Uwazi

Kyrgyz authorities have increased scrutiny of trade union leaders, including through criminal investigations, and are unduly interfering in legitimate trade union activities in the country, Human Rights Watch said this week. On November 21, the office of the prime minister barred the country’s main trade union body, the Federation of Trade Unions of Kyrgyzstan, from holding its annual congress, when elections for the position of chairperson were planned. “Kyrgyzstan’s leadership should respect the right of trade unions to associate and organize freely, not meddle in internal trade union activities and processes,” said Syinat Sultanalieva, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “They should allow the Federation of Trade Unions of Kyrgyzstan to organise their congress without any further government interference or delay.”

In Kyrgyzstan, a number of attacks on journalists and threats to media outlets have been reported since October 4 parliamentary elections, which were voided, followed by nationwide unrest and an ongoing political crisis and state of emergency, according to news reports, CPJ documentation, and a report by the Kyrgyz independent nonprofit organization Media Policy Institute. Yesterday, the Kyrgyz parliament held an emergency meeting and named Sadyr Japarov, a nationalist politician freed from prison by supporters, the country’s new prime minister, according to news reports.

Today, President Sooronbay Jeenbekov resigned, according to media reports.

“It is crucial that journalists can safely and freely cover the political crisis in Kyrgyzstan,” said CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, Gulnoza Said. “Kyrgyz authorities must investigate reported attacks and threats targeting the journalistic community, and put a stop to hostilities toward reporters who are doing their work.”

Radio Azattyk, the Kyrgyz service of the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and its journalists have faced several attacks, threats, and other attempts to obstruct reporting since October 4, according to Venera Djumataeva, director of the service, who spoke with CPJ in a phone interview, and news reports.

Starting around October 6, Radio Azattyk’s website and its social media accounts have been targeted by thousands of messages, both signed and anonymous, ranging from insults to direct threats to the outlet and its Kyrgyz office, Djumataeva told CPJ.

One of the threats that CPJ reviewed–distributed through the messaging service WhatsApp and sent to Azattyk’s office phone via that app–stated, “Repost! Today, there is a threat of attack on the office @azattykmedia. Currently they only have one guard. Asking for a repost.” Other threats, posted as commentson Azattyk’s Instagram page, said: “Soon people will be destroying your office, Azattyk,” “People will destroy Azattyk very soon,” and “Let’s go to burn down Azattyk.” CPJ reviewed screenshots of all these messages. Azattyk reported the threats to Facebook, which said it is investigating, according to Djumataeva.

Djumataeva told CPJ that Azattyk had recruited volunteers to provide security at the outlet’s office in Bishkek.

CPJ emailed the Ministry of Internal Affairs for comment on the attacks on Radio Azattyk and its journalists, but did not receive a response.

In Kyrgyzstan, a number of attacks on journalists and threats to media outlets have been reported since October 4 parliamentary elections, which were voided, followed by nationwide unrest and an ongoing political crisis and state of emergency, according to news reports, CPJ documentation, and a report by the Kyrgyz independent nonprofit organization Media Policy Institute. Yesterday, the Kyrgyz parliament held an emergency meeting and named Sadyr Japarov, a nationalist politician freed from prison by supporters, the country’s new prime minister, according to news reports.

Today, President Sooronbay Jeenbekov resigned, according to media reports.

“It is crucial that journalists can safely and freely cover the political crisis in Kyrgyzstan,” said CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, Gulnoza Said. “Kyrgyz authorities must investigate reported attacks and threats targeting the journalistic community, and put a stop to hostilities toward reporters who are doing their work.”

Radio Azattyk, the Kyrgyz service of the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and its journalists have faced several attacks, threats, and other attempts to obstruct reporting since October 4, according to Venera Djumataeva, director of the service, who spoke with CPJ in a phone interview, and news reports.

On October 9, a group of protesters assaulted another Radio Azattyk correspondent, Aybek Biybosunov, who was wearing journalistic protective gear and a marked vest, while he was covering a pro-Japarov rally near the Government House in Bishkek, the capital, according to news reports and Djumataeva. She told CPJ that a group of about five people pulled Biybosunov’s arms and kicked him in the legs, while yelling that Azattyk was not covering the events “correctly” and that they would “show them”; the journalist left the location due to these threats.

