Pressure on media
freedom in Central Asia will continue, says Inga Sikorskaya, founder of the
School of Peacemaking and Media Technology in Central Asia.
"The rejection of criticism by the authorities creates narratives hostile to the media and fuels negativity society's attitude towards the media, she emphasized at the international conference "Turning Points in Eurasia: Geopolitics, Economics and Civil Society in Central Asia - Current Situation and Future Prospects,” held in Almaty, Kazahstan.
The authorities of Central Asian countries are passing repressive laws against the media. There has been an increase in attacks and threats against media workers. Moreover, attacks using legal mechanisms predominate.
Another example of the suppression of media freedom is organized actions involving unknown groups of people. For example, in Kyrgyzstan, groups of aggressive people came to the local editorial office of Radio Liberty (Azattyk), online media Kloop and Kaktus. The crowd demanded that these media be immediately closed and declared foreign agents (like to the repressive law of Russia). Otherwise, these "activists” threatened that they would burn down the editorial offices.
You can watch the videohere
The report showsthe attacks/threats
against professional and civilian media workers, and editorial offices of
traditional and online publications. These were identified and analysed in the
course of the research for 2022.Data for the research, carried out over
the course of 2022, was collected using open source content in three languages:
Kyrgyz, Russian and English.
In 2022, authorities carried out unprecedented numbers of attacks on freedom of speech, partly in response to journalists’ ongoing investigations into corruption in Kyrgyzstan. Since 2021, the number of incidents has tripled.
1. Attacks via judicial and/or economic means remain the main method of exerting pressure on media workers, accounting for 70% of the total number of incidents.
2. There was a sharp increase in the number of journalists being arrested, interrogated, and tried in court as a result of their work.
3. In addition to this, the number of cyber attacks against both media outlets and journalists almost tripled.
4. In addition to this, the number of cyber attacks against both media outlets and journalists almost tripled.
The full report can be viewedhere
Authorities and society should make efforts to keep
independent media existing in Kyrgyzstan. Therefore, any attempts to toughen
control over media and censor content should be abandoned in the first place.
The trends demonstrate that the freedom of speech gets worse in the last five years
Experts of the School of
Peacemaking and Media Technology emphasise that dynamics of risks of journalist
activity has changed considerably in five years. 17 incidents against media
workers were reported in 2018, 49 incidents in 2019, 102 incidents in 2020. Their
number declined to 44 in 2021, and the number of attacks increased
significantly in 2022.
According to analysis and documentation of attacks/threats against media workers in Kyrgyzstan, 130 incidents were reported in 2022[1], which is three times more than last year.
Chart 1. Dynamics
of reported attacks and threats from 2018 to 2022
Legal mechanisms are used as the key method of pressure on journalists, bloggers and media workers.
In 2022, the number of detentions, arrests, questionings increased as a result of publications in the media, as well as the number of calls of journalists and bloggers for interviews as witnesses.
Threats and online attacks like trolling, bullying, cyber-attacks, including during live broadcasting on social media, are the risks for media workers.
Professional activity and safety of investigative journalists, who shed light on corruption, cover other sensitive topics and demonstrate opposing views in their reports, are at serious risk.
The criminal case against investigative journalist Bolot Temirov and his deportation from Kyrgyzstan last year, arrest and criminal case against blogger Yrys Zhekshenaliev and similar cases confirm these concerns.
Chart 2. Number of incidents reported in 2022 by categories Blocking of
websites of Azattyk Media, ResPublica, attempted blocking of the website of the
news agency 24.kg in 2022 on formal grounds, based on the law "On fake (false)
information” is the result of the legislation expanding the powers of
authorities to have control over the media landscape.
The new draft law "On mass media” brought up for public discussion contains such risks. It requires re-registration of all media outlets, imposes restrictions on funding from abroad, and provides for sanctions for unclear "abuse of freedom of speech.”
On the World Press Freedom Day, we demand that the authorities encourage independent journalism, pluralism, diversity of media and abandon pressure on this fundamental human right.
