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Civic space is becoming increasingly restricted in Central Asia, and civil society representatives are facing unprecedented challenges across the region. International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) and its regional partners call on the international community to use all available platforms to address these alarming trends and advocate for meaningful reforms that reverse repressive policies and safeguard civic freedoms. As international engagement in Central Asia grows, stakeholders should prioritise supporting the region’s embattled civil society, recognising its vital role in advancing democratic governance, human rights, the rule of law, justice, and public well-being.
A new briefing paper, jointly published by IPHR, Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights, and the Association for Human Rights in Central Asia, outlines pressing issues regarding restrictions on the freedoms of expression, association, and assembly in the five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan). The paper is released in connection with the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference, which gathers OSCE participating States, institutions, civil society, and other important stakeholders from 30 September to 11 October 2024, to discuss human rights in the OSCE region.
The briefing paper covers the following key issues:
Excessive and unjustified restrictions on civil society organizations (CSOs): The recent enactment of a foreign agent-style NGO law in Kyrgyzstan has raised particular alarm. The so-called ‘law on foreign representatives’ imposes stigmatising registration requirements and intrusive state oversight on foreign-funded NGOs engaged in ‘political’ activities – a term so broadly defined that it could encompass core CSO operations. Non-compliance may lead to severe consequences, including the suspension or liquidation of NGOs. The law has created widespread anxiety among CSOs, causing some to self-liquidate and others to restrict their activities to avoid repercussions. It also sets a troubling precedent for other Central Asian countries, where CSOs receiving foreign funding already face enhanced government scrutiny and widespread suspicion. The recent move in Kazakhstan to publicly list foreign-funded CSOs has reinforced these concerns.
At the same time, significant obstacles to CSO operations persist in the region. In Tajikistan, several hundred CSOs have been forcibly closed or pressured to shut down since 2022, leading to a sharp decline in the civil society sector. In Uzbekistan, human rights groups continue to struggle to obtain compulsory state registration, while in Turkmenistan, no human rights monitoring or advocacy groups are registered or able to operate openly.
Pressure on independent media and restrictions on access to information: The media climate in Kyrgyzstan, once relatively free, has deteriorated significantly due to government raids, arrests of journalists, forced media closure initiatives, and blocking of news sites. In Kazakhstan, independent media and journalists face regular harassment, and a new media law adopted in summer 2024 raises concerns about increased pressure, particularly on foreign outlets. Tajikistan’s media crackdown has intensified, as authorities heavily interfere with media operations and currently imprison more journalists than in any other country in the region. Turkmenistan maintains strict censorship, limiting internet access and persecuting those who challenge the official narrative. In Uzbekistan, despite official rhetoric supporting free speech, independent information platforms, journalists and bloggers are increasingly targeted by retaliatory actions, and draft legislation under consideration risks resulting in new restrictions on media content and operations.
Across the region, authorities use concerns about disinformation, extremism and so-called traditional values as pretexts to stifle critical speech and restrict access to information.
Restrictions on the freedom of assembly and lack of accountability for serious human rights violations: In 2022, authorities used harsh measures to suppress mass protests during the ‘Bloody January’ events in Kazakhstan, in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) in Tajikistan, and in the Republic of Karakalpakstan in Uzbekistan. Serious human rights violations, including excessive force, torture, and other abuses related to these events, have largely gone unpunished as authorities have failed to adequately investigate these allegations and hold perpetrators accountable.
Meanwhile, the right to peaceful assembly continues to be violated across the region. In Kyrgyzstan, a prolonged court-sanctioned ban on protests remains in place in central Bishkek, while in Kazakhstan, authorities routinely deny permission for peaceful protests and arbitrarily detain and penalise protesters before, during, and after assemblies. In Turkmenistan, authorities suppress spontaneous protests while forcibly mobilising citizens for state-organised events, threatening them with reprisals if they do not participate.
Persecution of critical voices: Throughout Central Asia, civil society activists, human rights defenders, journalists, and bloggers who criticise government policies, speak out against human rights violations, and advocate for accountability face severe persecution. They are subjected to surveillance, threats, and attacks, and are arrested, prosecuted in trials which do not meet international fair trial standards, and imprisoned in retaliation for exercising their freedoms of expression, association, and assembly. Those prosecuted often face charges initiated under broadly worded Criminal Code provisions used to suppress free speech, such as those related to disseminating ‘false’ or slanderous information, inciting hatred, or alleged extremism. Others are charged with fabricated offenses like extortion or fraud.
There are significant concerns about individuals serving politically-motivated prison sentences under harsh conditions.
Repression also extends beyond borders, with critical voices abroad increasingly targeted through transnational measures. Additionally, intimidation and harassment frequently extend to family members, creating a pervasive climate of fear and silencing dissent in the region.
The briefing paper is based on ongoing cooperation between IPHR and its Central Asian partners on monitoring and documenting civic space developments in the framework of the CIVICUS Monitor, an initiative that tracks and rates civic freedoms across the world. The CIVICUS Monitor currently classifies civic space as ‘repressed’ in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, with scores of 40 and 27, respectively (on a scale from 0 to 100 where 0 is the worst and 100 the best). Meanwhile, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan are rated as ‘closed’, scoring 18, 12, and 8, respectively. This means that all Central Asian countries now fall into one of the two worst categories.
The briefing paper can be downloaded below.