Focus on struggle for independent media

The arrest in Moscow on 5 July of Dododjon Atovulloev, publisher of an opposition Tajik newspaper, on charges of sedition and insulting the Tajik president has been described as a major setback by Tajik journalists and international organisations trying to promote independent media in this Central Asian country. Already having been forced to relocate his independent newspaper ‘Charogi Ruz’ to Russia, when authorities ordered its closure in 1992, his lawyer said Atovulloev now faced the death penalty if extradited to Tajikistan. “This action has drawn international attention to the goings-on inside the country and the realities facing journalists here,” the country director of Internews in Tajikistan, Roshan Khadivi, told IRIN on Tuesday. She said the arrest had generated “unnecessary fear among all local journalists in Tajikistan”. The arrest demonstrates just how nervous the government is about independent news reporting. According to a report in the ‘Moscow Times’ on 8 July, Atovulloev said the government had been trying to stamp out opposition in the press over the past decade, and contended that 62 Tajik journalists had been killed during this period. Sayed Yusunuf, a lawyer with a Tajik human rights watchdog, said the authorities were “stuck in a Soviet era mentality”. He told IRIN that despite the introduction of modern media laws following independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Tajikistan had lagged behind in international norms on mass media freedom. There was a big gap between the theory and application of media laws. There has been some progress in the north of the country, where 16 independent TV and radio stations now offer Tajik communities an alternative to official channels in the northern Sugd Province, bordering Uzbekistan. But local journalists maintain this was prompted by nationalist concerns, after a survey found that Tajiks in the area actually thought they were living in Uzbekistan. The government reacted by allowing independent Tajik TV and radio stations to broadcast locally. However, with no similar threats to national identity elsewhere, most applications for independent radio and TV stations have been languishing with the State Committee for Television and Radio. Asia-Plus, a Tajik news agency is familiar with this official reluctance. “Some months ago they gave licences to a radio station in Khojend [northern Tajikistan], but they are reluctant to do the same elsewhere in the country,” Asia-Plus Director Umed Babakhanov told IRIN. Already operating a newspaper and wire service, the agency has been trying to obtain a radio broadcast licence for the last three years. As with other fledgling radio initiatives, the news agency has received training and technical support from international organisations involved in promoting independent media in-country. Babakhanov said his FM radio station could be operating within the week, once he was granted a licence. Yusunuf explained that despite legislation intended to promote an independent media, subsequent restrictions had been introduced. In 1998, an amendment to existing legislation tightened the government control over local independent media. “The amendment actually amounted to a government censorship,” Yusunuf said. Although it was not presented as one, it effectively gave the official broadcasting committee the right to control the content of any programme or material before or after its production,” he added. Similarly, in the run-up to the presidential campaign in November 1999, the authorities suspended all independent media outlets, depriving Tajiks of differing views on the presidential elections. Yusunuf added this had been done twice before - in 1994 and 1992. But perhaps the most striking constraint is that the government retains control over the only publishing house in Tajikistan, enabling it to exert a direct influence on anything published. “The authorities do not need to issue decrees that require parliamentary approval; instead they just ring up the publishing house and ask them to not carry an article,” Yusunuf argued. ‘Nejat’, a monthly publication linked to the former opposition Islamic Movement of Tajikistan, recently had its printing rights denied by the authorities. Journalists suggested this had been in response to what was seen as criticism of the lack of effective public services. In a similar instance, there have been attempts to close down the Khojend TV station, SM-1, after the broadcasting of controversial programmes last year. Atovulloev’s arrest has confirmed that Tajik journalists are still unable to report what they want. One local media expert, who asked to remain anonymous, told IRIN that there was still an innate fear of persecution in Tajikistan. “The rights of citizens do not exist here. Journalists are afraid to write anything controversial for fear that they may be taken to prison or beaten,” he said. There was little faith in the judicial system, and a well-known tradition of long prison sentences. Any journalist who wrote an unfavourable article was liable to be intimidated and harassed by the authorities. This forced most journalists to opt for self-censorship, he said. As the legal position of journalists was poorly understood by the authorities, intimidation was common, said Yusunuf. “If a journalist happens to touch on anything political, especially the ruling party or the presidency, then there will be an immediate reaction,” he added. It was common practice for government officials, such as a tax official or local prosecutor, to harass journalists who had been unwise enough to produce “displeasing material”. Despite this, some shift in the political environment had been perceived. There was a chance that the authorities might eventually ease their attitudes. “While there is life, there is hope. My view is that you cannot do anything by revolutionary means. So there must be an opportunity to do something democratically,” he maintained. A step-by-step approach with the authorities was needed, to help them appreciate the benefits of independent media and the legal status of journalists. “It’s no good to just say it’s impossible to work with them. Tajikistan is integrated in the world community and, as such, it has international obligations,” he said. Under these circumstances, exposure to other countries was vital if the authorities were to experience alternative models for media management, he said. Internews has been actively exposing the authorities to new models of independent media management since 1995. Roshan Khadivi of Internews said advocating for new mass media legislation and developing “a legal platform for future progress” were currently their main focus. The non-profit organisation was also involved in training journalists and supporting the production of local TV public affairs programmes. Advocacy and training often went hand in hand. “During seminars, journalists always speak about the daily challenges and other restrictions they face from some of the authorities. They need to be educated on how independent TV stations differ from government ones. It is a new concept for them,” she explained. She hoped these activities would eventually help to create a vibrant and free media in Tajikistan, although she acknowledged that in the light of the recent arrest in Moscow, this seemed a long way off. Meanwhile, how the authorities handle the arrest of publisher Dododjon Atovulloev will be indicative of their tolerance for independent media in the immediate future. Atovulloev himself recognised this when he told reporters on 8 July that the handling of his case would be “a lesson to all journalists, critics and democratic forces in Tajikistan”. Watch this space.