Intimidation is one of the most powerful constraints on press freedom in Tajikistan today. In some cases, the government at some level perpetrated threats, aiming to silence journalists or their newspapers. Other cases resulted from the government's tolerance of misuse of public office, desire for private gain, and the use of physical force by those affiliated with it. In recent months, for example, a news agency that caters largely to the international community was approached by a wealthy and powerful government military general, the owner of several prominent businesses in Dushanbe. The general "offered" to buy out the news agency. Although the general has not yet succeeded in his effort, the move has not encouraged the agency to become more bold in its reporting.62
Junbish (Hokim Muhabbatov, editor)
In July 1999, Junbish, the National Movement of Tajikistan's newspaper, published the "Position of the Consultative Council of Political Parties of Tajikistan on the Additions and Changes to the Constitution." In particular, the Council took issue with the extension of the term of the president from five to seven years; the expansion of his powers to include direct influence over the upper chamber of a two-chamber parliament (the president directly appoints 25 percent of the membership of the upper chamber, while the remaining 75 percent are appointed by provincial assemblies, already led by presidential appointees); and, again through the upper chamber of parliament, near-direct control of the appointment of judges. The Council also argued that the wording of article 28, which expressly permits religion-based parties, encroached on the secular nature of the state.63
Since then, government authorities have attempted to interfere with the paper's content, principally by harassing its editor-in-chief, Hokim Muhabbatov, who is also the head of The National Movement Party of Tajikistan. This process culminated in October 1999 with the state-owned printing press refusing to print Junbish. In July, Muhabbatov was summoned to the office of the procurator general. He told Human Rights Watch:
I was called to the Procurator General's Office for an explanation [of who was behind the "Position," what were the ultimate aims, etc.], as were the leaders of the other political parties [of the Consultative Council].
On July 27, the Chairman of the Council of Elders, Nodir Odilov, came to the Junbish office and told me that "high up" there was great dissatisfaction with the fact that I had published the "Position" of the Consultative Council. He told me that printing such material put not only my own life at risk, but also that of my relatives. And he pleaded with me to be very careful in publishing such material, as one can always resurrect a newspaper, but not a person.
On August 4, I spoke at a round table discussion between political party members and journalists, organized during a U.S. Department of State representative's visit to the country.
This past Wednesday, August 11, when we went to the Sharqi Ozod printing press to print the paper, the deputy director told me that he had received a phone call from a high-ranking government official, ordering him not to print Junbish. "This time around," the deputy director told me, "I'll take the risk [of printing] on myself, but next time you're on your own."64
In early October 1999, Junbish ceased publication after it was refused permission to print at its regular state printing press. According to the paper's editor and members of the Consultative Council on Political Parties, the director of the printing press claimed that he had received instructions from highly-placed authorities to no longer print the paper.65
Istiqlol and Samar (Abdufattoh Vohidov, Saifiddin Dostiev editors, and U. Faizullaev, Kh. Sodikov and A. Abdullaev, correspondents)
In January 1999, the procurator of Vose district launched a criminal libel case against journalists Abdufattoh Vohidov and Saifiddin Dostiev, former editors-in-chief of two independent newspapers-Samar and Istiqlol, respectively.66
In November 1997, Vohidov and Dostiev published in Samar and Istiqlol an article entitled "Mojaroi du rais" (A Scandal of Two Chairmen). The article described in detail the questionable political and business tactics employed by Chairman of the Executive Committee of Vose Kurbonali Mirzoaliev against Samariddin Fazliddinov, chairman of the joint-stock company Samar. The article's authors claimed that when Mirzoaliev was chairman of the executive committee of the region in 1994, he harassed Fazliddinov by intentionally shutting off Samar's electricity, selling the cotton of the Vose region to factories outside the region instead of to Samar, accusing Fazliddinov of non-payment of taxes, and requesting that central authorities dismiss Fazliddinov from the post of editor-in-chief of the newspaper Samar.67 Fazliddinov also financed Samar. The authors also accused Mirzoaliev of misuse of government funds and of closing down the independent television station Mavji Ozod, founded by Samar-as a result of which twelve journalists and employees of Mavji Ozod lost their jobs.68
In 1997, U. Faizullaev, Kh. Sodikov and A. Abdullaev, the authors of "Mojaroi du rais," subsequently won the libel case launched against them by Mirzoaliev. At the time, no case was brought against the editors of the newspapers in which the article was published.
