WHEN THE SUPERVISORY AUTHORITY NEGLECTS THE LAW REQUIREMENTS OF THE COUNTRY…

According to journalists, access to official data in Tajikistan remains difficult. Authorities refuse to provide details over the phone and ask for a written request. However, the demands stay ignored for weeks and even months. Experts believe that, in many cases, withholding official information creates an information vacuum and causes the outspread of unreliable data in the country. This point was emphasized during the focus-group discussions of the National Association of Independent Mass Media of Tajikistan (NANSMIT) held in Khujand and Dushanbe.

Provide a written request, and then we will respond!
Public officials withdraw approvals for access to the information, requiring journalists to "make a written request then they will respond." The relevant authorities either did not work off arrears of correspondence or replied with a piece of vapid information. The answer to the request mostly comes in several months, while the data is outdated and has lost relevance. According to reporters, the quality of written responses has improved over the last year because the journalists call the relevant institution daily to insist on and fight for the proper response to their requests.

Information Vacuum or Fake News?
According to experts, the lack of official data causes an informational void leading to a fake news outbreak. When the official information is provided to the public promptly, it will prevent the spread of false information and let the public identify fakes from official news. Unfortunately, the border dispute between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan once again proved that the Tajik side is still struggling to provide comprehensive official information. The neighbouring country showed an excellent example of dealing with information when they shared stories of wounded and dead soldiers and showed the masses of destroyed houses during the conflict. Meanwhile, Tajikistan did not share such information until the very recent moment, which led to the coverage of the border conflict by the world mass media in favour of Kyrgyzstan. It is worth mentioning that Tajik authorities were more active during the last conflict by providing hourly statements. However, they did not cooperate with journalists in delivering the number of dead and wounded. Therefore, the flow of fake news spread on social and mass media in the neighbouring country. 

The "Access to information" platform facilitates access to information.
The National Association of Independent Mass Media in Tajikistan (NANSMIT) launched a particular platform, Access to Information, in 2018 to facilitate timely access to information and improve the situation of access to information in Tajikistan. NANSMIT regularly sends requests from journalists and news organizations for access to information to state institutions and monitors their implementation through the platform. The mentioned point is that independent journalists also use these opportunities to send their requests to state institutions to obtain the necessary information. As a result, six journalistic organizations and more than ten independent journalists constantly utilize the organization's platform to receive official data. NANSMIT assures that the answers to the requested data are received on time.

In 2020-2022 NANSMIT sent a journalistic request to several government institutions and private and international companies to obtain information for publicity. It was sent 280 requests during this period to various institutions, and 150 (57.1%) requests were satisfied, while the other 130 emails were ignored. The analysis shows that the response rate in 2022 has decreased by 15 % compared to 2021.

Among those who were relatively active in providing written information are the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population, the Chamber of Accounts, and the Agency of Statistics.

During this period, the letters that remained unanswered were from law enforcement agencies. The Ministry of Internal Affairs used to respond to journalistic requests actively. However, they have not responded to several journalistic requests in recent years.

The monitoring showed that the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Tajikistan almost did not respond to journalistic requests during the mentioned period. It should be noted that the country's legislation guarantees the right to access information.

The General Prosecutor's Office is responsible for monitoring the law's implementation. Unfortunately, the supervisory authority neglects to fulfil the requirements of the country's legislation, which contravenes the principle of law supremacy.

It should be noted that the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population, the Chamber of Accounts, the Agency of Statistics, and several other institutions were relatively active in providing written information.

During this period, the letters that remained unanswered were from law enforcement agencies. The Ministry of Internal Affairs used to be active in responding to journalistic requests, however, they have not responded to several requests in recent years.

The monitoring showed that the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Tajikistan almost did not respond to any journalistic request during the respective period. It should be noted that the right to access information is guaranteed by the legislation of the country. The General Prosecutor's Office is responsible for monitoring the law's implementation. Unfortunately, the supervisory authority neglects to fulfill the requirements of the country's legislation, which contravenes the principle of law supremacy.

NANSMIT’s monitoring service.