TAJIK JOURNALISTS FORCEDLY DRAFTED INTO ARMY; EDITOR GETS THREATS

Nine
Tajik journalists from the independent TRK-Asia and SM-1 TV stations in the
northern city of Khujand, Sugd province were recently arrested after taking
part in a TV talk show organized by the international non-profit organization
Internews. The head of SMI-1, Mahmujan Dadabayev, received phone calls from
army officials on 5 November threatening to kill him and shut down the
station.

Six
of the nine journalists were subsequently released, but three others, Akram
Azizov, 21; Nasim Rahimov, 20; and Yusuf Yunusov, 21, are still being held in
the Khujand military base. The reason for the arrests was a recent TV story
about the methods authorities use when conscripting youth to the military. The
story revealed the details of press-ganging of young people in public places.
The head of the military services in Khujand, Fazliddin Domonov interviewed
for the program denied any illegal drafts. The three journalists were targeted
by Domonov who called the station after the program was aired and threatened
to draft everyone into the army.

In
September, on the eve of Independence Day, "Asia Plus", the first
private commercial radio company received its broadcasting license after a
four-year struggle with the authorities. It had been interpreted by human
rights and relief organizations as a good sign. Tajikistan used to be
notorious with regard to harassment and assassinations on journalists in the
years of the civil war, and was the second only to Algeria in terms of media
professionals killed in the line of duty per capita. Now, the incident in
Khujand gives a signal for concern.

Internews
has been working in Tajikistan since 1995, helping the independent electronic
media. Internews lawyers protested the actions of military officials and
appealed to the Mayor of Khujand. Nuriddin Karshibayev, the head of the
National Association of Media in Tajikistan (NANSMIT) called this incident
"an insult to freedom of speech". He stated that "military
service is a sacred duty of each citizen. At the same time, the forced
conscription of youngsters by the people in military uniform is unacceptable.
Such actions are interpreted as the violation of the civil rights".

Both
Internews and NANSMIT sent a statement to the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the media. US and German diplomats have
raised the incident with the Tajik Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Committee
to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued a statement saying, "The arrest and
forced conscription in Khujand highlights the ongoing vulnerability that Tajik
journalists face in retaliation from government officials for their
reporting". Reporters Without Borders also issued a press release and
sent a letter to the Tajik President, Imomali Rakhmonov, interpreting this
incident as, "a clear reaction to the daring nature of journalists'
report, which irritated the authorities. Such behavior, in addition to the
threats to their superior, is unacceptable and demonstrates that the Tajik
authorities have no respect for press freedom and democratic debate.
Independent journalism is still a very risky business in Tajikistan".

According
to Tajik law, officials in Khujand had no right to draft the three young men
because they are not from a Khujand city. A young person eligible for military
service has to be drafted from the military commissioner's office located in
the area where he was born and is currently registered. At least a two-week
notice should be given for such a draft, and the person must pass a thorough
medical examination. In the meantime, the military officials say the
conscription was legal since each organization or institution is required to
inform the local authorities each month about the young men eligible for the
draft. Military service in Tajikistan is compulsory according to the
constitution. The eligible age is 18-27; however there are some exceptions (a
person is exempt from service if he is a father of two children or if his
parents are very old). So far, neither the Tajik Foreign Ministry officials in
Dushanbe, nor the military officials in Khujand made any statements on this
case.

International
and local experts say that the situation in the sphere of media in Tajikistan,
both print and electronic, leaves much to be desired. Residents of Dushanbe
have to rely on the only one available Russian TV channel, RTR, to find out
what's happening in their country. The official Tajik TV channel produces
boring, and very often, stale news formats; plays folk songs and shows old
movies from the Soviet times archives. The capital does not have a single
private television or radio company. One sixth of the Tajik entire population
reside in Dushanbe, which has not had any daily newspapers for ten years,
since the time the country declared independence. Twelve weekly titles are
published in Russian and Tajik, of which two or three are more or less
topical. The rest of them reprint jokes and horoscopes from the Russian yellow
press. Strict self-censorship is practiced; correspondents and editors try to
avoid the anger of the authorities. Only three per cent of the population
currently have access to the Internet, mainly employees of international
organizations and graduates of US-funded exchange study programs.

In
spring of this year, resource centers were set up for journalists in four
regions of Tajikistan with the support from OSCE and the UN. However such a
center still does not exist in Dushanbe, the most densely populated Tajik
conglomerate. The condition of the media in each of the five Tajik
administrative territories reflects the condition of freedoms and rights. The
northern Sugd province, almost unscathed by the civil war, is considered to be
the most liberal, although journalists there also suffer from censorship,
harassment and influential businessmen. And the recent incident is just
another reason for concern.

Alexei
Igushev