Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan has a more diverse media environment than other countries in Central Asia and its civil society actively exercises and defends the right to freedom of expression, having defeated repeated legislative attempts to restrict their activities. Nevertheless, the government seeks to restrict discussion on politically sensitive topics, including inter-ethnic relations and corruption. Journalists, human rights defenders and internet users have faced groundless accusations, extremism, incitement and other criminal and civil charges aimed to prevent discussion on these topics. Broadly termed extremism charges have also been used to periodically block independent websites.  Defamation charges are regularly used to silence investigative journalists and government critics. Attempts to introduce a ban on ‘homosexual propaganda’ have been defeated; however, hate speech and physical violence against LGBT people remain prevalent.

Our work is focused on building the resilience of independent journalists, civil society and activists in Kyrgyzstan to the range of risks that they face. We support local lawyers to defend expression related cases, raising these with international human rights institutions and organise trainings for independent media outlets. Working with local partners, we engage on legislative reform to challenge new restrictions. We also work to increase participation of LGBT activists in broader civil society initiatives, through capacity building, increasing their ability to protect themselves when speaking out, and challenging hate speech.

Russia, Belarus and Central Asia: Stop the misuse of anti-terrorism and extremism laws
09.01.2024 3 min read

Russia, Belarus and Central Asia: Stop the misuse of anti-terrorism and extremism laws

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Central Asia: Scrap abusive legislation and protect free speech online
08.06.2023 7 min read

Central Asia: Scrap abusive legislation and protect free speech online

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Kyrgyzstan: Stop abusing legislation to target independent media
07.06.2023 7 min read

Kyrgyzstan: Stop abusing legislation to target independent media

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Central Asia: Freedom of expression online
21.12.2022 1 min read

Central Asia: Freedom of expression online

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Kyrgyzstan: Gagging free speech accelerates democratic backsliding
16.12.2022 6 min read

Kyrgyzstan: Gagging free speech accelerates democratic backsliding

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Kyrgyzstan: Release journalist held on charges of inciting ‘ethnic hatred’
09.09.2022 4 min read

Kyrgyzstan: Release journalist held on charges of inciting ‘ethnic hatred’

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Kyrgyzstan: End assault on free expression and independent media
27.04.2022 8 min read

Kyrgyzstan: End assault on free expression and independent media

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Kyrgyzstan: ARTICLE 19 welcomes the rejection of revised draft False Information Law
13.07.2021 14 min read

Kyrgyzstan: ARTICLE 19 welcomes the rejection of revised draft False Information Law

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Event: Challenge Hate conference, Kyrgyzstan
25.06.2021 1 min read

Event: Challenge Hate conference, Kyrgyzstan

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