Tajikistan Still Classed as “Not Free”
Tajikistan Still Classed as “Not Free”
Analysts in Tajikistan are divided on whether the country deserves its classification as “not free” in this year’s Freedom House report. While some say the criticism is fair, others argue that it is too superficial an assessment.
Every year, the well-known United States group Freedom House publishes a report on the state of political rights and civil liberties in 192 countries of the world. This year, Tajikistan, along with many other post-Soviet states, was once again ranked as “not free”.
Dushanbe-based political scientist Khodi Abdujabbor disputes this view of Tajikistan, arguing that the country enjoys has acceptable levels of freedom and citing the “multi-party system, a political opposition, many completely independent non-government organisations, and a great number of independent media outlets”.
“The Freedom House classification uses criteria that reflect a western view of the modern world, nothing more,” said Abdujabbor says. “If we judge reality not by these western criteria, but by others - for example, by the existence of a sovereign democracy - the classification will look completely different.”
Saifullo Safarov, deputy director of the Centre for Strategic Studies, agreed, saying, “Tajikistan has freedom of expression in the media… and our citizens have a sense of security which is underpinned by legislation. Foreign media such as BBC, Radio Liberty and electronic media all operate in our country.”
Other commentators disagreed, saying the 2005 parliamentary election and last year’s presidential ballot suggest that Tajikistan is far from perfect.
Shokirjon Hakimov, deputy head of the Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan, said pre-election periods saw significant curbs on freedom of speech and greater control of the media, while the elections themselves were not up to international standards.
“The recent parliamentary and presidential elections demonstrated that we have no real choice,” Hakimov told NBCentralAsia. “Although the national legislation is fairly good, the governing institutions have nullified even the small progress that has been made on human rights, especially in terms of developing political pluralism and a multi-party system.”
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
Every year, the well-known United States group Freedom House publishes a report on the state of political rights and civil liberties in 192 countries of the world. This year, Tajikistan, along with many other post-Soviet states, was once again ranked as “not free”.
Dushanbe-based political scientist Khodi Abdujabbor disputes this view of Tajikistan, arguing that the country enjoys has acceptable levels of freedom and citing the “multi-party system, a political opposition, many completely independent non-government organisations, and a great number of independent media outlets”.
“The Freedom House classification uses criteria that reflect a western view of the modern world, nothing more,” said Abdujabbor says. “If we judge reality not by these western criteria, but by others - for example, by the existence of a sovereign democracy - the classification will look completely different.”
Saifullo Safarov, deputy director of the Centre for Strategic Studies, agreed, saying, “Tajikistan has freedom of expression in the media… and our citizens have a sense of security which is underpinned by legislation. Foreign media such as BBC, Radio Liberty and electronic media all operate in our country.”
Other commentators disagreed, saying the 2005 parliamentary election and last year’s presidential ballot suggest that Tajikistan is far from perfect.
Shokirjon Hakimov, deputy head of the Social Democratic Party of Tajikistan, said pre-election periods saw significant curbs on freedom of speech and greater control of the media, while the elections themselves were not up to international standards.
“The recent parliamentary and presidential elections demonstrated that we have no real choice,” Hakimov told NBCentralAsia. “Although the national legislation is fairly good, the governing institutions have nullified even the small progress that has been made on human rights, especially in terms of developing political pluralism and a multi-party system.”
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
