Kyrgyzstan’s Parliament should not dismiss the country’s human rights Ombudswoman, Atyr Abdrakhmatova, before she completes her five-year term and should refrain from interfering with her work. The international human rights organization Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
On April 19, deputies interrupted the report of the Atyr Abdrakhmatova on the state of human rights and freedoms in the country. She was not allowed to finish, she was not asked questions. Instead of discussing the report, the Parliament decided to return to the topic of the early resignation of Atyr Abdrakhmatova in a week.
As the human rights activists note, the moves may have been in retaliation for her vocal criticism of the October 23, 2022 arrests of 27 civil activists, bloggers, and politicians who disagreed with the government over a border issue. At least 20 of the group remain in detention. She has also been outspoken regarding the deterioration of human rights in the country. The parliament is expected to discuss the ombudswoman’s future within the next few parliamentary sessions.
The dismissal of Ombudswoman Abdrakhmatova would be another troubling signal to the international community that Kyrgyzstan does not take its human rights obligations seriously.
Syinat Sultanalieva, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch
«The government should ensure that the Ombudsman’s Office remains independent and is able to carry out its mandate to protect human rights in Kyrgyzstan without interference,» she said.
According to Human Rights Watch, the move to dismiss Abdrakhmatova may be linked to her active defense of the Kempir-Abad case detainees, who have spent more than five months in pretrial detention. They were charged with fomenting mass unrest after they publicly disagreed with the government over the impending transfer of Kempir-Abad reservoir to Uzbekistan as part of a border demarcation deal.
On April 20 the presidential press secretary, Erbol Sultanbayev, dismissed Abdrakhmatova’s statements about the deterioration of freedom of speech and respect for human rights in the country as erroneous. Sultanbayev said Abdrakhmatova «protects those who wanted to destabilize the situation in the country,» in clear reference to the Kempir-Abad case, and accused her of not being as vocal about the rights of ordinary citizens.
A group of 60 independent activists and representatives of human rights organizations in Kyrgyzstan have called on the President Sadyr Japarov to publicly defend the ombudswoman and on members of Parliament to refrain from interfering with the institution’s independence. Activists also note that the provision in the law on the ombudsman that allows members of parliament to prematurely dismiss the ombudsman violates the internationally recognized standards for independence and accountability of national human rights institutions, such as the Paris Principles.
The Kyrgyz authorities should allow Atyr Abdrakhmatova to complete her term without interference and to take further concrete steps to strengthen and protect independent human rights institutions in the country.
Human Rights Watch
«Abdrakhmatova has been recognized in Kyrgyzstan and internationally for her work to defend human rights. A decision to dismiss her ahead of her term in apparent retaliation for her work would send a disturbing message that the Kyrgyz government does not uphold its international human rights obligations,» Syinat Sultanalieva added.
