Imprisoned Azerbaijani Journalist Honored By CPJ 

Eynulla Fatullayev in court in Baku in October 2007

Jailed Azerbaijani journalist Eynulla Fatullayev is among the winners of the 2009 International Press Freedom Awards, an annual recognition by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) of journalists working in dangerous or repressive circumstances, RFE/RL's Azerbaijan Service reports.

Fatullayev was sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison in 2006 for publishing an article about the consequences of a possible U.S.-Iran military conflict that supposedly caused panic among diplomats and businesspeople in Baku.

However, Fatullayev is a friend and colleague of slain Azerbaijani journalist Elmar Huseynov and has accused the government of obstructing the investigation into Huseynov's 2005 murder.

"His only crime is his journalism," Nina Ognianova, CPJ's Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, was quoted in a CPJ press release as saying.

"He is being punished for doing a job that the government has not done: investigating the murder of his editor."

The other three International Press Freedom Awards went to Naziha Rejiba, editor of the Tunisian online journal "Kalima;" Mustafa Haji Abdinur, a correspondent for AFP and editor in chief of Radio Simba in Somalia; and J.S. Tissainayagam, who is serving a 20-year prison term in Sri Lanka on terrorism charges for his work documenting government human rights abuses.

The awards will be presented in New York on November 24.

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In Tajikistan, Free Information Comes At A Price 

Tajikistan's newspapers could be hit hard by the new fees.

The Tajik government has introduced a new decree obliging journalists to pay for information obtained from officials, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.

According to the document issued on November 19, journalists must pay 25 somoni (about $4.50) for each page of printed text provided by an official institution or state agency. As of January 1, the cost will be increased to 35 somoni per page.

Tajik officials say the decree was adopted on October 31 and corresponds to the newly adopted law on the mass media.

National Alliance of Independent Media Chairman Nuriddin Qarshiboev told RFE/RL the decree violates the constitution, which guarantees free access to information.

Juma Mirzo, editor in chief of the weekly "Nuri Zindagi," told RFE/RL the decree could bankrupt all media outlets in Tajikistan.

Tajik presidential administration spokesman Mahmud Saraev rejected such criticism, saying the decree does not restrict access to information since it applies only to information requested in advance. He didn't elaborate on that qualification.

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Kyrgyz Deport Russian Rights Activist 

Bakhrom Hamroev, pictured earlier this month in Osh

MOSCOW -- A Russian human rights activist, Bahrom Hamroev, has been deported from Kyrgyzstan while gathering information connected with his work, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

Hamroev is said to have been in the southern part of the country in an effort to collect information on alleged abuses against Muslims, who make up a majority of Kyrgyzstan's population.

He is a member of the Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Center, a leading rights-advocacy group that has been critical of government abuses throughout the former Soviet Union.

A Memorial representative said a local rights activist, Izzatilla Rahmatillaev, was detained along with Hamroev.

Vitaly Ponomarev, the director of Memorial's Central Asian program, told RFE/RL that Hamroev's mobile phone and camera were confiscated by police in Osh and he was put on a flight back to Moscow.

Rahmatillaev was later released.

Islamic extremists are frequently blamed for antistate activities in all five of Central Asia's post-Soviet republics, none of which receive high marks from the U.S. government or international NGOs for their rights records.

Posted At: 19 November 13:33 0 comments

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HRW Calls For Kyrgyz Government To Release Activists 

Rights activist Bakhrom Hamroev

Human Rights Watch (HRW) is urging the government of Kyrgyzstan to release two human rights activists who were investigating alleged rights abuses in the south of the country.
 

HRW says security officials detained Bakhrom Hamroev and Izzatilla Rakhmatillaev on November 18 in Osh, in southern Kyrgyzstan.

The New York-based rights group says Hamroev, a Russian citizen, works for the Russian rights group Memorial, while Rakhmatillaev heads Law and Order, an organization based in Osh that investigates rights abuses in southern Kyrgyzstan.

“The Kyrgyz government is out to stop research into abuses committed against so-called extremists in the region,” says Andrea Berg, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. "It is crystal clear that the two men were detained in retaliation for their work."

