Media Crackdown
Media and Internet, Tajikistan4 Comments
The Institute for War and Peace Reporting published a rather dismal appraisal of the Government of Tajikistans treatment of the independent media. With an election next November to worry about, President Rakhmanov is not taking any chances.
The present situation cannot be coincidental, said political analyst and journalist Marat Mamadshoev. Theres undoubtedly major pressure being exerted on the media at the moment. It is outrageous and incomprehensible.
NANSMIT chairman Nuriddin Karshiboev says that the increased frequency with which lawsuits are being brought against journalists working on independent papers does not in itself prove that the authorities are stepping up the pressure ahead of the presidential election. However, he added, The authorities always seek to control the media before important political events.
While independent print and broadcast media face crippling legal and financial challenges, their counterparts in the state-run sector are getting a boost.
According to the chairman of the State Committee for Television and Radio, Asadullo Rahmonov, state TV and radio got one million dollars in government money to upgrade their technology last year. This year, they will get a 25 per cent increase in funding.
The authorities have also started up a new TV channel called Safina and taken over a private station, Poitakht.Officially, the Tajik government continues to pledge its support to the principle of media freedom. However, that commitment is tempered by political considerations.
As the deputy head of the State Committee for Television and Radio, Abdurahmon Abdumanonov told the Asia Plus newspaper recently, We are far from indifferent to the content of our countrys information space, and we dont it to be filled with foreign material and voices.
Perhaps the fact that Tajikistan is actually far more progressive than many other Central Asian Republics in regard to political opposition (Rakhmonov allows Islamists and civil war veterans from the side who fought against him to sit in parliament) contributes to this crackdown, as the president has more reason to fear the opposition. It will be interesting to see how much this intensifies as the election looms closer, and whether or not Rakhmonov will push at least some election reforms the way Nazarbayev did in Kazakhstan.
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Dear James,
I am posting this in comments because I couldn’t find your e-mail address on this site.
Greetings! My name is Mary Joyce and I am the Editor in Chief of DemoBlog, a new blog chronicling democracy struggles around the world. I am writing to let you know that I really enjoyed this post and have re-posted it on DemoBlog. It was a very pleasant surprise to find such a professionally-written source on Tajik politics. I’ll be sure to check back here for more pre-election news. By the way, are you based in Tajikistan?
Here is the link to the page on which your post appears: http://www.demologue.com/pages/English/DemoBlogEnglish/DemoBlog.html . I have credited you as the author of the post and have included a link back to your blog. If for any reason you do not wish your entry to be posted to this site, simply reply to this e-mail and I will remove you posting from the blog.
Very Best & keep up the good work,
Mary
Mary Joyce
Editor in Chief
DemoBlog
site: http://www.demologue.com
e-mail: marycjoyce@gmail.com
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Tajiks as a nation are just realising the importance of stability in the country for its future success. Before independent media is allowed to slash at government full force we need to make sure such critisism would not be used by the opposition to take over the government through a revolution. Rule of law is virtually nonexistent in Tajikistan and the government is too poor to reinforce it. Perhaps, controlling media would give Tajik government some time to get its act together. We all know that democracy is not built overnight. By the way Russia has done far worse to curb its independent media (by closing down NTV all together) and still is viewed as a democratic nation, what makes Tajikistan worse?
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Mary- I am flattered, thank you.
Tajik Boy- I think Russia is increasingly being viewed as a questionably democratic nation. It was rated “not free” by Freedom House in their latest report. In fact, Russia received the exact same score as Tajikistan (both got 6,5). So I don’t think there is really a consensus by any stretch of the imagination that Russia is a model democracy and Tajikistan is tyrannical autarchy.
Do you really think that Tajikistan would be in danger of a revolution if the media were left unmolested? Obviously Rakhmonov is a little worried about a regime change, or else he wouldn’t be cracking down.
I also think having a free media is part of “getting its act together.” As Uzbekistan is illustrating all too well, cracking down on freedoms is not necessarily indicative of, nor conducive to stability. If the GoT does a good job, they don’t really have to worry about the media.
That all said, you are certainly right, democracy is not built overnight, and the media crackdown must be put in the context of all the progress Tajikistan has made over the past year.
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James:
Good to know that there is a source that rates these countries. However, the general feeling I get about Russia in the west (compared to Tajikistan) is more or less positive. The events in Uzbekistan did not add neither to the popularity of Tajikistan in the west nor its progress in pursuing democracy (albeit on its own terms).
The reason is simple. General public in the west is still unaware about these newly independent countries and is more inclined to base its opinion on bit and pieces of information it gets from general media sources. I would very much like to think that an average westerner reads Freedom House report, but somehow I don’t believe it.
Now about the president and his fears: There is always a threat to his power. So far he has effectively eliminated his every possible opponent. Some are in jail, others have just been subdued or told not to mess with politics. I remember there was a time in the US history when big corporations tried to influence politics and were subdued. I guess to some degree the same thing is happening in Tajikistan.
I do agree with you that free media is essential for the development of a nation therefore crackdown obviously cannot be a long term solution.
Overall Tajikistan has three major problems:
1. Lack of revenues
2. Corruption
3. Lack of unity as a nation
Not unless all these problems are somewhat resolved, could you hope that free media would be beneficial to the country. My take is that Tajiks as a nation don’t know what a free media is and therefore could be prone to swing from one extreme to another. Moreover such powerful resource could be used by the players (such as Iran, Russia or the US) to increase their influence in the region and that could actually mean another war for the power. This is the last thing that Tajiks want and would endure almost anything to avoid it.
The situation is different in Uzbekistan. Although they still lack national idendity (the situation is worse with Uzbeks since Tajiks are Iranians but uzbeks did not exist as a nation a few hundred years ago), Uzbekistan has a lot of resources and the only reason why they are poor is because their president is well Stalin-II. This does creat a lot of tension. Why do Uzbeks have to live in poverty because their president is at odds with the whole world?
You and I know that there is an unwritten code of conduct among journalists in the west that aims to preserve the unity of a nation and its interests. Such things are unheard of in Tajikistan and will exist until Tajiks unite and realize their identity. From what I heard this could take years, but I can at least credit the Tajik government on its efforts to revive the old persian heritage of Tajiks. This does help a lot.
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