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C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 000532 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/22/2016 
TAGS: PHUM ELAB PGOV PREL SMIG SOCI GM KDEM UZ
SUBJECT: INDEPENDENT JOURNALISTS HANGING ON BY A THREAD 
 
REF: TASHKENT 512 
 
Classified By: AMB. JON R. PURNELL, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D). 
 
¶1. (C)Summary: Deutsche Welle stringer Obid Shabanov told 
Poloff that the MFA revoked his accreditation after he wrote 
a report about Uzbek migrant laborers freezing to death on a 
bus headed to Russia.  Only one Deutsche Welle stringer is 
still accredited.  Several international wire agency 
correspondents could also be negatively affected by a recent 
Cabinet of Ministers media resolution.  The Associated Press 
correspondent is without accreditation, and the Reuters and 
Agence France Press correspondents, accreditations expire 
this summer.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (C) Deutsche Welle Bukhara-based stringer Obid Shabanov, 
whose accreditation was revoked by the MFA on March 15 
(reftel), told Poloff that he had angered the GOU with a 
report on the death of Uzbek migrant laborers, which the MFA 
claims the GOU investigated and found to be false.  (Note: 
Shabanov was the recipient of a now completed U.S. Embassy 
Democracy Commission grant for a journalist discussion club 
in Bukhara.  End note.)  Shabanov,s report stated that 30 
migrant laborers from Bukhara froze to death in Ustyurt in 
the Karakalpak desert after their bus broke down on its way 
to Russia.  Shabanov added that the story is well-known in 
Bukhara.  (Note: The GOU is reluctant to acknowledge the 
scale of labor trafficking to Russia and Kazakhstan, and has 
failed to regularize migration flows and improve conditions 
for workers.  End note.) 
 
¶3. (C) Shabanov told poloff that only one Deutsche Welle 
stringer, Yuri Chernogayev, is still accredited.  At the 
March 15 MFA meeting, Chernogayev was warned not to cooperate 
with stringers lacking accreditation.  (Note: Since the 
release of the Cabinet of Ministers resolution (reftel), 
which bars stringers from working without accreditation, 
Deutsche Welle stringers Natalia Bushueva, Solih Yahyoyev, 
and Sayora Ruzutkova have stopped working.  End note.) 
 
¶4. (C) Several correspondents for international wire agencies 
told Emboffs that the resolution could threaten their ability 
to work.  Mansur Mirovalev of the Associated Press is not 
accredited.  Reuters correspondent Shamil Baygin,s 
accreditation will expire in July, and Agence France Presse 
correspondent Muhammed Sharif Mamatkulov,s, in June.  (Note: 
French DCM Christophe Le Rigoleur told Poloff that the 
resolution concerns the French Embassy, and that the French 
mission is in close contact with AFP,s regional Almaty 
office regarding Mamatkulov,s status.  End note.) 
 
¶5. (C) Comment:  The Uzbeks have made no secret of their 
dissatisfaction with criticism in the international press. 
It is likely that someone in the Karimov regime decided that 
eliminating independent media outlets and denying 
accreditation would help solve the problem.  In reality, the 
new decree will likely have the exact opposite effect, 
intensifying the critical articles rather than silencing 
them.  The pressures on Deutsche Welle are deeply troubling, 
especially following on the heels of the closures of BBC, the 
Institute for War and Peace Reporting, and Radio Free 
Europe/Radio Liberty offices.  There are few sources left to 
inform the world about developments in Uzbekistan. 
 
PURNELL