We are concerned by reports that Urunbay Usmonov, a BBC journalist based in Khujand in northern Tajikistan was detained and maltreated by security authorities on 14 June as an alleged member of ‘Hizb-ut-Tahrir’. We have urged the Tajik authorities to clarify the situation as soon as possible.
The UK with EU partners have underlined to the Tajik authorities the importance of media freedom in Tajikistan. We recognise and support the efforts of the Tajik Government in ensuring security and stability in the country, but continue to stress the need for the Tajik authorities to conduct their activities in accordance with their international commitments.
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For more information please contact:

Jamila Sujud
Press and Public Affairs Officer
British Embassy
65 Mirzo Tursunzade Street, Dushanbe
Tel: (992 37) 224 22 21/ 224 14 77
Facsimile: (992 37) 227 17 26

British Embassy in Dushanbe

Commonwealth of Independent States : «Internet regulation should not curtail freedom of expression»

Reporters Without Borders wrote today to all the leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States – Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan – voicing concern about a framework law on Internet regulation that the CIS adopted on 16 May. It contains several repressive provisions and, although not binding, it is intended to serve as guidelines for legislation in individual CIS member states.

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Dear Prime Minister,

The press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders would like to draw your attention to Framework Law No. 36-9 “On the Bases of Internet Regulation,” which was adopted by the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States on 16 May 2011 in the presence of a delegation from your country.

Although not binding, this law’s 13 articles are intended to serve as a reference for legislation by CIS member countries. However, the implementation of some of this law’s articles would dangerously contradict the principles of online free expression and Net Neutrality by encouraging member states to exercise excessive control over what is a privileged space for exchanging information.

Article 9, about “international cooperation in the domain of Internet regulation,” promotes a dangerous degree of state intervention at the expense of Internet self-regulation. It stipulates that state control over Internet content and users should be reinforced by the creation of various state agencies.

Subsection 2 refers to a body empowered by the authorities to defend the state’s interests over the Internet.” Subsection 3 refers to an agency with the job of registering national domain IP addresses. It would have the power to cancel second-level domain names and therefore to close platforms such as LiveJournal in cases in which the country’s law is broken or in cases of “threats to public order in other countries.” The implementation of this provision would help to divide the Internet into national segments in direct violation of the principle of Net Neutrality, which bans any discrimination as regards network access.

Article 13 is also a source of much concern because it makes it obligatory for Internet access providers to keep user data for at least a year and make it available to the judicial authorities and law-enforcement agencies. The scope of this measure, above all, the nature of the data being retained, must be clearly defined in order to reassure users that their personal data is not being misused by the authorities and to ensure that the length of time it is being retained is not excessive. The Internet should not be used as a space for monitoring and controlling citizens, who have a right to privacy.

We urge your government to take note of these various issues. Internet regulation should not be imposed at the expense of freedom of expression, which is enshrined in international conventions ratified by your country. In a joint declaration on 1 June 2011, the United Nations and the OSCE stressed that, “Restrictions on freedom of expression on the Internet are only acceptable if they comply with established international standards.”

You are bound by this declaration, which contains guidelines that would be a much better source of inspiration for your country’s legislators than Framework Law No. 36-9. It stressed that freedom of expression applies to the Internet as well, and that states have an obligation to promote universal Internet access. We urge you to enshrine Internet access as a fundamental right in your Constitution.

We thank you in advance for the attention you give to our letter.

Sincerely,

Jean-François Julliard

Reporters Without Borders secretary-general

English: http://en.rsf.org/europe-et-ex-urss-internet-regulation-should-not-15-06-2011,40463.html

http://en.rsf.org/europe-et-ex-urss-internet-regulation-should-not-15-06-2011,40463.html

BBC World Service Statement

The BBC has learnt with very great concern of the detention of its
reporter in Tajikistan, Urinboy Usmonov.

Mr Usmonov, who has worked for the BBC Central Asian Service for the
last ten years, was reported missing by his family on 13 June 2011
when he failed to return home after work. At 12:00 BST on 14 June
2011, after increasingly desperate searches by family and work
colleagues, Mr Usmonov appeared at his home accompanied by members of
the Tajik security services. Mr Usmonov’s family reported that he
appeared to have been beaten up.

A search was conducted of his home by the officers and he was then
taken away. He has been denied access to his family since then.

The BBC now understands that Mr Usmonov has been accused of having
links to the Hizbi Tahrir party — an Islamic organisation which is
banned in Tajikistan. Whilst Mr Usmonov has reported on the judicial
trials and activities of the Hizbi Tahrir party in Tajikistan at the
request of the BBC, the BBC has no reason to believe these
allegations. The BBC deplores the alleged treatment of Mr Usmonov
whilst detained, in particular the denial of access to a legal
representative.

