Attempted silencing of human rights portal Nemolchi.uz
On 13 April 2020, The Agency of Information and Mass Communications under the Administration of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan revoked the notice issued to Nemolchi.uz, which stated that some materials published on its website contradicted Uzbek law. The Agency wrote: “Given the relevance and social significance of the problems of domestic violence and violations of women's rights raised by ‘Nemolchi.uz’, the Agency intends to withdraw the previously sent notice, as well as revise the criteria for analysing the content of publications on these issues in the media.’’
On 27 March 2020, the Agency of Information and Mass Communications under the Administration of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan notified the online human rights platform Nemolchi.uz that one of the anonymous stories of victims of sexual violence published on the website contradicts the Uzbek law. The Agency further requested the story to be deleted.
Nemolchi.uz is an independent online platform that collects and publishes anonymous stories of survivors of violence, in particular gender based violence. The platform provides an opportunity for victims to share their stories and find necessary help and advice, including psychological support.
The Agency of Information and Mass Communications under the Administration of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan has revoked a notice recently issued to Nemolchi.uz, which stated that some materials published on its website contradicted Uzbek law.
Nemolchi.uz is an independent online platform that collects and publishes anonymous stories of survivors of violence, in particular gender based violence. The platform provides an opportunity for victims to share their stories and find necessary help and advice, including psychological support.
On 27 March 2020, Nemolchi.uz received a notice from the Agency of Information and Mass Communications under the Administration of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan stating that one of the stories published on the Nemolchi.uz website “contradicts the national mentality and may adversely affect the spiritual and educational upbringing of citizens, especially the youth”. The Agency quoted an anonymous story of a woman who was sexually assaulted and raped as a child. The story was published on the website on 19 February 2020.
In the notice, the authorities asserted that the publication of the story may have led to the violation of a series of laws. The Agency further asked the administrator of the www.nemolchi.uz domain to remove the story from the website. In response to the attempted silencing, founder of the online platform and human rights defender Irina Matvienko said publicly that Nemolchi.uz would not delete the materials. She emphasized that the anonymous stories of survivors of violence, such as the story mentioned in the Agency’s notice, help those survivors to cope with the trauma and also make the problem visible to society.
On 13 April 2020, on its official Telegram channel, the Agency wrote: “Given the relevance and social significance of the problems of domestic violence and violations of women's rights raised by ‘Nemolchi.uz’, the Agency intends to withdraw the previously sent notice, as well as revise the criteria for analysing the content of publications on these issues in the media.’’ Front Line Defenders welcomes this decision and calls on the Uzbek government to create an enabling environment for the crucial work of human rights defenders raising awareness on gender-based violence.
On 27 March 2020, the Agency of Information and Mass Communications under the Administration of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan notified the online human rights platform Nemolchi.uz that one of the anonymous stories of victims of sexual violence published on the website contradicts the Uzbek law. The Agency further requested the story to be deleted.
Nemolchi.uz is an independent online platform that collects and publishes anonymous stories of survivors of violence, in particular gender based violence. The platform provides an opportunity for victims to share their stories and find necessary help and advice, including psychological support. Irina Matvienko is the founder of Nemolchi.uz and a human rights defender who pioneered the use of social media to raise awareness about gender-based violence in Uzbekistan.
On 27 March 2020, Nemolchi.uz received a notice from the Agency of Information and Mass Communications under the Administration of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan stating that one of the stories published on the Nemolchi.uz website “contradicts the national mentality and may adversely affect the spiritual and educational upbringing of citizens, especially the youth”. The Agency quoted an anonymous story of a woman who was sexually assaulted and raped as a child. The story was published on the website on 19 February 2020.
In the notice, the authorities asserted that the publication of the story may have led to the violation of a series of laws, including Article 5 of the Law “On the state youth policy”, Article 16 of the Law “On the protection of children from information harmful to their health” and Article 12.1 of the Law “On Informatisation”. Based on the identified violations, the Agency asked the administrator of the www.nemolchi.uz domain to remove the story from the website. In case of non-compliance with the Agency’s recommendation, a case may be opened against Nemolchi.uz.
Front Line Defenders is concerned about the notice issued by the Uzbek authorities, as it is believed to be aimed at intimidating human rights defenders working on issues of gender-based violence and silencing their work. Gender-based violence against women and LGBT+ persons remains a serious problem and a taboo in Uzbek society, which makes the awareness-raising work of local human rights defenders crucial.
