This update covers events from 1st March to 30th April 2018 and was prepared by Legal Prosperity Foundation and International Partnership for Human Rights for the CIVICUS Monitor.
Respect for human rights, guarantees of freedom of expression, and improved cooperation with civil society featured prominently in the electoral campaign of presidential candidate Sooronbay Jeenbekov. Since being elected in October 2017, President Jeenbekov has stressed these same issues, particularly in speeches he gave on the International Day for the Protection of Human Rights and during a meeting with the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini.
Such statements have raised hopes among civil society activists and others that the new president may take specific steps to address ongoing violations of freedom of speech and human rights in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan.
Indeed, there have been some positive developments in this reporting period, including President Jeenbekov’s retraction of defamation claims against the news agency 24.kg and journalist Kabay Karabekov, after a court ordered them to pay several million soms in compensation. Observers are also pointing to President Jeenbekov’s active stance on anti-corruption measures and his emphasis on the need to improve the law enforcement and judicial systems – institutions alleged to be responsible for pervasive human rights violations – as further signs of improving respect for fundamental freedoms in Kyrgyzstan.
Not everyone is optimistic, however. Dina Maslova, co-founder of the Zanoza.kg news website, (which in late November 2017 was ordered to pay about 27 million soms (327,000 EUR) to a former head of state), believes that such optimism is premature. She notes that each head of state has had good relations with the media at the beginning of their terms in office, but after they have consolidated power, they began to use the courts to pressure journalists, political opponents and critics. She believes that it is expedient to consolidate the position of civil society and the media now so that “after a while, when the president becomes strong enough, he will actually take our opinions seriously. Otherwise everything will just carry on as usual”.
CPJ joins call for #Kyrgyzstan to end restrictive media practices by @CPJ_Eurasia's @gulnozas @IFEX https://t.co/fcSfmQJhbO
— Gulnoza Said (@gulnozas) March 14, 2018
Expression
In March, the International Association for the Protection of Freedom of Expression (IFEX) raised concerns over libel suits which result in disproportionate fines, travel bans and other severe sanctions against journalists and media outlets accused of insulting the former President. IFEX stated that:
“Disproportionately large fines, short deadlines for payment and inconsistent lawsuits make it clear that these actions are politically motivated attempts to silence media criticizing by means of legislative persecution”.
Burdensome fines imposed by courts on the media and the closure of an opposition television company have negatively affected Kyrgyzstan’s freedom of the press ranking, as noted in the Freedom House’s 2018 Nations in Transit report.
More than 20 Kyrgyz NGOs appealed to the heads of the Jogorku Kenesh (parliament) over recent court decisions regarding complaints with the General Prosecutor’s Office about alleged violations of the honour and dignity of the ex-President. The NGOs said that such court decisions cause as much moral harm to the defendants as the plaintiffs claim they have suffered and also damage the image and reputation of both the judiciary and the state. The NGOs also appealed to the Ombudsman on this matter.
Freedom House: Kyrgyzstan’s democracy score deteriorateshttps://t.co/jR6xMkUIPF pic.twitter.com/3uqVtMuINk
— eng24.kg (@Eng24Kg) April 12, 2018
In a separate development, a group of politicians, journalists and human rights activists wrote to President Jeenbekov regarding his speech to the Security Council of Kyrgyzstan. In the letter, the group noted that:
“some claims and cases initiated by state bodies against the media and journalists do not only violate the law but are also absurd and illogical”.
The signatories urged the President to initiate a nationwide dialogue to discuss problems in the judiciary, law enforcement and supervisory bodies and develop a joint plan to address corruption and hold a parliamentary hearing on an extraordinary report by the General Prosecutor on measures to fight corruption.
