Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Kyrgyz lawmakers to withdraw a controversial “foreign agents” bill, calling it “a highly repressive draft law” that is intended to “discredit and stigmatize” civil society groups that receive foreign funding similar to a law in Russia that has had a chilling effect on nongovernmental organizations.
“The draft law is incompatible with international human rights obligations, restricting freedom of association and expression, as well as introducing in some cases criminal liability for nongovernmental organizations and their staff members,” HRW’s Central Asia researcher Syinat Sultanalieva said in the statement on June 9.
According to the bill in question, nongovernmental organizations that receive financial or other sorts of support from foreign organizations must officially register as “foreign representatives.” Failure to do so will lead to a suspension of an NGOs’ activities, including its banking operations, for up to 6 months or until it is registered.
“This requirement is clearly intended to discredit and stigmatize groups that receive foreign funding and could have a chilling effect on the country’s civil society at a time when it is already under attack,” HRW’s statement said, adding that the bill’s vague and broad definition of political activity as “actions aimed at changing state policy and shaping public opinion for these purposes” poses a particular risk for civic activism in the Central Asian nation.
In addition to mandatory audits, organizations deemed foreign representatives would have to justify all expenditures to the Kyrgyz government and even consent to the presence of government officials at their events.
The draft law also prescribes punishments of up to five years in prison for representatives of NGOs that are judged to be responsible for “violence against citizens, or other harm to their health or inducing citizens to refuse to perform civil duties.”
HRW called on the European Union, the United States, and the United Nations, to publicly express their concern over the bill and urge President Sadyr Japarov not to sign it into law should it pass the parliament, which may take up the bill as early as next month.
“If passed, this draft law will have a chilling effect on Kyrgyzstan’s civil society organizations, limiting their ability to advocate for human rights, provide social services, and contribute to the development of a robust and inclusive society,” Sultanalieva said.
Russia’s own law on the designation of foreign agents was passed in 2012. The legislation originally targeted NGOs and rights groups but has since been expanded to target media outlets and individuals, especially journalists.
Attempts to introduce a foreign agents law in Kyrgyzstan come amid a widening crackdown on civil society in the Central Asian nation. Since coming to power in 2020, President Sadyr Japarov has also targeted his political opponents and the free media, his critics say.
More than one-third of lawmakers in the 90-seat parliament have backed a draft bill that was submitted for public consideration last month. However, some Kyrgyz lawmakers have withdrawn their support of the legislation in recent days.
Baktybek Choibekov, Emil Jamgirchiev, and Emil Toktoshev, who co-authored the bill, have announced in separate statements that they have quit the group that initiated the legislation in May, acknowledging it may damage democratic institutions and human rights in the country that once was called “the island of democracy in Central Asia.”