Publish and be damned
When I was a lad … as the Major General’s song in the Pirates of Penzance puts it, my mother took me to visit my Aunt for a long weekend. She, in turn, arranged two theatre trips for us: One to the Shakespeare Theater in Stratford upon Avon to see his play, Pericles – not my favourite play by the bard – and another to a small theatre in Kennilworth to see an amateur group production of “The Diary of Anne Frank”, which I much preferred.
As you probably guess, the play was based on the book of the same name, (although originally published under the name “The Annex: diary notes from 12 June 1942 – 1 August 1944” … incidentally, 64 years ago today on 25th June, 1947). In an attempt to hide from the Nazi’s, who were occupying Holland at the time, Otto Frank hid his family in an attic above his office in Amsterdam. Although German’s, Anne was born in Frankfurt, the family had moved to the Netherlands in 1933, the year that the Nazi’s came to power. They were holed up in the attic for some two years before being betrayed and shipped off to the concentration camps, where they were all to die, except for Otto.
The diary was written in an exercise book given to Anne for her 13th birthday, and although, at first, her entries were private and meant “for her eyes only”, on his return to Amsterdam he discovered the document and had it transcribed and later published.
It has become symbolic of the experiences and atrocities of the Second World War. It isn’t, however, without some controversy and some people have suggested that it is, at least in part, a forgery. The published document is, of course, an edited version, based on her work but with certain portions excised. Despite this, it has been translated into over 60 different languages and is on many lists of the influential books ever written.
Access to information is still an issue with a call to investigate the popular internet forum, Diesel, which started in 1998 and has about 80 different bulletin boards where users can post messages. The most popular are the “Buy and Sell” boards, but there are also large number that discuss political and social issues. Unlike the entries of Anne Frank into her diary which was not really meant for other’s to read, these all enter into the public domain. Although the boards are monitored, not all comments are pulled immediately and there aren’t really procedures to ensure “journalistic standards”, such as verifying sources, (there is none of the caveats like “we cannot verify the source and accuracy of this video … “, which see prefacing reports on the situation on Syria on the BBC and CNN at the moment). This can lead to rumours being easily disseminated and, to be honest, the language is not always as polite and considered as one might wish for. The call for the investigation was not, however, a call to close or block the site but rather to investigate some of the posts that have put up by users and which are thought to have helped to instigate racial tensions and incite ethnic hatred. It all goes to show that we need to be careful, (myself included), with what we write … and to question what we read.
All this in the week when there were calls, at a forum in Bonn, for access to the internet to be considered as a “human right”. The speaker, a representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, (OSCE), but I am not sure how well her comments will be taken here in Kyrgyzstan, especially as she was from Finland, and the report of the International Commission of Enquiry, (headed by another Finn), is still coming under in for a lot of adverse comment, here. Apparently, however, although expressing concern about recent decisions that “could potentially limit media pluralism in the country”, according to at least one report she also said in respect of Kyrgyzstan that recent developments were “very worrying,”
We may have got past the anniversary of the events in the South last Summer, but that doesn’t mean that everything is “hunky dory” or “back to normal”. Although the situation is quiet, I am told there is still some tension and apprehension in the air. Two local television reported were beaten up at a rally in Osh, by members of the crowd incensed at what they perceived as “biased reporting”. In a way, that doesn’t surprise me, as I read reports of the situation and anguish still being experiences in Bosnia, many years after that particular conflagration. What’s more, I see that there are still some “troubles” in Northern Ireland. That shouldn’t stop us from trying to learn from those experiences in seeking reconciliation between the different communities that make up modern Kyrgyzstan.
This week, Bishkek has seen a certain amount of anger expressed against the Turks. There was an incident last week where a Turkish man was accused of beating, (an according to some reports, raping), a Kyrgyz girl. He was arrested and committed for trial, but the City Court, (the court of appeal), overturned the lower court’s ruling that he should be held in custody and released on bail against a written assurance that he wouldn’t leave the country. He ran and nobody seems to know where he is. As a result there has been a number of protests against the ruling including one last Saturday when a group of young people picketed the Turkish supermarket Bata Stores in downtown Bishkek, which is not far from my office.
After I sent last week’s postcard, I went outside to settle down to read a chapter of Ella Maillart’s Forbidden Journey, and I could hear the chants of the crowds, and someone speaking through a megaphone. I went to see what was going on and saw a large group outside the store with placards. It was noisy, but otherwise peaceful, although the management closed the main entrance and said that many of the people inside, (mainly employees and tenants of the building), were scared. There was also talk of demands for USD50,000 compensation.
This is not the only case which has brought the judiciary into the public eye. One controversial decision relating to the ownership of the mobile telephone operator, Megacom – although that’s a brand name, not the company name, and, it is claimed, will result in the company being handed mack to members of the Bakiev entourage.
There was also another protest, (again a peaceful one), this time around the parliament building, calling for all the judges to be dismissed and new ones appointed. One of the speakers claimed that this was prompted by over a thousand complaints from members of the public about court decisions.
Apparently a date for the Presidential elections has been set, November 20th. The leaders of two parties in the parliament have expressed concerns about the timetable and Kamchibek Tashiev, leader of the Ata Jurt party in the Jogorku Kenesh, has suggested that they be postponed and Roza Otunbaeva’s term of office be extended for one more year.
Tashiev, of course, has his own problems having surrendered his immunity, as a deputy, from prosecution and being the subject of a criminal investigation arising out of an altercation in the parliament building. It is likely that he will be the Ata Jurt candidate in the election and some of his supporters in the South have already held meetings calling for the investigation to be stopped; including calls for the resignation of the President, Prime Minister and Speaker.
The mining industry seems, once again, to be in turmoil. Although the nominations for the Centerra, (Kumtor), board have been settled, there have been two important decisions reached during the week, one, (another court case, this time affecting the Jeroyaltyn gold mine – and the other affecting the Andash gold mine), which, as I understand it, puts the development of both on hold. On the other hand, a Kazakh company is apparently looking at developing the huge Kara Keche coal deposit, and another is interested in developing a power line.
Another interesting investigation has been set in motion. This one concerns an ambulance which was held up by a traffic policeman so that a motorcade could pass by, despite the fact that it lights were flashing and the siren was sounding indicating an emergency. Some passerby managed to photograph the incident and posted them on the internet. Nobody seems to know, however, who was in the motorcade.
In this case, it’s possible that the result of the investigation will simply look at what happened, and be used to assign blame, but if it is used to learn lessons and shape procedures to prevent a repetition in the future, then it seems that the freedom to publish and open access to information may have had a positive result.
Bishkek