Germans Urged to Address Central Asian Media Problems
Germans Urged to Address Central Asian Media Problems
The international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders has urged Germany to pay more attention to questions concerning freedom of speech in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The warning comes as Berlin seeks closer ties with both authoritarian countries.
Media-watchers in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan say that even if these two countries were to make concessions on press freedom, it would amount to little more than a pretence.
Reporters Without Borders issued recommendations to the German authorities on the rights of local journalists and operating conditions for media just before a German delegation led by economy minister Michael Gloss visited Tashkent and Ashgabat on February 24-27.
Both countries are regularly slated for their dire human rights records. In its annual report covering 2007, the French-based Reporters Without Borders placed Uzbekistan 160th and Turkmenistan 167th out of 169 countries ranked according to freedom of speech.
When Germany chaired the European Union in the first half of 2007, it actively promoted closer EU engagement with Central Asia. In June that year, the Germans pushed through a new EU strategy on relations with the region.
Local and international human rights organisations were highly critical of the document, complaining that it neglected rights issues in favour of better ties with the authoritarian but energy-rich states of Central Asia.
An NBCentralAsia commentator in Ashgabat said that although President Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov’s administration had pledged to liberalise the media, the situation had changed little since the death of his authoritarian predecessor Saparmurat Niazov in late 2006. All media remain state-run and under tight censorship.
Berdymuhammedov’s recent criticism of local journalists, whom he said were unprofessional, is merely the logical outcome of crushing dissent and imposing a culture of secrecy over many years, the commentator said.
A staff member at the government newspaper Neytralny Turkmenistan predicted no real media reform would occur until a private press was allowed to emerge.
“You need to create competition and then start improving legislation and working with younger staff members,” he told NBCentralAsia.
An employee at Turkmen state television’s fourth channel pointed out one problem area – tough laws designed to protect the president from insults mean that any criticism can be construed as a breach of the law.
The media situation is little better in Uzbekistan, where only a small number of private media outlets exist and are controlled just as tightly as those run by the state.
According to one media observer in Tashkent, improved ties with Europe will lead only to a superficial relaxation of the limits on freedom of speech.
“While simulating liberalisation, the authorities will probably put all their efforts into tightening their control and surveillance of anyone with access to media, the internet and all kinds of new information,” he said.
Media activists in both countries warn that because of the years of sustained pressure on independent reporters, local journalists would not be able to seize the initiative even if the authorities offered to take a more tolerant attitude towards criticism, analysis and alternative viewpoints.
A commentator in Uzbekistan said that after staff purges in the media in 2005 and 2006, there were few journalists left who would be able to do a professional job in independent media, were such a thing ever to be allowed.
(NBCentralAsia is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service is resuming, covering only Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan for the moment.)
The warning comes as Berlin seeks closer ties with both authoritarian countries.
Media-watchers in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan say that even if these two countries were to make concessions on press freedom, it would amount to little more than a pretence.
Reporters Without Borders issued recommendations to the German authorities on the rights of local journalists and operating conditions for media just before a German delegation led by economy minister Michael Gloss visited Tashkent and Ashgabat on February 24-27.
Both countries are regularly slated for their dire human rights records. In its annual report covering 2007, the French-based Reporters Without Borders placed Uzbekistan 160th and Turkmenistan 167th out of 169 countries ranked according to freedom of speech.
When Germany chaired the European Union in the first half of 2007, it actively promoted closer EU engagement with Central Asia. In June that year, the Germans pushed through a new EU strategy on relations with the region.
Local and international human rights organisations were highly critical of the document, complaining that it neglected rights issues in favour of better ties with the authoritarian but energy-rich states of Central Asia.
An NBCentralAsia commentator in Ashgabat said that although President Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov’s administration had pledged to liberalise the media, the situation had changed little since the death of his authoritarian predecessor Saparmurat Niazov in late 2006. All media remain state-run and under tight censorship.
Berdymuhammedov’s recent criticism of local journalists, whom he said were unprofessional, is merely the logical outcome of crushing dissent and imposing a culture of secrecy over many years, the commentator said.
A staff member at the government newspaper Neytralny Turkmenistan predicted no real media reform would occur until a private press was allowed to emerge.
“You need to create competition and then start improving legislation and working with younger staff members,” he told NBCentralAsia.
An employee at Turkmen state television’s fourth channel pointed out one problem area – tough laws designed to protect the president from insults mean that any criticism can be construed as a breach of the law.
The media situation is little better in Uzbekistan, where only a small number of private media outlets exist and are controlled just as tightly as those run by the state.
According to one media observer in Tashkent, improved ties with Europe will lead only to a superficial relaxation of the limits on freedom of speech.
“While simulating liberalisation, the authorities will probably put all their efforts into tightening their control and surveillance of anyone with access to media, the internet and all kinds of new information,” he said.
Media activists in both countries warn that because of the years of sustained pressure on independent reporters, local journalists would not be able to seize the initiative even if the authorities offered to take a more tolerant attitude towards criticism, analysis and alternative viewpoints.
A commentator in Uzbekistan said that after staff purges in the media in 2005 and 2006, there were few journalists left who would be able to do a professional job in independent media, were such a thing ever to be allowed.
(NBCentralAsia is an IWPR-funded project to create a multilingual news analysis and comment service for Central Asia, drawing on the expertise of a broad range of political observers across the region. The project ran from August 2006 to September 2007, covering all five regional states. With new funding, the service is resuming, covering only Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan for the moment.)
