Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights

23.02.2005: Kyrgyz Authorities Violating OSCE Commitments by Interfering with Democratic Process

Vienna, 23 February 2005. Thousands of Kyrgyz citizens in several districts have protested court decisions blocking opposition candidates from participating in the 27 February parliamentary elections. The decisions are seen as based on false charges; in one case, a candidate was thus prevented from competing against a relative of Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev.

“The government of President Akaev appears to be betraying its responsibilities as a member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to ensure a free and fair election. The authorities are in fact attempting to prevent a free and fair election,” according to IHF Executive Director Aaron Rhodes.

The IHF is calling upon Kyrgyz authorities to do all they can, in the remaining days, to abide by OCSE commitments. Relevant commitments are printed below.

The IHF is deeply disturbed by pressure against the few remaining independent media in Kyrgyzstan; by credible reports of massive bribery of voters by candidates backed by government; and by the continuing disruption of opposition meetings and other campaign activities.

The President is suing one of the independent news sources for “slander” because it published a list of his properties. Websites critical of the government, including that of IHF member the Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights, are regularly sabotaged.

Numerous pro-governmental candidates are reportedly bribing voters for their support by offering money, food and building materials.

The IHF has received a wide range of credible reports of disruptions of opposition campaigns and voter-list irregularities suggesting complicity by local election officials in manipulating the process.

For more information:

Aaron Rhodes, IHF Executive Director, +43 676 635 66 12

Ramazan Dyryldaev, chair of the KCHR, + 43 699 110 99 332

International Standards of Elections DOCUMENT OF THE COPENHAGEN MEETING OF THE CONFERENCE ON THE HUMAN DIMENSION OF THE CSCE Copenhagen, 29 June 1990:

6. The participating States declare that the will of the people, freely and fairly expressed through periodic and genuine elections, is the basis of the authority and legitimacy of all government. The participating States will accordingly respect the right of their citizens to take part in the governing of their country, either directly or through representatives freely chosen by them through fair electoral processes. They recognize their responsibility to defend and protect in accordance with their laws, their international human rights obligations and international commitments, the democratic order freely established through the will of the people against the activities of persons, groups or organizations that engage in or refuse to renounce terrorism or violence aimed at the overthrow of that order or of that of another participating State.

7. To ensure that the will of the people serves as the basis of the ability of government, the participating States will:

7.5 - respect the right of citizens to seek political or public office, individually or as representatives of political
parties or organizations, without discrimination;

7.6 - respect the right of individuals and groups to establish, in full freedom, their own political parties or other political organizations and provide such political parties and organizations with the necessary legal guarantees to enable them to compete with each other on a basis of equal treatment before the law and by the authorities;

7.7 - ensure that law and public policy work to permit political campaigning to be conducted in a fair and free atmosphere in which neither administrative action, violence nor intimidation bars the parties and the candidates from freely presenting their views and qualifications, or prevents the voters from learning and discussing them or from casting their vote free of fear of retribution;

7.8 - provide that no legal or administrative obstacle stands in the way of unimpeded access to the media on a non-discriminatory basis for all political groupings and individuals wishing to participate in the electoral process;