Mounting pressure on human rights defenders as the Constitutional referendum approaches

OnDecember 8, 2016, Head of FIDH member organisation "Centre for HumanRights "Kylym Shamy" AzizaAbdirasulova was hospitalised for urgent treatment following revelation offacts of wiretapping and mounting media harassment.Persecution of Aziza Abdirasulovaand Tolekan Ismailova, Head of FIDH member "Bir DuinoKyrgyzstan", intensified during the retrial of human rights defenderAzimjan Askarov. Condemned to lifeimprisonment in 2010 in judicial proceedings considered as unfair by the UnitedNations Human Rights Committee[1],Azimjan Askarov is being retried – only at the appeals level - since October2016.

Asthe verdict of Azimjan Askarov approaches, mounting pressure on TolekanIsmailova, Askarov's public defender, and Aziza Abdirasulova, defense witnessin the retrial, has resulted in increased surveillance and regular hounding inmedia and social networks.

“We regret the inability of theKyrgyz authorities to protect human rights defenders”, deplored FIDH Director of Operations MarceauSivieude: “Moreover, in the majority ofcases, current and former decision-makers incite public hatred towards leadinghuman rights defenders, which increased in the context of the upcomingconstitutional referendum”.

Ourorganisations recall that Tolekan Ismailova and Aziza Abdirasulova areregularly victims of verbal attacks, acts of harassment and slanderingcampaigns[2].

“Intimidation and persecution of human rightsdefenders place them at increased risk and serve to obstruct their legitimatehuman rights activities. We call upon the Kyrgyz authorities to guarantee theirprotection and to ensure that they are able to carry out their work without hindrances”, declaredOMCT Secretary General Gerald Staberock.

Besidestrengthening the power of the executive and weakening the independence of thejudiciary, the proposed constitutional amendments introduce a set of “highestvalues” that may be used to curtail universal human rights and freedoms. Theamendments would also delete part of Article 41 of the Constitution whichrequire the national authorities to restore the rights of Kyrgyz citizens inthe case of violation established by international mechanisms. Thisconstitutional provision was the legal basis for the retrial of human rightsdefender Azimjan Askarov[3].

Theinitiative to hold a constitutional referendum introducing major changes intothe fundamental law was made public in the mid-summer, leaving citizens onlyroughly four months to debate. Our organisations are also alarmed by the recentreports of Facebook users being summoned by the security services forcriticizing the authorities.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (theObservatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and the World Organisation AgainstTorture (OMCT). The objective of this programme is to intervene to prevent orremedy situations of repression against human rights defenders. FIDH and OMCTare both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented byinternational civil society.

[1]See Joint Press Release, April 25, 2016.

[2]See Observatory Press Releases, September 12 and September 26, 2016.

[3] For more information, see https://www.fidh.org/en/region/europe-central-asia/kyrgyzstan/resolution-on-the-upcoming-constitutional-referendum-in-kyrgyzstan