[1] Ongoing monitoring, analysis and documentation of incidents and media risks are held by experts of School of Peacemaking and Media Technologyin CA and Justice for Journalists Foundation, 2017 -2023, https://jfj.fund/risk-map/
Identity disclosure, blackmailing, persecutions,
violation of privacy right, and forced emigration accompany the actions of
activists, who are in the high-risk area due to their human rights activities.
An LGBTQ+ activist (no name is given for security reasons) working in an NGO as a foreign specialist was blackmailed in Bishkek by people who identified themselves as police officers.
They showed him a screenshot of a private video, where he was captured with another man.
‘Police officers’ demanded that the activist should cooperate with them and deliver information on his colleagues upon their request. In case of denial, he was threatened with spreading this video among his acquaintances, relatives and across the country.
In fear of persecutions, the victim of blackmail left Kyrgyzstan. But when some months later he tried to get back, he failed. He was shown a document confirming he was denied entry at the border point. The document was endorsed by GKNB (State Committee for National Security of the Kyrgyz Republic). The reason for denial was not specified.
In addition to blackmail and pressure, the victim was restricted in his freedom of movement.
Despite the fact that article 29 of the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic ensures everyone "right to privacy”, this right of the activist was breached. Moreover, it was breached based on his sexual orientation, citizenship and human rights activity.
Another case of disclosure of SOGI (note: sexual orientation and gender identity) and private life details was published in a video about "KyrgyzIndigo”, an LGBT organization of the Kyrgyz Republic.
The video contained information and personal data of employees, their addresses and photos.
"After this information was disclosed, some employees of the NGO were spied on by unknown persons,” wrote activistsin their report "Violence and discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in the Kyrgyz Republic”[1].
Previously, Kyrgyzstan-based human rights activists had also reported cases when personal data were publicly disclosed and posed a risk for life.
Activists cite another case when during the 2020 parliamentary election in Kyrgyzstan an intimate video of two men filmed on a hidden camera was posted on the internet.
The video disclosed their names, sexual orientation, places of study and work. Victims of discrimination reported that the provocative video was published after they were blackmailed by people who identified themselves as "police officers.” According to the victims, they were demanded to disclose information about LGBTQ+ activists and human rights defenders.
"In recent years, there have been increasing incidents when LGBTQ+ activists are used for political purposes and their private life becomes public,” said Nadira Masyumova, representative of the Coalition for Equality of Kyrgyzstan. "But the state does not respond to these cases.” Analyzing these cases, Masyumova emphasized that there "are serious concerns about complicity of public servants in such cases.”
Another visible part of the LGBTQ+ community is trans* people who often become targets of media. A transgender is a man or woman, whose gender identity is different from the sex they were assigned at birth. For example, a person was assigned female at birth, and was brought up and educated as a female, but feels oneself as a male and wants to live and socialize as a male.
Several cases were documented when trans*people in bars, on the streets were filmed and their personal data were disclosed. And such cases were usually followed by physical assaults outdoors.
According to activists, only one case can be an inspiring example for LGBTQ+ people.
A trans*woman has managed to win the honour and dignity case in court against the media outlet that spread hate against her and revealed her personal information. The court awarded compensation to her in the amount of 10,000 Kyrgyz soms (115 USD dollars). However, she had to leave Kyrgyzstan for safety reasons.
This article was prepared under the project "Promoting media freedom and diversity through reporting on violation of rights and training of media workers in creating sensitive media reports on minority and marginalized groups” with the support of the Canada Fund for Local Initiative (CFLI).
[1] The shadow report was written by this NGO for the 136th session of the UN Human Rights Committee, 2022.
Attempts to introduce inclusion into schools have faced risks from bureaucracy to violation of rights and lack of safe psychological environment.
13-year-old Nazira (not her real name) uses hearing aid that help her to better understand the world around. In early childhood, the girl had a hearing implant surgery to compensate her hearing loss.
From grade one, she studied in the special boarding school for hearing impaired children of Bishkek as she was not admitted to regular schools because of her disability. Five years later, Nazira’s mother decided to improve her development.
