Fast Facts Radio Ozodlik is one of the only sources of reliable news and information for people in Uzbekistan. The country remains one of the most repressive in the world in terms of media freedom and human rights issues. Language: Uzbek Coverage: Six hours daily Established: 1953 Distribution: Radio (MW, UKV, SW, Satellite), Internet (www.ozodlik.org) Locations: Prague headquarters Staff: 10 (Prague), 15 stringers

Media Environment

• Freedom House Freedom of the Press Index, 2010: Not Free (189th/196)
• Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, 2009: 160th/175
• Journalists and human rights activists in Uzbekistan face constant pressure and threats from the government. Radio Ozodlik has been singled out several times, in one instance being accused on state television of violating journalistic ethics and carrying out anti-state activities.
• The Uzbek government set up the website Press-uz.info, which features anonymous “experts” who routinely denounce Ozodlik’s reports on corruption, human rights abuses, and suppression of freedom of speech by the regime. Radio Ozodlik’s website is also blocked within Uzbekistan, though access is possible through proxy servers.

History

• Radio Ozodlik was established in 1953 as part of Radio Liberty's broadcasting to the Soviet Union and has continued to serve the Uzbek public since this major Central Asian power achieved independence in 1991.
• Following a pattern of harassment and violence against Radio Ozodlik correspondents, in December 2005 Uzbek authorities informed RFE/RL that the accreditation of its Tashkent bureau would not be renewed.
• In 2005 the government set up the website Press-uz.info, which features anonymous "experts" who routinely denounce Ozodlik's reports of corruption, human rights abuses, and suppression of freedom of speech by the regime.

Highlights

• Consistent publicity and reports by Radio Ozodlik have led to the release of more than half a dozen human rights activists and journalists who were detained as political prisoners and continues to report on the plight of those who have not yet been released.
• RFE/RL’s Umida Niyazova was the recipient of Human Rights Watch’s prestigious Human Rights Defender Award. In January 2007, the Uzbek government sentenced Niyazova to seven years in prison, arguing that her coverage of the 2005 government-sanctioned massacres in Andijon created “public disorder.” She was released after serving five months behind bars. At the time of her sentencing, she told the Uzbek court: “If we want to build civil society, criticism of the authorities must be allowed. This is the very idea of democracy.”
• Radio Ozodlik was awarded the 2006 David Burke Distinguished Journalism Award, which is awarded annually in recognition of courage, integrity, and originality in reporting.
• A major report on child labor broadcast by Ozodlik led to the passage of a law outlawing that practice.
• Radio Ozodlik recently launched a new SMS service that has brought hundreds of new voices to the Uzbek program.
• Radio Ozodlik journalists were the first to report on the massacre at Andijon in May 2005. In the aftermath of that event, Ozodlik’s bureau in Tashkent was forced to close and many of its journalists fled the country.

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Population
28.3 million

Most Common Languages:
Uzbek, Russian, Tajik, Kazakh

Press Freedom Index (Freedom House):
Not Free, ranked 189 out of 196 (2010)

Press Freedom Index (RSF):
160 out of 175 (2010)

Corruption Index (Transparency Int.):
172 out of 178 (2010)

Global Peace Index (IES):
97 out of 149 (2010)

Human Rights Watch:
Report on Uzbekistan (2010)

Amnesty International:
Uzbekistan Report (2009)