On May 6, two activists of “Oyan, Qazaqstan” (kaz. for “Wake up, Kazakhstan!”) political movements were detained for protesting the election results. Both have been actively protesting in the past and were detained on the grounds of “violating the procedure for organising and holding peaceful assemblies” for solitary pickets in November 2022 and March this year.

Held a protest, detained, released, detained again

Vlada Yermolcheva has been demonstrating with a poster stating “We were robbed of elections” in the central pedestrian street in Almaty on March 26, a week after the parliamentary election. She was swiftly detained that day, but later released. On May 6, police officers approached her in a cafe and demanded she follow them to a police station. On the night to May 7, she was found guilty of a violation of Article 488(7) of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Darkhan Sharipov has also been detained for a protest on November 20, 2022. On the day of the presidential election, a group of activists unfurled a banner reading “Will we live to (see) fair elections?” on the main square in Almaty. All were detained by the police in less than ten minutes and released the same day without charge. On May 7, the night court found Sharipov guilty of a violation of Article 488(6). 

Police and court violated the procedure

In his interview to The Village Kazakhstan Yermolcheva’s attorney, Talgat Miyermanov, pointed out numerous procedural violations. No document stating the time and date of Yermolcheva’s first detention in March has been provided in the court materials. The detention report is dated 27 March – a day after the initial detention – but includes information from 19 April. Moreover, possible penalties stated in the law include a fine, an arrest is imposed only in exceptional cases – for instance, when a person has a previous conviction. The court, however, chose the harshest punishment – arrest with the maximum term, despite the fact that Yermolcheva had no criminal record.

Penalties for peaceful assembly without permission

Kazakhstan’s law “On Peaceful Assemblies”  is heavily criticised by civil society for violating the right of peaceful assembly. While the Constitution grants the right to peacefully gather to all Kazakhstani citizens, and the Law states that it is sufficient to inform local authorities without obtaining explicit permission to organise a demonstration, in fact there is a very limited space where such gatherings could be held, and the organisers need to “book” them in advance by the same city council, who has the ability to veto the assembly. For the mobile demonstrations such as rallies, notification is not enough – one has to apply for a written approval of the authorities.

Read more on Novastan: Women’s Day in Kazakhstan: hundreds gather for rally in Almaty

Human rights defender Tatiana Chernobil, commented to Novastan on why the authorities acted so long after the pickets took place, says one can be held liable within one year after the peaceful assembly itself.

“This law prohibits the holding of peaceful assemblies without the so-called sanction of the Akimat (city council), – explains Chernobil. – Pickets under this law are considered to be peaceful assemblies, which means that holding them, the same as with other peaceful assemblies, without notification and, importantly, without obtaining the necessary reciprocal approval of the Akimat will be illegal.

Darkhan and Vlada held their actions without notifying the Akimat out of principle, rightfully believing that holding of solitary pickets should not require the approval of the authorities. Fair enough because these are international human rights standards. But our government and the law believe otherwise. Therefore, holding even single pickets without Akimat approval in Kazakhstan is fraught with penalties.

What is interesting is that, in general, the limitation period for administrative responsibility established by the Code of Administrative Offences is 2 months, but a special period of 1 year is established for violating the legislation on peaceful assemblies.

It is also interesting to see what other administrative offences have such a long limitation period of 1 year. These are ‘corruption offences, unlawful interference of officials into entrepreneurial activity and also for offences in the sphere of inspections of private enterprise and other forms of control and supervision with visits to private enterprise, taxation, environment protection, protection of competition, customs, legislation on pension provision, on obligatory social insurance, on energy saving and improvement of energy efficiency, on state secrets, on natural monopolies, subsoil and subsoil use.’ This is the kind of company that peaceful assemblies find themselves in,” – concludes Chernobil.

Verdict upheld

On May 11, after Yermolcheva’s verdict was upheld in the court of appeal, she declared she is going on a hunger strike.

In his letter from detention center, Darkhan Sharipov sends warm greetings to his fellow activists: “You must not be ashamed for your civic position; the president and the state must be ashamed of imprisoning citizens for dissent. Until there is one person willing to fight for their rights and freedoms, I have no doubt about the future of this country.”