In Kyrgyzstan, a number of attacks on journalists and threats to media outlets have been reported since October 4 parliamentary elections, which were voided, followed by nationwide unrest and an ongoing political crisis and state of emergency, according to news reports, CPJ documentation, and a report by the Kyrgyz independent nonprofit organization Media Policy Institute. Yesterday, the Kyrgyz parliament held an emergency meeting and named Sadyr Japarov, a nationalist politician freed from prison by supporters, the country’s new prime minister, according to news reports.

Today, President Sooronbay Jeenbekov resigned, according to media reports.

“It is crucial that journalists can safely and freely cover the political crisis in Kyrgyzstan,” said CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, Gulnoza Said. “Kyrgyz authorities must investigate reported attacks and threats targeting the journalistic community, and put a stop to hostilities toward reporters who are doing their work.”

Radio Azattyk, the Kyrgyz service of the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and its journalists have faced several attacks, threats, and other attempts to obstruct reporting since October 4, according to Venera Djumataeva, director of the service, who spoke with CPJ in a phone interview, and news reports.

On October 6, an unknown person hit Radio Azattyk correspondent Dastan Umotbai Uulu, who was covering a rally in support of then President Jeenbekov in Osh, Djumataeva told CPJ. The journalist did not say where on his body he was hit, or provide any more information on who hit him, according to Djumataeva. She said the journalist, who was wearing a vest marked “Press” and protective gear, was not injured, but due to the hostile attitude of the protesters he stopped his reporting on that rally and left the location.

Officials in Kyrgyzstan today voided the results of the October 4 parliamentary election after mass protests broke out in the capital of Bishkek and other cities. Members of several opposition parties announced plans to oust the president, according to news reports. Several journalists were attacked while covering the vote and the unrest that has followed, according to news reports and a statement today by the Kyrgyz independent nonprofit organization Media Policy Institute.

“Independent news is essential to the public during these chaotic and quickly moving events in Kyrgyzstan since the parliamentary elections,” said CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, Gulnoza Said. “Kyrgyz authorities should ensure journalists can work freely and safely; law enforcement must stop attacking the press and ensure that protesters don’t target journalists either.”

Today, a law enforcement officer confiscated the phone of Ruslan Kharizov, a correspondent from independent news website 24.kg, while the journalist was using it to conduct a live broadcast of unrest in downtown Bishkek on the outlet’s Facebook page, according to news reports and Kharizov, who spoke with CPJ via messaging app. The officer came up to the journalist, cursed at him, told him that the unrest in the country was happening because of his filming, and forcefully took his phone, Kharizov said. He told CPJ that the officer deleted the last recording before the journalist got his phone back.

Later in the day, several filming crews, including Kharizov and crews from Kloop and Kyrgyz broadcaster 7 Kanal, were denied entry to the Dostuk hotel during an emergency session of the Kyrgyz parliament taking place there, according to Kharizov. Protesters organized to guard the entrance to the hotel and obstruct the journalists, Kharizov told CPJ.

Also today, during a live broadcast in front of Government House in Bishkek, a group of unknown men attacked Kloop’s film crew, according to Kloop, which published video of the attack on Facebook, and other news reports.

Also today in Bishkek, a police officer threw a stone at a journalist from Kyrgyz online broadcaster Vesti.kg, Eldos Kazybekov, according to news reports. The journalist was reporting from the scene of protests when a police officer told him to leave; when Kazybekov told the officer that he was a journalist, the former threw a stone at him, but missed, according to those reports.

As of today, hospitals in Kyrgyzstan have admitted 686 people with injuries of various degrees, according to news reports; it is unclear if there are any journalists among them.

CPJ emailed the Ministry of Internal Affairs for comment, but did not receive a response.

Officials in Kyrgyzstan today voided the results of the October 4 parliamentary election after mass protests broke out in the capital of Bishkek and other cities. Members of several opposition parties announced plans to oust the president, according to news reports. Several journalists were attacked while covering the vote and the unrest that has followed, according to news reports and a statement today by the Kyrgyz independent nonprofit organization Media Policy Institute.

