UZBEKISTAN: Internews to appeal government closure notice

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

ANKARA, 12 Sep 2005 (IRIN) - The Uzbek branch of Internews Network, an international US-based NGO working to foster independent media worldwide, will appeal a government ruling calling for its immediate closure.

"We have 20 days to appeal," Joshua Machleder, regional director for Internews Central Asia, said from the Kazakh commercial capital, Almaty, on Monday, conceding, however, hope for such a reversal remained low.

"You never know. You should always use every option open to you and never give up fighting," he maintained.

On Friday, a Tashkent court found the NGO guilty of a number of violations of Uzbek law and ordered it to leave the Central Asian state.

"On Thursday we were given our summons to appear in court. On Friday, we were told to liquidate our office in Uzbekistan," Machleder clarified.

The ruling follows the convictions of two Internews employees in August for illegally publishing information and producing TV programmes without the necessary licences - charges the NGO has flatly denied.

According to a statement issued on Friday by the group, the court's decision was based on these convictions for unlicensed activities, as well as using the Internews logo without registering it first with the Uzbek Ministry of Justice, referring to itself as "Internews Uzbekistan" instead of "Internews Network Representative Office in Uzbekistan", and carrying out activities without receiving prior permission from the authorities.

However, such permission wasn't actually required, according to a bilateral agreement on the provision of assistance between Uzbekistan and the USA under which all American NGOs work in the country, the statement added.

"They gave us one day’s notice about the hearing and then sped through the proceedings at an incredible rate," Catherine Eldridge, country director for the Internews Network in Uzbekistan, said. "The judge refused our request to call witnesses, denied all our petitions and was blatantly biased. This is obviously a politically motivated case."

That sentiment was echoed by activists on the ground amid growing speculation of a concerted government effort to force foreign NGOs out of the country.

Since popular democratic uprisings overthrew the former governments of both Ukraine and Georgia, coupled with a people-led revolution in neighbouring Kryyzstan in March 2005, Uzbek President Islam Karimov, who has ruled the country single handedly following the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991, has been increasingly wary of what he views as foreign instigators.

In May, that view deepened when Uzbek forces brutally quashed an anti-government protest in the eastern city of Andijan, in which as many as 1,000 people were feared dead, according to some rights groups. [Tashkent maintains 187 died in the incident.]

In fact, in July, Uzbekistan, a long-standing ally in America's war against terror, called on Washington to close its military base in the south of the country within the next six months.

But governments aside, foreign NGOs in Uzbekistan now wonder how long they will be able to continue their work.

In April 2004, the Soros Foundation, which aims to promote open societies by shaping government policy and supporting education, media, public health, and human and women's rights, was closed after Uzbek authorities refused to extend its registration, accusing it of trying to discredit the government's policies.

Shortly after the Soros closure, the Uzbek Ministry of Justice began conducting investigations of foreign organisations working in the country, Machleder said.

"Internews was one of the first to be investigated," he said. "A lot of organisations since last September when Internews was first being investigated are now facing similar investigations and procedures."

Similarly, the Ministry of Justice and prosecutors were coming up with findings that ultimately would be used as reasons to kick these organisations out, he claimed.

"The closure of Internews Network sets a precedent for the Uzbek government to liquidate other foreign NGOs on the basis of biased court cases and trumped up or trivial charges. This case and the criminal case against our two employees last month were a terrible loss for independent media and human rights in Uzbekistan," Eldridge said.

"We are extremely disappointed that the Uzbek authorities have decided to take such punitive measures against an organisation that they previously welcomed," she said. "Uzbekistan’s nascent independent media and the people of Uzbekistan will be the ones who suffer."

[ENDS]