Uzbekistan: Blogging Fosters Freedom of Speech

by Tolkun Umaraliev

Recently, the U.S. State Department has ranked Uzbekistan among "top ten" of the most authoritarian countries in the world. During almost two decades of his reign, president I. Karimov and his clan have taken control of all spheres of life in the country – political, economic and social. Civil society, which emerged and was developing in the country after the collapse of Soviet Union, has felt the severe pressure of Karimov's regime, especially after the Andijon events in 2005 that resulted in international sanctions on Uzbekistan. The state has full power over mainstream media in the country. Even though Karimov glorifies democratic values in his public speeches, there is no freedom of speech in the country. However, today, voices are breaking through via new media – blogs.



One of such cyber-activists is Gerchik, discussing sociopolitical problems in the country in his blog. In his most recent post, Gerchik writes about the reasons why people may leave Uzbekistan and lists vital social problems that his community is suffering from [ru]:

1. Electricity cut-offs in the cities for two and more weeks, even on holidays. Reason: disorganized work of the State Electricity Department staff, which collects payment for electricity. Moreover, they take bribes by "rewinding" the electricity meter back.

2. Electricity supply is limited to 4 hours a day in rural areas;

3. There is a great shortage of natural gas in public use, despite the fact that we the country is rich in natural gas;

4. An average Uzbek can't feed family doing his job in Uzbekistan, so people are forced to become migrant workers;

5. An average Uzbek family is not able to pay for utilities;

6. The state officials are impudent enough to publicly lie that an average Uzbek citizen earns 200 USD per month;

7. And these state officials are re-elected to the third term!

The post, which reflects reality in most parts of Uzbekistan, has generated lots of comments from other people, who suffer from the same problems. One such comment reads [ru]:

I live in the suburb of Tashkent [capital city]. Cuts of hot water and gas were regular during the whole winter. Electricity was cutting off repeatedly during a day… My parents live in Syrdarya. They didn't have gas for the whole winter. Even now its supply is very low. People don't have access to drinking water in their houses and are to go a long way round for it.

In another post, Gerchik opines on the politics in Uzbekistan and asks readers a question that was raised by one of his friends, who apparently tried to justify the current regime's actions [ru]:

Imagine a situation: you have been making your way up in your career for very long time. Finally, you become a president. What will you do? Will you try to make your life better by gaining enormous fortunes and taking your nation's wealth – big luxurious houses, top brand cars, yacht, house on the seashore and big businesses – or, will you try to change the situation in the country for the better by spending all the money for, say, development of education in the country?

This post provoked a heated discussion among readers. Each of them gave their own view on the situation.

It is hard to answer this question. Why? First, I will never become a president. Second, the problem is not only in the president. But if I became a president, I would first take care of myself. Who would do the opposite? I guess no one.

Khorezm writes about the recent rally of several hundreds of women in the center of Urgench. They were complaining about relocation of the city market to the suburbs and about the distribution of sales outlets on a new place. As Khoresm reports, the protesters wanted a dialogue with the governor. However, when they approached Hokimiyat [city administration building] they were stopped by a chain of policemen [ru]:

The crowd was stopped by a chain of Special Squad… Even though women had no arms, the policemen were wearing helmets and body armors… As a result, the crowd jammed up the traffic… The atmosphere was tense. A rumor that the policemen had allegedly beat up one of the demonstrators made the situation worse… There was a mobile headquarters of Special Squad nearby, which, if the situation went worse, could give orders for more drastic measures… However, police managed to split the protesters into groups and finally disperse the crowd by the noon… Demonstrators decided to address their problem to the local TV channels or to RFE/RL reporters.

Also posted on Global Voices Online.

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http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2008/04/03/uzbekistan-blogging-fosters-freedom-of-speech/

Liberty is Not Dead in Bulgaria

By Yavor Mihaylov, Global Voices

On Jan. 30, the Bulgarian government promulgated Decree 40, which, among other things, allows the security services to gather from each internet user the data about who they have written to, who is on their contact lists, what instant communication agents they are equipped with, when they used them and the precise manner of using them. Institutions attributed the act to the requirements of Directive 2006/24/EC, but the majority of internet users in Bulgaria interpreted it as an encroachment on their civil liberties.

The civil initiative Electronic Frontier published on the internet a petition (BUL) against the decree, signed by over 1150 people already, and a number of Bulgarian bloggers put banners to support the campaign on their blogs.

On Feb. 7, Electronic Frontier organized a protest in front of the State Agency for Information Technologies and Communications (SAITC) in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.

“Those who trade freedom for security, lose both.”
Photo by www.nabludatel.info

According to blogger Bogomil Shopov, the protest's chief organizer, the event, even though not massive, sparked a lot of reactions from the press, TV and radio stations, and more than 4,000 websites.

On Feb. 23, a meeting of bloggers, online journalists, free-thinking people with an opinion of their own, and enthusiasts united by the idea of blogging, was held in Sofia. The discussions were focused on the Decree 40. Officials had been invited but none of them showed up. Many bloggers published reports from the event. Nelly Ognyanova, a renowned blogger and professor of media law wrote on her blog (BUL):

There will be no press release from BlogCamp, but the discussion on the Decree 40 of SAITC and the Ministry of the Interior was rather a discussion on the gradual loss of freedom. This issue is important and deserves to be delved in separately: the loss of freedom in small steps.

About this act in particular: there already exist sufficient means of surveillance and wiretapping, and the ministry of the interior already has the technical capabilities to trace messages. Decree 40 contains limitations to a constitutional right – and each and every time any limitations of the rights become an issue, the legislator has to make a judgment whether the balance between limitations and guarantees has been observed.

The constitution stipulates that such judgments are made in the parliament. In this case, the judgment has been made by the heads of two government institutions. This is a sufficient reason to challenge Decree 40. […]

On March 10, a group of bloggers, members of Electronic Frontier and Open Project Foundation, filed a complaint with the National Ombudsman, Mr. Guinyo Ganev - a complaint concerning their misgivings that the Decree runs counter to a number of civil rights enshrined in the Constitution and other principal acts, with an appeal for an examination. Nine days later, the ombudsman attended a discussion of the issue, which drew about 70 more people (plus the media).

Bogomil Shopov briefly reports (BUL) on the event in his blog:

Yesterday, there was a useful discussion on the encroachment on civil rights in Decree 40 and other regulations. The discussion was aimed not only at discussing the particular act of SAITC and the Ministry of Interior, but also at a debate on where the thin border between freedom and security passes.

Bogomil Shopov, a representative of Electronic Frontier, spoke about civil rights, the trust in the state and the institutions, the fears of the users and the widespread understanding that “in order to have freedom, indeed we have to have security, but this is neither the way, nor the principle” to achieve this. The official response wasn't too satisfactory:

An SAITC official offered an outline of the viewpoint of the Agency that has been the implementer but not the author of the decree. The familiar excuses followed – the obligations with the EU, the Directives…

Mr. Guenov, an advisor to interior minister Rumen Petkov, filled up his time with general talk. According to Shopov, he said that they (the interior ministry) “are still being instructed on these issues?!?”

On the positive side, Electronic Frontier has been offered to start working on a draft law regulating the issue, and the ombudsman is still at the outset of his examinations, writes Shopov.

He concludes:

For me, the task of raising awareness of the issue has already been solved. Now it’s the turn of other tasks.