Reporters Without Borders

Several cybercafés have sprung up in the capital, Tashkent, but the US organisation Internews says customers have to promise in writing not to send "political or religious" e-mails. So self-censorship is routine in a country where no independent media are allowed. There are several ISPs, two of them privately-owned. The authorities ended the monopoly of the state-owned ISP, Uzpak, in October 2002.

OpenNet Initiative (ONI), which catalogues censored sites, says the authorities systematically block access to opposition sites such as the Birlik party and the banned Islamic party Hizb ut-Tahrir. News sites that carry critical articles about President Islam Karimov are sometimes censored. In February 2003, a freedom of information law, which restricts news put out by all media, including the Internet, came into force. Its article 4 says freedom to inform the public can be restricted to "protect the moral values of society, national security and the country's spiritual, cultural and scientific potential." This vague definition leaves plenty of room for interpretation and thus censorship. The same is true of other articles, which give pretexts such as "preserving cultural and historical values," "preventing psychological influence over and manipulation of public awareness" and preserving "social stability."

UN HUMAN RIGHTS SUSTEM

http://www.hri.ca/fortherecord2002/vol3/uzbekistantr.htm Freedom of opinion and expression, Special Rapporteur on: E/CN.4/2002/75/Add.2, paras. 233-235)

The Special Rapporteur sent an urgent appeal, jointly with the Special Representative on human rights defenders, concerning the August 2001 detention of the president of the Union of Independent Journalists of Uzbekistan by officials from the Kibrayskiy internal affairs department who confiscated his passport and journalist's card. The information received indicated that he was interrogated and accused of being involved in terrorist activities; in the preceding months, members of his family had also been intimidated by the same officials; the harassment was linked to his human rights activities, in particular his publication of articles entitled "Shadow of independence" relating, inter alia, to persecution of Muslims, the torture of prisoners, corruption and the intimidation of journalists in Uzbekistan.

A second urgent appeal was sent, jointly with other mechanisms, concerning the October 2001 arrest of poet, journalist and active member of the popular movement Birlik of Uzbekistan. He was arrested by the Security Service of Uzbekistan (SSU), whose agents searched his house and confiscated many poems written by him and his daughter. The poems criticized government policies and referred to police violence, impunity and corruption. He was accused of anti-government activities and charged under article 159 of the Criminal Code for having published some of these poems on a web site.