“Independent news is essential to the public during these chaotic and quickly moving events in Kyrgyzstan since the parliamentary elections,” said CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, Gulnoza Said. “Kyrgyz authorities should ensure journalists can work freely and safely; law enforcement must stop attacking the press and ensure that protesters don’t target journalists either.”

Yesterday, special forces in Bishkek, the capital, shot in the direction of journalist Aibol Kozhomuratov, a correspondent from Current Time, a TV network affiliated with the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, who later wrote about it on Twitter and spoke with CPJ via messaging app.

Kozhomuratov said a law enforcement officer shot in his direction even though he was wearing a special reflective vest designated for media workers and was clearly in the process of filming. The bullet flew a few millimeters above journalist’s head and he “felt it with his hair,” but was unharmed, Kozhomuratov said. Current Time released a video of the shooting on Twitter.

Officials in Kyrgyzstan today voided the results of the October 4 parliamentary election after mass protests broke out in the capital of Bishkek and other cities. Members of several opposition parties announced plans to oust the president, according to news reports. Several journalists were attacked while covering the vote and the unrest that has followed, according to news reports and a statement today by the Kyrgyz independent nonprofit organization Media Policy Institute.

“Independent news is essential to the public during these chaotic and quickly moving events in Kyrgyzstan since the parliamentary elections,” said CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, Gulnoza Said. “Kyrgyz authorities should ensure journalists can work freely and safely; law enforcement must stop attacking the press and ensure that protesters don’t target journalists either.”

On October 4, two unidentified men attacked a filming crew of the independent news website Kloop in the southern city of Osh, according to news reports. As Kloop correspondent Aibike Adilet Kyzy and cameraman Khamidullo Uzakov were filming at polling station No. 5316 in a café, an unidentified man approached them, hit Uzakov, and unsuccessfully tried to take away the phone with which he was filming, while the police officers at the scene did not help the journalists, according to those reports. Later another man, who the journalists had seen with the first attacker, tried to take the phone from Adilet Kyzy, also unsuccessfully, according to those reports. The journalists filed a complaint with the Osh city police, which later detained and interrogated one of the assailants, and began an investigation into the attack as well as the refusal of the police officers at the scene to interfere, according to those reports.

CPJ tried to contact Kloop by email and through Facebook but did not immediately get a response.

On October 4, police officers–who have not been identified–prevented Radio Azattyk correspondent Ernist Nurmatov from entering polling station No. 5303 in the southern city of Osh, where the journalist went to cover the parliamentary elections, according to Djumataeva. Zamir Sydykov, press secretary of the Osh city department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, told Radio Azattyk over the phone that the police had the right to prevent a journalist from entering a polling station, Djumataeva said.

Jailed human rights activist Azimjan Askarov has died in custody, according to Kyrgyz Ombudsman Tokon Mamytov and human rights activist Tolekan Ismailova.

The cause of death and whether it was related to the coronavirus pandemic has not yet been determined.

Askarov, a well-known ethnic Uzbek human rights activist sentenced to life in prison on charges rights groups described as trumped-up, had been transferred to a different detention center on July 24 amid reports about an abrupt worsening of his health.

Ismailova, the chairwoman of Kyrgyzstan's One World-Kyrgyzstan human rights organization, told RFE/RL on July 24 that an ambulance brought Askarov to a detention center in Bishkek that was better equipped to administer medical services.

Confirming the death, the Kyrgyz authorities said Askarov had been suffering from preexisting medical conditions and had recently refused to be treated with oxygen.

The human rights office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) expressed "profound sadness" over Askarov's passing.

Askarov spent many years prior to his arrest documenting police abuse and brutality in his native Kyrgyzstan, the office said in a statement.

The OSCE rights office, as well as rights groups Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Reporters Without Borders, had called for Askarov's release.

Mamytov said he received information about Askarov's death on July 25 from the State Service for the Execution of Punishments.

"We received additional information from the State Penitentiary Service," he said. "Now we must wait for the conclusion of a medical examination about the causes of Askarov's death."

The State Penitentiary Service has not yet released information publicly about Askarov's death.