On January 9, 1999, however, reportedly on the orders of Mirzoaliev, three armed policemen from the Vose Department of Internal Affairs traveled to Dushanbe to bring Vohidov by force to Vose for interrogation. Vohidov refused to cooperate when police went to his house in Dushanbe, and was not arrested. Vohidov and Dostiev then approached Mukhtor Bokizoda, director of the newly-formed Memorial Fund in Memory and Defense of the Journalists of Tajikistan for assistance, and the three traveled to Vose to meet with the procurator's office. There, the deputy procurator claimed that the editors had been sent three written notices in 1998 to report to Vose law enforcement agents. Upon the request of the three journalists to produce evidence of these summons, however, he was unable to comply. At the end of the meeting the deputy procurator acknowledged that he was at fault and that he was only obeying the orders of Kurbonali Mirzoaliev.69
Despite appeals to and by international organizations, on January 29 editors Vohidov and Dostiev were forcibly brought by law enforcement agents to Vose district, interrogated, and released after one day.70 On January 25, 1999, the three authors of the article, U. Faizullaev, Kh. Sodikov and A. Abdullaev, who were acquitted of libel over a year before, were charged with slander under article 138 of the criminal code. They were convicted and sentenced to two years in prison. Both were held in the correctional labor colony in Kuliab from January 25 until mid-February 1999. According to Mukhtor Bokizoda, the three were released following a written protest from the Fund in Memory and Defence of the Journalists of Tajikistan, submitted to the presidential administration.71 The sentence has not been quashed, however, leaving the journalists vulnerable to further legal problems.
TV SM-1
In July 1998, the president gave a speech on the political, social and economic situation in the country, which was recorded during the ninth session of the Majlisi Oli. As it was being aired on state television, TV SM-1, an independent television station in Khujand, continued with its regular programming. The television station received at that time two phone calls from the Khujand city administration (hukumat) warning that they were to either interrupt their regular programming and broadcast the presidential speech or halt their broadcast altogether. The employee on duty replied that in the absence of the station's director or chief writer he did not have the authority to alter the programming, and the regular programming continued. According to a senior employee of the station:
The next day or so the hukumat [local administration] called my home, when I wasn't there. They threatened my wife: "We'll destroy him! We'll have him disappear! We'll fire him!" etc. etc. After these threats, which were delivered by the deputy chairman of the hukumat, I called him up myself, and we had a very violent discussion. He said that he was only carrying out orders...in any case, we now have a professional though not necessarily friendly relationship.72
Current laws governing the media do not contain a provision requiring independent television stations to carry presidential speeches when they are broadcast on state television.
Surush
On April 3, 1998, two unidentified armed men arrived at mid-day at the office of the director of Surush, in the Tajikpress building in Khatlon province, and protested that copies of "the opposition paper" Surush were being distributed in Khatlon province. They reportedly said "Khatlon residents didn't need this paper" and "insistently requested" that the director no longer distribute copies of Surush in the province.73 Following the incident, Surush ceased distribution in the region.
Following the publication of an article entitled "Goodbye typhus, hello syphilis," which was critical of an unidentified policeman who was reported to frequent prostitutes, editor-in-chief Rahmatkarim Davlat and the author of the article, Rajabi Mirzo, were summoned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs on March 31, 1998, for "a conversation." Officials remonstrated with them for having criticized the policeman and advised them not to publish such "slanderous articles."74
Journalists Outside of Tajikistan
Many of Tajikistan's most experienced journalists fled the country during the civil war and continue to cover the country from abroad. They are among the most vehement critics of the Rakhmonov government. Yet even at a distance, Tajik authorities attempt to threaten, intimidate, or discredit them.
