RSF slams country's press freedom record

Turkmenistan, the most reclusive Central Asian state, has one of the worst records in the world for freedom of expression, according to an official of the Paris-based media freedom watchdog, Reporters Without Borders (RSF). "There is no press freedom. There is no independent press and all newspapers and TVs, etc. are used for propaganda purposes. It is totally under state control. So, even [when] comparing [it] to all the world's countries it is among the worst," Caroline Giraud of RSF's Europe desk told IRIN from Paris. RSF criticised the restricted access to information within the former Soviet republic, including limited access to the Internet, adding that Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) Turkmen service and Russian media services were the main sources of information available. "This is like breathing for the population of Turkmenistan," stated Giraud, noting that there was no international media presence in the country. "Media such as the BBC or Deutsche Welle report on Turkmenistan, but they broadcast from outside of course. They do not have correspondents in the country, because they cannot operate inside," the RSF official said. Moreover, following a further crackdown, many local journalists who could report on the current situation in Turkmenistan for the international community had left for Russia, Europe or the USA, leaving an information gap. "People outside don't know much about the reality of Turkmenistan, because most journalists have emigrated and it is difficult for a journalist to investigate the reality of the country," Giraud explained. And while, according to the Central Asian Southern Caucasian Freedom of Expression Network (CASCFEN), an organisation that lobbies for free expression, there were not many cases of attacks on journalists inside the country, this was a result of an acute lack of press freedom in the country. "This is typical of countries where there is no press freedom, because journalists tend to self-censor their work. When there is a little bit of press freedom of course there is repression, but when there is no way to write what you think, the repression is a priori," Giraud maintained. Such persecution is highlighted in the cases of journalists Rakhim Esenov and Ashyrguly Bayryev, correspondents for RFE/RL's Turkmen service, who were arrested on 26 February and 1 March respectively. The international community called for their release. Both of them were freed on Tuesday after "being warned to end their respective relationships with the Turkmen service," according to CASCFEN. RSF has often expressed its concern regarding the conditions under which journalists are kept when they are arrested, not only in the case of Turkmenistan, but also in other Central Asian countries. "In Turkmenistan the conditions of the prisons is also a big problem. It is very difficult to know what people are suffering, not only journalists, because even the Red Cross cannot go there to find out the situation. There was testimony of a Russian-American journalist, Leonid Komarovski, who after five months in prison managed to escape and he explained how he was treated. He was tortured, he was injected with drugs. Now he is writing a book about what happened to him," the RSF official explained. According to Giraud, the situation in this energy-rich nation of 5.5 million had deteriorated over the last three years since "they even check whether people entering the country bring in foreign newspapers. Nowadays just a very few privileged people can get news by email." In this regard, CASCFEN reported that "on 19 March, the daily two-hour retransmissions of Russia's ORT [television] were suspended, and resumed only after a six-day break. Russian channels are the only ones to offer information about foreign news that people in Turkmenistan can access." As a press freedom organisation, RSF calls for the free expression in this Central Asian country, which was placed 158th out of 166 countries in RSF's 2003 world press freedom ranking.