OSCE Report Calls on Uzbekistan to Halt Harassment of Journalists

A report released by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's media observer called on Uzbekistan to lift "an information blockade" imposed immediately following the Andijan events. It also said the Uzbek government's harassment of journalists violated the country's existing legislation concerning information gathering and dissemination.

The June 15 report, titled Coverage of the Events and Government Handling of the Press During the Andijan Crisis in Uzbekistan, was prepared by Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE's Representative on Freedom of the Media. The report documents numerous instances of government harassment and intimidation carried out against both Uzbek and foreign journalists who were attempting to cover the Andijan events of May 13. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. In addition, the OSCE report provides details on Tashkent's efforts to prevent reports about the Andijan tragedy, which Human Rights Watch has termed a "massacre," from reaching Uzbek citizens, as well as a broader international audience.

The discrepancy concerning the Andijan death toll underscored that a serious problem exists in the way Uzbek authorities interact with media representatives, the report suggested. Officials maintain 173 individuals, including 32 police officers, were killed during the Andijan events. Independent organizations, including human rights groups, insist the death toll was much higher. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

"There is no accord between the official and the press accounts on the sequence and the nature of events," the report stated, adding that three factors contributed to the information "gap" – "an information blockade; ... an incoherent government communication; ... and a lack of cooperation between the authorities and the press."

"Good cooperation between the government and the press is an important contribution to peaceful solution of crises, and it is part of society's right to information," the report continued.

The report went on to say that on May 13, shortly after the mass protest in Andijan began, Uzbek authorities "blocked access to the majority of Russian web sites" and took major television news channels, including CNN and the British Broadcasting Corp., off the air. Uzbek officials denied taking any action to cut off access to foreign media outlets.

Uzbek authorities have yet to grant numerous accreditation requests from correspondents from American news organizations, including the New York Times, Chicago Tribune and the Associated Press, the report stated, going on to suggest that the prolonged delay appeared designed to frustrate coverage of developments in the Ferghana Valley. "Accreditation should be used to facilitate access of journalists to officials, and [the] lack of it should not be used to deprive them [journalists] from the possibility to work," the report said.

The report documented numerous violations of Uzbek law committed by officials intent on controlling coverage of events. It noted that Article 29 of the Uzbek constitution ensures that citizens enjoy the right to "seek, receive and distribute" information, adding that "the blockade of web sites and TV programs was in direct violation of the constitution."

Uzbek authorities also acted illegally in sealing off Andijan from media representatives. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive]. "Since no special regime or curfew had ever been introduced in Andijan, the journalists should not have been prevented from doing their job," the report said.

In addition to journalists, Uzbek authorities have cracked down on human rights activists who have attempted to document the actions of officials and members of the security forces during the Andijan events. On June 16, Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement saying Uzbek officials had harassed members of a four-person investigative team, dispatched to Andijan on behalf of the International Helsinki Federation. The activists' car was stopped at about 10 pm local time on June 15 by police officers, who explained that they were investigating a traffic accident that had occurred earlier in the day. The officers then said the delegation's driver, identified as Abdurzai Dezhurayev, was a suspect in the investigation, according to the HRW statement.

"Police took the driver's identification papers, brought the group to a local police station, and then ordered the driver to drive to the alleged site of the accident at an unknown location," the HRW statement said. It added that the delegation was forced to leave Andijan and return to Tashkent during the early hours of June 16. In the five weeks since the Andijan tragedy, HRW noted, at least 10 local human rights activists have been arrested on "trumped up" charges.