Appeal of the Human Rights Movement “Bir Duino Kyrgyzstan” to the OHCHR and the OSCE/ODIHR due to brutal dispersal of the Women's Solidarity March.
Мар 11.2020
The Kyrgyz Republic, being a member of the UN and having ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1994, is obliged to recognize and respect the right of its citizens to peaceful assembly in accordance with Article 21 of the Covenant. The use of this right is not subject to any restrictions, except those imposed in accordance with the law.
The right to freedom of peaceful assembly is an essential condition for implementation of other human rights, such as freedom of expression. The right to freedom of assembly, as one of the true foundations of democracy, is enshrined in the core human rights treaties, as well as in OSCE participating States commitments undertaken by them in 1990 in Copenhagen.
Kyrgyzstan, as a member of the UN and the OSCE, should take responsibility for complying with its obligations. Meanwhile, on 8 March 2020, in Bishkek, an unprecedentedly rude and tough crackdown on the peaceful Women's Solidarity March was carried out by about 50 masked provocateurs wearing white felt hats. They attacked the participants of the peaceful march, smashed all their equipment and tore the posters. They also threw eggs and stones at the women activists. Some march participants and journalists sustained bruises and other injuries.
The human rights organizations and feminist activists of Kyrgyzstan organize women's marches annually to raise awareness of women's rights and gender equality, and to condemn intolerance, violence and other forms of oppression against women.
The police, instead of arresting the provocateurs and protecting the demonstrators, caught the participants of the march, violating their right to freedom of peaceful assembly. As a result of their actions, about 70 people were delivered to the Sverdlovsk district police department. Some march participants were injured during the arrest. The children's writer Altyn Kapalova got bruises and sprains while being arrested.
For more than half an hour, the participants of the march were in the courtyard of the building, while the ambient temperature was +3 degrees Celsius. Then the police began to force the detainees enter the building of the police department in a rather tough manner. While entering the building, one of the participants of the march, a citizen of Ukraine Ekaterina Myachina, was hit on the head by a policeman.
After that, the march participants were forced to stay in the assembly hall of the Department of Internal Affairs for more than two hours, which was a violation of their right to freedom of movement.
Police officers did not either introduce themselves or explain the reason for the detention, they also did not allow lawyers and representatives of the Ombudsman’s office to enter the police department building.
One of the participants got sick - she had a panic attack. However, the police did not call an ambulance, it was called by the participants of the march. After their arrival, the ambulance crew was not allowed in for 20 minutes. In addition, the police did not provide any water to the detainees. Some water was provided by proponents of the detainees, who came to support them.
Eight organizers of the march were interrogated in separate rooms. Some of them were kept in the hallway and were not provided any chairs. They were provided with water not by police, but by their supporters. Among the organizers, police officers detained their lawyer Evgenia Krapivina.
None of them had their rights properly read to them, the police exerted psychological pressure on them, threatened to use force. A police officer tore Mokhira Suyarkulova’s passport.
Participants of the peaceful march were released after three hours of detention, when their identity was established by the police. Detention protocols were drawn up against the organizers of the march, imputing violation of the Article 82 of the Code on Violations “Disobedience to the Lawful Demand of an Internal Affairs Officer”. The brutal dispersal of the peaceful rally took place against the backdrop of the officials' statements that “all the efforts of the authorities are aimed at ensuring that women are confident in the future”.
At present, six march participants are under investigation for "disobedience to the lawful demand of an internal affairs officer." Among them are human rights defenders and feminist activists Gulyaim Aiylchy from the organization Bishkek Feminist Initiatives and Akbermet Kudaibergenova from the LGBTIQ organization Labrys, who is also a lawyer, university professor and journalist. All the activists denied the allegations.
On 10 March 2020, at least nine of the arrested demonstrators filed complaints of unlawful actions taken by police of the Sverdlovsk district with the State Committee for National Security.
The issue of the lawfulness of police actions should also be looked into due to their inaction towards the unknown men who attacked the activists. When dispersing the rally, not a single provocateur was detained and taken to the police. Several Kyrgyz media reported that the actions of the provocateurs were coordinated with law enforcement agencies and carried out with the tacit consent of the authorities.
