19 May 2004

GOVERNMENTS URGED TO LIFT MEDIA RESTRICTIONS


Severe government restrictions on press freedom in Central Asia's five republics are hampering democratic development and forcing journalists to practice self-censorship out of fear of criminal prosecutions, says Freedom House.

In its recently released report, "Freedom of the Press 2004: A Global Survey of Media Independence," Freedom House says governments in Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan exert almost total control over media outlets.

Lawsuits against journalists and media outlets are a common means of attempting to silence any government criticism, notes the report. In Kyrgyzstan, at least 11 lawsuits have been filed in the past year in response to critical news coverage, and courts have ordered journalists to pay fines of up to US$12,000 for offending government officials.

In Uzbekistan, four well-known journalists are serving lengthy prison sentences for criticising the government, while in Tajikistan, new regulations give authorities powers to arbitrarily close radio and television stations whose coverage is deemed critical of government officials.

Of the five countries, Turkmenistan has the worst press freedom record, says Freedom House. "Independent media are either nonexistent or barely able to operate, the role of the press is to act as a mouthpiece for the ruling regime, and citizens? access to unbiased information is severely limited," the organisation notes.

Freedom House warns that as these Central Asian countries prepare to hold parliamentary elections this fall, free and fair balloting will not be guaranteed unless government restrictions on media are lifted.

Read "Freedom of the Press 2004": http://www.freedomhouse.org/research/pressurvey.htm

Visit these links:

- IFEX: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/177/

- Committee to Protect Journalists: http://www.cpj.org/regions_04/europe_04/europe_04.html

- International Press Institute: http://www.freemedia.at/wpfr/world.html

- Adilsoz: http://www.adilsoz.kz/english/index.htm



Stay on top of free expression news.

Sign up to receive the weekly IFEX Communiqué.


Also from the Communiqué, 19 May 2004

UNITED STATES: PEN CAMPAIGN URGES REVIEW OF U.S.A. PATRIOT ACT 18 May 2004 ECUADOR: PRESIDENT SIGNS FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW 19 May 2004 NEPAL: JOURNALISTS FACE "UNPRECEDENTED REPRESSION," SAYS CEHURDES 19 May 2004 INDONESIA: CAMERAMAN RELEASED 19 May 2004 INTERNATIONAL: TAKE ACTION! CÔTE D'IVOIRE: CANADIAN JOURNALIST MISSING 19 May 2004 INTERNATIONAL: CONFERENCE TO SPOTLIGHT FREE EXPRESSION IN THE MIDDLE EAST 19 May 2004 MONTENEGRO: OSCE Criticises Kosovo Media's "Sensationalist Reporting" 19 May 2004 INTERNATIONAL: OURMedia Conference to Focus on Community Media 19 May 2004 INTERNATIONAL: RSF AUSTRIA INVITES APPLICATIONS FOR PRESS FREEDOM AWARD 19 May 2004

International

A "to do" list for internet freedom 16 May 2012 Human rights council urged to recognise role of free expression in protecting rights of LGBT persons 7 March 2012 ARTICLE 19 welcomes Internet free expression debate 1 March 2012 RSF concerned about Google's new country-redirect service on Blogger 16 February 2012 Twitter urged not to cooperate with censors 27 January 2012


 
IFEX is a global network of committed organisations working to defend and promote free expression.
Permission is granted for material on this website to be reproduced or republished in whole or in part provided the source member and/or IFEX is cited with a link to the original item.