It's not the first time Kyrgyz authorities have detained activists investigating possible human rights violations in southern Kyrgyzstan.

Hamroev's colleague at Memorial and director of its Central Asia program, Vitaly Ponomarev, was deported from Kyrgyzstan on February 26 and declared persona non grata.

Ponomarev was deported a month after he published a 24-page report about religious persecution and torture in Kyrgyzstan.

Posted At: 19 November 03:22 0 comments

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Turkish-Armenian Writer Reports Death Threats 

Sevan Nisanyan

Turkish-Armenian newspaper columnist Sevan Nisanyan says he has received hundreds of deaths threats after altering a famous quote from the founder of modern Turkey to make a case for reforms in the country, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports.

Nisanyan took a quote from a 1923 speech by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Turkey's founding father, in which he urged Turkish youth to fight hard for their homeland.

"Your first duty is to preserve and to defend Turkish independence and the Turkish Republic forever," declared Ataturk.

Nisanyan -- an Istanbul-based, ethnic Armenian intellectual -- wrote in an October 29 article published by the "Taraf" daily that, "Your first duty is to be a human being. This is the very foundation of your existence and your future. This foundation is your most precious treasure."

Nisanyan told RFE/RL that his appeal infuriated nationalist Turks and he has since received about 800 e-mails and letters containing verbal abuse and threats to kill him.

He said "people have gone mad" and added that he believes "the military is behind this uproar."

Nisanyan add that he has appealed to Turkish police for protection.

He said police have been "the more liberal party in [Turkey in] recent years" and "have been friendly and helped me a lot."

Posted At: 18 November 08:37 4 comments

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Muslim Women Arrested In Southern Uzbekistan 

KARSHI, Uzbekistan -- Some 30 women have been arrested in the southern Uzbek city of Karshi since the beginning of November, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service reports.

Mehriniso Hamdamova, 40, a teacher of a religious course for women at Karshi's Kuk Gumbaz Mosque, is the latest woman to have  been arrested.

Hamdamova's daughter, Latofat Orzikulova, told RFE/RL that in the early morning of November 5 a dozen police and security officers entered
Hamdamova's home and searched it.

She said that although they found nothing illegal they confiscated two Uzbek films on CDs and a book given to Hamdamova as a gift by the Spiritual Administration of Muslims in Uzbekistan.

Hamdamova is being held in pretrial detention after being charged with establishing "jamoats" (societies) and promoting them among young people.

Orzikulova said that on the same day several of Hamdamova's female relatives -- including her sister, a daughter-in-law, and nieces -- were also arrested. Orzikulova said police refused to say why her relatives were arrested.

The detentions are the latest in a string of arrests of women in Karshi.

Shoira Karomova, who works at a state department on religious affairs dealing with women and who helped develop the religious course taught by Hamdamova, told RFE/RL that she does not think Hamdamova's professional activities were the reason for her arrest, because her course had been officially approved.

Surat Ikromov, a leader of the Independent Group for Human Rights Defenders, told RFE/RL that the arrested women have been pressured while in detention in Karshi to give evidence against Hamdamova.

Hamdamova's relatives have appealed for help in the case to President Islam Karimov, the prosecutor-general, the head of the state security service, and the Spiritual Administration of Muslims in Uzbekistan.

Posted At: 18 November 08:24 0 comments

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Russian Activists Demand Government Investigate Journalist's Beating 

Mikhail Beketov in an undated photo

Protesters in Moscow are demanding the direct involvement of the government into the investigation of the severe beating of journalist Mikhail Beketov, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.

Dozens of supporters from the opposition Yabloko party, the Protect Khimki Forest movement, and some human rights activists took part in the action on November 16.

One year ago, unknown assailants severely beat Beketov in the town of Khimki, near Moscow, leaving him in a coma for several months. He is permanently handicapped because of the attack.

Supporters at the rally collected signatures for a petition demanding the government take over the investigation of Beketov's case.

The protesters said the investigation is being conducted too slowly.

The attack on Beketov took place after he wrote a number of articles challenging the Khimki authorities not to cut down a large swathe of a forest to build a new highway.

Posted At: 18 November 07:22 0 comments

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