Toraga Asylbek Sharypovich Jeenbekov
Jogorku Kenesh
Dear Chair Asylbek Sharypovich Jeenbekov,
On behalf of Human Rights Watch, please accept my regards.
We write to express Human Rights Watch’s serious concern about two discriminatory draft bills currently under consideration by the Jogorku Kenesh (parliament) and to urge you, as Jogorku Kenesh chair, to take a firm position against their adoption. These bills are 6-11804/14 on “Amending some acts of Kyrgyz Republic,” which was registered on May 6th 2014, and a bill with a similar name that was introduced for public discussion on June 3, 2014. The second bill has not yet been officially registered for consideration at Parliament.
As you may know, Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that investigates and reports on human rights abuses in over 90 countries worldwide. Human Rights Watch has been monitoring the situation in Kyrgyzstan for approximately 20 years and has maintained a field presence in Bishkek since 2012.
The proposals in question seek to amend a number of laws in order to introduce criminal and administrative sanctions for “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations.” The bills ban disseminating any information promoting “nontraditional sexual relationships” in a “positive” way. The ban would apply to the press, television, radio, and the Internet, as well as to public assemblies.
Although the bills do not define “nontraditional,” nor is there such a definition in Kyrgyz legislation, it is broadly understood to mean sexual relations other than those between a man and a woman, such as lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) relationships. In recent months, public commentary on the draft bill has included hateful, discriminatory, degrading rhetoric about LGB people in Kyrgyzstan, including by members of the Jogorku Kenesh.
These bills are incompatible with Kyrgyzstan’s constitution, and are in clear violation of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. They also blatantly discriminate against lesbian, gay, and bisexual, people.
In 2010, Kyrgyzstan took the notable step of becoming a parliamentary democracy, and just two months ago, was granted “partner for democracy” status by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. When the then-chair of the Jogorku Kenesh requested this status in 2011, he stated “the past few years show that the Kyrgyz Republic shares the Council of Europe’s values, which are founded on pluralism and gender equality, together with parity-based democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
On behalf of Human Rights Watch, I urge you and the Jogorku Kenesh to stay true to these principles, by resolutely rejecting these bills and affirming that such discriminatory and rights-violating laws have no place in Kyrgyzstan.
Below we outline in more detail how the proposed bills are incompatible with Kyrgyzstan’s stated commitment to democratic and human rights values, as well as with Kyrgyzstan’s constitution and international human rights legislation to which Kyrgyzstan is party.
Violations of Kyrgyzstan’s Constitution
Kyrgyzstan’s Constitution, under article 16, affirms that the “Kyrgyz Republic shall respect and ensure human rights and freedoms to all persons on its territory and under its jurisdiction.” It also states that “laws that deny or derogate human and civil rights and freedoms shall not be adopted in the Kyrgyz Republic.” The constitution stipulates that some limitations may be introduced, but that they “should be commensurate to the declared objectives.”
The restrictions imposed on disseminating information about homosexuality are not only disproportionate; they are also blatantly discriminatory against a particular group and would place undue restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly.
The broad wording of the proposals allows for the authorities to penalize people who work in human rights organizations and civil society groups, journalists, and any others for disseminating information or participating in public activities that are found to be ‘positive propaganda’ of nontraditional sexual relations.
Freedom of speech, freedom of information – to seek and disseminate - and freedom of assembly are protected in Kyrgyzstan’s constitution under articles 31, 33, and 34, respectively.
Furthermore, article 31.4 bans “promoting national, ethnic, racial or religious hatred; or gender and other social superiority which calls to discrimination, hostility and violence.”
Criminalizing dissemination of information about “non-traditional” sexual relations positions “traditional” sexual relations superior to “non-traditional,” and clearly creates a situation of discrimination against “non-traditional” relations, which research shows tends to lead to both hostility and violence. Such a situation is at odds with the above prohibition in Kyrgyzstan’s Constitution.
Local human rights organizations in Kyrgyzstan have repeatedly voiced concern that these bills violate the Constitution and have called for them to be withdrawn.
Violations of International Obligations
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
As party to the ICCPR, Kyrgyzstan has an obligation to respect freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, the right to respect for the personal, private, and family lives of individuals, the right to equality, and the ban on discrimination in the enjoyment of those rights. As such, the draft bills currently under consideration by the Jogorku Kenesh violate articles 2, 17, 19, 21, and 26 of the ICCPR.
In addition, the UN Human Rights Committee, which oversees states’ compliance with the ICCPR, expressed concern about violence perpetrated by police officers and in some cases, by family members, against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in Kyrgyzstan during its March 2014 review of Kyrgyzstan’s state report. The committee expressly called on the Kyrgyz government to adequately address such abuses by investigating and holding those responsible to account. Adopting these blatantly discriminatory bills would instead serve to further marginalize the LGBT community in Kyrgyzstan and could undermine efforts to tackle impunity for violent abuses against LGBT people.
