Home | Impartiality | Accuracy | Fairness | Respect | Independence

	Introduction   Interviewing: Kelly Shephard   Dealing with contributors: Ben Sutherland   Upholding privacy: Beatriz Gomez   Zimbabwe: Joseph Winter   Uzbekistan: Pahlavon Turgunov   On Mr Milosevic: Geraldine Coughlan   Safeguarding children in Africa: Valerie Msoka   Reflecting the Afghan people: Asif Maroof   Covering 9/11: Stephen Cviic   Bugging and recording   Anonymity   Paedophiles and identification   Accessing untransmitted material		Individuals or institutions accused of wrongdoing or incompetence, or who are strongly criticised in a programme, should normally be given a fair opportunity to respond within the programme itself. Uzbekistan: the right of reply - by Pahlavon Turgunov, producer, Uzbek Service. In Uzbekistan - where freedom of speech and other political rights exist in the constitution alone - being impartial is not easy. In 2002, I travelled to Uzbekistan to work on "I have a right toÂ…", a human rights series produced by the World Service Trust and supported by the UK Foreign Office. Examining prison conditions Among other issues, I covered prison conditions. Local human rights activists suggested I visit a hospital in the Ferghana Valley, where a former political prisoner was being treated for tuberculosis. In 1999, the 35-year-old patient was sentenced to 25 years in prison for alleged anti-government activities. But local activists say he was sentenced for his religious beliefs. During the interview, the patient said TB cases were widespread in prisons and infected prisoners did not have access to proper medical assistance. He also said he had been tortured during interrogation. He described the Uzbek government as a repressive regime and said that the nurse, who was present at our interview, had been instructed to overhear our conversation and risked losing her job if she didn't comply. He was not the only one to speak about torture in prison. Relatives of prisoners and activists referred to dozens of cases. Obtaining the official view I tried to get an official statement on this. I contacted the General Prosecutor's office, the Interior Ministry and the Government's Human Rights body several times - no comment. After three months, I finally managed to get a brief statement from the government denying the practice of torture in the prison system. After the Uzbek section broadcast the series, an official from the government's Human Rights body protested, accusing me of being partial. He said the series included many allegations about torture but just a short commentary from the government.

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