NO SURPRISES IN MEDIA COVERAGE OF UZBEK ELECTIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 002179

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD AND DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/27/2017
TAGS: PGOV KPAO PHUM UZ
SUBJECT: NO SURPRISES IN MEDIA COVERAGE OF UZBEK ELECTIONS

REF: TASHKENT 2164

Classified By: A/PAO Stephanie Fitzmaurice for reasons 1.4 (B, D).


1. (SBU) Summary: Local press coverage of the December 23
Uzbek presidential election was flatteringly positive and
utterly ignored critical statements, such as that of the OSCE
election monitoring mission. Russian reporting was mixed,
while most Western reporting was more critical. Among
foreign news outlets, only Reuters received accreditation to
monitor the polling. Uzbek media quoted extensively foreign
observers who chose to praise the elections. The GOU has
apparently blocked one Russian website which reported on
ODIHR's critical press statement. End summary.


2. (SBU) All local media, most of which are controlled by
the GOU, presented the presidential election in a positive
light. The majority did this by either quoting Uzbek
officials or by simply stating themselves that the
presidential elections were conducted according to Uzbek law.
Sources frequently quoted the chairman of the Central
Electoral Commission of Uzbekistan, Murzaulugbek Abdusalomov,
making statements to the effect that the elections had
adhered to "international democratic norms and principles."
In this same vein, both Jahon, the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs' information agency and UzReport, an independent news
site that hews closely to the government line, stated that
elections for the President of Uzbekistan on a multi-party
and alternative basis is proof in itself that the election
system of Uzbekistan complies with international norms.


3. (U) In addition to quoting Uzbek sources and
editorializing, local news media also quoted foreigners
praising the elections. Media outlets UzReport, the National
News Agency of Uzbekistan (UzA),Uzbek Television First
Channel, and Jahon reported that participating observers from
the following organizations and countries praised the manner
in which the Government of Uzbekistan (GOU) conducted the
election: the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS),the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO),Russia, Ukraine,
Germany, Italy, Belgium, Turkey, Kuwait, Pakistan, Japan,
Indonesia, China, Malaysia, and South Korea. UzReport quoted
the head of the Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) as
saying that the way the GOU organized the elections,
providing such conveniences as first-aid posts and lactation
rooms, could serve as an example for Russia.


4. (U) Jahon and UzA also both quoted American citizens
praising the Uzbek elections. Jahon quoted Peter Hickman,
the Washington Press Club Vice President, noting that Uzbek
voters were in a good mood at the polling stations where they
were able to "realize their civil rights in practice."
UzReport quoted the president of the Bukharian Jewish
Congress of the USA and Canada, Boris Kandov, who commented
on both the growing political and legal awareness in
Uzbekistan, as well as the claim that local media provides
coverage of the election just as media does in all
"civilized" countries. Aftab Kazi, a visiting fellow at the
Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at Johns Hopkins University's
School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS),praised the
elections stating that they were held "openly and
transparently based on democratic principles." Uzbek TV the
night of the election also carried several short interviews
with individual foreign observers praising the election,
including two Russian emigres to the U.S., Nelly Cavalier and
Boris Pincus, and British academic Shirin Akiner.


5. (SBU) Almost all international news sources, including
The New York Times, the British Broadcasting Corporation, and
The Associated Press (AP),were denied credentials to cover
the election. The lone exception was Reuters, which was able
to register four reporters in Uzbekistan for the purpose of
reporting on the election. Lacking firsthand information,
the international news sources, including The Washington
Post, the AP, the Los Angeles Times, Agence France Presse
(AFP),Deutsche Welle (DW),and the Guardian, focused much of
their reporting on OSCE/ODIHR's December 24 press release on
the election and on general background about Uzbekistan.


6. (C) This focus on ODIHR's report was in direct contrast
to the local media, which have not yet mentioned the report.
According to a December 25 posting on Russia-based
Ferghana.ru, ODIHR's statement has not been published
anywhere in Uzbekistan, and the local media are prohibited
from even mentioning it. The Uzbek government has apparently
taken at least one step to actively prevent its citizens from
reading about the report by blocking access to a popular
Russian news site, www.lenta.ru, which mentioned the critical
report. Savvy internet users, however, have ways of
circumventing the blocking. (See septel for GOU private
reaction to the ODIHR Statement.)


7. (U) With reporters on the ground, Reuters was able to
offer a few firsthand accounts of the election, stating that
Reuters reporters witnessed cases of multiple voting by one
person at three polling stations in Tashkent. Reuters also
offered quotations from a few leading opposition figures in
Uzbekistan, including Nigora Khidoyatova, a member of an
unregistered Uzbek political opposition party, who called for
more pressure from the West on the GOU.


8. (U) Independent news sources in the region also told
firsthand of abnormalities in the voting process.
Ferghana.ru reported that a number of Tashkent residents
received invitations to vote at two different polling places
in Tashkent. A few Ferghana.ru correspondents were
successful in actually voting at both polling places to which
they themselves had received invitations. Other citizens and
eligible voters reported not receiving any invitation at all.
Uznews.net, which is based in Uzbekistan, reported that
security officers in plain clothes at polling stations in the
provincial capital of Jizzak advised voters to vote for
Karimov.


9. (SBU) Russian media sources offered a somewhat mixed view
of the Uzbek elections. For the most part, Russian sources,
including Itar-Tass and Interfax, followed the lead of the
press in Uzbekistan, quoting SCO observers, who said that the
presidential election was free, and CIS observers stating
that the election was in line with democratic norms.
RIA-Novosti did deviate from the other two outlets, quoting
both Reuters and OSCE monitors in criticizing the Uzbek polls.


10. (C) Comment: The media coverage of the elections on all
sides was unsurprising. However, President Karimov himself
did provide a surprising comment for those in the midst of
digesting election results. Uzbek Television First Channel
broadcast a short speech that Karimov gave after he voted, in
which he urged local and foreign reporters to abandon
self-censorship and seek to be fighters who convey truth to
people. He also stated that some journalists should spend
six months abroad learning from their foreign counterparts.
NORLAND