Dodojon Atovullo, former editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Charogi Ruz, has been based in Moscow since he fled Tajikistan in 1993.75 He returned to the country in March 1998, after an absence of five years, for a week-long visit, during which a security official warned him to lower his profile. Atovullo told Human Rights Watch:
I visited all the government printing houses, and they all told me that they had been warned that although they would with pleasure print my paper they were afraid that their families could be destroyed or killed. You know, these people are all right, but they are afraid for themselves....I gave lots of interviews to Radio Liberty, and then a KGB member, on his own initiative, came to see me and warned that I was being "too active." He said, "Do you remember when in September 1997 [Oleg] Panfilov and [Khoji Akbar] Turajonzoda were accused?76 Well, you too won't be forgiven. There are already a few groups planning how to have your head." All the local journalists told me "We're all afraid," that they would be delighted to have me back, and that the truth should be spoken, that they would tell it, but only if their identity weren't disclosed...I didn't go about alone in March 1998, I was always accompanied...everybody's afraid to criticize because they're afraid for their life, you see, everybody's afraid of the lawlessness.77
In November 1998, during the attempted rebellion led by Mahmud Khudoiberdiev in Leninabad province, Atovullo made several Russian television and radio appearances. In one of the television interviews he severely criticized the peace process, asserting that it was an agreement reached only "between Kuliab and the Karategin."78 Atovullo also wrote an article entitled "What everybody knows, but is afraid to talk about," published in a late November 1998 edition of Novaia gazeta. The article starkly described high levels of corruption, criminality, an absence of law of order in Tajikistan, and argued that fair elections were impossible under these conditions. Soon afterwards, by his account, high-ranking government, UTO, and CNR officials phoned Atovullo in Moscow, threatening that, among other things, he would be included on the list of suspected participants in the attempted rebellion.79 Atovullo told Human Rights Watch that in the late fall of 1998, when a high-level delegation of Ministry of the Interior officials from Tajikistan visited Moscow, he hid on the outskirts of the city for a week after receiving a "kind-hearted" warning from an official at the Tajik embassy in Moscow.80
A citizen of Tajikistan, Oleg Panfilov was a correspondent for Nezavisimaia gazeta until he fled the country in 1992 to establish himself in Moscow. There, he variously worked as the Moscow director of the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), as correspondent on Tajik affairs for Nezavisimaia gazeta, and as a staffmember of the Glasnost Defence Foundation, a Moscow-based human rights group. A high-profile opposition member, Panfilov participated as a special advisor in the 1994-1997 inter-Tajik talks, until the signing of the June 1997 peace accord between the government and UTO. Panfilov is currently preparing a book on the situation of journalists in Tajikistan from 1992 until the present.
Panfilov's dismissal from Nezavisimaia gazeta in September 1997, he claimed, followed repeated phone calls from the Tajik embassy to the editor-in-chief, asserting that Panfilov was dishonest, and an enemy of the people. Notably, Panfilov enjoys a controversial reputation both inside and outside Tajikistan as one of the most vocal and unsparing critics of the Tajik government. He said that he was later questioned on several occasions by the Russian FSB (Federal Security Service), and told they would not explain officially why they were questioning him. In September 1997, as the CNR set to work in Dushanbe and as UTO leader Said Abdullo Nuri returned from Iran to Tajikistan, CNR deputy chairman Abdumajid Dostiev stated that it was undesirable that Panfilov and deputy UTO leader Khoji Akbar Turajonzoda return to the country. Panfilov claims that he continues to be labelled an enemy of the people in high government circles.81