The BBC demands that Mr Usmonov is released with immediate effect.

BBC

DUSHANBE — Tajik authorities have detained BBC Uzbek Service correspondent Usmonboy Urunboev in the northern city of Khujand, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reports.

Tajik Interior Ministry spokesman Mahmadullo Asadulloev said on June 15 that Urunboev, who was born in 1951, joined the banned Islamic movement Hizb ut-Tahrir in 2009 and sought to recruit new members for the group through the Internet.

Asadulloev said several people have made statements confirming this information.

Urunboev’s son, Oybek, said police came to the family’s home on June 13 and told them Urunboev had been arrested. Oybek said police searched the house but did not find anything incriminating.

Diplomats at the British Embassy in Dushanbe said they are aware of Urunboev’s arrest and will monitor the case.

Urunboev has worked in Khujand for the BBC for the past 10 years.

http://www.rferl.org/content/tajik_police_arrest_bbc_correspondent/24236215.html

The United States government has expressed concern over a decision by Uzbekistan’s Supreme Court to approve the closure of the Tashkent office of the internationally respected Human Rights Watch group.

A statement issued by U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said international nongovernmental organizations such as Human Rights Watch «have an important function to play around the world» and that Washington regrets that Human Rights Watch will not be able to continue its work in Uzbekistan.

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch announced in March that it was being forced to close its Tashkent office after Uzbek authorities took steps to liquidate its office registration after years of obstructing the group’s work.

In a statement after last week’s decision by the Uzbek Supreme Court, Human Rights Watch said the Uzbek government continues to interfere with independent civil society and harass activists.

The statement condemned the Uzbek government for what it called an «atrocious human rights record in general.»

http://www.rferl.org/content/us_concern_closure_human_rights_watch_in_uzbekistan/24235375.html

If you want to promote your blog, don’t rule out stripping on camera. That’s exactly what prominent Kazakh journalist Gulzhan Ergalieva has done.

Ergalieva recently stepped down as the chief editor of a Kazakh newspaper, «Svoboda Slova,» which has been critical of the government. She said that her resignation was motivated by the campaign for a referendum to prolong Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev’s term in office until 2020.

Ergalieva is known as a crusading opposition-minded journalist. In 2001, masked men broke into her home before tying her up and beating her. Her husband was tortured, leaving him handicapped. The assailants were never found.

So to promote her new website, she decided to take off her clothes. (Video above. It’s probably just about safe-for-work, although best not to watch it when you have a visiting delegation behind you.) Her campaign is called, » The Naked Truth Is Better Than A Dressed-Up Lie.»

The reactions in the Kazakh blogosphere have been mixed. Here is a sample from our Kazakh Service:

«You are almost 60, how on earth could you take off your clothes in front of all of us? What kind of example are you setting for your children?»

«I think it would be better if you wore hijab and nikab when promoting your new project. Stripteases and drinking are everyday norms in our lives and wearing a hijab would probably attract more attention as something unusual in our country.»

» Gulzhan, how can you consider yourself a Kazakh lady after you’ve shown your naked body to everyone? It is a shame. If you have three grandchildren, as you say, what they are feeling now, I wonder?»

http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakh_journalist_strips_to_promote_her_websites/24236007.html

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon was recently touring Europe but few seemed willing to meet with him. That was too bad for European officials, since Rahmon had an interesting comment.

Rahmon’s tour took him to France, Austria, Luxembourg, and Hungary. He did not meet with many high-placed government officials (except the Austrian president), but Rahmon did meet with officials from European institutions, though he seems not to have made a much of an impression.

Heidi Hautala, the chairwoman of the European Parliament’s subcommittee on human rights, met with Rahmon and later told RFE/RL’s Tajik Service that he «was not extremely open» in their conversation.

Hautala pressed him on human rights issues and told Rahmon there needed to be more transparency and openness in Tajikistan in terms of human rights. But Hautala said she came away with the impression that «for the [Tajik] president, it was enough that the main principles of observing human rights were outlined in the constitution.»

Such an impression is perhaps not surprising, since Rahmon did not travel to Europe to answer questions about Tajikistan’s domestic affairs but to ask Europeans to invest in Tajikistan.

Rahmon was, of course, also seeking support for building the giant Roghun hydropower plant project that neighboring Uzbekistan so vehemently opposes. And as a reward for this potential support Rahmon treated those attending his speeches to marathon oratories that likely left them with little desire to question the Tajik president about anything.

