Uzbek authorities must immediately release a journalist detained yesterday, Human Rights Watch said today. Uzbek immigration authorities detained Igor Rotar, the Central Asia correspondent for Forum 18 News Service, at passport control at the Tashkent airport on Thursday morning.
Rotar, a Russian citizen, was being held at the airport and was barred from contact with the outside world. No charges have been filed against him.
“We are deeply concerned for Rotar’s safety,” said Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director for Human Rights Watch. “He should be allowed to contact his organization and a lawyer, and should be released immediately.”
Rotar, 40, has reported on religious freedom in Central Asia for many years, including for Forum 18, an online newsletter on religious freedom, since 2003. He is widely considered an expert on Uzbekistan’s Christian and Muslim religious communities. He had traveled to Uzbekistan on assignment for Forum 18 when he was detained.
As a Russian citizen, Rotar does not require a visa to enter Uzbeksitan. According to Uzbek authorities, Rotar was stopped because he was not accredited as a journalist.
Human Rights Watch said Rotar’s detention was part of a widespread government crackdown on journalists, human rights defenders and political activists following the May 13 massacre in Andijan. Dozens of Uzbek and foreign journalists and local human rights and political activists have been arrested, detained, beaten, threatened and harassed. Some have fled the country out of fear for their safety.
