NGO activist says climate for independent media deteriorating in Kazakhstan

8/25/03

Kazakhstan's independent journalists are experiencing a growing number of incidents involving physical intimidation and legal harassment, a leading NGO activist said a meeting in New York. Planned changes in media legislation, likely to be introduced for parliamentary consideration in September, could foster a more restrictive atmosphere for independent media, the NGO representative added.

"The tendency of worsening free speech" is accelerating, Tamara Kaleeva, the head Adil Soz, a NGO devoted to promoting free speech in Kazakhstan, told participants at an Open Forum held at the Open Society Institute on August 21. The forum, called Petrostates and Free Speech: The Press Under Siege in Kazakhstan, was co-sponsored by the Open Society Institute and the US State Department.

Kaleeva cited recent defamation suits brought against opposition media outlets by government officials, saying "the non-democratic nature of our legislation," much of it still rooted in the Soviet legal tradition, enabled officials to use the courts to muzzle free speech.

"We have a lot of problems. One of them is the closing of publications," Kaleeva said. "The Ministry of Culture is being given huge control now over media registration, content, and other aspects of the media."

Kaleeva characterized the government's draft media legislation as "very reactionary" and said the government ignored recommendations submitted by her NGO. Chances that the media amendments would more fully protect press freedom were slim, she asserted.

Allegations of improper dealings within Kazakhstan's lucrative oil sector have prompted increased concern over media ownership, Kaleeva added. "We demand transparency of financial documents so we know who owns these organizations. Only media who have transparency will be able to cover transparency in the oil business. There are very few transparent media [outlets]," Kaleeva said.

Kaleeva estimated that 80 percent of Kazakhstan's 1,500 media outlets are in private hands. However, many of these independent media entities are subject to influence by President Nursultan Nazarbayev, his family, and presidential supporters. "Oil barons who own some mass media today will buy the rest of them soon, and these barons all [have ties] to the government. The media is used for political and financial gain," Kaleeva said.

State-owned media tends to be heavily influenced by the presidential administration and by members of the president's family. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Kaleeva stressed the need to train lawyers, judges, and journalists on media legislation. The experience of Eastern European countries, which have also grappled with the transition from communist system to democracy, could prove the most beneficial in promoting more open media in Kazakhstan and other Central Asian states, Kaleeva said.

She indicated that international pressure is also an important element in promoting media freedom in Central Asia. "We have not seen criminal attacks so far this year and we think its because of the international presence and the [US] State Department's criticism of the those actions," she said.

Posted August 25, 2003 © Eurasianet