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Written by Anna Wilhelmi

Edited by Abby Scripka

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A man protests on the streets of Almaty for the release of all political prisoners in Kazakhstan. His sign reads: We demand an end to harassment of civil society activists! Release of all political prisoners. In January 2022, more than 200 people were killed in violent riots in Kazakhstan. Despite subsequent reforms and announcements of a “new Kazakhstan,” the process of coming to terms with the events, often referred to as “bloody January,” has stalled. For the relatives of those killed, the tough battle with the authorities means further hardship. Credit: Nils Dörling

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The Kyrgyz parliament approved the outline for an agreement of a new border between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.  The outline includes handing over the Kempir-Abad water reservoir to their Uzbek neighbours.  The news has caused a stir in the country.This article was originally published on Novastan’s French website on 27 October 2022.

On 10 October the Kyrgyz Supreme Council’s Committee on International Affairs and Defense gathered to vote on the outline for an agreement to hand over a debated region to Uzbekistan. Particularly debated in this project is the Kempir-Abad water reservoir bordering Uzbekistan in the Osh Region.  According to the Kyrgyz news agency 24.kg, the reservoir is 4400 hectares and holds almost 1.9 cubic kilometers of water.  It is of great importance to the inhabitants in the region as a source of water for both human consumption and agriculture.  According to the agreement’s outline, the reservoir would be handed over to Uzbekistan. If the agreement is signed, then Kyrgyzstan would receive 19 700 hectares of land in return.  However, considering how dependent the local population is on the water reservoir, the handover is proving very difficult.

A secret vote

The vote on 10 October on the outline of the agreement occurred behind closed doors.  According to reports from Kyrgyz media Kaktus, the details of the project were not shared with the public in order to prevent any uproar.  Furthermore, only 10 out of the 15 representatives of the committee were present. Only a portion of the agreement’s text was shared with them on the day of the vote – actions that are unconstitutional according to the American media agency Eurasianet.  The agreement was approved with six “yes” and four “no” votes. The delegates who voted against the agreement illuminated the details of the affair on the very same day.  Delegate Chingiz Aidarbekov reported to 24.kg that he had not seen the document.  “I said that I couldn’t vote for the agreement before I read it.  So I voted against it,” he said.

A failed cover-up

This situation has led to criticism towards the Kyrgyz government.  After the procedural errors were made public, the parliament declared that the agreement could be voted upon only after a plenary session with the representatives and the president, as required by pre-defined protocols. The controversy is particularly strong in the Osh Region and the border city Özgön, where, after becoming aware of the affair, a committee for the protection of the Kempir-Abad reservoir was established.  The committee, which considers itself to be defending Kyrgyz sovereignty over the reservoir and representing the affected community, is made up of politicians, activists, and civil actors.  Numerous demonstrations have been organized, which have been attended by several dozen people.

Repression against protests

The government of President Sadyr Japarov reacted to the oppositionist protests with repressive measures. On 23 October the houses of about a dozen oppositionists and activists were searched, according to Eurasianet.  Some of them were imprisoned. The authorities claim that the arrests occurred due to attempted organizing of mass unrest, but did not give an exact number of how many were arrested.  The president later explained that these oppositionists were “provocateurs” who would try to build the foundation for his overthrow. These statements were immediately condemned by the opposition, who pointed out the authoritarian nature of the authorities vis-à-vis a non-violent civil movement.

A touchy subject

Prior to his election in 2021, Japarov based his campaign on the defense of Kyrgyz sovereignty.  The outline of the agreement is therefore seen as him going back on promises made almost two years ago. The government is engaging in risky two-faced behaviour on the national level.  To justify the agreement, Japarov claims that joint management of the reservoir is planned.  The Russian daily Kommersant reports that Japarov considers this an improvement over the previous administration of the dam.

