Kyrgyzstan: Reject repressive Russian-style draft law on non-profit organisations

A set of amendments to existing legislation regulating civil society organisations was submitted to Kyrgyzstan’s parliament by a group of 33 deputies on 19 May 2023. Most of the provisions are identical to the draft law on ‘’foreign agents’’, which was initiated by members of the Kyrgyz parliament in 2013, but eventually abandoned. This time however, given the wide support for the bill among parliamentarians, civil society representatives fear that there is a serious risk that it will be adopted, perhaps even through a fast-track procedure.

The current draft law proposes that:

• Organisations receiving foreign financial support will have to register as "exercising the function of foreign representative" if they are considered to be engaging in what the law views as "political activities";

• The bill introduces new reporting requirements for organisations and allows the Ministry of Justice to carry out planned and random inspections of their activities. As a result, civil society organisations will have to choose between registering as "foreign representatives" or ceasing their activities;

• The bill gives the Ministry of Justice wide-ranging powers to interfere in the activities of organisations by requesting access to their internal documents, sending representatives to their internal events and assessing whether they are complying with their own statutes;

• The bill provides for heavy fines or imprisonment of up to ten years for involvement in an organisation whose activities are deemed to "harm the health of citizens" or "incite citizens to refuse to fulfil their civic obligations or to commit other illegal acts".

The law falls seriously short of Kyrgyzstan’s international human rights obligations, in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which safeguards the right to freedom of association. The bill also contradicts the pledges made by Kyrgyzstan as part of its application to join the UN Human Rights Council for the period 2023-2025, to strengthen the development of civil society in the country.

The parliamentary initiative comes in the context of a deteriorating climate for freedom of expression and civic engagement in Kyrgyzstan. Recent months have seen a number of legislative initiatives aimed at restricting the space for civil society, including another draft law on civil society organisations, which raises fears of further restrictions on the right to freedom of association.

We call on the Kyrgyz authorities to ensure that any legislation affecting human rights fully complies with international standards and is drafted in close consultation with representatives of civil society and international experts. The draft law on civil society organisations has no place in a country that aspires to be part of the democratic community and should be scrapped in its current form. We welcome the fact that several members of parliament, who were among the sponsors of the bill, have withdrawn their support and we urge others to follow this example. The European Union, its Member States, the countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and Kyrgyzstan's other international partners should use all available means to express their concerns about this draft law. The international community must press the Kyrgyz authorities to allow human rights defenders and their organisations, as well as other non-governmental groups, to carry out their rightful and important work without undue interference or harassment.

The full text of the statement is available in English and in Russian.

The appeal is signed by:

International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR)

Norwegian Helsinki Committee

Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights

Front Line Defenders

Freedom Now

Human Rights Watch

International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders