Uzbekistan orders media training NGO to close

The International Journalists' Network September 16 Officials on September 13 ordered the media training group Internews-Uzbekistan to cease activities for six months for violating the country's laws regulating nongovernmental organizations, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported. The Justice Ministry concluded from a July 2004 investigation that Internews-Uzbekistan had failed to register its logo and to inform authorities of activities outside of the capital, Tashkent, a change of address and the number of board members. Internews, however, claims that it submitted all the required documents within the month required by Uzbekistan law. "We submitted corrected documents to the Justice Ministry in time and the submission of the documenters was registered," Internews-Uzbekistan Executive Director Khalida Anarbaeva told the United Nations IRIN news service. "But, replying to the court's demand, the ministry said that they had received no documents from us." Since 2001, Internews-Uzbekistan has conducted more than 50 seminars for hundreds of broadcast journalists across the country. In September 2003, it launched a U.S.-funded project to monitor government abuses against press in the country. Media activists say the closure is an effort by the Uzbekistan government to restrict independent media and NGOs prior to the parliamentary elections scheduled for December. "Shutting down Internews-Uzbekistan for such technical violations is a thinly veiled attempt to stifle criticism of the government as elections approach," CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper said. Earlier in 2004, authorities closed down the local offices of the Open Society Institute (OSI), and warned other U.S.-funded groups to refrain from supporting opposition groups.