Kyrgyzstan: Concern Over Journalists' Safety

A wave of brutal attacks on Kyrgyz journalists has sparked alarm among journalists and local and international media watchdogs



Media representatives have also expressed concern about what they say is the Kyrgyz authorities’ failure to investigate crimes against journalists and to bring those responsible to account.



According to the Association of Journalists in Kyrgyzstan, at least 58 journalists from Kyrgyzstan have been attacked over the last four years.



The Kyrgyz interior ministry, meanwhile, says that between 2005 and 2009, there were 28 reported cases of attacks on journalists, 23 of which led to criminal cases. In the other five cases it was decided not to prosecute.



The latest attack on a journalist from Kyrgyzstan involved Gennady Pavlyuk, who died in hospital on December 22 after he was thrown out of a tall building with his hands tied behind his back.



Pavlyuk was on a visit to Almaty, the financial capital of neighbouring Kazakstan. Kazak police said they were treating the case as murder.



The Kazak TV station KTK has reported that the officers from the Kyrgyz National Security Service had a meeting with Pavlyuk in the Almaty apartment in Almaty from which later he fell to his death. The press office of the Kyrgyz security service denied the allegations, dismissing them as disinformation.



Pavlyuk’s supporters and campaigners have linked his death to his work in Kyrgyzstan, where he was setting up a website.



The leader of opposition party Ata-Meken, Omurbek Tekebaev, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that he and Pavlyuk had met shortly before the latter’s death to discuss plans for the website project.



Tekebaev insisted that atameken.kg was to be an independent website, not an official party mouthpiece as some media have reported, the RFE/RL website said.



"I think this is a politically motivated crime," he was quoted as saying. "It's yet another attack in order to restrict freedom of speech in Kyrgyzstan."



Tekebaev also said Pavlyuk had recently published several articles and interviews in which he criticised the Kyrgyz authorities, “explaining the real meaning of their newly initiated reforms".



Akmat Alagushev from the Media Representative Institute in Kyrgyzstan, a non-government group, said the country’s law-enforcement agencies needed to solve crimes involving attacks on journalists.



“Freedom of expression in this country will depend on how crimes are investigated and how those responsible are punished,” he said, adding that impunity would hinder any improvement in journalists’ safety.



The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based watchdog group, has taken up the Pavlyuk case. Its Europe and Central Asia programme coordinator, Nina Ognianova, said in a statement, “This investigation will not succeed without bilateral cooperation. We call on Kazak investigators to coordinate efforts with their Kyrgyz counterparts, and we urge the government of Kyrgyzstan to assist to the fullest extent.”



Asked to comment on the number of attacks on Kyrgyz journalists, presidential spokesman Ilim Karypbekov told IWPR the authorities support freedom of expression.



“We are building a state on principles of democracy and freedom of expression,” he said. “We have an interest in seeing that the safety of journalists is assured and that all attacks on representatives of the media are resolved.”



Karypbekov said all attacks on journalists were being dealt with by law enforcement agencies, and the president’s communications department was watching how this was being handled.



“We try to inform the public about the progress of investigations and, at the same time, we urge all interested parties to join efforts to solve the problem,” he said. “We await a response from the media community and we are hoping above all for constructive proposals and solutions, instead of accusations directed at the authorities.”



The death of Pavlyuk was the third incident involving journalists working in Kyrgyzstan in December alone.



Alexander Yevgrafov, a correspondent for Russia's Rosbalt news agency in Bishkek, was beaten up in the Kyrgyz capital earlier in the month.



Days later, an envelope carrying a threatening message and a bullet casing from a Kalashnikov was sent to the Osh Shami newspaper in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh.



Others have been murdered. Freelance journalists Alisher Saipov and Almaz Tashiev were killed in 2007 and 2009, respectively.



Saipov, a prominent journalist working in Osh, was shot dead in the street by an unidentified gunman. An ethnic Uzbek, he was the founder of an Uzbek-language newspaper called Siyosat known for its critical coverage of human rights in neighbouring Uzbekistan.



Tashiev, a freelance journalist who worked for a number of news organisations including the Kyrgyz-language newspaper Agym, was beaten by a group of policemen when he went to a police station to obtain a new passport.



No one was brought to justice for these murders.



Other recent attacks include those on Syrgak Abdyldaev, a correspondent for the Reporter newspaper, the victim of a multiple stabbing in March 2009; Kayrat Birimkulov, a reporter for the state broadcaster, who was assaulted; NBT television journalist Gulmira Umetalieva, who was injured and had her camera broken; and political commentator Alexander Knyazev, who was mugged and had his notebook and money stolen.



At least six journalists have left the country since 2005 to seek political asylum abroad because they feared for their lives.



According to the head of the Association of Journalists, Marat Tokoev, the most worrying trend is the brutal character of the attacks.



“I can’t say that the number of attacks is on the increase but what is definitely changing is the manner in which they are done... Attacks are becoming more brutal and cynical, and as a result journalists end up in hospital or even die,” he said.



Tokoev said that his organisation was working with experts from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE, and with lawyers, police and journalists to uncover the real number of attacks and find out whether they were connected to the victims’ work.



The situation prompted the OSCE centre in Bishkek to make journalists’ safety one of its priorities for 2010.



In an interview with IWPR, Lilian Darii, deputy head of the OSCE centre in Bishkek, said the organisation “aims to contribute to an environment in which journalists can perform their crucial work responsibly and safely, without fear of reprisal or intimidation”.



He said the OSCE mission planned to provide legal assistance to journalists and to support public debate on the issue.



“The OSCE therefore renews its calls on the Kyrgyz government to address the current situation, which the OSCE representative for the media has described as a crisis,” said Darii.



Tokoev welcomed the OSCE statement making the safety of journalists a priority, but said the problem could only be solved if all the parties involved joined forces.



“What’s needed to withstand the pressure and the threat to journalists is to unite and work together,” he said.



Asyl Osmonalieva is an IWPR-trained journalist in Kyrgyzstan.



This article was produced under IWPR’s Building Central Asian Human Rights Protection & Education Through the Media programme, funded by the European Commission. The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of IWPR and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.