Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO) residents say the Internet shutdown has worsened living, learning and business conditions.
The World Wide Web in GBAO was shut down after protests on November 25-28, 2021, related to the death during a special operation of Gulbiddin Ziebekov, a resident of Roshtkala district. Three months later, the Internet is still blocked, directly affecting work, education and, in general, life in the region.
On condition of anonymity, a representative of one of the country’s cellular companies in Khorog told CABAR.asia that the situation with Internet access in GBAO has not changed in the past almost three months, and the worldwide network is accessible only to some law enforcement officials and top officials from the regional administration.
He said that some banks, public and international organizations are also provided with internet access by agreement with the SCNS.
“That is, if banks or organizations want to send information via the Internet, they first write a letter to the SCNS indicating the grounds and numbers they need to connect. If they get permission from this agency, they will be connected to the Internet,” the interlocutor said.
He said that after the Internet shutdown, GBAO residents faced “information starvation” and have virtually no access to reliable information.
According to him, another problem is the lack of contacts between people and their relatives living abroad.
Also, many organizations have difficulty sending working documents. They are now forced to send documents in hard copy or on a thumb drive, which makes their work difficult. For example, to send a document to Dushanbe, one has to arrive early in the morning at a cab rank, on the outskirts of the city, because cabs go from Khorog to the capital only once a day.
“Of course, this is inconvenient for residents; flash drives and documents sometimes get lost. The journey to Dushanbe takes 12 to 18 hours. It is clear that if a question is urgent, it is impossible to get an answer on time. In addition, in winter, roads are often blocked by avalanches or ice. Cars sometimes arrive in Dushanbe more than 20 hours later”, the source told CABAR.asia.
According to the source, businessmen who run their businesses via the Internet also suffer. It has become difficult for them to order the necessary products and goods.
Also, students who study online or school graduates who can’t apply online are suffering.
Aslimokh Nazaralieva, a high school graduate in Khorog, is unable to submit her documents for admission to a Russian university because of the Internet shutdown.
She told CABAR.asia that with the availability of the World Wide Web, she could have easily taken the entrance exam to a Russian university in downtown Khorog. But now she has a long way to go to Dushanbe at great expense.
“I am only going to Dushanbe to take the test under the quota allocated by Russian universities for budget-funded departments. It is very expensive. Driving about 2,500 kilometers, I have to spend $200 per night in Dushanbe to take the test. My parents have the ability to pay for it. But not everyone has that option,” Aslimo said.
We are in an information vacuum
Farzona Marodmadalieva, a 31-year-old resident of Roshtkala district, has not been able to communicate online with her husband, who works in Russia, for more than two months.
In a telephone conversation, she told a CABAR.asia journalist that she talks with her husband on her cell phone for about 1-2 minutes every day, yet the connection breaks down and they can’t hear each other well.
“We used to communicate online through IMO and WhatsApp messengers without problems, and I used to show him our children. But now I haven’t seen my husband for almost three months,” Marodmadalieva said.
In addition, she complained that the residents do not even know what is happening in the world and are in a kind of “information blockade.”
“My husband is concerned that the authorities are allegedly conducting a military operation here. He seems to have read it in the interest. We have no Internet; we know nothing about it. That is why he is worried and calls us every day to ask how we are doing. We answer that everything is calm, but he says there are all sorts of rumors on the internet,” Farzona told Marodmadaliyeva.
The Internet outage has also affected the banking sector. People cannot receive remittances from their loved ones in a timely manner. One of them, Isfandiyor Faizov, a 57-year-old resident of Ishkashim District, previously received remittances from his son at a district bank branch. After the Internet shutdown, Fayzov was no longer able to get money there and had to travel about 50 kilometers to the city of Khorog.
“Before, when he was transferring money through the bank, I could easily go and get it in my district. The last time he sent money in early February, I couldn’t get it at the district bank branches. Went three times, they said no internet. I had to spend money to go to Khorog, and there I managed to get the transfer with great difficulty,” said Isfandiyor Faizov.
History of the Internet shutdown and people’s demands
Back at the end of November, the regional authorities promised to restore access to the Internet. However, these promises have not been fulfilled to this day.
Initially, it was said that the Internet was not being restored because of unwanted videos from social networks, which could allegedly complicate the situation in the region.
A few days after the protesters left the central square of Khorog, one of the companies activated mobile internet for a few days in some districts of the region, particularly in Darvaz, Vanch and Murghab districts, but then that was suspended too.
Residents of GBAO and a number of human rights organizations call the lack of access to the Internet in the region a clear violation of citizens’ rights and demand its restoration.
After numerous appeals from the region’s residents and statements from local and international human rights organizations, Ilhom Atoev, first deputy head of the Tajik Communications Service, said at a news conference on January 31 that the GBAO Internet was shut off “to protect against information terrorism.
“Information terrorism and has an adverse effect on individuals, society and the state. The main goal is to weaken and overthrow the constitutional order. The power of information can be both creative and destructive. Therefore, under Tajik law, including on the basis of Articles 33 and 34 of the Law of RT “On Communications”, we are obliged to ensure the information security of citizens, society and the state”, – said Ilhom Atoev.
Atoev told journalists that the Internet in GBAO is active and works in 3G standard, except for some regions. But he did not specify in which areas.
Meanwhile, a representative of the cellular company told CABAR.asia on condition of anonymity that neither 3G nor 4G Internet standards are available in Khorog and other areas of GBAO.
“The words of the deputy chairman of the Communications Service are not true. Now in this region the Internet is not available even for employees of mobile cellular operators, only voice calls work,” the interlocutor said.