Only on 9 March 2020, the Sverdlovsk District Department of Internal Affairs reported that five men were fined for causing public disturbance on 8 March 2020.
Earlier, a court in Kyrgyzstan banned public meetings in the center of Bishkek until 1 July 2020, in order to maintain public order and counter the threat of coronavirus. However, on 6 March 2020, the lawsuit on banning mass actions in the Sverdlovsk district was withdrawn from the court, and it was in this district that the women's march took place on 8 March 2020. The Sverdlovsk district Department of Internal Affairs publicly stated that the organizers of the women's march did not notify the internal affairs bodies of the march.
The statement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs about the march being unauthorized due to the prohibitions of district courts to conduct such activities, its reference to the fact that there was no proper coordination with the Sverdlovsk district Akimiat and the Bishkek Mayor’s Office, contradict the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic. Article 34 states that everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, and prohibition and limitation on conduct of a peaceful assembly are unacceptable, therefore the actions to disperse the women's march are a direct violation of the constitutional right of the citizens. The day before the demonstration, the organizers received online threats, and their group chat on Telegram was hacked and deleted.
As a protest on 10 March 2020, a rally was held in Bishkek in defense of the participants of the peaceful march, demanding the resignation of the management of the Sverdlovsk district Department of Internal Affairs of Bishkek and a thorough investigation of the attack on the participants of the women's march. Despite the fact that the protest that took place on 10 March was completely peaceful, a group of women tried to disrupt it, grabbing and pushing the protesters.
Kyrgyzstan, as a member of the United Nations, bears international obligations to respect human rights, specifically civil and political rights.
As the OSCE participating state, Kyrgyzstan should implement all 6 guidelines on freedom of peaceful assembly:
● Presumption in favor of holding assemblies.
● State’s duty to protect peaceful assembly.
● Legality. Any restrictions imposed must have a formal basis in law.
● Proportionality. Any restrictions imposed on freedom of assembly must be proportional.
● Good administration.
● In the process of achieving legitimate goals by the authorities, preference should be given to measures involving the least interference.
● Non-discrimination. Freedom of peaceful assembly is to be enjoyed equally by everyone.
Therefore, we urge the OHCHR and the OSCE/ODIHR to do the following:
● Urgently respond to the arbitrary action applied to the participants of the Women's Solidarity March;
● Call on the Kyrgyz authorities to stop violence against women, guarantee security and protection to each participant of the peaceful march;
● Call on the Kyrgyz authorities to respect the right of citizens to peaceful assembly, take all necessary actions to prevent such cases of using force and disrupting peaceful assemblies in the future;
● Appeal to the authorities of Kyrgyzstan on the need for a comprehensive investigation of the fact of violation of the citizens' rights to peaceful assembly, for holding accountable those who made the decision to limit the peaceful assembly and law enforcement officials who participated in the dispersal of the march;
● Find and hold accountable the provocateurs who committed violence against women and children participating in the peaceful rally;
● Provide the necessary legal and physical protection, medical and psychological assistance to the participants of the women’s march, who were detained and injured.
In order to further prevent violations of women's rights, to ensure the possibility of their promotion and gender equality, the Kyrgyz Republic should fulfill its obligations to prevent narrowing of the political space for civil society organizations, guarantee independence of trade unions, which will counteract the radicalization of the society and possible tragic events.
Signatures:
Human Rights Movement “Bir Duino-Kyrgyzstan”,
Members of the Expert Council of the HRM “Bir Duino-Kyrgyzstan”
Should you have any questions, please, contact us via e-mail: birduinokyrgyzstan@gmail.com
www.birduino.kg
http://cbd.minjust.gov.kg/act/view/ru-ru/17581?cl=ru-ru
https://www.osce.org/ru/odihr/24524?download=true
https://www.facebook.com/altyn.kapalova/posts/3190453464318096
https://kloop.kg/blog/2020/03/08/live-bishkekskij-marsh-za-prava-zhenshhin/#wtf_1299955
https://24.kg/obschestvo/145875_razgon_marsha_zaprava_jenschin_kak_reagirovali_gorojane_ivlasti/
https://svodka.akipress.org/news:1601585/?from=svodka&place=newsload
