WELCOME TO IWPR'S REPORTING CENTRAL ASIA, No. 491, April 30, 2007 KYRGYZ JOURNALISTS: BETTER PROTECTION CALLS Journalists caught up in Kyrgyzstans political battles and general instability remain vulnerable to harassment, intimidation and assault. By Jipara Abdrakhmanova in Bishkek
UZBEK FARMERS PUNISHED FOR REJECTING COTTON Prosecutors seek retribution against farms that ignored government production targets and instead grew crops that would earn them a living. By IWPR staff in Central Asia **** NEW AT IWPR ****************************************************************** NEW PODCAST: THIS WEEK ON IWPR A regular audio programme produced by IWPR US, highlighting IWPR news and analysis on issues of conflict, human rights and international justice, written by our contributors around the world. To listen to the programme or for details on how to subscribe see http://iwpr.net/?apc_state=hen&s=u&p IRAQ PHOTO DIARIES, NIGHT RAIDS: Peter van Agtmael documents the late-night raids carried out by American and Iraqi troops against the homes of suspected insurgents. 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By Jipara Abdrakhmanova in Bishkek The decision by the Kyrgyz authorities to block publication of a number of newspapers following opposition demonstrations in Bishkek led to an outcry about pressure on the media. But IWPR investigations reveal that journalists were suffering harassment some time before the April rally prompted the government to act against papers linked to the opposition. Late on April 19, after police used tear gas to break up an opposition rally the authorities believed was getting out of hand on its ninth day, officials from the National Security Committee, GKNB, confiscated the print-runs of four newspapers Agym, Kyrgyz Ruhu, Apta, and Aykyn from the independent printing house that publishes them. They also took computer disks containing electronic copies of the papers editions. Aynagul Saparbekkyzy, deputy editor of the Agym newspaper, told IWPR that the print-runs were confiscated on the orders of the prosecutor general. But chief prosecutor Elmurza Satybaldiev said he had not actually seen the relevant documentation so could not comment on the case. Shamaral Maychiev, who is Kyrgyzstans Media Representative, a non-government position that functions as an ombudsman for the sector, said the GKNBs actions contravened media legislation which requires a court order to have been issued prior to the seizure of journalistic material. Medetbek Saliev, head of the GKNBs investigations unit, tacitly admitted that there was no court order but refused to explain why the confiscation went ahead without it. In the wake of the action against the papers, Ilim Karypbekov of Maychievs Media Representative office, last week urged the authorities to address the problem of increasing attacks on reporters. This lack of security [for journalists] doesnt reflect well on the political situation. Such events tarnish Kyrgyzstans image in the international community, which assigns high importance to protecting human rights and freedom of speech, he told IWPR. A number of reporters suffered assaults during the April 11-19 rally, including Aziz Egemberdiev of the www.24.kg news agency, beaten up as he was phoning in a report to his editors. Film crews from the independent Kyrgyz television channel NTS and from Russia and Kazakstan had camera equipment broken by people in the crowd, suggesting that not all violence is attributable to the government. A coalition of non-government groups subsequently asked the government to grant journalists special protected status so that they can be safe in such situations. In the weeks running up to the April protests, three journalists were been beaten up in what are thought to have been politically motivated attacks. On March 27, Daniyar Isanov, a news presenter with NTS, was attacked and beaten by four men in Bishkek, and had to be taken to hospital with severe facial injuries. His assailant made it clear the assault was because he was from NTS, which is sympathetic to the opposition. Four days later, Talantbek Sopuev, who reports for an opposition TV station called September, was also hospitalised after being set upon by a group of about 40 people. The beating followed threats made to Sopuev after he produced a report critical of a pro-government rally in the southern city of Jalalabad. Although there are clear dividing lines between independent and opposition media outlets and the state-owned media controlled by the administration of President Kurmanbek Bakiev, assaults on journalistic freedom are by no means confined to opponents of the regime. The third attack involved a journalist with Kyrgyz state TV, Kayrat Birimkulov, who was assaulted by two men in Bishkek on March 16. The TV station had received threatening phone calls warning it to stop an investigation Birimkulov was leading into allegations of corruption in the state-owned Kyrgyz Railways. Birimkulov remained defiant, saying, I promise that as I soon as my health recovers, I will continue my project. These attacks prompted press freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders to write to the Kyrgyz authorities in early April calling for an end to violence against journalists. Tursunbek Akun, head of the presidential Human Rights Commission is overseeing investigations into the attacks on Sopuev, Birimkulov and Isanov, and he admits government officials are responsible for some acts of violence committed against journalists. There have been cases of assaults on journalists by state officials and criminal elements, and I condemn them categorically, he said. This treatment of media employees undermines the [reputation of ] the authorities in the international community. Akun pointed to areas of progress, for example proposals to scrap articles of the criminal code which make libel and insulting officials criminal offences. The changes have yet to be passed by parliament. I believe this is the first step towards protecting journalists, he said. According to Marat Tokoev, the head of the non-government Public Association of Journalists, recent attacks on journalists are connected with the increasing political tensions in Kyrgyzstan, which culminated in the April opposition rally. Society has become extremely politicised, and people have started to divide the media into good and bad, he told IWPR. Alisher Mamasaliev, head of another non-government group called Civic Platform, is concerned that so many journalists have been attacked in such a short space of time. The regime is unable to ensure protection or adequate redress for media employees, he said. Freedom of speech and the right of access to information have become a life-threatening affair in our society. Kyrgyz interior minister Bolotbek Nogoibaev rejects calls to grant special treatment to journalists, saying the protections already in place are adequate. In the present turbulent environment, he said, not only media employees but also ordinary people get attacked. I dont think we should focus attention solely on journalists - all citizens have equal rights . If we start protecting journalists today, then doctors, teachers and aircraft pilots will put forward similar demands in the future. Nogoibaev suggested that some reporters try to exploit attacks on them to get publicity. In such cases, he said, Our [police] staff usually reach the conclusion that it was a coincidence, but journalists use it as PR to draw attention to themselves. The president of the Foundation For International Tolerance, Raya Kadyrova, disagrees, arguing that journalists constitute a special case who need particular protections. We have law-enforcement agencies, courts, the [human rights] ombudsman and the State Secretary, all of which have a remit that includes working with the media, she said. These institutions should shoulder the responsibility for what happens to journalists. Some assaults on journalists have less to do with politics than with the power of organised crime groups, which have become bolder and more influential in the two years since President Bakiev came to power. In February, Elena Ageeva, correspondent for the newspaper MK-World Weekly-Kyrgyzstan was forced to abandon an investigation into the arrest of a man called Abubakry Sabirov. A known gangland figure is alleged to have close ties to the investigators holding Sabirov, leading to suspicions that he was wrongfully arrested. Ageeva said that the criminal involved threatened to kill her, and that she also received several anonymous phone calls saying that the caller knew her address and where her child went to school. These threats led the newspaper to scrap the investigation. Sabirovs father Sabyrjan subsequently died after setting himself on fire as a protest against the authorities refusal to review the case. Elena Voronina, the head of the non-government Interbilim group, says journalists could do more to help themselves if they were not so divided. I think that our journalists lack solidarity, and so they are subject to persecution, she said. In her view, it is not always clear who is behind such attacks, so journalists need to be more open about threats or violence directed against them. Any profession, including journalism, should be transparent, she said. Voronina thinks journalists could also help themselves by ensuring they remain objective and avoid taking sides in the political confrontation. In my opinion, the media should aim for the golden mean, and not serve the interests of certain political groups, she said. Mamasaliev agrees that solidarity among journalists whatever the political stance of their employer is crucial to defending their position. Any pressure on a media employee should be a signal to all journalists to mobilise for an immediate response, and there should be no divisions into state-run or independent media, he said. Jipara Abdrakhmanova is an IWPR contributor. IWPRs News Briefing Central Asia agency provided additional reporting. UZBEK FARMERS PUNISHED FOR REJECTING COTTON Prosecutors seek retribution against farms that ignored government production targets and instead grew crops that would earn them a living. By IWPR staff in Central Asia Farmers and officials in eastern Uzbekistan are likely to face criminal charges for growing crops that they can sell, instead of the cotton and wheat demanded by the state. The case highlights the problems facing farmers in Uzbekistan, who in theory belong to the private sector but in practice are tied into Soviet-style rules under which they are bound to grow cotton and grain and sell it to the state at artificially low prices. The prosecutors office in Kuva district in the densely-populated Fergana valley is investigating a number of farm heads, as well as several officials from local government offices concerned with land and agriculture issues who are being blamed for letting farmers get away with it. A preliminary investigation is under way, and depending on the findings, a decision will be reached on whether to press criminal or administrative [civil law] charges, said assistant district prosecutor Farhod Haidarov in remarks broadcast on television on April 15. The farmers are suspected