A STATEMENT OF THE UZBEK DEMOCRATIC POWERS
A Call To BOYCOTT RADIO “Ozodlik”, the Uzbek Service of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

[Copies of this statement have also been forwarded to the United States Congress, the Broadcasting Board of Governors and Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.]

We, the representatives of Uzbek democratic organizations both within and outside Uzbekistan, hereby declare the following:

Due to a repression of free speech and related impediments to openness placed upon the activities of the various democratic movements in Uzbekistan, we have increasingly come to consider foreign media sources a vital platform to the spread of democracy in the country. The Uzbek language service of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty RFL/RL (henceforth to be referred to RFERL), which is financed by the United States Congress, is one of a few which serves this purpose.

That said, RFE/RL currently employs several correspondents who are deliberately working to sabotage this important task, arousing grave concerns among Uzbek democrats in the process. Uzbek audiences are drawing ever more unhelpful and outright erroneous conclusions from the biased broadcasts, which often exclude the activities and opinions of the democratic opposition and provide incorrect or colored interpretations of ideas and events. There have also been incidents in which time-sensitive announcements by Uzbek Human Rights organizations have been delayed or even revised before transmission.

Based upon the program content, one might easily conclude that Muhammad Salih - also known as Salay Madaminov, - is the lone leader and that “ERK” is the only opposition party. RFE/RL has also yet to make any attempts to air the announcements or views of the Congress of Democratic Uzbekistan or its leader and members, nor has it allowed them to do use radio as a means for making such announcements.

These same tactics have also been observed with regard to the “Birlik” Party. With more than twenty one thousand members, this party had once applied for registration with Justice Ministry, yet news concerning its activities was never broadcast. Other names omitted from coverage include “Ozod Dehkanlar” and “Agrarlar” - which work to promote better regulations and reform in agriculture - “Birdamlik”, “Serkuyosh O’zbekistonim”, and “Uyghon O’zbekiston” - all youth organizations - and “the Democratic Initiative Center” and the “Freedom for Prisoners of Conscience” movements.

This hasn’t stopped RFE/RL from stomping for Muhammad Salih and ERK, though. RFE/RL has of late seemed to become the private property of the “ERK” leader, ceaselessly calling for armed revolution and bloodshed in conjunction with religious zealots, without even having given an opposing or alternate views from other democratic and religious groups, cementing the perception that everyone shares these same ideals and appetites for collusion. In fact, provocative declarations of the ERK leader on Radio Liberty RFE/RL which themselves have the potential to put lives in danger while aggravating an already fire human rights crisis in Uzbekistan have been largely and collectively shunned by the other democratic organizations.

The strategies used by the Bobojonov brothers in polls have come to bear an even greater resemblance to those of the more regime-friendly publications such as “Social Opinion”, the only distinction being that “Social Opinion” relies heavily on Uzbek government sources. The
Bobojonovs try to depict the leader of ERK as the sole person in power. The broadcasts of RFE/RL, once well-known and beloved among Uzbek audience members, are now but a carbon copy of the Bobojonovs’ privately published, wolf in sheep’s clothing of a webpage “ponauz.info”, something which the Bobojonovs themselves made known some time ago.

What is even more appalling is the apparent condoning on the part of the RFE/RL leadership to the fact; the Bobojonovs simply copy and paste the materials from their own web page - materials filled with adoration for Muhammad Salih and dislike for his critics, as well as articles that wage hate campaigns against the members of the opposition - right into RFE/RL broadcasts, something done in cooperation with the National Security Service - the successor to the KGB - published under the name of NSS officer Ikram Yakubov.

From 2003 to 2005, RFE/RL was more candid and welcoming to others; it became a podium for all Uzbek opposition groups and human rights activists. However, things began to go of coursebeginning in 2006 as a result of a with minor staff rearrangement.. The Bobojonovs having acquired enough influence and clout to started infringing upon on a free speech in a number of ways, namely providing only one side’s position and then boosting that opinion as the single credible force.

Radio’s directorate often count on Uzbek Service correspondents’ judgments in certain cases and their deliberations are principally based on widespread belief that they know the local conditions better. Yet the directorate does not completely apprehend that their blind trust is being masterfully exploited by Bobojonovs to accomplish their own goals.

Uzbekistan is home to media coverage that is both erroneous and limited media coverage., the result of a power vacuum left when the Bobojonovs left the country almost 12 years ago. In that time, new political movements and human rights groups began forming in the country. New political analysts and observers emerged. The dogmatic, old school thinking the Bobojonovs long had long strived to present have become outdated and are apparently no longer able to hold ground against a the newer mindset and political views that have taken root at home. The actions of the Bobojonovs serve only one purpose - delivering a crushing blow to the building drive, will and unity of the Uzbek political opposition.

The US government has, for the most part, chosen to follow suit with the EU, advancing the human rights records and democratic reforms by restore ties with Uzbekistan. One fruit of these focused negotiations is the release of several human rights activists and progress in the impending cases of several others EU and US officials also envision the return of banned media outlets. That is why the government’s continued support of the biased views at RFE/RL is so curious.

The Uzbek regime will never allow anything it thinks provocative or suggestive of imminent revolution to be sent over the airwaves. The Bobojonovs are likewise well aware of this, and are moving to destroy any hope that alternate view be expressed.

As a result of this biased coverage of events, each and every day, scores of human rights activists, opposition members and private citizens visit the former offices of Radio Liberty in Tashkent and speak to its former correspondents in an attempt to express their opinions.

The Bobojonovs’ exclusive use of the internet as a source of information, the result their mistrust of and personal dislike for many local journalists, runs counter to Radio Liberty’s mission statement.

Their outdated knowledge of Uzbekistan is more than evident in their daily programs and is a significant black spot on the reputation of the organization. They do not even bother with apologies when their failures are identified. In one instance, they showed their ignorance by referring to Abdulla Aripov, who oversees the Information and Communications Agency, as a poet, apparently mistaking him for another Abdulla. Aripov, who work as the heads the Authors’ Association. And this is but one instance of many, and a error which displays an unprofessional, inadequate familiarity with the conditions in Uzbekistan. The incorrect interpretation of statistics and misspelling of names has become bread and butter for these two workers..

The Uzbeks, a people brutalized and oppressed for almost 20 years, have a right to be among the free and prospering nations on the earth. We, the representatives of all the Uzbek democratic organizations hereby declare that we collectively and stridently denounce the censorship imposed by the Bobojonovs upon the Uzbek language service and call for a boycott of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty until this censorship is lifted and the freedom of speech has been reinstated.

Dadakhan Hasan Bozkurt,
Chairman, “Mother Turkestan” national - democratic party,
Uzbekistan.

Rafuk Ganiyev,
“Forum of Uzbek Democratic Forces”,
Sweden.

Nuriddin Nizamuddinov,
“Uyghon O’zbekiston” democratic youth movement,
Kingdom of the Nederlands.

Jahangir Mamatov,
Chairman, The Congress of Democratic Uzbekistan
(Registered in the US 11/18/05).

Bahadir Chariyev,
Chairman, “Birdamlik” movement
United States

Ismail Dadajonov,
Deputy chair, “Birlik” democratic party,
Sweden.

Vasila Inayatova
Chairwoman, “Ezgulik” human rights society,
Uzbekistan.

Muhiddin Kurbanov,
Chairman, “International Human Rights Activists Society”
(Registered in Sweden 09/10/07),
Sweden.

Hotam Hojimatov,
Chairman, “Uzbek Refugees in Europe” committee,
Norway.

Abdukadir Nazarov,
Chairman, “Agrarians and Entrepreneurs Party”,
Uzbekistan.

January, 2009