President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov should support Kyrgyzstan’s nongovernmental sector and withdraw the abusive «foreign representatives» draft law aimed at silencing the country’s vibrant and vocal civil society. Human Rights Watch said.
The bill would require nongovernmental organizations receiving foreign funding and engaging in vaguely defined «political activities» to be listed on a special registry of «foreign representatives.» They would also have to label all their publications as «produced and distributed by a noncommercial organization performing the functions of a foreign representative» or acting in the interests of their foreign funders. The draft is similar to laws in Russia that have been condemned by the European Court of Human Rights as violating, among other standards, the rights to freedom of association and freedom of speech.
«Advocating the rights of vulnerable groups is a legitimate activity that the government should support, not restrict,» said Tirana Hassan, executive director at Human Rights Watch. «Kyrgyzstan has signed on to numerous international and regional agreements that confirm that seeking resources from national, international, and foreign sources is an inherent part of the right to freedom of association.»
The bill defines political activity as anything involving the organization of public events and direct action, engaging in electoral processes, advocating to governmental bodies, or disseminating opinions through "modern information technologies’ «that shape people’s socio-political views.
This overbroad definition of political activity is a grave threat to the right of nongovernmental and noncommercial organizations to freely engage in their legitimate activities, Human Rights Watch said. These include protecting various groups of the population, civic education, and monitoring and raising concerns about the country’s civil and political situation.
As the organization noted, singling out nongovernmental organizations receiving foreign funding as ‘foreign representatives’ further stigmatizes Kyrgyzstan’s civil society and human rights defenders.
«The Kyrgyz government should see civil society organizations, grassroots movements, and human rights defenders as its allies in building a thriving and inclusive society, and ensure an enabling environment that fosters diversity of opinion and freedom of association. President Japarov should withdraw the draft law and guarantee continued freedom and openness for Kyrgyzstan’s diverse civil society,» Tirana Hassan added.
The Parliament of Kyrgyzstan adopted in the third reading the bill on «foreign representatives» (analogous to foreign agent law in Russian legislation), officially known as the draft law «On Amendments to the Law «On Non-Profit Organizations».