of having breached contracts drawn up by government requiring them to grow a certain quota of Uzbekistans two strategic crops. Cotton is a major earner of export dollars for the government, while wheat is grown as part of a strategy of making the country self-sufficient. The investigation was launched after a routine inspection by the Kuva prosecutors office to ensure that local farmers were doing their bit to meet official production targets. The prosecutors office cited one case where 12 farms were contracted to grow cotton over an area of 40 hectares, but 22 hectares of this land were found to have been planted with strawberries, onions and other crops which the farmers could easily sell at local markets. Another farm, called Bahor, was ordered to set aside 20 hectares and produce 25 tonnes of wheat grain on it, even though its main business is not crops for human consumption, but raising livestock and growing enough fodder to sustain its animals. In the event, the farm was discovered to have put just six hectares under wheat and used the spare land to grow marketable fruit and vegetables. The authorities are furious with the farms, which they fear will make Kuva district, and in turn the larger Fergana administrative region, fail to fulfil this years cotton and grain quotas. The central government in Tashkent regularly sacks local governors for not fulfilling the plan. The prosecutors office intends to make an example of the farmers if they are charged. But it is unclear whether the authorities have the legal powers to do so it is not a criminal offence to plant other crops instead of cotton. And a law on monopolies prohibits the state authorities from interfering in independent commercial entities, such as these farms. A former regional official, who did not want to be named, explained the paradox between the free market that exists on paper and the planned economy that still dominates in reality. A free market economy has been declared a priority, he said. But the authorities flagrantly violate the principles of this by forcing farmers to sign contracts from which they will see no profit. Farmers are left in penury because the government pays them a pittance for the cotton and grain it forces them to grow, and they are not allowed to sell their quotas privately. The low state purchase prices for grain and cotton mean that farmers lead a miserable existence, said a farm boss in the Kokand region, also in the Fergana valley. Payments for these crops are deposited in farmers bank accounts, often after a long delay. Even when it arrives, farmers find it hard to access the money, as one man found out to his cost. Last year, I was prevented from transferring money from my account to pay the institute where my son is studying, he said. Even though I had enough money in the account, I was forced to take out a loan at a high rate of interest. By contrast, fruit and vegetables can be quickly turned into hard cash, and will sell at a realistic market price. Its more profitable for a farmer to grow cucumbers or grapes on an area of one-fifth of a hectare than to have cotton over 20 hectares, said the farm boss in Kokand region. Another reason why farmers are unhappy about growing cotton and wheat is that government targets are rigid and do not take the vagaries of weather into account. Last year, the crops fared badly and some Fergana valley farmers failed to meet their targets. They were called into local prosecutors offices, where they were threatened and ordered to make up the shortfall at any cost. I am a woman, but I was summoned to the prosecutors office after 11 pm one night, recalled the head of one farm. After this, I had to find the right people to help me to fulfil the plan. Finding the right people usually involves a combination of ingenuity and bribery. Some farmers buy extra wheat or cotton to make up the numbers, and then pay off staff at the government purchase office to issue a receipt showing that they have met their target. This comes at a cost - farmers who resorted to this measure last year said the amount they got from the government was half what they had paid for the crops they bought on the open market. But even this may be worth it given the skewed economics of Uzbek agriculture. Farmers have realised that the opportunity cost of growing high-earning cash crops more than offsets the bribes and other outlays involved in topping up their cotton or grain quota. As a result, the authorities have been forced to apply even more punitive measures than usual this year, although local commentators question whether prosecutions really represent an effective incentive for the countrys agricultural producers. (The people quoted in this story have not been named, out of concern for their security.) **** www.iwpr.net ******************************************************************** REPORTING CENTRAL ASIA provides the international community with a unique insiders' perspective on the region. Using our network of local journalists, the service publishes news and analysis from across Central Asia on a weekly basis. The service forms part of IWPR's Central Asia Project based in Almaty, Bishkek, Tashkent and London, which supports media development and encourages better local and international understanding of the region. IWPR's Reporting Central Asia is supported by the UK Community Fund. The service is published online in English and Russian. The opinions expressed in Reporting Central Asia are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the publication or of IWPR. 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