The danger of speaking out recent trends in Central Asia
Written statement by International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR, Belgium); Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law (KIBHR, Kazakhstan); the Legal Prosperity Foundation (Kyrgyzstan); Nota Bene, Independent Center for Human Rights Protection and the Lawyers’ Association of Pamir (Tajikistan); Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights (TIHR, Turkmenistan, based in exile in Austria); and the Association for Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA, Uzbekistan, established by political emigres in France) to the 2017 OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting.
The space for civil society to operate in Central Asia remains restricted and the situation has deteriorated further in a number of respects in the past year.
In the context of the protracted economic downturn and other recent developments, Central Asian governments have pursued those who scrutinize and criticize their policies.Government-organized, high-profile international events such as the EXPO in Kazakhstan and the Asiada Games in Turkmenistan have prompted the authorities to step up efforts to stifle criticism rather than to ease pressure.
Uzbekistan’s new president has taken some, limited steps to break with the repressive practice of his predecessor but has yet to initiate systematic, meaningful human rights reform.In Kyrgyzstan, free speech and civil society action have come under serious attack ahead of the October 2017 presidential elections as the outgoing president seeks to preserve his legacy.
In Tajikistan, the authorities continue to restrict fundamental rights in the name of safeguarding national security and stability, a trend which is seen across the region.
We call on the Central Asian authorities to stop limiting civil society space and to stop viewing the peaceful exercise of freedom of expression, association and assembly as a threat. The authorities should listen to and work together with civil society actors who draw attention to shortcomings of state policies rather than silencing them.
Below we describe major current concerns in each of the five Central Asian countries and provide recommendations to the authorities of these countries.
Turkmenistan
Ahead of the Asiada, an international sports competition taking place in Ashgabat in September 2017, the Turkmenistani authorities have gone to great lengths to ensure that nothing spoils the image of the country in the eyes of the foreign visitors. In doing so the authorities have taken measures restricting fundamental rights.
The president has repeatedly stressed what he considers to be the obligation of the country’s state-controlled media to focus on reporting positive developments and achievements of the regime, including with the respect to the Asiada.
While the preparations for this competition have resulted in various restrictions targeting residents, this has not been covered in national media.
The authorities have pledged to ensure that Asiada visitors have unrestricted access to high-speed internet.However, for citizens, internet access remains restricted, slow and expensive.
Many foreign news sites, social media sites, and online communications apps continue to be blocked.A statement made by the president in October last year, calling for preventing the spread of “false” information on the internet during the Asiada, triggered reinforced measures by security agencies to prevent the dissemination of information critical of the government.
Internet users were summoned for questioning after taking part in social media discussions and warned to stop using these sites on threat of arrests, travel bans, dismissal from their jobs and other repercussions.
The authorities have also continued to forcibly dismantle private satellite dishes used to access foreign TV and radio channels, and residents have been intimidated to dissuade them from listening to the Turkmen service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
A new wave of persecution has targeted correspondents for this service and other critical voices.RFE/RL correspondent Hudaiberdi Allashov and his mother remain under police supervision after being given suspended three-year prison sentences on charges of possessing chewing tobacco in February 2017.
Torture allegations in this case have not been adequately investigated.Freelance journalist Saparmamed Nepeskuliev is still in prison after being convicted of charges of possessing prohibited drugs in August 2015.
Nataliya Shabunts, an outspoken civil society activist who cooperates with TIHR, has been subjected to ongoing surveillance in recent months and in August 2017, she was assaulted in the street by a group of unknown women, who yelled racist slurs at her and told her to leave the country.
RFE/RL correspondent, Soltan Achilova has repeatedly been intimidated and attacked in the past year.Most recently, she reported being warned and prevented from taking photographs in a series of incidents in July 2017.
The authorities continue to forcibly mobilize employees of state institutions, GONGO members, students and other residents for various mass events and time-consuming repetitions for such events. For example, residents have been forcibly mobilized for festivities to be held during the Asiada.
Recommendations
On the basis of the issues discussed above, we could like to make the following recommendations:
The authorities of Turkmenistan should:
• Promote media pluralism and put an end to government censorship and interference into the editorial policies of media.
• Promote universal, affordable and unobstructed internet access and refrain from arbitrarily blocking access to websites.
• Stop forcibly dismantling satellite dishes and refrain from measures of intimidation against social media users, RFE/RL listeners and other individuals seeking to obtain information from alternative, foreign sources.
• Stop persecuting independent journalists, civil society activists and other critical voices; carry out thorough investigations into all reported cases of harassment of such individuals with a view to holding the perpetrators accountable; and release all who have been detained on the grounds of exercising their fundamental rights.
• Put an end to the practice of forcibly mobilizing residents for participation in mass events.
Download full statement including statements on other Central Asian countries here.