The authorities of Tajikistan have embarked on using different tactics to quell domestic media by accusing private media outlets of ‘inaccurate’ reporting on the recent clashes between suspected militants and government forces in September. On October 4, Defense Minister Sherali Khairulloyev released a public statement, which was published by the state-run news agency Khovar. The Minister’s statement termed the media reporting on the government’s response to the earlier militant attack in Khujand, as well as the military operation in Rasht Valley, as “disloyal” and contributing to instability in Tajikistan. The U.S. State Department’s press release from November 4 noted that in mid-October, the Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications sent a letter to several internet service providers, ordering them to block four of these websites in order to “protect the nation’s information security”.
Frustrated over the increasing pressure from the authorities, media representatives claim that instead of addressing their incapability to prevent violence, the authorities are trying to silence the media and accusing it of “supporting terrorism”.
“This is an attempt upon the professional rights of journalists and a violation of the constitutional right of citizens on access to information” the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) cited the joint statement of 17 media organizations, including the National Association of Independent Mass-Media in Tajikistan, released on September 27. This statement was made in response to the Defense Minister’s direct accusations against private media outlets. Reports from different local sources indicated that certain media outlets such as the independent Avesta news agency as well as the websites ferghana.ru, avesta.tj and centrasia.ru have experienced systematic blockage and access problems.
Although intimidation of the media is not a new phenomenon in Tajikistan, the level of pressure on private media outlets and limitations in people’s access to information have been mounting this year. It is important to note that in February this year, two judges of Tajikistan’s Supreme Court sued the three main newspapers “Asia Plus”, “Farazh” and “Ozodagon” on charges of defaming the dignity of the judges and causing moral damage by publishing the content of a press conference held on a very controversial Supreme Court ruling. One month prior to this incident, the government put a new law into effect, which allows state bodies to charge fees for providing access to government information to the media and ordinary citizens. The fees were set as high as 35 somoni (US$ 7.97) per page of information requested. Depending on the urgency and relevance of information, the decree also gave the respective information holders or state officials the discretionary power to determine the price.
In early September, the Tajik authorities have also decided to revise the existing legislation on the press and other mass media and commissioned an ad hoc committee for deliberations before the revised version goes to voting in Parliament. Representatives of the media and civil society claim that certain provisions of the legislature are still very broad and that the deliberation process needs to consider public opinion.
The Reporters Without Borders 2010 Press Freedom Index, released on October 22, 2010, ranked Tajikistan as number 115, dropping from 106 two years ago. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) strongly criticized the Tajik authorities’ mistreatment of independent newspapers and the general state of deteriorating media freedom and access to information in the country. “The practices of blocking web sites, preventing newspapers from printing and launching tax or prosecutorial inspections … are serious non-compliance with Tajikistan’s OSCE media freedom commitments”, the senior OSCE official on Freedom of Media, Dunja Mijatovic, was quoted as saying in an official letter of concern to Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi. On November 4, the U.S. Department of State also released an official statement raising a “serious concern” over the recent developments in Tajikistan, which appear to limit media access and media freedom. Local journalists claim that the press freedom in Tajikistan has worsened especially over the past few months.
It appears that the country’s Ministry of Defense is now fighting two battles at the same time, one trying to prevent new outbreaks of violence after the three recent incidents, and one seeking to control conflict reporting in the media. In spite of the authorities’ use of different tactics of intimidation, private media outlets and news agencies refuse to give up the struggle and have promised to litigate the stand-off in the country’s Supreme Court.