Day: October 20, 2022

Tajik authorities have handed down long prison terms to three independent journalists and bloggers in recent days. Four other reporters are awaiting sentencing. The trials have all been held behind closed doors, preventing public scrutiny.

 

Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service says the convictions against and trial of the journalists are part of a renewed crackdown on dissent in Tajikistan.

 

All seven journalists and bloggers were arrested between May and July. Observers said the arrests were an attempt by the authorities to control public opinion.

 

Europe-based opposition activist Farhod Odinayev is cited as saying that the latest clampdown on independent journalists will “further spoil Tajikistan’s reputation as a repressive state that doesn’t tolerate independent media and free speech.”

 

In the latest conviction, a court in Dushanbe’s Shohmansour district sentenced blogger Daler Imomali to 10 years in prison on October 17. He was found guilty of tax evasion, disseminating false information, and membership in the banned opposition party Group 24, which the authorities consider to be a terrorist group. The 34-year-old pleaded guilty to tax evasion. But he has denied having any links to Group 24. The opposition party also insists that Imomali has never been a member or contributor.

 

Imomali’s conviction came weeks after independent blogger Mamadsulton Mavlonazarov, 72, was sentenced to seven years in prison. Abdulloh Ghurbati, 26, another blogger, got a 7 1/2 year jail term.

 

One of the bloggers, Zavqibek Saidamini, had previously said that he often received letters from Dushanbe residents about specific issues. In turn, he would present the letters to relevant officials, he said.

 

The video blogger insisted that “speaking about problems doesn’t mean criticizing the government.”

 

Source: Asia-Plus

Released on October 18, a new research by Freedom House notes that Internet freedom around the world has fallen for the 12th year in a row, according to new research.

 

The latest edition of Freedom House’s Freedom on the Net report finds that human rights online deteriorated in 28 countries, with more than two-thirds of the world’s internet users living in countries that restrict free expression online.

 

China is once again the country with the least internet freedom. However, it was Russia that saw the sharpest drop in internet freedom, with the Kremlin intensifying its efforts to stifle domestic opposition and muzzle independent media following the so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine.

 

Other notable falls in internet freedom were reportedly seen in Myanmar, Sudan and Libya.

 

The report says a growing number of users only get to see content approved by their government, with authorities in 47 of the 70 countries covered by Freedom on the Net having limited users’ access to information sources located outside of their borders.

 

Freedom House gave each country a numerical score from 100 (the most free) to 0 (the least free).

 

As far as Central Asia’s nations are concerned, the report provides information about three of them: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

 

Only Kyrgyzstan of them was designated as “partially free” because it received a score of 53 out of100 for its level of Internet and digital freedom.

 

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan were designated as “not free”. Kazakhstan received a score of 32 out of 100 and Uzbekistan received a score of 27 out of 100.

 

The report notes that Internet freedom in Kazakhstan declined during the coverage period, largely because the government restricted internet access as protests took place across the country and ensuing violence—which it portrayed as a coup attempt broke out in Almaty in January 2022. More than 200 people died during the protests, including six people who were tortured to death by law enforcement, though rights groups claim the number is higher. Government officials compelled some outlets to remove their protest coverage, while journalists covering the events and Kazakhstani citizens faced unlawful detention and physical attack. Parliamentary and presidential elections are neither free nor fair, and major parties exhibit continued political loyalty to the government. The authorities have consistently marginalized or imprisoned genuine opposition figures. The dominant media outlets are either in state hands or owned by government-friendly businessmen. Freedoms of speech and assembly reportedly remain restricted, and corruption is endemic.

 

Internet freedom in Uzbekistan reportedly declined during the coverage period because the government blocked widely used social media platforms and messaging applications for violating data localization requirements, which were introduced via April 2021 amendments to the Law on Personal Data. Additionally, the government sought to control the media narrative around the Russian military’s invasion of Ukraine, warning journalists about their coverage. The government continued to impose multiyear prison sentences on bloggers, activists, and critics of the government during the coverage period.

 

The report notes that though internet access improved in Kyrgyzstan, the government implemented restrictive legislation that threatens the rights of users. The recently enacted Law on Protection from False Information enables a body within the Ministry of Culture, information, Sport, and Youth Policy to request websites and social media platforms delete content within 24 hours and gives them the power to block noncompliant websites. Moreover, the law compels mobile operators and internet service providers (ISPs) to identify their users and subscribers. Additionally, the law on National Security Bodies allows security services to conduct video and audio surveillance without a prior court decision. The coverage period was also marked by significant criminal charges against journalists, illegal wiretapping, and numerous reported hacking attempts journalists and members of civil society.

 

The report does not provide information about Tajikistan and Turkmenistan

 

Freedom House assesses the level of internet freedom in 70 countries around the world through its annual Freedom on the Net report.