In recent days, Askarov's lawyer, Valeryan Vakhitov, and the human rights organization Front Line Defenders had raised concerns over Askarov's health, saying the 69-year-old activist was in very poor condition amid the COVID-19 outbreak in Kyrgyzstan.

Vakhitov told RFE/RL that Askarov was very weak with a deteriorating health condition that left him unable to walk without assistance before his transfer.

Askarov, who also contributed to independent news websites, had been behind bars for almost a decade after he was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of creating a mass disturbance and involvement in the murder of a police officer during deadly ethnic clashes between local Uzbeks and Kyrgyz.

In May, Human Rights Watch said Askarov "suffers from cardiac and respiratory conditions and has not received appropriate medical attention in prison." It also warned that he was at high risk of contracting COVID-19, a disease that disproportionately affects older people and individuals with underlying illnesses.

Ismailova said at the time that it was "heartbreaking to see him -- at high risk due to his declining health and having endured torture -- losing hope for a fair trial and release."

More than 450 people, mainly ethnic Uzbeks, were killed and tens of thousands more were displaced during the violence.

The UN Human Rights Committee has found that Askarov was arbitrarily detained, denied a fair trial, and tortured, and ruled the activist should be released immediately and his conviction quashed.

However, Askarov's conviction was upheld after several appeals.

Kyrgyz security services detained a well-known rights defender on dubious grounds on May 29, 2020, and on May 31, a court ordered him placed under house arrest, Human Rights Watch said today. Kyrgyz authorities should lift the two-month home arrest order imposed on Kamil Ruziev, the activist, drop all bogus charges against him, and investigate allegations that Kyrgyz security services have threatened him.

�Ruziev filed formal complaints against security officers, so Kyrgyzstan�s security service responded by harassing him with a bogus criminal investigation,� said Mihra Rittmann, senior Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. �Prosecution authorities should instead be carrying out a thorough and timely investigation into Ruziev�s complaint and any abuse of power by the security officials who arrested him.�

State National Security Committee (GKNB) officers arrested Ruziev on the evening of May 29 outside the Karakol City Courthouse, which was considering a lawsuit he had filed against the GKNB and the prosecutor�s office for not investigating his complaint that law enforcement officers had threatened him, including at gunpoint.

After his arrest, the GKNB issued a statement saying that Ruziev was under investigation on criminal charges of forgery and fraud. However, during the hearing on May 31 to determine whether he would be held in pretrial detention, the investigator acknowledged that at the time of his arrest, Ruziev was wanted only as a witness. He said they had now changed his status to suspect and were pursuing the case only on charges of forgery. Ruziev told Human Rights Watch that the authorities had only informed him that they changed his status to suspect immediately before the hearing. The court approved Ruziev�s house arrest for two months. Ruziev and his lawyer have appealed the ruling and filed a complaint against the GKNB for unlawful detention.

Ruziev, 56, is a human rights defender and the head of the Karakol-based human rights organization Ventus. He is well-known for his work to end torture in detention and has also provided legal assistance in domestic violence cases. Law enforcement agents have repeatedly harassed and threatened Ruziev in retribution for his human rights activities.

While he was in GKNB custody, officers questioned Ruziev without his lawyer of choice present and refused to hand over copies of procedural documents.

Ruziev believes he was arrested in retribution for his human rights activities.

�Over the last year I have been filing complaints against the GKNB and the prosecutor�s office,� he told Human Rights Watch. �I also help others whose rights have been violated. The GKNB knows of my human rights work and decided to put pressure on me to get me to stop.�

The GKNB�s harassment of Ruziev is taking place against a backdrop of attempts by the Kyrgyz Parliament to adopt amendments to a law concerning nongovernmental groups that are aimed at tightening controls over civil society. The draft law, which targets non-profit organizations in particular, would impose additional burdensome financial reporting requirements that would interfere in activists� ability to carry out their work.

Public hearings on the bill went ahead on May 22, despite quarantine measures still in place in Kyrgyzstan�s capital to limit the spread of the Covid-19 virus. Nongovernmental groups had asked parliament to reschedule the hearing. Because of limits placed on the number of people who could enter the building, many representatives of groups who had registered to participate were not allowed into parliament, undermining the integrity of the process.

