Overview by Alex Lupis Authoriatarian rulers strengthened their hold on power in many former Soviet republics in 2004. Their secretive, centralized governments aggressively suppressed all forms of independent activity, from journalism and human rights monitoring to religious activism and political opposition.
TurkmenistanSaparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan’s self-proclaimed president for life, continued on the path of international isolation and ironfisted dictatorial rule. State control over the country’s abundant natural gas reserves provided Niyazov with the financial independence to ignore international opinion, repress dissident voices, and intensify his cult of personality. In 2004, the government particularly targeted the U.S. government–funded…
New York, March 24, 2004—Rakhim Esenov and Ashyrguly Bayryev, freelancers for the Turkmen Service of the Prague-based, U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), who were detained in late February and early March by agents from the National Security Service (MNB) in the capital, Ashgabat, have been released. However, the charges against them are still pending.…
In 2003, Turkmenistan’s megalomaniacal dictator, President-for-life Saparmurat Niyazov, continued to tighten his grip on the country’s politics, natural resources, and the press. A wave of political repression against Niyazov’s real and imagined opponents followed an alleged assassination attempt against the president on November 25, 2002. The president escaped unharmed, and some Turkmen journalists and opposition…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an independent, nonprofit organization committed to defending press freedom worldwide, is extremely concerned about escalating government persecution of Turkmen journalists working for the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
December 11 Jonathan C. Randal, The Washington Post The U.N. International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague (ICTY) ruled to limit compelled testimony from war correspondents. The decision, announced at the tribunal’s Appeals Chamber, came in response to the appeal by former Washington Post reporter Jonathan C. Randal, who had been…