"I needed to place my daughter into a speaking environment,” mother said. "There [in the special school], they taught her only finger spelling [a special form of communication that used fingers – note] and sign language as there was no speaking environment.”
Nazira’s parents found a boarding school in Bishkek not far from their house. This was a secondary school of general education for orphans and children left without parental care. She was taken there for a probationary period of three months and was put into grade four for better adaptation, although she studied in grade six by that time.
Nazira’s mother was in constant contact with teachers, was interested in her daughter’s integration into the new environment, her successes in school. The teachers answered positively to all her questions.
But one case changed everything: once Nazira dodged lessons and did not return to school for a while. She was searched by parents, teachers, police. When she came home late at night, the psychological condition of the teenager was critical.
According to Nazira, her classmates laughed at her because of her hearing issues and discussed her hearing aid and disability loudly. Girl was shocked by it and could not stay in school anymore.
After the parents asked the administration to explain the incident, they learned that there was decided to suspend the girl for missing lessons. Moreover, the teachers advised taking Nazira to the special boarding school, where she had studied before.
The three laws of Kyrgyzstan ensure access to inclusive education for children with disabilities: "On education and science”, "On preschool education”, and "On rights and guarantees of persons with disabilities”. Inclusion means a form of study when all children study together regardless of their development peculiarities, level of their abilities, and diagnoses.
According to the National Statistical Committee as of March 2021, there are over 32 thousand children with disabilities under 18 in Kyrgyzstan or 1.3 per cent of total number of children of this age group. And only 10 per cent of these 32 thousand children study in special schools.
In 2019, Kyrgyzstan also ratified the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Inclusive Education Development Programme for 2019 to 2023.
However, the specialist point at a range of problems hindering inclusion in schools.
"Many funds together with the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic developed standards, methods, individual plans and even pilot projects,” said Almaz Tazhybai, director of the Centre for State Policy Analysis, which studies the enforcement of laws in educational sphere. "But [the Programme] is not yet introduced because of bureaucracy, lack of political will and allegedly because there is no money in the budget.”
Tazhybai cited other cases of violation of children’s and their parents’ rights to inclusion as an example. "Special boards established in every district send children with disabilities to special boarding schools that enrol [children] with references from the ministry of health,” he said.
Many parents want their children to study in schools with others and to have an opportunity to choose a facility of their own choice.
Another problem is the lack of psychologically safe environment in schools of general education. The case with Nazira confirms it. In school, where she tried to study, there was no special child psychologist who can work with disabled children, and teachers failed to integrate Nazira into common school environment.
Bullying by classmates and stigma have almost pushed the hearing-impaired girl to suicide.
"After that case, my daughter wanted to jump down the balcony, I could hardly talk her out of this,” Nazira’s mother said crying.
This article was prepared under the "Promoting media freedom and diversity through reporting on violation of rights and training of media workers in creating sensitive media reports on minority and marginalized groups project” with the financial support of the Canada Fund for Local Initiative (CFLI).
Opponents of Kyrgyz independent
media must stop speaking because local audience prefer objective and diverse
information, while media outlets serve public interests.
It’s due to independent media and journalists that Kyrgyzstan is still on best positions in international rankings[1], leaving all Central Asian states and many other states in the ex-Soviet area behind.
Attempts made by some groups who organised the protest in Bishkek demanding to close independent media outlets are against the constitution.
They breach article 10 of the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic, in particular regarding the statement that "media outlets are free and carry out their operations according to the law.”
The protest was held on October 13, 2022 in front of the Radio Azattyk office in Bishkek[2].
Moreover, the protest was organised amid consideration of the regular report by Kyrgyzstan on observation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee, which takes place this day.
An underhand initiative of deputies on countering independent media outlets and their demands of their closure are nothing else but attempts to escalate the situation in society.
Parliamentarian Dastan Bekeshev confirmed the fact of collection of signatures for closure of independent media outlets in his Telegram channel.