At the hearing, Ozonnia Ojielo, the United Nations resident coordinator and representative of the UN secretary-general in the Kyrgyz Republic, testified that the bill would impose an �onerous burden on civil society organizations� and urged the parliament to �seriously reconsider.� Eduard Auer, the European Union ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, also testified, saying that �civil society is a crucial partner to the EU� and that �it is important that new legislation does not make their work more difficult.�

Previously, the Kyrgyz parliament tried to adopt a Russia-style �foreign agents law,� requiring groups that received foreign funding to register as foreign agents, but after significant domestic and international outcry, the bill was ultimately scrapped.

�Parliament should withdraw the bill restricting nongovernmental groups and allow human rights defenders and civil society to play their very important role in addressing the needs of regular citizens and furthering Kyrgyzstan�s democratic development,� Rittmann said. �The authorities should immediately end the bogus investigation into Kamil Ruziev and ensure the GKNB cease its intimidation tactics so that he and other activists can continue their important work.�

Reacting to the Supreme Court�s decision to uphold a regional court�s ruling not to review the life sentence of prisoner of conscience Azimjan Askarov, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International�s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director, said:

�Today�s Supreme Court decision compounds ten years of deep injustice inflicted on a brave human rights defender who should never have been jailed.

�The conviction of Azimjan Askarov, an ethnic Uzbek wrongly imprisoned for his work documenting tragic ethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan in 2010, is a blatant example of the disproportionate prosecution of and unfair trials against Uzbeks after the violence.

�Kyrgyzstan�s authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Azimjan Askarov. They must lift this long-standing stain on their human rights record.�

Background

In September 2010, human rights defender Azimjan Askarov was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of complicity in the murder of a police officer during ethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan in June that year. His trial did not meet international fair trial standards and the court refused to investigate allegations that he was tortured in detention.

In March 2016, the UN Rights Committee found that Azimjan Askarov was tortured and given an unfair trial. Since then his case has been reviewed three times by Kyrgyzstan�s courts, and each time they have either refused to consider the case or chosen to uphold his conviction and life sentence.

On 13 May 2020, the Supreme Court upheld the July 2019 court decision to reject the request to review Azimjan Askarov�s life sentence following changes to the Kyrgyzstani Criminal Code that came into force in January 2019. Under these changes, the purported crime of which Azimjan Askarov has been convicted no longer carries a life sentence.

Azimjan Askarov�s health has deteriorated significantly during his time in detention.

Kyrgyzstan police held about 70 activists, most of them women, for hours on March 8, 2020 without telling them the grounds for their detention or providing access to lawyers, Human Rights Watch said today. The activists had themselves come under attack at the peaceful International Women’s Day march in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan’s capital. At least three journalists were also detained.

A mob of men, many wearing medical masks or other face coverings, attacked the activists as they were beginning the march to call attention to the serious problem of violence against women in Kyrgyzstan. The masked men threw eggs at the marchers, dragged them to the ground, and destroyed their banners, activists and media reported. When police arrived, the mob dispersed, but rather than seeking out the attackers, police forced the activists to board a bus and took them to Bishkek’s Sverdlovsk police station. Some reported physical abuse by the police.

“People should be protected, not penalized, when exercising their right to assemble and protest peacefully,” said Hillary Margolis, senior women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Instead, on a day meant to celebrate women’s rights, these activists were doubly punished – first by an angry mob and then by the police.”

Kyrgyzstan’s parliament held a hearing on March 11 on the disruption of the Women’s March to question the Interior Ministry and the General Prosecutors’ office. The deputy minister of culture, information and tourism, Nurzhigit Kadyrbekov implied that the marchers intentionally stoked a response from officials, saying that “they came out to create a stir and to create a sensation” in order to “create hype.”

The authorities should investigate the circumstances around the mass arrests and the attacks on the activists and bring those responsible to justice, Human Rights Watch said.

The march was an act of solidarity and protest against domestic violence, forced marriage, and other forms of violence against women and girls, which remain persistent problems in Kyrgyzstan despite measures such as a revamped domestic violence law. At least four women have been killed in domestic abuse incidents since the beginning of 2020.

Local media reported police representatives as saying that the marchers were detained for failure to notify the internal affairs bodies about the rally so that they could ensure public safety. In the days leading up to the planned march, a city government request for a temporary ban on public events remained in question.

