The Justice for Journalists Foundation (JFJ) calls for international scrutiny of attacks against media workers in Central Asia and Azerbaijan
JJF’s report, Attacks Against Media Workers in Central Asia and Azerbaijan, contains materials on attacks against professional and citizen journalists, bloggers and other media workers in Central Asia and Azerbaijan between 2017 and 2019.
The report, which was released in London on April 14, is a part of a broader comprehensive research carried out jointly by the Justice for Journalists Foundation (JFJ) and its partners from 12 post-Soviet countries.
The report looks into the mechanisms of curtailing the freedom of speech in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Analysis of 1,464 attacks identified representatives of state authorities as the main source of threats to media workers in all six countries.
According to JFJ’s methodology, there are three main types of attacks against media workers: physical attacks and threats to life, liberty and health; non-physical and/or cyber-attacks and threats; and attacks via judicial or economic means.
According to the report, all six countries except Uzbekistan showed an increase in the absolute number of attacks between 2017 and 2019. In Central Asia, attacks via judicial means predominate – primarily in the form of detentions, arrests and the institution of administrative and criminal proceedings.
In the number of physical attacks, Azerbaijan reportedly leads by a wide margin, with around 26 such incidents reported in the last year alone. Brutal beatings of journalists in custody are characteristic for this country, even extending to the kidnapping of journalists and their subsequent repatriation from other countries.
Kazakhstan ranks first in attacks via judicial or economic means. On average, more than 50 cases are initiated each year in Kazakhstan against media workers on charges of defamation, slander, and causing damage to reputation.
Tajikistan reportedly leads the region in the number of media workers subject to accusations of extremism, links with terrorists and inciting hatred. Intimidation of family members of journalists is also characteristic of Tajikistan, including their harassment, interrogation, detention and arrest.
The character of attacks perpetrated against journalists in Kyrgyzstan has shifted towards a manifold increase in online threats, via DDoS and hacker attacks on online media outlets.
In Turkmenistan that ranked last, 180th place in the World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, it is almost impossible to work as a journalist. Information about what is happening in the country is reported to foreign media by “people’s correspondents” who pass on photographs and videos at the risk of being spotted by the extensive national tracking system.