62 Human Rights Watch interview, Dushanbe, May 1999. Name withheld. 63 Various issues of Junbish (The Movement), Dushanbe, July-September 1999; "Position of the Consultative Council of Political Parties of Tajikistan on the Additions and Changes to the Constitution," July 1999. Unofficial translation. Article 28 reads as follows: "Citizens have the right of association. Each citizen has the right to participate in the formation of political parties, including political parties with religious, democratic, and atheistic character, of trade unions and other social associations, as well as voluntarily to join them or resign from them." 64 Human Rights Watch interview with Khokhim Mukhabbatov, August 13, 1999; Junbish, no. 15, August 1999. 65 Human Rights Watch interviews, Dushanbe, October 25, 1999. 66 Until April 1998, Abdufattoh Vohidov was the editor-in-chief of Istiqlol, published by the nongovernmental Oli Somon Fund. Vokhidov had suffered incidents of media repression on previous occasions: in 1995 he was dismissed as editor-in-chief of Posukh (The Answer) after he made unflattering comments about the government to a foreign news service. From August 1997 until January 1998 his newspaper was arbitrarily denied permission to print at government printing houses, following the publication of articles underscoring Islam as a factor for national unity and criticizing the government for not having included all political forces in the peace agreement. Although it is unclear whether Vohidov was specifically targeted, in May 1998 his home and belongings were torched during government-UTO fighting in the Karatenginskii area of eastern Dushanbe; the latter area is perceived as a UTO stronghold. Vohidov told a Human Rights Watch representative a few days after the hostilities that government security forces systematically pillaged and burned dwellings in the area. Istiqlol has not appeared since April 1998, ostensibly due to lack of funds, and Vohidov currently works for the newspaper of the State Tax Committee, Paiomi Andoz. Saifiddin Dostiev was the editor-in-chief of the Tajik-language weekly Samar until it ceased publication in December 1997, ostensibly due to financial difficulties. Notably, it too had suffered harassment from authorities. In 1997 Samar was occasionally prevented from publishing articles critical of the government, and frequently denied permission to publish at government printing houses. Dostiev is at present deputy editor-in-chief of the newspaper Javononi Tojikiston (The Youth of Tajikistan). 67 "Mojaroi du rais," Samar (Dushanbe), no. 1, November 6-18, 1997. 68 Mavji Ozod is currently operating on a skeletal basis, with four journalists only. 69 Human Rights Watch interview with Mukhtor Bokizoda, Dushanbe, January 10, 1999; letter from Vohidov and Dostiev addressed to OSCE Head of Mission Marin Buhoara, January 11, 1999. Vohidov and Dostiev declined interviews with Human Rights Watch. 70 Radio Free Liberty, January 29, 1999. Human Rights Watch interview with Mukhtor Bokizoda, Dushanbe, January 25, 1999. 71 Human Rights Watch interview with Mukhtor Bokizoda, Dushanbe, May 19, 1999. 72 Human Rights Watch interview with senior employee of TV SM-1, Dushanbe, October 26, 1998. Name withheld. 73 Monitor (Moscow), April 1998. 74 "Goodbye typhus, hello syphilis," Surush, no. 1, March 1998; Monitor (Moscow), March 1998. 75 Charogi Ruz, an independent opposition newspaper, was published in exile in Moscow from 1992-1997 and clandestinely distributed in some parts of Tajikistan during the same period. Atovullo fled to Moscow following threats against him, arrests of employees of the newspaper, and harassment of those who were accused of both possessing and distributing it. During the time that it was published in exile, staff members of the newspaper and those who were found to be in possession of copies were arrested, detained and otherwise persecuted for their affiliation with the newspaper. At the end of April 1999, the first issue of Charogi Ruz published since 1997 appeared in some kiosks in Dushanbe, where it was quickly bought up, and later in the summer a second issue was clandestinely distributed. 76 In September 1997, when the CNR took up its work in Dushanbe, Deputy CNR Chairman Abdumajid Dostiev reportedly announced that it was undesirable that two people return to Tajikistan, namely, Oleg Panfilov and Khoji Akbar Turajonzoda. Radio Liberty, September 8, 1999. This statement was transmitted through the state and foreign press services. 77 Human Rights Watch interview with Dodojon Atovullo, Moscow, June 2, 1998. 78 The UTO soon afterwards published a statement indicating that Atovullo had never been a member of the UTO, and that the UTO did not share his point of view. This statement was repeatedly aired on Tajik state television. 79 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Dodojon Atovullo, Moscow, November 21, 1998. 80 Ibid. 81 Human Rights Watch interview with Oleg Panfilov, Moscow, June 3, 1998.