Part, Lex.UZ, September 1994,
https://lex.uz/ru/docs/111457?query=%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B0#160360
124
Article 19, Uzbekistan: Law on Mass Media, https://www.article19.org/resources/uzbekistan-law-on-mass-media/; Article 19,
Uzbekistan: Law on the Protection of Professional Activity of Journalists, May 2019, https://www.article19.org/resources/uzbekistan-law-
on-the-protection-of-professional-activity-of-journalists/
125
For some recent examples see: Amnesty International, Blogging in Uzbekistan: welcoming tourism, silencing criticism, June 2020,
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2020/06/blogging-in-uzbekistan-welcoming-tourism-silencing-criticism/
126
Uzbek Forum for Human Rights, Home of poet and journalist Mahmud Rajanbov raided by police, May 2019,
https://www.uzbekforum.org/home-of-poet-and-journalist-mahmud-rajabov-raided-by-police/; Cotton Campaign, Uzbekistan: Amidst
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Olloshukurova, was arrested and forcibly detained in a psychiatric facility before being able to flee
into exile with the support of the US Embassy and local human rights campaigners.
127
Journalist
Davlatnazar Ruzmetov was the subject of significant harassment from police and local security
services in Khorezm for his coverage of Rajabov and Olloshukurova’s cases and his activities in
exposing forced labour in the cotton sector, up until the point he was killed by being run over
crossing the road in November 2019.
128
In 2018, eight conservative leaning religious bloggers and
activists were arrested and detained on 15 day administrative charges at a time of heightened
tension with religious communities following new school uniform regulations that strengthened the
de facto ban on the hijab.
129
The situation on traditional broadcast media (TV and Radio) is more mixed. The advent of digital
broadcasting has enabled the growth of new TV channels, such as UzReport, to enter the market and
grow their audiences, providing more diverse and critical coverage than their traditional competitors
but within similar parameters faced by new online media. State run TV and Radio however have yet
to meaningfully reform, with requirements to dutifully follow and repeat the government line (albeit
that the line itself is now more open than it was in the Karimov era), with censorship of songs (and
lyrics) and other cultural content to avoid controversial topics even on social matters. While there
has been an improvement in production values, there have not been significant steps to reform
output into more challenging areas or to engage with the international community on different
models of public broadcasting or structural reforms.
130
A newly organised Agency for Information and Mass Communications, overseeing the media sector
and consolidating a wide range of government information services, was set up in February 2019
under the leadership of the President’s former Press Secretary Komil Allamjonov, with the
President’s daughter Saida Mirziyoyeva as his deputy.
131
After establishing the agency Allamjonov
and Mirziyoyeva moved in February 2020 to set up the Public Fund for Support and Development of
National Mass Media, a new public foundation for freedom of the media with the stated aims to give
bloggers and independent journalists legal, organisational, technical and other assistance. At the
fund’s launch Mirziyoyeva announced that “we believe in freedom of speech and we believe in its
power. We believe that high-quality journalism is necessary for the life of a democratic society in
which all people are equal and have the right to choose regardless of their faith, race, gender,
nationality or social status”. She also argued that freedom of speech and the role of bloggers and
independent journalists were an essential part of the reform process, saying that “Our president
understands that it is more effective to monitor the implementation of reforms when millions of eyes
observe the work of authorized bodies. Of course, these authorized persons are not always so
comfortable, but only in this way a strong civil society is built.”
132
reform effort, journalists and activists face criminal charges, arbitrary detention, forced psychiatric treatment, International Labor Rights
Forum, October 2019, https://laborrights.org/releases/uzbekistan-amidst-reform-effort-journalists-and-activists-face-criminal-charges-
arbitrary; RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service, Uzbek Poet Gets Suspended Prison Term For Importing ‘Banned’ Books, RFE/RL, October 2019,
https://www.rferl.org/a/banned-books-uzbekistan/30223844.html
127
RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service, Blogger Flees Uzbekistan After Spending Weeks in Involuntary Psychiatric Care, RFE/RL, January 2020,
https://www.rferl.org/a/blogger-flees-uzbekistan-after-spending-weeks-in-involuntary-psychiatric-care/30387814.html
128
Ozodlik, Khorezm-based journalist Davlatnazar Ruzmetov was detained at a police station for five hours, Ozodlik, October 2019,
https://www.ozodlik.org/a/%D1%9E%D0%B7%D0%B1%D0%B5%D0%BA%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BD/30200563.html; All
three had been previously involved in monitoring and exposing the issue of forced labour in Uzbekistan: Mehribon Bekieva and Ozodlik, In
Khorezm, a car knocked to death a journalist Davlatnazar Ruzmetov, who was under pressure from the authorities, Ozodlik, November
2019, https://rus.ozodlik.org/a/30443935.html https://rus.ozodlik.org/a/30258000.html
129
Catherine Putz, Conservative Religious Bloggers Detained in Uzbekistan, The Diplomat, September 2018,
https://thediplomat.com/2018/09/conservative-religious-bloggers-detained-in-uzbekistan/
130
Navbahor Imamova, Twitter Post, Twitter, March 2020, https://twitter.com/Navbahor/status/1240657246092234752?s=20
131
Agency of Information and Mass Communications under the Administration of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Provisions,
https://aoka.uz/en/agency/provisions
132
Gazeta.uz, “We believe in freedom of speech and its power” – Saida Mirziyoyeva, February 2020,
https://www.gazeta.uz/ru/2020/02/02/saida-mirziyoyeva/
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In the most countries, particularly in authoritarian or semi-authoritarian regimes, placing the
President’s daughter and former Press Secretary first as the leadership the of the press regulator and
then the country’s main foundation for media freedom would raise a number of red flags about the
seriousness of commitments to freedom of the media and the ability for the journalists to hold the
government to account. However the situation here is perhaps somewhat more complicated by the
internal power dynamics of the government, in that a number of journalists have argued that this
duo (hailing from the reformist camp and with impeccable access to the President) have been active
allies in defending journalistic independence against pressure from the system’s old guard, given the
stated importance of media development for the Mirziyoyev project. Irrespective of how substantive
the support given to journalists by the reformists has been there remains a substantive gap between
nurturing constructive criticism to help spur government backed reforms and a fully open media
environment, particularly when it comes to direct criticism of the President and first family. A recent
interview by Allamjonov on Uzreport highlighted some of these tensions where he talked of wanting
to create ‘
a responsible, ethical media space gaining control over their field through credibility’
rather than having journalists and bloggers continuing without rules of engagement ‘where
government will keep drawing lines for them’. While supporting efforts to improve accuracy of
reporting and sourcing is all well and good he still sees it as the role of the state to apply pressure to
achieve these goals, inserting its own conceptions of accuracy and its interests into the process.
133
At present, due to the restrictions on NGO registration outlined below and deep government
scepticism there are not currently not-for-profit donor funded or part-funded outfits such as Kloop in
Krygyzstan, loads of outlets in Georgia and Ukraine (such as OC Media or Hromadske), nor OCCRP
and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (and similar Western investigative groups). While some
commercial entities are doing more investigative journalism, the lack of well-funded investigative
journalism organisations that are not reliant on advertising does limit the opportunities for in depth
scrutiny.
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