DUSHANBE, December 10, 2014, Asia-Plus – ARTICLE 19 calls on the Tajikistan authorities to review the Media Law and bring it into full compliance with international freedom of expression standards. We also recommend that the authorities encourage public debate on the reform of this law and other legislation relating to freedom of expression.
ARTICLE 19 has conducted a legal analysis,
Tajikistan: Media Law
, in which it reviews the Law on Print and Other Mass Media of the Republic of Tajikistan (the Media Law), adopted in 2013.
The Media Law is reviewed for its compliance with international standards on freedom of expression.
In the analysis, ARTICLE 19 appreciates a number of positive features, in particular: the Media Law recognizes that international treaties, to which Tajikistan is a party, apply to the regulation of media; it proclaims that media in Tajikistan are free and that everyone has a right to seek, obtain and distribute information, express his/her convictions and distribute them in the mass media; it bans censorship and persecution for criticism and establishes legal liability for violations of the freedom of media.
At the same time, ARTICLE 19 finds that the Media Law includes a number of provisions that are in breach of international freedom of expression standards, in particular, the regulations dealing with: media registration; content restrictions; the right of reply and refutation; access to state information; the protection of confidential information; the accreditation of journalists; duties of journalists; and the accreditation of foreign media.
The international human rights organization recommends that the Media Law should provide that its purpose is to safeguard the right to freedom of expression and media freedom. It should stress the value of uninhibited expression, particularly in the circumstances of public debate in a democratic society concerning figures in the public and political domain; content restrictions, set out in Article 6 of the Media Law, should be revised in accordance with the international standards; and the registration system for media outlets in the Media Law should be abolished altogether.
ARTICLE 19 calls on the Government of Tajikistan to revise the Media Law in light of the presented recommendations. It also calls on media professionals and civil society organizations to bear these recommendations in mind when campaigning for improvements to the legal framework of the media in Tajikistan.
ARTICLE 19 is an international, non-governmental human rights organization which works with partner organizations around the world to protect and promote the right to freedom of expression. It has reportedly reviewed print and media laws of more than 30 countries and provided recommendations to their governments and parliaments intended to safeguard the right to freedom of expression.
