Central Asia: Media Watch

After writing on the untimely death–no, criminal assassination–of Mr. Alisher Saipov, I’m noticing the Return of a Theme: the continuing loss of a precariously-positioned free press in Central Asia.  Here goes the round-up:

Central Asia in General:
One of the best English-language sources on Central Asia, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) , is now no longer promulgating stories.  Formerly funded by the U.S. Department of States’ Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, it is now a static web site.  What the heck happened?  The site says they have “completed one phase of their mission” and are “looking for more funding.”  This is not a good sign, especially given what is below this paragraph.

Kazakhstan:
1. Opposition Web sites in Kazakhstan were shut down this week when Rakhat Aliev stepped up to the microphone.  Mr. Aliev accused Kazakhstan's President Nazarbaev of ordering the death of his last credible opponent in the 2005 elections, Mr. Sarsenbaev.  Opposition parties published these accusations on the Web–and hence, good-bye, electrons. 

2. IFEX also reports the loss of independent news agencies in Kazakhstan as well as opposition party sites:

The International Foundation for Protection of Freedom of Speech “Adil Soz” expresses its deep concern over the recent mass repression against independent media in Kazakhstan. Websites http://www.zonakz.net, http://www.geo.kz, http://www.kompromat.kz and internet radio station http://www.inkar.info remain blocked since 23 October 2007. The website http://www.kub.kz was removed from the Kazakh segment of the internet without justification (see IFEX alert of 30 October 2007).

3. If you have any time at all, go read the article (linked above) at the IFEX site.  Because as of Yesterday, October 30th, Kazakhstan is now inspecting Newspapers as well.  Only the intervention of human rights defenders saved a computer with Subscriber's Information on it.

Kyrgyzstan: 
1. The smear is on: Mr. Alisher Saipov, recently murdered, is now the target of a mudslinging campaign.  After the Kyrgyz police investigated and said that there was no evidence that Uzbekistan had anything to do with his murder.  Until they catch the actual murderer, that may well be true.  After a search of Mr. Saipov's residence for Hizb-ut-Tahrir flyers, (none were found), police remain certain that Mr. Saipov was connected to extremist groups.  Fellow journalists are saying that of course he had contacts with HuT for the purposes of interviews–he had also interviewed Kyrgyzstan's President Bakiev.  Does this mean that Mr. Saipov was connected to the president??  It's a good point.

Since Mr. Saipov was employed frequently at Ferghana.ru, they are covering this story very carefully.  This article gives a timeline of the investigation so far, the accusations, and the defense.  Tell you what: it's a murder.  It should get a complete and proper investigation regardless.

2. Ferghana.ru also has an article about the tight control by the government on Kyrgyzstani journalists.

Uzbekistan:
1. Referring to the last article at IWPR–a swan-song perhaps– “Uzbekistan officials tight-lipped about elections” posted September 26th.  If we don't support a free press in Central Asia, who is going to do it?  If nothing else, the continual harrassment and death of journalists in the region show that they cannot do it alone.

2. Whether Uzbekistani government officials killed Mr. Saipov or not, the television program that marked him certainly set up a precondition. 

Further reading:
European Union Presidency on the death of Mr. Alisher Saipov, citing his work

Photo: thank you, gazdi.dox.hu for the perfect photograph