Igor Rotar (born 1965) is a Russian journalist. From 2003 to early 2007 he was the

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

n news correspondent for

Forum 18 Forum 18 is a Norwegian human rights organization that promotes religious freedom. The organization's name is based on Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Forum 18 summarizes the article as: *The right to believe, to worship a ...

, a

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

organization based in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

that promotes

religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...

. He is a Russian citizen.Uzbekistan: Journalist Igor Rotar detained at Tashkent airport
Amnesty International

Background

Rotar is from Moscow, but as correspondent for "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" in the 1990s he covered events in the

Civil War in Tajikistan The Tajikistani Civil War ( tg, Ҷанги шаҳрвандии Тоҷикистон, translit=Jangi shahrvandiyi Tojikiston / Çangi shahrvandiji Toçikiston; russian: Гражданская война в Таджикистане), also known ...

2005 detainment

The Immigration Service and Border Guards of the

Government of Uzbekistan The Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, O'zbekiston Respublikasining Hukumati/Узбекистон Республикасининг Ҳукумати) exercises executive power in the Republic of Uzbekistan. The members of the government ...

detained Rotar on 11 August 2005. Rotar's plane took off from Bishkek,

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

and arrived at Tashkent Airport at 10:25 a.m. Amnesty International condemned the incident, saying his "detention is part of a wave of intimidation and harassment of journalists and human rights defenders by the Uzbekistani authorities that escalated following the events in Andijan in May this year." Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said, "We are deeply concerned for Rotar's safety. He should be allowed to contact his organization and a lawyer, and should be released immediately."Uzbekistan: Authorities must release detained journalist
Human Rights Watch

Religious freedom conference

Rotar spoke at a conference on "Religious Freedom and State Policy in Central Asia" on 11 January 2007. The conference, hosted by the Russia and Eurasia Program of

Center for Strategic and International Studies The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. CSIS was founded as the Center for Strategic and International Studies of Georgetown University in 1962. The center conducts polic ...

(CSIS) and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, also featured Eric McGlinchey, assistant professor of government and politics at George Mason University and Catherine Cosman, senior policy analyst for the OSCE region at USCIRF. Cory Welt, a fellow at CSIS and deputy director of its Russia and Eurasia Program, served as the moderator.Religious Freedom and State Policy in Central Asia
Center for Strategic and International Studies Rotar criticized Akromiya and

Hizb-ut-Tahrir Hizb ut-Tahrir (Arabicحزب التحرير (Translation: Party of Liberation) is an international, political organization which describes its ideology as Islam, and its aim the re-establishment of the Islamic Khilafah (Caliphate) to resume Isl ...

, Islamist organizations, calling them "enemies of the United States and

Western civilization Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''. image:Plato Pio-Cle ...

."Igor Rotar briefs Washington on Central Asian religious issues
Registan

Works

*''Kyrgyzstan: Officials call for police to close embattled Baptist church''KYRGYZSTAN: Officials call for police to close embattled Baptist church
The Journal of Turkish Weekly *''Kazakhstan: More Planned Restrictions on Religious Freedom''KAZAKHSTAN: More planned restrictions on religious freedom
Journal Chrétien *''Uzbekistan: How many forced closures of religious communities?''Uzbekistan: How many forced closures of religious communities?
Forum 18 *''The Islamist Underground in Southern Kyrgyzstan''The Islamist Underground in Southern Kyrgyzstan
The Jamestown Foundation *''Resurgence of Islamic Radicalism in Tajikistan's Ferghana Valley''Resurgence of Islamic Radicalism in Tajikistan's Ferghana Valley
The Jamestown Foundation *''Why Extremism is on the Rise In Uzbekistan''Why Extremism is on the Rise In Uzbekistan
The Jamestown Foundation *''Terrorism in Uzbekistan: A Self-Made Crisis''Terrorism in Uzbekistan: A Self-Made Crisis
The Jamestown Foundation *''What Lies Ahead For Tajikistan?''What Lies Ahead For Tajikistan?
The Jamestown Foundation *''Hizb ut-Tahrir Today''Hizb ut-Tahrir Today
The Jamestown Foundation *''Hizb ut-Tahrir in Central Asia''Hizb ut-Tahrir in Central Asia
The Jamestown Foundation *''The Islamic Movement Of Uzbekistan: A Resurgent IMU?''The Islamic Movement Of Uzbekistan: A Resurgent IMU?
The Jamestown Foundation

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rotar, Igor 1965 births Living people Terrorism in Central Asia Central Asian studies scholars Russian human rights activists