Some Tajiks have pointed out that if European officials had to endure such an hours-long speech for one day, they should consider that Tajiks are treated to these long speeches regularly.

But Rahmon’s show-stopper comment came in his meeting with Hautala, when she asked the Tajik president about increasing prohibitions against young people attending mosques or madrasahs.

Rahmon’s reply: «You prohibit minors from drinking alcohol, don’t you?»

— Bruce Pannier

Bruce Pannier RFE/RL

Источник: http://www.rferl.org/content/chaikhana_tajik_president_wows_europe/24231267.html

KULOB, Tajikistan — The sons of two prominent Tajik journalists say police in the southern city of Kulob have detained and beat them, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reports.

Ibrohim Ahmad’s son Siyavush and Asliddin Dostiev’s son Bobojon were detained by traffic police at around 11 p.m. on June 7 along with some 100 fans of the local Ravshan soccer club, which had just won a match against Dushanbe’s Energetik team.

Officials say the young fans did not cause a public disturbance while celebrating their team’s victory. But the two say they were beaten while in police custody.

Ahmad and Dostiev say they were held at the police station for several hours and the police were very rude; insulting and beating them. They say they both sustained injuries.

The men underwent a medical examination on June 8 which revealed numerous bruises and other injuries on their bodies. They have filed a lawsuit against the police.

Asliddin Dostiev told RFE/RL that the police action is connected with his professional activities. He said he and his colleague, Ahmad Ibrohim, have been writing articles criticizing local police and traffic inspection police for some time.

«When the police found out that the guys were our children, they did what they did while we were out of town,» Dostiev told RFE/RL.

Kulob city traffic inspection police head Saimumin Hasanov told RFE/RL that the incident is being investigated.

He said traffic police had been patrolling the streets of Kulob during the night of June 7 «to preserve order.»

http://www.rferl.org/content/sons_of_tajik_journalists_claim_police_beat_them/24228505.html

DUSHANBE — Workers renovating the Tajik parliament building were surprised to find four Soviet-era busts — including one of Josef Stalin — stashed away in a hidden room, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reports.

Communist Party of Tajikistan chairman and parliament deputy Shodi Shabdolov told RFE/RL that workers removed a wall while renovating the interior of the building today and found a small secret room containing the busts of Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, Karl Marx, and Friedrich Engels.

Shabdolov said Stalin’s bust must have been hidden there after then-Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) Politburo General-Secretary Nikita Khrushchev’s denunciation of Stalin’s personality cult in February 1956.

As for the other three busts, they must have been removed from public view and hidden in the early 1990s, Shabdolov said.

The parliament building previously housed the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic’s Supreme Soviet.

Shabdolov said Shukurjon Zuhurov, speaker of the lower chamber of parliament, has agreed that the busts of Marx, Engels, and Lenin will be placed in Shabdolov’s office in the parliament building.

The bust of Stalin weighs 400 kilograms and is therefore difficult to move, but Shabdolov undertook to find a suitable location and have it transported there.

http://www.rferl.org/content/soviet_era_busts_found_in_tajik_parliament_builsing/24227671.html

MOSCOW/PRAGUE — A prominent Russian human rights activist of Uzbek origin has been attacked and beaten in his Moscow apartment block, RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service reports.

Bakhrom Hamroev, who works for the Moscow-based human rights organization Memorial, was hospitalized after the June 6 attack and Moscow police have launched an investigation into the incident.

Hamroev told RFE/RL by phone that the attack appears to have been planned. He said when he entered his apartment block at around 8 p.m. local time, he saw a man in the corridor who immediately started talking into a cell phone.

«I pressed the button to call the elevator to go up to my apartment on the fifth floor and I saw that the elevator was at that moment on the sixth floor. When the elevator came, a man came out and attacked me,» Hamroev said. He said the man in the corridor also assaulted him and the two sprayed him with pepper spray.

Hamroev said he was scheduled to fly that night to the northwestern city of Murmansk. He planned to meet there with Yusuf Kosimokhunov, an Uzbek who is due to be released from a local jail on June 9 after serving a sentence of several years for his membership of the banned Islamic organization Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Hamroev said the Russian authorities plan to extradite Kosimokhunov to Uzbekistan instead of releasing him from jail.

The incident marks the second time Hamroev has been assaulted in the last six months. Police failed to apprehend those responsible for the earlier attack in December.

Hamroev’s colleague at Memorial, Vitaly Ponomarev, told RFE/RL he believes both attacks were connected with Hamroev’s human rights activities.

Hamroev is a Russian citizen.

http://www.rferl.org/content/prominent_human_rights_activist_beaten_in_moscow/24227244.html