Ужасы в Туркменистане
Apr. 29th, 2005 09:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cherniavskaЗакрывают все библиотеки, потому что президент считает, что читать надо одну книгу - Коран.
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
Committee on Free Access to Information and Freedom of Expression
Media release Friday, 29 April 2005
IFLA protests closure of libraries and violations of human rights in
Turkmenistan
The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
(IFLA)
strongly protests the closure of libraries in Turkmenistan and its impact
on
freedom of access to information and freedom of expression in the country.
While the World Summit on the Information Society debates how best to
safeguard access to information and freedom of expression in the
information
and knowledge society, the Turkmen government takes steps to keep the
Turkmen population in isolation and ignorance by exercising one of the most
profound onslaughts on intellectual freedom rights we have witnessed in
many
years, said IFLA President Kay Raseroka.
Closure of libraries
The President of Turkmenistan, Mr Saparmurat Niyazov, has ordered the
closure of libraries on the grounds that "nobody reads books or go to
libraries". Central and student libraries will remain open but the
remainder
will be closed. The President has stated that additional libraries are
unnecessary as most books that Turkmen need should already be in homes,
workplaces and schools. IFLA/FAIFE is monitoring this situation with alarm.
It has proved difficult to get an exact status of closure of libraries.
While the National Library appears to have escaped closure, the Open
Society
Institute has confirmed the closure of the libraries in the Dashoguz
province. Other analysts report that libraries have been out of favour with
the president for a long time. The supplies of books of university
libraries
have not been updated for ten years and many works on history, literature
and biology have been removed and destroyed.
Censorship and blocked Internet access
The closure of libraries is a recent example of violations of intellectual
freedom in the country. The government makes access to the Internet as
difficult as possible and blocks access to online information resources.
The
educational system is deeply affected, the curriculum concentrating on the
study of the president's Rukhnama ideology, which denies any influence by
civilisation, science or culture on the development of the Turkmen people.
Human rights organisations report on widespread censorship of information
and media that do not support the Rukhnama ideology. Import of foreign
literature, newspapers and magazines are prohibited, while state bookshops
only sell books that support the ideology. The remaining bookstores and
libraries are already emptied of books - which makes closure of libraries
even easier. Book burning, banning of libraries, banning of cultural
institutions and ballet, opera, circus and concerts and foreign cultural
associations, along with harassment and imprisonment of intellectuals and
other opponents of the government, are all examples of the severe
oppression
experienced by the people of Turkmenistan.
Violations of human rights
The elimination of freedom of access to information and freedom of
expression will deeply affect the development of the country and its
people.
Access to information, knowledge and lifelong learning is central to
democratic development and active participation and influence in society.
It
is a fundamental human right as specified in Article 19 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
State control over Turkmen lives keeps citizens in a state of ignorance and
prevents communications with the outside world. Human rights organisations
report the abuses to include violations of civil, political, social,
economic and cultural rights. Those opposing government policy are
imprisoned and subjects of torture and summary trials and their families
harassed. What is happening in Turkmenistan is an abuse of unheard
proportions of the rights of its people.
International protests
The International League for Human Rights, the International Helsinki
Federation for Human Rights and the Memorial Human Rights Center are
appealing to the UN Commission on Human Rights to address the continuing
human rights violations in Turkmenistan.
IFLA declares its support for this appeal and urges the Turkmen Government
to reopen libraries, restock them and provide free Internet access and
support their staff in order to provide unrestricted access to information
in accordance with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
Committee on Free Access to Information and Freedom of Expression
Media release Friday, 29 April 2005
IFLA protests closure of libraries and violations of human rights in
Turkmenistan
The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
(IFLA)
strongly protests the closure of libraries in Turkmenistan and its impact
on
freedom of access to information and freedom of expression in the country.
While the World Summit on the Information Society debates how best to
safeguard access to information and freedom of expression in the
information
and knowledge society, the Turkmen government takes steps to keep the
Turkmen population in isolation and ignorance by exercising one of the most
profound onslaughts on intellectual freedom rights we have witnessed in
many
years, said IFLA President Kay Raseroka.
Closure of libraries
The President of Turkmenistan, Mr Saparmurat Niyazov, has ordered the
closure of libraries on the grounds that "nobody reads books or go to
libraries". Central and student libraries will remain open but the
remainder
will be closed. The President has stated that additional libraries are
unnecessary as most books that Turkmen need should already be in homes,
workplaces and schools. IFLA/FAIFE is monitoring this situation with alarm.
It has proved difficult to get an exact status of closure of libraries.
While the National Library appears to have escaped closure, the Open
Society
Institute has confirmed the closure of the libraries in the Dashoguz
province. Other analysts report that libraries have been out of favour with
the president for a long time. The supplies of books of university
libraries
have not been updated for ten years and many works on history, literature
and biology have been removed and destroyed.
Censorship and blocked Internet access
The closure of libraries is a recent example of violations of intellectual
freedom in the country. The government makes access to the Internet as
difficult as possible and blocks access to online information resources.
The
educational system is deeply affected, the curriculum concentrating on the
study of the president's Rukhnama ideology, which denies any influence by
civilisation, science or culture on the development of the Turkmen people.
Human rights organisations report on widespread censorship of information
and media that do not support the Rukhnama ideology. Import of foreign
literature, newspapers and magazines are prohibited, while state bookshops
only sell books that support the ideology. The remaining bookstores and
libraries are already emptied of books - which makes closure of libraries
even easier. Book burning, banning of libraries, banning of cultural
institutions and ballet, opera, circus and concerts and foreign cultural
associations, along with harassment and imprisonment of intellectuals and
other opponents of the government, are all examples of the severe
oppression
experienced by the people of Turkmenistan.
Violations of human rights
The elimination of freedom of access to information and freedom of
expression will deeply affect the development of the country and its
people.
Access to information, knowledge and lifelong learning is central to
democratic development and active participation and influence in society.
It
is a fundamental human right as specified in Article 19 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
State control over Turkmen lives keeps citizens in a state of ignorance and
prevents communications with the outside world. Human rights organisations
report the abuses to include violations of civil, political, social,
economic and cultural rights. Those opposing government policy are
imprisoned and subjects of torture and summary trials and their families
harassed. What is happening in Turkmenistan is an abuse of unheard
proportions of the rights of its people.
International protests
The International League for Human Rights, the International Helsinki
Federation for Human Rights and the Memorial Human Rights Center are
appealing to the UN Commission on Human Rights to address the continuing
human rights violations in Turkmenistan.
IFLA declares its support for this appeal and urges the Turkmen Government
to reopen libraries, restock them and provide free Internet access and
support their staff in order to provide unrestricted access to information
in accordance with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
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