Council of Europe Standards
In April 2014, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) granted Kyrgyzstan’s Jogorku Kenesh “Partner for Democracy” status. In the accompanying resolution, PACE identified specific issues that “are of key importance for strengthening democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in Kyrgyzstan,” including:
- 15.24. combating all forms of discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity;
- 15.25. not following up on the draft law based on the model of laws relating to the prohibition of “homosexual propaganda;”
- 15.26. fighting, in law and in practice, all forms of discrimination based on gender; ensuring and actively promoting effective equality between women and men; fighting discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people (LGBT); fighting all forms of gender-based violence;
It is deeply regrettable that barely two months after being granted this notable status, the Jogorku Kenesh may adopt bills that would blatantly violate these calls.
The Council of Europe has long taken a strong stance on the human rights of LGBT people, culminating in the March 2010 adoption of a set of recommendations by its Committee of Ministers (CM/Rec (2010)5) on measures to combat discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity. The recommendations call on member states to ensure that the stipulated principles and measures are applied in national legislation, policies, and practices relevant to the protection of LGBT people. The relevant recommendations are:
- Examine existing legislative and other measures, keep them under review, and collect and analyze relevant data, in order to monitor and redress any direct or indirect discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity;
- Ensure that legislative and other measures are adopted and effectively implemented to combat discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity, to ensure respect for the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons and to promote tolerance towards them.
While Kyrgyzstan is not a member of the Council of Europe, in April 2014, PACE stated that “It deems that, by requesting partner for democracy status, the Kyrgyz Parliament has demonstrated its will to embark on this path and its readiness to learn from European practice, and has chosen Council of Europe standards as benchmarks on its way forward”. Jogorku Kenesh signed this status on June 23, 2014.
The two ‘propaganda’ bills currently under consideration by the Jogorku Kenesh are in flagrant violation of these Council of Europe principles.
Violations Against LGBT People in Kyrgyzstan
As you may be aware, the environment for LGBT people in Kyrgyzstan is hostile, and LGBT people are frequently targeted for police extortion, harassment, and physical abuse.
In a recently released report, “They Told Us We Deserved This,” Human Rights Watch documented how gay and bisexual men have been subjected to a range of abuses at the hands of police in Kyrgyzstan. The abuse includes physical, sexual, and psychological violence, arbitrary detention, and extortion under the threat of violence or of exposing victims’ sexual orientation to friends and family. Lesbians, bisexual women, and transgender men experience violence from their families and others trying to “cure” them of homosexuality. Human Rights Watch documented such abuses in a 2008 report entitled “These Everyday Humiliations.”
It is the duty of the government and Jogorku Kenesh to protect everyone in Kyrgyzstan, including children, from violence and discrimination. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed concern about children belonging to the LGBTI group and urged Kyrgyzstan to “to take urgent measures to prevent discrimination against children in marginalized and disadvantaged situations, […] children belonging to the LGTBI group, and periodically evaluate outcomes of its measures”.
International Response to the Adoption of Similar Legislation in Russia
In 2013, Russia adopted similar restrictive legislation against “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” to children.
The adoption of that legislation coincided with the escalation of violent attacks on LGBT people in Russia, and the Russian law has drawn significant international criticism, including by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) representative on freedom of the media, the Council of Europe Venice Commission, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, and the European Union. All of these international bodies expressed profound concern about such discriminatory legislation and urged Russia to repeal the law.
In October 2013, the UN Human Rights Committee ruled that a measure banning “homosexual propaganda” adopted by the Ryazan regional legislature was “ambiguous and discriminatory.” The ruling found that Russia violated the rights of an LGBT activist, Irina Fedotova, to freedom of expression and protection from discrimination by prosecuting her under the Ryazan law, and ordered Russia to pay Fedotova compensation as well as the amount of her fine and legal expenses. The committee reminded Russia of its obligation “to prevent similar violations in the future and [to] ensure that the provisions of the domestic law are made compatible with” articles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights upholding freedom of expression and banning discrimination.
Additionally, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon in his speech on December 11. 2-12 condemned legislation that would “criminalize public discussion of homosexuality”. He said, –“I deplore these kinds of measures wherever they are introduced. They threaten basic rights, feed stigma and lead to more abuse”.
The scope of the bills currently under consideration by the Jogorku Kenesh are even more extensive than the legislation that was adopted in Russia, seeking to ban outright any information in the public sphere that paints homosexuality in a positive light.
If these bills are adopted, there is a serious risk that people in Kyrgyzstan would be unable to access information they need to protect their health; human rights defenders working on sensitive issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity could be prevented from publicly addressing these topics; and cases of violence against LGBT people, which are already underreported and rarely investigated, would be concealed even more.
On behalf of Human Rights Watch, I am writing to ask you, as Chair of Jogorku Kenesh, to use your office to help ensure that laws adopted in Kyrgyzstan are in full compliance with national and international human rights standards. In particular, I urge you to use your leadership to speak out against the adoption of such discriminatory, rights-violating legislation, and instead uphold the rights of all persons in Kyrgyzstan to fully enjoy the right to freedom of expression- including the right to seek, receive and impart information - without discrimination of any kind.
Thank you for your attention to these concerns. I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Hugh Williamson
Director of Europe and Central Asia Division
Human Rights Watch