The School of Peacemaking and Media Technology in CA expresses its utmost concern about the fact that such actions intend to distract people’s attention from the current socio-political agenda and serious issues in Kyrgyzstan.
Use of the long-time leverage against independent media, setting them against society can have negative consequences.
We urge legislators, the government and organisers of similar actions to stop manipulating by independent media and to immediately respond to the threats voiced against media groups.
Attacks on the media and media workers increase every year in Kyrgyzstan.
According to the annual report of the School of Peacemaking and Media Technology in CA and the Justice for Journalists Foundation, the number of incidents against media has increased almost three times in the last five years in the country.
[1]https://rsf.org/en/index
[2]https://24.kg/proisshestvija/247941_vbishkeke_vozle_ofisa_azattyika_prohodit_miting_trebuyut_zakryit_smi/
The media of Central Asia,
who informed about last week’s armed clashes
and cross-border violence between
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan must
use peace journalism tools, according to the message
of the School of Peacemaking and Media
Technology in Central Asia.
Analysis of the media space showed that the armed clashes narratives dominated in daily news.
The audience received information on battles, victims, violence and military actions.
However, the media content was more war-oriented.
The media outlets published no materials focused on decisions offering and analysing various options of peaceful initiatives.
The School of Peacemaking encourages journalists and content creators to use peace journalism approaches. This approach helps editors and reporters to choose what and how to report on the events to consider non-violent response to the conflict.
The School of Peacemaking and Media Technology in Central Asia is
announcing the call for participation in the "Reporting on minority and
marginalised groups issues’ workshop” to be held in late October thru early
November 2022 in Bishkek.
The working languages of the event are Russian, Kyrgyz.
Journalists and editors from Kyrgyzstan are invited to participate in the training. All costs will be covered by organisers.
To take part in the call, you have to submit a filled application form, a CV of a potential participant, a scanned copy of a passport, as well as a motivation letter for participation to the e-mail peacemakingandmediaca@gmail.com marked as "For training”.
The main criteria of selection will be their current activities in the sphere, understanding of importance of human rights and promotion of minority and vulnerable group issues in the media.
The deadline for applications is 5.00 pm Bishkek time, October 5, 2022.
Applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered. The team does not comment its selection methods and does not reply to requests after the competition is over.
The event will be held under the Peacemaking School’s programme on the promotion of media freedom and diversity, supported by the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI).
On May 13, 2022, President Zhaparov signed a law to change the status of the Public Broadcasting Corporation (OTRK). 
Military men near the aftermarket during mass clashes, Osh, June 201
Training’s participants on mediation and conflict management are building the Tower of Peace, Bishkek, April 2011
Training in destroying stereotypes for journalists, Bishkek, April 2012
Workshop on production of team reporting in multinational journalist groups, Bishkek, August 2012
The School of Peacemaking and Media Technology in Central Asia announces an annual competition among students from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan,…
25 journalists and media workers from various regions of Kyrgyzstan have been trained to counter the propaganda of violent extremism and hate in…
Within the current context, media and journalists in Central Asia face the following dilemmas: How to cover issues happening in Afghanistan now? How to communicate information to the audience while describing the Taliban, whose image has been presented mainly in reports on terrorist attacks for almost 20 years? Can journalists offer audiences updated and redesigned narratives about a seemingly ex-terrorist group, while complying with standards and ethics?
Conflict-sensitive approaches, peace and solutions journalism tools, and new media formats can help create strategies to offer audiences a sufficiently clear and objective story.
Not Terrorists Anymore?
Kazakhstan was the first Central Asian country to officially remove the Taliban from the list of banned terrorist organisations. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said Astana took this step based on "the importance of developing trade and economic cooperation with present-day Afghanistan and understanding that this regime is a long-term factor”.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan soon reported the same decision, emphasising that it was "aimed at strengthening regional stability and maintaining a dialogue”.
In mid-September 2024, the media reported on the "unofficial visit” of the head of Tajikistan’s State Committee for National Security Saimumin Yatimov to Kabul and his meeting with the Taliban security chiefs. It was noted that the visit was made to "strengthen bilateral relations between Tajikistan and the Taliban”.
