Uzbek govt. passes resolution to regulate foreign journalists

TASHKENT, March 7 (RIA Novosti, Abu-Ali Niyazmatov) - The government of Uzbekistan has passed a resolution on regulating the activities of foreign journalists in the central Asian republic.

The resolution, published on Tuesday, is aimed at "creating the necessary conditions for media correspondents of foreign states" to work in Uzbekistan.

The activities of foreign journalists in the former soviet republic "is permitted on the condition of accreditation from the Uzbek Foreign Ministry," the document says.

The ministry will issue authorizations for foreign media organizations to open news bureaus in the country. The rights and obligations of foreign journalists can also be regulated on the basis of bilateral agreements with the countries concerned.

According to the resolution, if foreign journalists infringe regulations, the foreign ministry can issue warnings, cancel accreditation, annul visas, and where necessary expel them from the country.

"Accredited foreign journalists are forbidden from calling for changes by force in the existing constitutional set-up; violating the territorial integrity of the republic; propagandizing war and violence, cruelty, national, race, or religious hostility; and are also forbidden from interfering in the domestic affairs of Uzbekistan", the resolution says.

Also, "accredited journalists have the right to free movement within the territory of Uzbekistan, excluding places closed to visits or demanding special permission."

Last year, the Uzbek government suspended the accreditation of Uzbek journalists working for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and closed the local offices of Internews, a U.S.-based NGO providing media support for pro-democracy movements around the world.

In January, the Justice Ministry announced that international NGO Freedom House would have its operations in Uzbekistan suspended for violating national law.

According to the ministry, a civil court in the capital, Tashkent, ordered the suspension after carrying out an inquiry into allegations by the ministry that Freedom House had grossly violated Uzbekistan's registration and licensing laws, and failed to provide financial reports to Uzbek authorities. The U.S.-based pro-democracy NGO was accused, among other things, of letting local human-rights organizations use its Internet facilities.

Pressure on international organizations working in Uzbekistan to promote democracy, free speech and free press has escalated since last May's popular uprising in the eastern province of Andijan. Uzbek authorities accused foreign aid and human-rights groups of instigating the unrest.

Despite numerous appeals, the Uzbek authorities have resisted an international investigation into the Andijan uprising, which, according to official counts, claimed the lives of 187 people. Human-rights watchers and foreign journalists have placed the number much higher.