Media in Kyrgyzstan increasingly threatened

According to Eurasianet, the arrests on 23 October have occurred in the broader context of attempts to control the opposition and the media.  The government has imprisoned activists and journalists regularly in the past several months, and now wants to pass a law which would lead to greater control over independent media to reduce its influence. None of the parties which have taken a stance against this law were present during the drafting of the law’s text. Read more on Novastan: Kyrgyzstan: Journalists complain about attempts to hack their accounts The Kyrgyz news portal Kloop discovered that Radio Azattyk, the Kyrgyz branch of Radio Free Europe and one of the most important critical media voices in the country, was blocked for two months in a decision made by the Ministry of Culture on 26 October. Radio Azattyk supposedly spread false information about the conflict with Tajikistan and therefore had their site blocked in accordance with the law “On protection from incorrect information,” signed in August 2021.  This law allows the government to block websites which are viewed as brokers of fake information without a court order.  

Written by the editors of Novastan’s French website

Translated from French to German by Michèle Häfliger

Translated from German to English by Mari Paine

Edited by Maya Ivanova

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A new parliament was elected in Kyrgyzstan on 4 October. Almost all election winners are parties loyal to the government. As of the following day, several parties do not recognize the results, and thousands protest against fraudulent elections.

This article was originally published on Novastan’s German version.

“The Kazakh are probably once more shocked looking at Kyrgyz Twitter,” writes political commentator Azim Azimov on the microblogging service. He is alluding to how openly citizens in Kyrgyzstan express their political opinions compared to their northern neighbours. In fact, on the day after the parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan, anger and sadness reign in the local segment of social media, where the majority of users are critical of the government.  

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From the perspective of the opposition, the situation has materialized as was feared. According to the preliminary election results, the Birimdik party emerged as the winner with just under 25 % of the vote. Birimdik is considered the successor to the fragmented governing party SDPK.

Shortly behind them comes the party Mekenim Kyrgyzstan (“My Homeland Kyrgyzstan”), which is usually associated with the former customs officer Rayimbek Matraimov. According to international journalistic research, Rayimbek Matraimov’s involvement in smuggling and corruption networks makes him one of the most influential people in the country.

Kyrgyzstan and Bütün Kyrgyzstan (“United Kyrgyzstan”) also make it into parliament, respectively with just under 9% and a solid 7%. The Kyrgyzstan party is thus the only party from the previous legislative period to make it back into parliament. It is usually associated with the large business holding company Ayu and is considered loyal to the government.

After several attempts, the Bütün Kyrgyzstan party made it into parliament for the first time, identifying itself as an opposition party in the run-up to the elections. 

To enter parliament, parties must obtain at least 7% of the vote and 0.7% in each of Kyrgyzstan’s seven regions.

A barely representative parliament

As the Kyrgyz online media Kloop.kg reports, Birimdik, Mekenim Kyrgyzstan and Kyrgyzstan have spent more money in the election campaign than all other parties combined. Bütün Kyrgyzstan, on the other hand, made a disproportionately large profit from relatively low investments, drawing on a well-organized voter base and led by the political veteran Adakhan Madumarov.

The remaining 12 parties failed to enter parliament because of the 7% blocking clause. It was particularly close for Mekenchil which is only 0.04% away from entering parliament. Respublika, whose presidential candidate Ömürbek Babanov had received more than 30 percent of the votes in the elections in 2017, is at just under 6%. Ata Meken (“Fatherland”), a long-standing opposition party, managed just over four percent. 1.82% of voters voted “against all”, with an average turnout of 56.2%.

This means that a slightly smaller proportion of eligible voters took part in the election than five years ago. According to Deputy Prime Minister Akram Madumarov, almost half a million citizens were unable to vote because they did not register their biometric data. Since 2015, a biometric recognition system has been used in elections in Kyrgyzstan. Moreover, because of the coronavirus pandemic, people with high temperatures were not allowed to enter polling stations until after 6 pm.

In addition to a relatively low voter turnout, this time the 7% blocking clause excludes a particularly high percentage of votes. The four elected parties together hold only just over 65 % of the vote. Five years ago the figure was just under 90%. “Those in power have created a ticking time bomb, so many votes have remained on the streets,” political activist Nursultan Akylbek commented on Twitter.