Official Dushanbe has not yet made any statements on this, however, at the time of writing this article, the Taliban were not on the list of terrorist and extremist organisations. Economic interests play their role. Tajikistan exports electricity to Afghanistan and has reopened five markets in border towns where goods are traded on both sides. Foreign trade turnover between the two countries totalled about $46 million in the first six months of 2024.
In Uzbekistan, the Taliban were not included in the 2016 list of 22 terrorist organisations banned by the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan. After the Taliban came to power, official Tashkent opened the Uzbek-Afghan border for the delivery of essential goods and humanitarian aid.
This August, Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov visited Kabul. According to media reports, Aripov met with Taliban leaders and discussed bilateral relations and strengthening trade and business between the two countries. As a result, five trade and investment agreements were signed in the energy, agricultural, and industrial sectors.
Turkmenistan had been in contact with the Taliban representatives even before they came to power amid growing tensions over the paramilitary attacks across Afghanistan. On September 11, 2024, in the border town of Serhetabad, Turkmenistan and the Taliban representatives relaunched the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) Natural Gas Pipeline Project. This large-scale project was first initiated almost 10 years ago.
The pipeline is expected to transport up to 33 billion cubic metres of natural Turkmen gas to South Asia annually.
On the one hand, the Central Asian region is becoming an important partner for Afghanistan offering infrastructure and trade projects and increasing cooperation with the regime in Kabul. This cooperation is taking place despite violations of the rights of women, girls, and minorities, restrictions on media freedom, arbitrary executions, and active calls by the UN and other international human rights bodies to put an end to such violations. The regime’s representatives in Kabul are still on the UN Security Council Consolidated Sanctions List.
On the other hand, Central Asian countries are concerned about security issues.
For example, in early September, a suicide bomber, a member of ISIS (an organisation banned in Central Asia), detonated an explosive device near the Kabul prosecutor’s office killing 6 people and injuring 13.
This fact and the length of the common Central Asian border with Afghanistan, which is more than two thousand kilometres long, pose a danger of infiltration into the region by members of ‘sleeper terrorist cells’.
Where Do We Start?
Define the unified terminology you will use in reporting on Afghanistan-related topics.
How should we describe the formerly banned and terrorist Taliban movement now?
Refer to international documents. Look up the UN-used terminology in the Case Law Database. In the latest speech of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, the regime in Kabul is referred to as the ‘de facto authorities’. This is quite a correct phrasing as it does not legitimise the authorities but only shows the reality.
In statements and reports of the European Union, the authorities in Kabul are called ‘the Taliban’. Many foreign media – BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, and others – also use this term. For the Central Asian media, it is less acceptable because for several years, the phrase ‘the Taliban’ was necessarily labelled in brackets as ‘the terrorist and banned movement’.
The following is a list of terms that may be acceptable to use.
To use definitions correctly, it is necessary to update editorial guidelines and compile a list of terms for reporting on Afghan issues.
More precise terminology is necessary to create a balanced and impartial narrative when describing events related to Afghanistan.
What Events Should I Select for Reporting?
The most suitable topics may include:
Human Rights and Other Sensitive Topics
Many media avoid reporting on this sensitive issue amid Central Asian countries’ selective cooperation with Afghanistan. However, reporting on human rights violations is a journalist’s ethical obligation.
The exclusion of women and girls from education and employment opportunities, as well as from public spaces, continues in Afghanistan. Extreme forms of violence occur. In addition to forced early marriages and sexual violence, the Taliban has adopted a decree on public flogging and stoning women to death.
The UN Women estimates that since the Taliban came to power, they have adopted 70 documents restricting women’s rights and freedoms. Such policy is carried out with no regard for the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which Afghanistan ratified in 2003.
At the end of August 2024, the law on ‘Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice’ was announced by the de facto authorities, which prohibits women from saying anything out loud in public and demonstrating their faces outside the house. This law cements policies that completely erase women’s presence in public – depriving them of their autonomy, attempting to render them into faceless, voiceless shadows.
