Two U.S. senators have written a letter to Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov to voice their concerns about recent attacks on press freedom in Kyrgyzstan, including a decision last year to freeze RFE/RL’s bank account.
U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (Democrat-New Jersey) and Jim Risch (Republican-Idaho), who respectively serve as chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, condemned Kyrgyzstan’s use of its “false information law” to crack down on independent media in the letter, in particular its decisions to indefinitely block the websites of RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service, known locally as Radio Azattyk, and to freeze the service’s bank account.
“While we recognize the historic role that the Kyrgyz Republic’s leadership has played in upholding the most free, independent media landscape in Central Asia, we are concerned the decisions to block Radio Azattyk websites indefinitely and freeze the service’s bank account jeopardize your country’s international reputation as a beacon of free speech in Central Asia,” the senators wrote in their letter dated January 20.
They said the decisions violate international norms on freedom of speech and freedom of the press, including Kyrgyzstan’s own constitutional guarantees of these freedoms, the senators said.
The Kyrgyz government blocked Radio Azattyk’s websites in Kyrgyz and Russian on October 26 after the broadcaster refused to take down a video about clashes along a disputed segment of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border. The broadcaster was informed on October 31 that its bank account had been frozen.
RFE/RL's President and Chief Executive Officer Jamie Fly condemned the move to freeze the account, saying Radio Azattyk “is a trusted source of news and should be allowed to continue to operate unimpeded.”
RFE/RL last month filed an administrative suit appealing the blocking of its websites.
Menendez and Risch in their letter emphasized Kyrgyzstan’s commitment to uphold freedom of the press as a critical pillar of the U.S.-Kyrgyz Republic relationship. The senators also expressed alarm over reported threats of violence against journalists, including those made against RFE/RL staff during a demonstration in October.
They called on the Kyrgyz government to immediately lift the restrictions on Radio Azattyk, cease attacks on free and independent media, and investigate threats of violence against journalists.
“Recalling your commitment to uphold human rights and the rule of law, we urge you to establish conditions for independent media to freely operate and to ensure Kyrgyz journalists can carry out their work without fear of retaliation,” the senators said.
A number of international organizations criticized the restrictions on Radio Azattyk, and some Kyrgyz cultural and public figures have appealed to authorities to stop the tactics against the broadcaster and to preserve freedom of speech.
Representatives of the Kyrgyz government have denied that the work of the free media is limited in the country.