Kyrgyz Authorities Try to Head off Protests With Restrictions – The Diplomat

Regardless of protections within the Structure and Civil Code, Kyrgyzstani authorities are punishing peaceable protesters and proscribing public meeting.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Bishkek residents have recurrently gathered in entrance of the Russian Embassy – each to protest the warfare and to precise assist for Russia. 

Stress across the warfare and assist for Russia is rising, as tens of 1000’s of Russian residents – which incorporates many born and raised in Russia, but additionally a lot of individuals born in Kyrgyzstan who sought a Russian passport to work legally overseas – come to Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan’s leaders are in a good spot diplomatically, given the nation’s reliance on Russia in financial and safety spheres. They haven’t issued statements as explicitly crucial as Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan, however as a substitute have tried to take care of an air of neutrality. 

A part of sustaining that neutrality entails tamping down protests that might be framed as anti-Russian. At first, this concerned focused arrests and fines for anti-war protests. On March 5, each a pro-Russia and anti-war demonstration passed off in entrance of the Russian Embassy. In accordance with Gulshaiyr Abdirasulova, the top of human rights group Kylym Shamy, the police solely detained individuals collaborating within the anti-war demonstration, together with kids and activist Mirlan Asakeev. 

Two extra activists – Dinara Erkimbaeva and Lesya Khmet – have been arrested on March 11 for an anti-war protest in entrance of the Russian Embassy.

Having fun with this text? Click on right here to subscribe for full entry. Simply $5 a month.

Their protest violated a protest ban that Bishkek’s police division instituted – with none public announcement – on March 11. The ban solely prolonged to sure places within the metropolis, together with the central Ala-Too Sq., the White Home constructing, and the Home of Authorities along with the Russian Embassy. Gorky Park – a small spot, hidden by bushes, within the northeast nook of downtown Bishkek – was specified as the only real designated area for public gatherings.

Bishkek’s Pervomaiskii District Courtroom acknowledged the legality of the protest ban on March 14. On March 17, human rights defenders Ondurush Toktonasyrov, Dinara Oshurakhunova, and Aziza Abdirasulova organized a protest each in assist of Ukraine and in opposition to the restrictions on meeting in entrance of the Russian Embassy. They have been rapidly detained and charged with “gentle hooliganism,” however have been finally fined 3,000 Kyrgyz som (about $36) for “disobedience to the lawful demand of a regulation enforcement officer.” 

This isn’t the primary time that Bishkek authorities – particularly, the Pervomaiskii decide and police district – have restricted protests. 

In 2020, authorities banned protests in Bishkek’s metropolis heart from March 1 till July 1. Whereas they cited concern with the unfold of coronavirus, the timing serendipitously (or strategically, relying on who you ask) coincided with the Worldwide Ladies’s Day march that native feminist teams arrange every year. Bishkek Feminists Collective held the march in any case, however have been attacked by a gaggle of masked males and packed into buses by police.

A 12 months later, the Pervomaiskii District Courtroom banned peaceable marches and protests in Bishkek from February 22 till April 22. The choice got here shortly after President Sadyr Japarov criticized weekly marches in opposition to corruption organized by the youth-driven civic motion Bashtan Bashta. 

Spring is commonly related to an uptick in protest exercise (each the 2005 and 2010 revolutions unfolded between February and April), which may clarify the annual restrictions on protests in Bishkek. Authorities’ invocation of their obligation to guard social order and the rule of regulation is a standard tactic to justify repression in autocratic international locations. 

No matter any try to rationalize these restrictions, imposing any limitations on residents’ freedom of meeting goes in opposition to the letter of the regulation in Kyrgyzstan. 

Some high-level authorities have challenged such repression. Atyr Abdrakhmatova, Kyrgyzstan’s ombudsman, is tasked with defending residents’ rights and freedoms as specified by the structure. Talking on March 17 – the twentieth anniversary of a bloodbath of protesters in Aksy – Abdrakhmatova harshly criticized the Pervomaiskii Courtroom’s affirmation of the police division’s protest ban. Past the truth that such a ban goes in opposition to Kyrgyzstan’s worldwide authorized obligations, she argued that it undermines the nation’s personal historic and political growth. 

“I urge everybody not solely to recollect the occasions, however to attempt to be taught a lesson from the tragic penalties of restrictions on the rights and freedoms of residents,” she wrote in a assertion. “In any case, the Aksy occasions went down within the historical past of sovereign Kyrgyzstan as a day for the protection of democracy and the strengthening of statehood.”

It’s noble for Abdrakhmatova to talk out in opposition to authorities’ repressive measures. Given the spate of politically-motivated arrests since Japarov assumed energy – and focused censorship since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – her disavowal may show dangerous. However as formal channels for civic engagement are chipped away, principled public servants are key actors in combating repression.