Tajik Media Bill: Not Quite There Yet

Journalists in Tajikistan say draft legislation amending the current media law still has numerous flaws and needs further work. They want to see a public consultation process and the inclusion of their own recommendations before the bill goes before parliament..

Member of parliament Olim Solimzoda, who was among those who drafted the bill, says recommendations from media experts and journalists have already been incorporated, and a review process involving parliamentary committees and government could see the document being debated by the full parliament when the summer recess ends this month.

The current media dates from 1990, a year before Tajikistan gained independence from the Soviet Union. It has been amended five times since then, but there is general recognition that a more radical overhaul is needed.

The amendments, Solimzoda said, mean the law will “meet all the requirements of modern journalism”. The main reforms set out in it will give journalists greater access to official information. State institutions will be required to issue a formal response to an inquiry from reporters within three days, not a month as used to be the case. This should make officials more responsive to criticism and more accountable, Solimzoda added.

Nuriddin Karshiboev, head of the National Association of Independent Media of Tajikistan, NANSMIT, sees the legislation as a real step forward and says it includes almost 90 per cent of the recommendations made by his organisation.

His endorsement is not wholly shared by other media professionals and experts, who believe that the bill is far from perfect.

“There are so many unclear additions to the bill that a journalist could be punished for [publishing] any phrase,” according to Khurshed Atovullo, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Faraj and head of the Media Alliance of Tajikistan, adding that the legislation’s definition of proscribed media content like the promotion of terrorism and pornography are too vague.

In its present shape, Atavullo said, the new document amounts to no more than “cosmetic corrections to the old law”.

He added that the Media Alliance was planning to produce an alternative bill.

Controversy surrounds a clause banning the publication of material that “defames the honour and dignity of the state and the president”. The provision is carried over unchanged from the current law, despite calls from rights activists for it to be dropped.

Media lawyer Farrukhshoh Junaidov says that for a start, the state is not a person and therefore cannot be defamed, while the president should not enjoy special protection since the Tajik constitution makes everyone equal under the law.

Karshiboev – while noting that the clause has never actually been used as the basis for a prosecution – agrees that it should come out, so as to bring Tajikistan closer to generally accepted international standards for free expression.

Salimzoda said that he and the others behind the draft legislation would not back down on this point.

“We won’t remove this article,” he said. “It does not contravene any principles. We must respect the president as the people voted for him and elected him.”

Saimuddin Dustov, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Nigoh and head of the media rights group INDEM, wants the provisions guaranteeing access to information to include penalties for officials who do not comply, and to set out in more detail how requests are handled.

Leading rights activist Nigina Bahrieva has raised concerns about the legislative ban on foreign ownership of media in Tajikistan, which she says constitutes “a serious infringement of human rights and contradicts both the country’s constitution and all international standards”.

“If foreign nationals are permanently resident in Tajikistan and pay taxes, why they shouldn’t they have a right to set up or found a newspaper?” she asked.

Again, Salimzoda said this change was not going to happen.

Bahrieva, Dustov and others involved in media rights want to see the bill discussed in a wider consultative process before it goes any further.

“Journalists, media organisations and civil society institutions should do serious work with members of parliament and explain the nuances and different aspects [of the bill] to them, so as to influence the process of approving it,” she said.”

The chief editor of the leading newspaper Asia Plus, Marat Mamadshoev, believes the idea of holding public hearings is not far-fetched.

“We are ready for it and the parliamentarians will probably go for it,” he said. “Our parliament is frequently accused of blindly following orders from above. This will be chance to prove that isn’t the case.”

Asked about the possibility of public hearings, Salimzoda said consultations with the Union of Journalists and NANSMIT had been going on for the last two years.

Without accepting the idea of a new consultation process, Salimzoda said, “The law is still at the discussion phase so we’re continuing to accept proposals from journalists as before.”

Aslibegim Manzarshoeva is an IWPR trained journalist in Tajikistan.

This article was produced jointly under two IWPR projects: Building Central Asian Human Rights Protection & Education Through the Media, funded by the European Commission; and the Human Rights Reporting, Confidence Building and Conflict Information Programme, funded by the Foreign Ministry of Norway.

The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of IWPR and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of either the European Union or the Foreign Ministry of Norway.