ТУРОНЗАМИН

Democratic Congress of Uzbekistan expresses its concern that the BBG and RFERL management is not paying attention to the issue of a big importance: worrisome situation with the RFERL Uzbek Service.

Member of Uzbekistatan’s democratic forces in exile, the leader of The Solidarity Movement of Uzbekistan Bahodir Choriev at May 11 meeting in Washington D.C., dedicated to the anniversary of bloody Andijon events and attended by Sentator John McCain and Congressman Christopher Smith, raised an issue of the situation that emerged lately at the Uzbek Service of the RFERL. Prior to this meeting Choriev held a hunger strike near the Congress to protest what he perceives as a censorship at the Uzbek Service. In particular, he wanted to draw attention that in the past year the programs of the Uzbek Service underwent serious changes and increasingly become pro- Uzbek government.

We have numerous facts to support this claim. Since the time when Sojida Dkajfarova was appointed as acting Director of the Uzbek Service, the Service imposed censorship towards some members of the Uzbek opposition. As a result of this many prominent members of the opposition decided to boycott the Uzbek Service.

The Democratic Congress of Uzbekistan several times brought attention of RFERL management to the situation in the Uzbek Service that we think is worrisome. However, despite the promises to look into this and to improve the situation, the RFERL does just the opposite. The appointment of Djakfarova, a person, who does not speak Uzbek language and thus is not able to control the content of the programs, and who, by account of many of her former colleagues in the other department, lacks journalistic and managerial skills, shows that the RFERL ignores the concerns regarding this important Service.

The concerns that some members of the Uzbek Service have connections with the Karimov’s regime are also neglected. There is a lot of information in this regard published on the site of the Congress of Democratic Uzbekistan at: http://www.uzbekcongress.org/gaplar/ozodlik_muhokama.html. Everyone, who reads this information, could come to conclusion that RFERL Uzbek Service is spending the US taxpayers’ money to suppress democracy and support dictatorship of Karimov’s regime.

We call the US Congress and the Administration to launch a serious investigation, so that the RFERL Uzbek Service, as an important tool of the US foreign policy, will again serve the cause of democracy, promoting ideas of freedom and open society in Uzbekistan.