I welcome decision by Pt of #Kyrgyzstan to drop financial claims against journalist Kabay Karabekov, criminal case against Elnura Alkanova, withdrawal of draft law on defamation. Positive steps but more need to be done to ensure #MediaFreedom in Kyrgyzstan https://t.co/WpDnyoPBqd
— OSCE media freedom (@OSCE_RFoM) April 27, 2018
Positive developments over the reporting period include President Jeenbekov’s statements in defence of free speech, his renunciation of claims against the 24.kg news agency and journalist Kabay Karabekov, legislative initiatives, procedural decisions by courts and investigative bodies related to the persecution of journalists and human rights defenders. These positive developments indicate improvements in relation to protection of the right to freedom of expression and are highlighted in the following example:
- On 12th April 2018, Parliament adopted amendments to the law ‘On Mass Media’, which shortened the time allocated to review registration applications from media outlets from one month to ten working days. As a result, registration procedures will be more timely and expedient for the sector. (Amendments also provide for the creation of a Unified State Register of Mass Media which will contain data on registered and re-registered media outlets as well as those that have ceased their activities.)
On 2nd February 2018, the Committee on Social Affairs of the Jogorku Kenesh approved the draft bill ‘On Amendments to the Civil Code of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan’ on first reading. The bill proposed regulating procedures for refuting defamatory information published on the internet, in print or broadcast on the television or radio. It also provided for minimum compensation of 20,000 soms (approximately 290 EUR), except in cases when the victim sought a smaller amount.
The draft bill received a negative reaction from the general public. Journalists, civic activists and representatives of non-governmental organisations criticised it for applying not only to media professionals, but also to users of social networks who could be held accountable for posting content on the internet. Member of the public also dislike the bill because it could allow public figures to use defamation law suits to put pressure on critics. Cholpon Djakupova, director of the legal clinic ‘Adilet’, said the bill was “devastatingly harmful” and called for its withdrawal.
IFEX also called on Parliament to reject the bill because of its incompatibility with established standards for freedom of expression. In response to public opinion, the government subsequently issued a negative assessment of the draft law (Постановление Правительства КР № 188 от 6 апреля 2018 года), and as a result, the bill was withdrawn in April.
Гульчехра Оморова рассматривала иск генерального прокурора Индиры Джолдубаевой к https://t.co/KEaJowqFqp и автору Нарыну Айыпу на 6 млн сомов и сразу же удовлетворила его.https://t.co/V2teslFIbJ
— Kaktus Media (@kaktus__media) April 10, 2018
In 2017, courts had ruled in favour of complaints from the Prosecutor General’s Office against the independent news site Zanoza.kg because of articles deemed to be defamatory of former President Atambayev. The courts ruled that Zanoza, its co-founders and journalists Narynbek Idinov and Dina Maslova, human rights defender Cholpon Dzhakupova, and lawyers of the Ata Meken opposition party should pay a large sum in compensation. The Supreme Court upheld the rulings on appeal, and the bailiffs proceeded to enforce the judgments.
Journalists Dina Maslova, Naryn Ayyp and human rights defender Cholpon Dzhakupova appealed to the court for permission to pay the fines in installments but their requests were refused. In April 2018, the Supreme Court overturned the decisions of lower courts to allow for the compensation to be paid in installments.
This decision by the Supreme Court is the first time that a higher court has annulled the decisions of other courts on claims filed in defense of the honour and dignity of the former President. The initial ruling on the payment of compensation remained in force until on 18th May 2018, when former President Atambaev announced that he would be withdrawing the claims for material compensation against Idinov, Maslova and Djakupova because of “the positive changes that have taken place in the last year in the official registered information resources and the media community in Kyrgyzstan”.
As reported previously in the CIVICUS monitor, on 5th October 2017 Sverdlovsk District Court of Bishkek ruled that information disseminated by the news agency “24.kg” in an article by journalist Kabay Karabekov entitled: “Visit to Sochi. Will the Kremlin again be told what a good successor is?” discredited the honour, dignity and professional reputation of presidential candidate Sooronbay Jeenbekov.
The court ordered the news agency and Kabay Karabekov to pay 5 million soms (about 60,000 EUR each) in compensation. However, in early February 2018, newly-elected President Jeenbekov withdrew the claim for compensation from news agency 24.kg after the news portal published an apology.
IFEX welcomed this positive precedent set by President Jeenbekov, hoping that: