Uzbekistan Shuts Down Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Bureau

22 December 2005

United States concerned by stifling of media, driving out of other broadcasters

By Jeffrey Thomas
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The United States is increasingly concerned over continued attempts by the government of Uzbekistan to stifle freedom of speech and the development of independent media in the Central Asian republic, says Julie Finley, U.S. permanent representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The government of Uzbekistan on December 12 refused to prolong the accreditation of correspondents for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) or to renew the agreement that allowed RFE/RL to operate a bureau in Tashkent, an action condemned by international media freedom organizations.

“Previously, the Uzbek Government had kept Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's status in limbo for months, failing to answer its accreditation renewal application,” Finley told the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, Austria, December 22.

Prior to closing RFE/RL, the Uzbek government drove out through persistent harassment or closed outright the BBC World Service, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, and the international nongovernmental organization (NGO) Internews. Without any major international news broadcaster in Uzbekistan, the people of Uzbekistan “no longer have access to views, analysis and commentary from across the political spectrum, including those that may, or may not, agree with government policy,” Finley said.

“The administrative harassment and ultimate denial of accreditation for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty represent yet another step backward for freedom of the media and information in post-Andijon Uzbekistan,” she added, referring to the May violence in the Uzbek city of Andijon that sparked the crackdown on independent media. (See related article.)

RFE/RL condemned the closure of its Tashkent Bureau December 13 but promised to continue its objective reporting on the Central Asian country.

"This unwarranted action by Uzbek authorities further erodes the already dismal state of free speech in Uzbekistan and is yet another attack by the [President Islom] Karimov government on the basic human rights of the Uzbek people," said Jeff Trimble, acting president of RFE/RL. "While hindered, RFE/RL will not be deterred in its efforts to report accurately and objectively about events in Uzbekistan to the people of that country and throughout Central Asia and the rest of our broadcast region," Trimble added. (See RFE/RL statement on the organization’s Web site.)

Press freedom organizations such as Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists deplored the closure.

“We are very worried by this terrible toll and the climate of censorship and witch-hunt against the independent media orchestrated by the Uzbek authorities,“ said Reporters Without borders (RWB) December 14. (See RWB statement on the organization’s Web site.)

"We condemn this latest example of the Karimov regime's contempt for press freedom," said Ann Cooper, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on December 12. "There are now virtually no independent voices left in the media inside Uzbekistan." (See CPJ statement on the organization’s Web site.)

In concluding her statement to the OSCE, Finley called on Uzbekistan “to cease its policy of repressive behavior toward independent news broadcasters, and to live up to its OSCE obligations in support of freedom of the media and information.”

Finley’s statement is available on the USOSCE Web site.

For additional information on U.S. policy, see Central Asia-Caucasus.