A Bishkek lawyer following the case confirmed to Human Rights Watch that six protesters were charged with disobedience to a police officer, which carries a fine of 3,000 to 6,000 soms (around US$43 to $86). Five of the attackers were also charged with and fined for the same offense.

Monitoring experts from the Office of the Ombudsman, a human rights oversight body appointed by parliament, were denied entry to the police station to visit detainees, the office said in a statement. The office said it is pursuing disciplinary action against the police officers who denied their staff entry. Detainees were also denied access to lawyers.

“You are waiting for protection from the law enforcement, but suddenly it turns out that you are being detained and it is not even clear why,” one detained activist told Human Rights Watch. “Any confidence and a sense of security is lost. I don’t feel I live in a law-abiding country anymore.”

In early March, the government temporarily banned all “cultural events” as part of measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus. At the request of the city administration, on March 5, the Bishkek district court banned “rallies and peaceful gatherings,” including the Women’s March, until July 1. Women’s March organizers questioned the rationale for cancelling the March, citing exchanges during the court proceedings indicating the ban targeted the Women’s March based on its links to feminism and, in past years, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people’s rights.

On March 6, the Bishkek city administration withdrew its request. On March 9, the Bishkek city prosecutor’s office found the restrictions on the right to “rallies, marches and other events” to be unlawful.

Following the interruption of the Women’s March, activists held a rally on March 10 to protest violence against women and show solidarity with survivors. Over 400 people attended the peaceful demonstration in Bishkek, local media reported. Activists who took part in the March 8 events said that the detentions may have helped draw much-needed global attention to their fight against domestic and other gender-based violence in Kyrgyzstan.

“It was thanks to these aggressors that the whole world knows how bad things are for women’s rights in Kyrgyzstan,” Dinara Oshurakhunova, a human rights activist who was among those detained, told Human Rights Watch.

Attacks on this year’s Women’s March are the latest in a pattern of opposition to events promoting women’s rights. Members of a conservative nationalist movement objected to artwork incorporating nudity at a November 2019 feminist art exhibit at the National Art Museum in Bishkek and accused the artists of “perverting young people.” The museum’s art director resigned after being subjected to verbal abuse and threatened with rape.

In March 2019, an International Women’s Day rally in Bishkek led to controversy and threats of violence when conservative lawmakers and members of a nationalist group objected to inclusion of LGBT people in the march, which promoted “equality for all.”

“Women’s March participants were simply calling for action to stop women’s needless deaths from domestic violence,” Margolis said. “The authorities should detain and investigate the men who used force to stop this march, not the women who were calmly protesting.”

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about an attack and threats against Ms. Cholpon Dzhakupova and other representatives of the non-governmental human rights organisation “Legal clinic ‘Adilet’” (Adilet)

during a public discussion of a controversial draft law amending the current legislation on non-governmental organisations.

According to the information received, on January 29, 2020, representatives of the Adilet convened a roundtable to facilitate public discussion of the draft law № 6-28018/19, which was introduced to the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan (Jogorku Kenesh) in December 2019. Adilet had earlier criticized the proposed amendments in media and on its website as tightening the State control over the nonprofit sector and undermining the freedom of association in Kyrgyzstan.At 9 am on January 29, 2020, just prior to the beginning of the roundtable, a group of 11 unknown individuals attempted to break into the conference room of the “Europa Hotel” in Bishkek, where the event took place. The perpetrators were shouting threats and insults directed at employees of Adilet, securing the entrance, and their attempts to get in persisted for more than two hours. Around 11.30 a.m., the perpetrators managed to break in pushing away the employees of Adilet. One of the employees sustained bruises as a result of the assault. After entering the room, the perpetrators started threatening the employees with physical attacks — including by menacing to beat them with bricks and armatures, — and with the dissemination of false messages alleging that Adilet employees belong to the LGBT+ community and thus promote LGBT+ rights; a sensitive field of work association with which could cause a violent backlash against human rights defenders among the general public. They also shouted insults at the director of the Adilet Ms. Cholpon Dzhakupova and other participants, including the Ombudsman of the Kyrgyz Republic, Mr. Tokon Mamytov and Ms. Asel Arzybaeva, the Representative of the President’s Office. The representatives of the United Nations Development Programme office in Kyrgyzstan, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, German and the United States diplomatic missions present at the event witnessed the assault. Partly, the incident was captured on video by the attendees of the event and a number of Kyrgyz media published them.

