Index on Censorship weekly round-up
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Friday, 03 May 2024
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Protests in Georgia have erupted over the "foreign agent" bill. Photo: Gela Bochikashcili/RFE/RL ([link removed])
Behind every successful human rights organisation/protest movement/credible media outfit there always seems to be someone shouting "CIA". Case in point this week, Georgia. The streets of Tbilisi have been filled with protesters trying to stop the “foreign agent” bill ([link removed]) , which many fear will be used to crush dissent ahead of elections later this year. Unwilling to believe that the people of Georgia could, of their own accord, want and fight for free speech, the State Security Service and leading members of the ruling Georgian Dream party have accused the USA's state aid agency of helping them. And now it's only a matter of time before other actors glom on and the story becomes that the protests are NED/CIA-backed, if past examples are anything to go by. Just wait for it. In a statement ([link removed]) published Monday the US Embassy in Georgia
rubbished such claims but their evidence was disregarded. Because why let the truth get in the way of a good smear?
Speaking of the truth though, the crackdown on protesters in Georgia has been brutal. Police have fired water cannon, teargas, stun grenades and rubber bullets to break up peaceful rallies. They have detained scores of protesters. Journalists have been attacked. Local media also showed a pro-government deputy throwing a book at opposition MPs, while Levan Khabeishvili – the leader of Georgia’s main opposition party – posted a photo of his badly beaten face. He responded with tenacity. “If my beating prevented that of another, young activist, I’m only happy it happened to me,” Khabeishvili said, adding: “This country belongs to the passionate next generation.”
Over the border in Azerbaijan the rights situation is even worse. The nation wants to improve its international standing through the hosting of COP29 later this year. Leaving aside the irony of this (oil and gas exports account for around 90% of Azerbaijan’s exports), there are other things it needs to do if it is serious about polishing up its reputation. Let’s start with treating dissidents, or even just entry-level critics, better. The stories of them getting heavy-handed with anyone who exposes government wrongdoing are coming thick and fast.
A few weeks back I met Ibad Bayramov, who told me about the plight of his father, Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu. Gubad is a well-respected academic and a current research fellow at LSE. He has been in prison since last July after he published an article about the country’s involvement with Russian gas. Ibad told me his father’s health has deteriorated to extreme levels. The case has received a trickle of press attention and this week the pressure seems to have mounted. Writing in the Daily Express ([link removed]) , people behind the campaign have asked the UK government to take action and said this of Ibadoghlu:
“Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu has done much to highlight what’s wrong in Azerbaijan. Tragically, he has now become a living embodiment of it."
Another person fighting to expose corruption in the country and also becoming a "living embodiment" of what's wrong is human rights defender Anar Mammadli, who was this week detained. Mammadli is leader of the country’s largest independent watchdog, EMDS. Azerbaijan recently went to the polls and before and after voting Mammadli and EMDS were targeted by state-controlled media in a relentless smear campaign. “We fear that his detention, so soon after the elections, is an act of retaliation for this independent and legitimate election observation efforts and human rights work” read a Human Rights House statement ([link removed]) that Index signed.
Azerbaijan and Georgia, two nations tied together by a shared border and by a growing disrespect for free expression. The people there deserve so much better and we will continue to spotlight any violations. But maybe we're just being paid by the CIA to do that*?
Jemimah Steinfeld, editor-in-chief
*we are not
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** Urgent appeal filed with United Nations for Iranian rapper sentenced to death for his music
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Toomaj Salehi, who was beaten and tortured in jail, has just 20 days to appeal charges of "corruption on Earth". Read the press release here ([link removed]) .
** Nobody is safe from Iran’s protest crackdown
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The news that Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi had been sentenced to death last week was shocking but his case, in a country that uses the death penalty liberally, is not an isolated one. Here, Daisy Ruddock writes about the cases of Abbas Daris and Reza Rasaei ([link removed]) .
** Burkina Faso has chosen the tool of the tyrant
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On World Press Freedom Day, our CEO Ruth Anderson writes her weekly blog post ([link removed]) on a report into the death of 223 civilians in the African state which has led to a clampdown on the media.
** We the screamers
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One of the most celebrated authors of the 20th century, Arthur Koestler, was best known for his anti-totalitarian novel Darkness at Noon, but was also a prolific journalist and essay writer. In his 1944 essay On Disbelieving Atrocities Koestler argued that the average person in the street was far too ready to believe propaganda. Read Martin Bright's piece ([link removed]) on why we must try to listen to those struggling to share the truth.
** From the Index archives
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** Degrees of separation
by Jan Fox
April 2017
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As US campuses are wracked by protests over Gaza, we look back into our archive to this article ([link removed]) from 2017 which was written after violent protests between pro- and anti-Donald Trump groups erupted in universities. It looks at the growth of bias response teams, which encourage students to report on each other and their lecturers.
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Index on Censorship defends people's freedom to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution. We publish censored writers and artists, monitor and campaign against censorship, and encourage debate.
We rely on donations from readers and supporters. By donating ([link removed]) to Index you help us to protect freedom of expression and to support those who are denied that right.
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