2008). Khosabokov stated that the Supreme Court considered his complaint superficially and gave him an unsatisfactory answer.

“Despite the verdict of the Supreme court, the Rushan district court accused me of libel and defamation of an official representing a construction company in GBAO and brought an indictment according to Articles 220-222, 223”, — said Khosabekov.

2. Violation of professional rights

19 November
Munavvari Munavarzod, freelance journalist, Dushanbe

Munavvari Munavvarzod, a journalist who worked for the Tajik branch of Radio Liberty (Radio Ozodi) approached the head of the Radio Liberty Tajik and Uzbek service, Sojidai Morzo. The Tajik weekly Ozodagon (#46, 19.11.09) published this letter.

Munavvarzod asked the supervisor about the reasons for not prolonging the contract, and explains why he decided to publish his letter in the Tajik weekly – because he had not received a response to his previous two letters.

The author of the open letter states that his dismissal was ungrounded and illegal.

III. CONFLICTS. VIOLATIONS INCRIMINATED TO THE MEDIA AND JOURNALISTS

1. Protection of honor, dignity and business reputation

1 November
Paykon weekly, Dushanbe

N. Nuraliev, head of the Tajik Education Ministry’s press center published an article in the Paykon weekly, stating that the author of an article “An anti-crisis project” Isfandior Khalilov has gone beyond the limits of professional media ethics.

Nuraliev says that the article is full of accusations and hatred. “The real professional must be impartial; he cannot defame the people he criticizes”, — he says.

The Ministry of education confirmed its desire to further cooperate with Paykon and other Tajik printing media.

12 November
Social Party of Tajikistan (SPT), Dushanbe

The Tajik Social Party issued an official statement saying that “in the last three years, especially during 2009, there have been many biased and preconceived publications in the media misleading the society, members and supporters of the party, undermining its image on the eve of elections”.

M. Nazriev, one of the party functionaries refers to publications in the Millat, Nigokh, and Ozodagon weeklies. In particular, he refers to the fact that the papers present Mr. A. Gafforov as the chairman of the party who attends all public events involving international organizations and representatives of the diplomatic corpus. “Back in 2000, Gafforov was dismissed from the party for embezzlement and other violations”, — the statement says

19 November
Zafar Yusufi, freelance journalist, Dushanbe

Frelance journalist Zafar Yusufi (Ozodagon weekly, #46, 19.11.09) says in his article that the video clips on HIV protection run on the Tajik television are not in compliance with “the oriental mentality”. “These videos demonstrate indecencies”, — he says. — “I wonder if the TV officials watch them in the presence of their children and parents”.

Yusufi accuses the Tajik television of impudence and promotion of immoral way of life. He asks why the Tajik TV wouldn’t try to tackle the issues of malnutrition among the Tajiks, or protection of rights among our labor migrants working abroad.

19 November
State news agency Khovar, Dushanbe

The Ozodagon weekly (#46, 19.11.09) publishe an article titled “Khovar versus Turajonzoda?), referring to political experts who discuss the problem of “dirty games” between and among the Tajik political parties. The article says that the insulting statements against Khoji Akbar Turajonzoda and Mukhiddin Kabiri were made via the Khovar government news agency deliberately by unknown individuals.

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