The Observatory is particularly concerned with inaction of the authorities regarding the protection of Adilet members: one of the attendees called the police, however police officers remained at the venue for 20 minutes and left, without taking any concrete measures in securing the safety of participants of the round table, including by arresting the assailants. As of the date of publication of this Urgent Appeal, the identities of these individuals remain unknown, however, they presented themselves as civil society activists and claimed that they received information about the roundtable from one of the authors of the draft law, deputy Mr. B. Raiymkulov. On January 30, 2020, Adilet lodged a complaint before the Internal Affairs Office of the Sverdlovsk District of Bishkek requesting impartial investigation into the case and urging the authorities to ensure the safety of the human rights defenders employees of Adilet. The authorities registered the complaint in the appropriate manner.

The Observatory fears that these attacks constitute a reprisal for the critical attitude of Adilet and its employees towards the legislation, including the above mentioned draft law, which limits the independence of civil society organisations. The attack against the human rights defenders seems particularly disturbing against the backdrop of systematic attempts by the Kyrgys authorities to tighten State control over civil society and the rising number of far-right groups harassing civil society activists and independent journalists.

The Observatory strongly condemns the attack against the Adilet members and the inaction of the authorities regarding the increasing attacks, acts of harassment and provocations against human rights defenders, and urges the State to take swift and stern measures to reverse the current trend detrimental to the independence of the civil society and democracy in Kyrgyzstan.

At about 12:30 p.m. today, in Bishkek, the capital, three unidentified men stopped Temirov, chief editor of the independent news website Factcheck, which has recently covered allegations of official corruption, while he was on his way to work, hit him from behind, pushed him down, and kicked him and stole his phone, according to a statement posted to Facebook by his employer and news reports.

Temirov was briefly hospitalized following the attack and was treated for a concussion, said one of his colleagues, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing safety concerns. Temirov lost a tooth in the attack and suffered bruises over his face, the colleague said.

“Kyrgyz authorities should conduct a swift and thorough investigation into today’s assault of journalist Bolot Temirov, and determine whether it was related to his work,” said CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, Gulnoza Said. “Authorities must prioritize journalists’ safety, especially for reporters covering sensitive issues like corruption.”

Bishkek police have opened an investigation into the incident, according to a report by Azattyk, the Kyrgyz-language service of U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Last month, Factcheck and several other news websites experienced cyberattacks after they published investigative reports on alleged corruption and the lavish lifestyles of a former custom official’s family members, according to Azattyk. Temirov’s colleague said that, because of the general response to Factcheck’s corruption reporting, they believed today’s assault was related to Temirov’s work.

On December 20, 2019, CPJ sent a joint letter to the Kyrgyz government urging authorities to investigate attacks against journalists covering corruption. CPJ called the Bishkek police today for comment but no one answered the phone.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on a Bishkek court to dismiss an absurd lawsuit against two Kyrgyz news media outlets, Radio Azattyk and the website Kloop, and the journalist Ali Toktakunov, when the court resumes hearing the case today.

The lawsuit has been brought by Kyrgyzstan’s powerful Matraimov family, which is seeking a total of 780,000 euros in damages in connection with their joint revelations about an alleged massive network of corruption involving a parliamentarian and a former senior customs official who are members of the family. The lawsuit initially also targeted 24.kg, a news website that published a summary of the exposé, but 24.kg has been dropped from the case after it published a statement yesterday retracting the investigation’s claims. Radio Azattyk, Kloop and Toktakunov refused offers of a similar out-of-court arrangement.

“It is absurd that the journalists at Azattyk and Kloop are being sued in connection with their investigative reporting, which served the public interest and galvanized Kyrgyz civil society in its entirety,” said Jeanne Cavelier, the head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk. “We ask the court to dismiss the lawsuit against the two media outlets and the journalist Ali Toktakunov and we urge the Kyrgyz authorities to do whatever is necessary to guarantee the safety of the journalists working on the story. The attacks of the past three months have done serious damage to press freedom in Kyrgyzstan.”

