NEWS SERVICE REPORTER OFFICIALLY DEPORTED FROM UZBEKISTAN
By Jeremy Reynalds (08/13/05)
A reporter for an international news service detained by Uzbek authorities upon his arrival at Tashkent Airport has now been officially deported.
Uzbekistan is located in Central Asia, north of Afghanistan (www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/uz.html).
Forum 18 News Service reported that initially Uzbek authorities attempted to force Igor Rotar, the news service's Central Asia Correspondent, to buy his own ticket and say he wasn't deported, but his refusal to do so resulted in the deportation.
Reliable sources told Forum 18 reported that Rotar's Aug. 11 detention was ordered "for political reasons at the highest levels," and carried out on the instructions of the National Security Service secret police (see www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=627).
Forum 18 commented, "Uzbekistan's unjustified detention and formal deportation of a widely respected religious freedom reporter, along with the continued crackdown on the independent media, raises many serious issues of freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom to defend human rights and the safety of journalists carrying out their legitimate work."
The news service added that the "Uzbek government has thus unintententionally shown how religious freedom is an excellent ‘litmus test' of the state of human rights in any society. It has also caused world attention to be focused once more on the very serious human rights abuses committed by the Uzbek government against its own people."
According to Forum 18, Rotar's detention and subsequent deportation from Uzbekistan sparked attention and support from a variety of individuals, human rights organizations, foreign ministries and other international organizations worldwide.
They included Amnesty International, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, the International Helsinki Federation, International Religious Freedom Watch, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Reporters Without Borders, several foreign ministries and a variety of news organizations worldwide.
Forum 18 commented, "(We) and Igor Rotar would like to say a very big THANK YOU to everyone who by their prayers and practical actions helped end this totally unjustified detention. We are extremely grateful to you all for your excellent help. Sadly, the state of religious freedom and other internationally agreed human rights in Uzbekistan continues to give cause for deep concern. Forum18 asks that attention remains focused on the serious issues faced every day by the people of Uzbekistan."
Forum 18 reported in a previous article that the Uzbek authorities have been attempting to stifle independent media outlets, demonstrated by their "harassment" of the Western non-governmental organization "Internews" (www.internews.org/articles/2005/20050809_eurasianet_uzbek.htm).
According to Forum 18, "Igor Rotar has earned widespread praise for his consistently informed reporting of the religious freedom situation in Uzbekistan."
His most recent article is available at www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=626
For a personal commentary by a Muslim scholar, advocating religious freedom for all faiths as the best antidote to Islamic religious extremism in Uzbekistan, see www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=338
For more background, see Forum 18's Uzbekistan religious freedom survey at www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=546
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