Pay attention to the following topics:
Use Teamwork to Prepare the Material
Teamwork and cross-border reporting are great methods to gather information from different sides. Create a team of journalists and experts from several countries, including Afghanistan. Identify the topic and the person responsible for finalising the gathered information.
Citations, Statistics, and Online Resources
To keep up to date, create a similar list of Afghan media and keep track of the information. Pay attention to Afghan media amu.tv, which is based abroad. It has a separate constantly updated section on cooperation with Central Asia.
When reporting on violations of women’s rights and violence against women, in addition to using international reports, monitor incidents of gender discrimination on Rukhshana.media. This is an Afghan women’s media organisation created in memory of Rukhshana, a young woman stoned to death in Ghor province for running away after a forced marriage.
Be careful with citations. If you are going to use official press releases, it will be necessary to give some explanation in brackets after phrases such as ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’ (note: This is the title of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan used by the de facto authorities since 2021), etc. The same should be considered when republishing materials from Afghan official media. If you use Russian-language versions of Afghan websites, it is worth double-checking the information several times, as problems with translation accuracy are common.
If references to Afghan statistics are needed, you can use data from the National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA). However, there is no comprehensive information available. There is a lack of data on the ethnic composition of the population. This problem dates to 1979, the last time a population census was conducted. After a failed attempt in 2008, another census began in 2013 and was expected to be completed in six years. According to the Minority Rights Group, it was decided that the census would not include questions on language or ethnic background for fear that the results would be too politicised and lead to another failed census. However, the census was never completed.
What Background Information Should Be Used?
Reports on issues in Afghanistan should always contain background information to better explain to the audience what is happening. Since the Central Asian aspect is more focused on the events after August 2021, it is necessary to mention the process of peace negotiations in Afghanistan, why all the conditions of the Peace Deal were not fulfilled, and how the society lived before that.
For example: "De facto authorities came to power in Kabul after the previous Afghan government led by President Ashraf Ghani collapsed amid the US troops withdrawal from the country in August 2021. Earlier, in February 2020, a Peace Deal was signed between the US and the Taliban in Doha (Qatar) after more than eighteen years. The Deal addressed a reduction in violence, withdrawal of foreign troops, the start of intra-Afghan negotiations, and guarantees that Afghanistan won’t again become a refuge for terrorists. However, the Taliban failed to fulfil several conditions of the Peace Deal. The Taliban was formed in Pakistan in the 1990s after the Soviet Union’s troops withdrew from Afghanistan. Many of its early militants were trained in Pakistani madrassas. After NATO troops’ deployment, Pakistan gave the Taliban refuge”.
Such background can be shorter or longer according to the topic you are reporting on.
If the material is to cover the state structure of Afghanistan, the focus should be on comparing the Constitution of the country legally in force since 2004 with the draft Constitution that de facto authorities proposed and then abandoned.
It is also important to note that Afghanistan is a party to several international conventions, such as the Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (1984), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979), the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (1965), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006). In addition, the country ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (2002), the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (2000), the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography (2000). Explore the report describing the impact of the situation on human rights.
It is necessary to use the links to these documents in the context of human rights reporting.
Visual Design of the Materials
When using visuals, such as illustrative photos or collages, it is important to consider the nuances of traditional dress that identify different groups. If you want to show a group of Afghan men wearing dastmols (Persian: دستمال) – traditional headscarves, you need to know that these are most often soft-textured, black, grey, white, brown, mixed tones of these colours, or brown and turquoise scarves in a checked pattern.
The group of people from the de facto government can be identified by the white or black turbans on their heads. If it is not possible to find original photos, search for such illustrations.
A man wearing a red and white chequered scarf of hard texture represents Arabic or Middle Eastern style and the use of such an illustration would be wrong.
When designing visuals for the material on women’s issues, it is correct to refer to a woman’s head and face garment in the Afghan dialect as chodari (Persian: چادری) rather than burqa. It is most often a blue-coloured garment, but other colours are also found.
