(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 24 October 2002 CPJ press release: CPJ RELEASES SPECIAL REPORT ON UZBEKISTAN New York, October 24, 2002-The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today released a special report about the state of press freedom in the former Soviet republic, Uzbekistan, which is located in Central Asia. The report, titled “Back […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 24 October 2002 CPJ press release:
CPJ RELEASES SPECIAL REPORT ON UZBEKISTAN
New York, October 24, 2002-The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today released a special report about the state of press freedom in the former Soviet republic, Uzbekistan, which is located in Central Asia. The report, titled “Back in the U.S.S.R.,” is now available on CPJ’s Web site at www.cpj.org. A Russian-language version of the report will appear online tomorrow.
According to the report, Uzbek media outlets today operate under a system of privatized censorship. “Although Uzbekistan’s president, Islam Karimov, has told the United States that he supports press freedom, old, repressive habits die hard.”
The report, written by CPJ program coordinator for Europe & Central Asia Alex Lupis and Richard McGill Murphy, former editorial director of CPJ, is based on extensive research conducted during a nine-day mission to Uzbekistan this past summer.
“At a time when the entire world is paying close attention to Uzbekistan’s human rights record, Karimov’s government continues to stifle most attempts at independent speech in the country,” said Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent Peter Arnett, who serves on CPJ’s board of directors and accompanied Lupis and Murphy on their mission to Uzbekistan. “For the sake of Uzbek democracy and Uzbekistan’s international reputation, we call on President Karimov to ensure that all journalists in the country are able to work without fear of official harassment.”
CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information about press conditions in Uzbekistan, visit www.cpj.org.