 

Source: Asia-Plus

 

 

The behavior of persons wanting to obtain the Russian citizenship has reportedly changed in connection with partial mobilization announced in Russia.

 

Source: Asia-Plus

Kyrgyz authorities have rejected the statement released by Tajik border guard service’s office in the Sughd province, it “absolutely does not correspond to the real situation.”

 

In a statement issued in the evening of October 19, the Border Guard Service of the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan accused the Tajiks of using a photo of Kyrgyz military trucks taken last month as they were withdrawing from the border area, and falsely portraying it as a new photo to make it look as though Kyrgyzstan was concentrating its military equipment in the border area.

 

Tajik border forces are “deliberately disseminating distorted information in an attempt to provoke the population on the border into committing illegal actions,” the Kyrgyz border guard service said.

 

It is Tajik armed forces that have been installing firing positions, digging trenches across the entire perimeter of the border, and making incursions with unmanned aerial vehicles, Kyrgyz border guard service said.

 

“Since September 25, 2022, there have been more than 10 instances of [Tajik] drones conducting reconnaissance activities and violating the airspace of the Kyrgyz Republic,” they said.

 

The Kyrgyz border guard service has also accused the Tajik side of using mosques for training mercenaries and storing weapons and ammunition.

 

Recall, the Office of the Border Guard Directorate of Tajikistan in the Sughd province released a statement on October 19 accusing Kyrgyzstan of targeted actions to escalate the situation and provoke the emergence of new armed conflicts.

 

Tajik border service’s office in Sughd, in particular, says that despite agreements set out in a protocol of September 25, the Kyrgyz side takes deliberate actions aimed at escalating the situation in the border areas.

 

The statement notes that provocative actions of individual citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic aimed at destabilizing the situation, preparation of firing positions, digging tranches, continued drawing up military hardware and regular violation of the airspace of the Republic of Tajikistan are a clear confirmation of malicious plans of the Kyrgyz side.

 

It is noted that for the period from September 26 to October 15, unmanned flying vehicles (UFVs) of Kyrgyzstan violated the airspace of Tajikistan 13 times in the territories of the city of Isfara and the Bobojon-Ghafourov district in the Sughd province.

 

“Despite oral and written agreements reached with the Kyrgyz side and in violation of the provisions of protocol No 2 of September 25, facts of transfer of heavy military hardware and additional military formations to the border area have been recorded,” says the statement.

 

Frequent facts of military exercises reportedly indicate unfriendly intentions of the Kyrgyz side.

 

“There is a continuation of information attacks in the media and social networks targeting Tajikistan. Recently, Kyrgyz media have actively disseminated materials about the newly acquired UFVs and testing of drones of own production,” says the statement released by Tajik border service’s office in the Sughd province.

 

Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan signed a protocol on the settlement of the situation along the mutual border on September 25. The document was inked by the head of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) of Kyrgyzstan Kamchybek Tashiyev and his Tajik counterpart Saimumin Yatimov.

 

The border clashes that erupted on September 14 and continued for two days, where Kyrgyz and Tajik forces engaged in more than 12 places all along the border, after which the two sides agreed to a ceasefire on September 16, which has been largely held up despite several alleged incidents of shelling with a severe escalation on September 16 and 17.

 

Kyrgyz officials say 59 of its citizens died in the September 14-17 clashes, and 183 more were injured.

 

Tajikistan has put its death toll at 41, but correspondents of Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reported a higher number after talking to relatives and friends of victims of the violence.

 

They concluded that 70 people, including dozens of civilians, lost their lives and have compiled a list of those killed.

 

It is to be noted that many border areas in Central Asia have been disputed since the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991. The situation is particularly complicated near the numerous exclaves in the volatile Ferghana Valley, where the borders of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan meet.

 

Kyrgyz authorities rejected the Tajik statement, saying it “absolutely does not correspond to the real situation.”

 

Source: Asia-Plus

 

President Vladimir Putin called for adjusting the concept of Russia’s migration policy. It is necessary to correct the current concept of state migration policy in connection with changes in the world. President Putin called for this at a meeting of the Security Council, according to TASS.

“The situation in the world is changing dynamically. There are new global and regional factors that affect the migration sphere, and we should respond to these factors in a timely and effective manner, improving our work based on a thorough analysis of the new realities,” he said.

“It is obvious, for example that we need to upgrade the existing State Migration Policy Concept. It should take into account the entire range of both existing and potential challenges and become the basis for further legislative improvements. I issued the relevant instruction in March 2020, and today I expect to hear detailed reports on what has been done and what priorities we will have to focus on in the near future,» he said.

 

Source:  National information agency of Tajikistan