Rewarded by the International Journalists’ Network (IJNet) and carried out jointly by some 20 journalists with Radio Azattyk, Kloop and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the investigation concluded that 700 million dollars were illegally funneled out of Kyrgyzstan, one of the world’s poorest countries. This operation was allegedly possible thanks to the influence of Raimbek Matraimov, who used to be the deputy head of the Kyrgyz customs service. It was the murder of the journalists’ main source, the businessman Aierken Saimaiti, last November that precipitated the story’s publication.

The Kyrgyz authorities have condemned these reprisals. The interior minister personally took charge of the investigation into the attack on Temirov, while President Jeenbekov has promised to guarantee the safety of two Radio Azattyk journalists living in Prague, Ali Toktakunov and Ydyrys Isakov, if they return to Kyrgyzstan to testify in the investigation into Saimaiti’s murder.

Kyrgyzstan is ranked 83rd out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2019 World Press Freedom Index.

A blogger in Kyrgyzstan who wrote about corruption on social media is facing charges of inter-regional incitement, Human Rights Watch said today. The blogger, Aftandil Zhorobekov, was detained on November 24, 2019 by Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security (GKNB) and held in pretrial detention until being placed under house arrest on December 5, with the charges against him still standing.

The national security agency said that Zhorobekov, the 34-year-old administrator of a Facebook page called “BespredelKG” – “lawlessness” in Russian – had posted “knowingly false and provocative information meant to discredit the current authorities,” which “resulted in the agitation of hateful feelings” among visitors to the page. Incitement carries a sentence of up to seven years in prison. The Kyrgyzstan authorities should drop the charges against him.

“The authorities in Kyrgyzstan are using bogus incitement charges as a pretext to punish Zhorobekov for his controversial posts about government figures,” said Laura Mills, a Europe and Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “His arrest sets a dangerous precedent that anyone could be held criminally liable for criticizing public figures, or for the offending speech of others.

A court-issued warrant published by media outlets said that Zhorobekov first attracted law enforcement attention for a post in which he accused the president and his allies of corruption. Separately, the national security agency sent media outlets various screenshots pertaining to the case, which included snapshots of posts about Kyrgyz politicians as well as comments posted by visitors to the page.

Law enforcement agencies’ repeated references to Zhorobekov’s writing about government figures underscore concerns that, since the claims of incitement are unsubstantiated, their real intent is to muzzle a critical voice. Politicians in Kyrgyzstan regularly target critical journalists or media outlets with damaging lawsuits, but defamation appropriately carries no criminal punishment. In this case, the authorities are holding Zhorobekov criminally liable for the actions of others – those who posted offensive comments on his Facebook page.

The charges against Zhorobekov violate Kyrgyzstan’s human rights obligations, including as a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which protects freedom of expression. The ICCPR allows for certain restrictions on expression, including in response to “incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence.” But any laws restricting freedom of expression must comply with the principle of legal certainty, in that they are sufficiently clear and precise to ensure people are able to reasonably foresee the consequences of their actions and regulate their conduct in relation to the law. Restrictions can also only be imposed to the extent that they are a proportionate and necessary response to protect the interest at stake. The misuse of incitement charges against Zhorobekov to achieve an ulterior, impermissible motive – that of silencing a critic – fails to meet these criteria.

The charges against Zhorobekov demonstrate how Kyrgyzstan’s broad definition of incitement can be used to chill freedom of expression, Human Rights Watch said. In March, the authorities detained a couple who held up posters condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin outside the Russian Embassy in Bishkek and charged them with inciting national hatred, though the charges were later dropped. A teacher accused of incitement for anti-Russian comments online was acquitted in May.

Zhorobekov’s family said that they were unaware of any previous expression of concern from the authorities regarding the content on his social media pages. They said his apartment was searched in the days after his arrest.

“The ability to express critical opinions is fundamental to freedom of expression,” Mills said. “The authorities in Kyrgyzstan should immediately drop the criminal charges against Zhorobekov, lift his house arrest, and ensure the statute on incitement isn’t used abusively again in the future.”