The Kyrgyz authorities should drop criminal cases of «war propaganda» and «calls to mass disorder» initiated against several independent media outlets, eight human rights groups said in a joint statement.
«On January 15 and 16, 2024, Kyrgyz law enforcement agents and security services carried out early morning raids targeting media outlets and reporters. The authorities should stop intimidating and harassing journalists, and allow them to carry out their work without obstruction,» the statement was made by such organizations as: Human Rights Watch, Civil Rights Defenders, International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR), Norwegian Helsinki Committee, People in Need, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, and International Federation for Human Rights and World Organisation Against Torture within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders.
The actions against 24.kg and others come in the context of a worsening campaign against free speech in Kyrgyzstan and are likely to reinforce a climate of fear among independent media outlets.
From the joint statement
The statement also says that in the last few years, independent media and journalists, bloggers, and others critical of the Kyrgyz government’s policies have faced increasing pressure, including politically motivated criminal cases, arrests, and imprisonment.
The websites of independent news sites have been arbitrarily blocked and the authorities have attempted to close down media organizations because of their independent reporting, such as in an ongoing court case against Kloop and an earlier case against the Kyrgyz service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Previously another independent outlet, Kaktus Media, came under investigation on charges of war propaganda because of its reporting on hostilities at Kyrgyzstan’s border with Tajikistan.
Bolot Temirov, a journalist at Temirov Live whose wife and colleagues were targeted by the raids on January 16, was stripped of his citizenship and deported because of his outlet’s investigations into high-level corruption.
Freedom of expression in Kyrgyzstan will further deteriorate if a repressive draft media law, which is currently under consideration in parliament, is adopted. The draft law would significantly expand government control over the media, and grant the authorities wide powers to deny media outlets registration, obstruct their work, and close them down.
«The Kyrgyz authorities need to take immediate and decisive steps to bring the country’s respect for press freedom in accordance with its international obligations, in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the groups said. They should immediately cease their repressive actions against independent media outlets and journalists, and allow them to report on events in the country and the rest of the world without fear of retribution. The authorities should also refrain from pursuing the draft media law in its current format,» the statement says.