Protests against election fraud

On the evening of elections, several opposition parties declared they did not recognise the results. The parties Reforma, Chong Kazat, Ordo, Yyman Nuru and Meken Yntymagy joined forces in calling for a demonstration. According to Kloop.kg, over 2000 people gathered in Ala-Too Square in the capital Bishkek on Monday afternoon. Representatives of other parties such as Respublika, Ata Meken, Bütün Kyrgyzstan and Mekenchil also joined the protest. Further demonstrations are taking place in the cities of Talas and Naryn.

“As you know, there can be no elections in Kyrgyzstan without breaking the rules. This election will probably not be an exception either”, wrote Kloop.kg at the beginning of election day. The independent media company was involved in documenting violations of the electoral law with 120 election observers. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was represented at the election with only a small observer mission as the 350 short-term observers originally planned could not enter the country because of the coronavirus pandemic.

While biometric voter recognition makes traditional forms of organised electoral fraud such as carousel voting and ballot stuffing much more difficult, this year numerous indications of vote buying by individual parties were observed. Outside some polling stations, for example, there were people keeping lists of voters supposed to vote for a given party. Some of these people also had face masks with certain characteristics. In other cases, voters were filmed receiving money after the vote.

Several violations of the secrecy of the ballot were observed as well: polling station staff stood too close to the ballot box or even looked over the shoulders of voters in the voting booth. In other cases, voters illegally photographed their ballot papers.

Finally, even before the election, the use of the so-called “Forma-2” form, through which voters can request to vote at a polling station other than their registered address, was criticized. According to critics, parties could use such applications to have their voters vote in other regions and thus make it through the regional blocking clause of 0.7%. Cases of collective voter transport suggest such a practice.

A “very dirty” election

“Especially in the city of Osh the election was very dirty. I say it quite openly. What kind of election rigging has not been shown in social media since this morning,” even Iskender Matraimov of Mekenim Kyrgyzstan explained the evening of the election. He added that his party should have received significantly more votes. Party leader Mirlan Bakirov nevertheless accepted the results.

Nearly 100 different complaints were received by the election commission, but according to its representative Tynchtyk Shaynazarov, they have no influence on the election results. “However, as far as individual parties or individual candidates are concerned, their illegal activities may have consequences. They can also be excluded from the election,” he added.

The anger of the protesters is now directed on the one hand against the government and parties, on the other against those who sold their vote. “These elections are legitimate. Absolutely from the people. Nobody has forced a million people to accept money. This is a stupid and irresponsible behavior of adult citizens. Not Raim [Rayimbek Matraimov, editor’s note] and not Birimdik are guilty, but the citizens themselves,” declared political expert Azim Azimov on Twitter in the evening.

Other observers, however, also point out that economic conditions and political disinterest can explain the sale of votes: “I don’t know how to blame the poor old people who receive 2000 som (about 21 euros) pension. They have very little left to live, they don’t believe the authorities and sell their vote for a monthly pension,” writes Twitter user Aizada Marat, for example.

Bektur Iskender, co-founder of Kloop.kg, also identifies economic causes for the election rigging. “In fact, our main problem remains poverty. If the people in Kyrgyzstan weren’t so poor, they wouldn’t sell so many votes for so little money,” he explained on election night. 

The glass of democracy half full or half empty?

“Although candidates could generally campaign freely, there were a number of concerns, including reports of candidate intimidation and disruption of campaign events,” writes the OSCE in a press statement. Thus, structural political and economic problems remain, but on the other hand, an increased focus on party programs as well as the ongoing protest movement point to a growing political awareness. In this way, a new activist party like Reforma was able to gather more than 30,000 votes in its election debut. “We have a protest electorate, it is just spread incredibly wide between numerous parties,” Bektur Iskender said.

The final election results will be announced within 20 days, once ballots have been counted manually and the complaints have been taken into account. Much may still happen between now and then, especially in the light of the protests that are beginning, sometimes with calls for new elections. Even Mekenchil could still make it to parliament as the fifth party.

If the current election result is retained, the political status quo will prevail for the time being, although a maximum of 47 members of the outgoing parliament may be given a new mandate. But it is also still open how the relationship between the four parties in parliament will develop. Birimdik and Mekenim Kyrgyzstan in particular, as two different poles of power, could ultimately find themselves in a competitive relationship.

Florian Coppenrath
Co-founder

Translated by Magnus Obermann

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