By H.E. Mr. Ruslanbek Davletov, Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan
Freedom of speech is essential for expressing the opinion of citizens, highlighting by media important public events, political and social problems, as well as fighting for the rights and freedoms of citizens.
Since 2016, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev has pursued an active position to transform Uzbekistan’s policy almost in all spheres including the economy, civil society, state-building, foreign policy, and other spheres. In addition, there have been also positive changes in the freedom of speech, due to reforms carried out by the government in recent years. For example, the simplification of accreditation mechanism for foreign media, accreditation of the BBC, Voice of America, Fergana Agency and other information agencies, creation of press service systems in state bodies, to ensure transparency of their activities, unblocking certain “forbidden” web sites, creation of Agency of Information and Mass Communications under the Administration of the President and Public Foundation for Support and Development of National Mass Media and other reforms.
In the country, various, including political, events are actively covered by many media outlets (kun.uz, gazeta.uz, qalampir.uz, nuz.uz, etc.) and bloggers (Khushnudbek Khudoiberdiev, Umid Gafurov, Nikita Makarenko, Kirill Altman, etc.). Mass media and their right for speech is also actively supported by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Thus, on September 30, 2020 speaking at the International Congress Center, Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted that Uzbekistan is open today, and it is no longer possible to close the country as before. He also thanked the media and said that leaders who do not contact them have no future.
On February 2021, during a visit to Fergana region, the President held a dialogue with media representatives. Referring to the media, he said that they are his comrades-in-arms, and he relies on their help, seeing in them a force that fairly tells people about our achievements and shortcomings.
On June 2021, Shavkat Mirziyoyev congratulating media representatives said, that “the important tasks for us are improving the legal framework of the sphere and protecting the professional activities of journalists, strengthening the dialogue between the state and society, and establishing real public control”.
At the same time, it should be noted that in the age of informatization, the state pays special attention to the safety of the population, establishing a framework of responsibility for those who are in the information field.
For example, the media, users of telecommunications networks and the Internet will be obliged to prevent the use of their websites and pages to call for violence against citizens, riots, disobeying the eligible demands of government officials, as well as non-compliance or violation of the requirements of legislative acts. Such measures are preventive and will help to avoid threats to the safety of citizens, unauthorized riots, as well as cases of legal nihilism.
Due to pursuing a balanced democratic policy concerning freedom of expression in the last years, Uzbekistan improved its position in the Press Freedom Index by 9 points, having risen from 166 in 2015 to 157 in 2021. Nevertheless, Uzbekistan took low position compared to other post-soviet countries (for example, in 2021, Georgia took 60th place in the ranking, Armenia – 63th, Kyrgyzstan 79th, Ukraine 97th), and the situation with freedom of speech is described in the rating as “bad”.
One of the main reasons for this, as noted in the latest Report “Index of press freedom”, is the arrest of some bloggers and journalists.
In most cases, the state, imposing restrictions on freedom of speech, tries to protect citizens from information that causes harm to society and rights of citizens. For example, the dissemination of information containing calls for violence, extremism, and fundamentalism, slander and insult, creating panic among the population and others.
However, sometimes, despite the calls of the Head of State for dialogue between state organizations and representatives of the media, there are often cases when freedom of speech is unlawfully restrained by the authorities when media try to highlight their illegal actions or ensure transparency of their activities.
To avoid unfair restriction of freedom of speech, competitive state authorities and courts must take into account that restrictions on the right to freedom of speech must meet the conditions of the so-called “three-part test” arising from article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
According to the test, restrictions should:
- be provided by law, which means, that the government must follow a written law that is clear and not ambiguous. Otherwise, people won’t know when and how they might be accused of doing something wrong.
- be in pursuit of a legitimate aim, listed exhaustively as: respect of the rights or reputations of others, the protection of national security or of public order, or of public health or morals;
- be necessary and proportionate in a democratic society, i.e. if a less intrusive measure is capable of achieving the same purpose as a more restrictive one, the least restrictive measure must be applied.
Following this test will help government organizations to avoid unjustified and illegal arrests of persons covering various events and opinions.
To sum up, Uzbekistan is focused today on the building of the open and democratic society. The media, often referred as “watchdogs”, guards the rights of citizens, democracy, as well as play important role in the prevention of corruption and abuse of power by civil servants. Therefore, cooperation with media representatives, as well as ensuring freedom of speech should be one of the priority tasks of open government.
