* This document contains the initial report due on 4 October 1998.
The annexes to the report submitted by the Government of Kyrgyzstan are available for consultation in the secretariat archives.
Article 1
Article 2
Article 3
Article 4
Article 5
Paragraph (a)
Paragraph (b)
Paragraph (c)
Paragraphs (d) (i) and (ii)
Paragraph (d) (iii)
Paragraph (d) (iv)
Paragraph (d) (v)
Paragraph (d) (vi)
Paragraphs (d) (vii) and (viii)
Paragraph (d) (ix)
Paragraph (e) (i)
Paragraph (e) (ii)
Paragraph (e) (iii)
Paragraph (e) (iv)
Paragraph (e) (v)
Paragraph (e) (vi)
Article 6
Article 7
Annexes
1. Owing to its geopolitical situation and historical circumstance, the Kyrgyz Republic came into being as a multi-ethnic State with an ethnically complex population comprising several large ethnic groups besides the autochthonous nation. As of 1 January 1998, the population included over 80 nationalities, of which the largest were Kyrgyz, with 61.2 per cent, Russians, with 14.9 per cent, Uzbeks, with 14.4 per cent, Ukrainians, with 1.5 per cent, and Tatars, with 1.1 per cent. Other ethnic groups account for less than 10 per cent of the Republic's population. In some cities and districts the Kyrgyz are outnumbered by other nationalities. The Kyrgyz are in the minority in Chuy Oblasty, with 40.4 per cent of the population, and in Bishkek, with 35.7 per cent. Figures are provided only on some of the largest nationalities across the Republic as a whole (see table 1).
2. The Convention and the civil rights it embraces are reflected in the Basic Law of the Kyrgyz Republic: the Constitution. The Constitution wholly excludes the possibility of racial discrimination and confers equal rights on all citizens. Article 15 states that everyone in the Republic is equal before the law and the courts. No one may be subjected to any kind of discrimination or encroachment on his rights and freedoms on grounds of origin, sex, race, nationality, language, faith, political or religious convictions or any other personal or social trait or circumstance. The ban on discrimination on grounds of race, nationality, language or faith and the principle of equal rights are enshrined in many laws and regulations, notably the Civil Code (art. 2, art. 52, art. 56, para. 3, and art. 223, para. 3), the Citizenship Act (preamble), the Penal Code, the Education Act (art. 2), the Labour Code (art. 11) and the Marriage and Family Code (art. 4). The principle of equality before the law is upheld in the Code of Civil Procedure, article 6 of which, "Administration of justice only by the courts and on the premise that citizens are equal before the law and the courts", states:
and in the Code of Criminal Procedure, article 15 of which, "Administration of justice on the premise that citizens are equal before the law and the courts", states:
The protection of all against discrimination, notably discrimination on grounds of race, nationality or ethnic origin, is one of the most important of the objectives enunciated in Kyrgyz legislation and policy.
3. The Kyrgyz Republic guarantees the preservation, equality and unrestricted development and use of all the languages used by its population (art. 5 of the Constitution). It ensures the unrestricted development of other national groups' languages (State Language Act, art. 4). Every citizen has the right to unrestricted choice of language in which to communicate (State Language Act, art. 6). Tables 1 and 2 show how the population breaks down by language. Besides the State language, the local authorities in areas with high concentrations of ethnic inhabitants (Uzbeks, Tajiks, Germans, Dungans, Uighurs etc.) are entitled to use their native languages. Anyone who cannot speak those languages will be furnished with a translation (State Language Act, art. 6). The main language used in culture, the mass media, public information and films is the State language. At the same time, due regard is had to the cultural interests of those living in the Republic who speak Russian and other languages (State Language Act, art. 24). In areas with high concentrations of ethnic inhabitants (Uzbeks, Tajiks, Germans, Dungans, Uighurs etc.), schooling is provided and material is published and broadcast in their native languages, and ethnic cultures are permitted to flourish (State Language Act, art. 25). Russian is widely used alongside Kyrgyz. In January 1997, the Constitutional Court handed down a decision in response to a petition from 57 members of Parliament seeking clarification of the wording of article 5, paragraph 2, of the Constitution: "Russian shall be or may be used as an official language". The Court confirmed that the State language is Kyrgyz but Russian is used as an official language, and no infringement of citizens' rights or freedoms on the grounds that they do not know the State or official languages is admissible. Compact ethnic communities within the Republic (Dungans, Germans, Uighurs etc.) have their own newspapers and schools where the teaching is given in their native languages; they are entitled to broadcast over the State television and radio. All national minorities and ethnic groups have equal rights and obligations as regards the satisfaction of their religious needs and requirements. Despite the divisions that opened up between the republics of the former Soviet Union in 1991, a variety of nationalities continue to coexist in peace in Kyrgyzstan.
4. Under the "Kyrgyzstan Our Common Home" programme, every citizen of the Republic is part of the single population of the country. The programme has yielded positive results in State inter-ethnic policy, and enunciated the notions of unity and solidarity among the people of Kyrgyzstan. The Government has been taking steps to set up National-Cultural Centres for free communication in any language; to guarantee the rights to education, to employment and equal participation in the social and political life of the country; and to establish ethnically-based general schools, children's institutions and institutions of higher learning.
5. Ethnically-based organizations devoted to protecting the interests of ethnic groups and upholding their linguistic and cultural identity began to form in 1992; by 1994 they numbered over 20. On 7 December 1993, the leaders of 11 such organizations suggested that the President of the Republic should convene a kurultai (council) of the people of Kyrgyzstan to discuss common problems, look for solutions and seek ways to escape the crisis affecting the country so as to strengthen inter-ethnic concord. The President supported the suggestion and issued a decree setting up a committee to arrange for a kurultai discussing matters relating to the strengthening of inter-ethnic concord and friendship among the peoples of Kyrgyzstan. Two kurultai were held, in 1992 and 1994. The kurultai held on 22 January 1994 decided to convene an Assembly of the People of Kyrgyzstan: a grass-roots public organization whose function it is to express the national interests of the ethnic groups that make up the people of Kyrgyzstan and ensure nationwide solidarity in the Republic.
6. Convening the Assembly of the People of Kyrgyzstan (APK) was a novel and, as time has shown, effective way of shaping a social-cum-governmental system to uphold inter-ethnic concord and civil peace in the Republic. In effect, the Assembly has become a unique popular parliament giving each and every ethnic group living in Kyrgyzstan the right to be heard. The objectives of the Assembly are set forth in its Charter: to promote the strengthening of inter-ethnic concord, civil peace and unity among the people of Kyrgyzstan by all possible means; to further the interests of the national minorities who together with the Kyrgyz make up the population of the country; to reconcile those interests with the interests of the Kyrgyz – the ethnic majority; to bring together all the ethnic groups in Kyrgyzstan and imbue them with universal humanistic values; to avert conflict situations, and to resist the emergence of confrontation and extremism in inter-ethnic relations. With those ends in view, the Assembly:
(a) Promotes the acceptance into the public consciousness of the commonality of historical fortunes and long-term interests among the ethnic groups making up the Kyrgyzstan people, and fosters interaction between, and the mutual enrichment of, their cultures;
(b) Fosters the activities of public ethnic-culture groups and associations;
(c) Fosters, pursuant to the appropriate democratic procedures and international standards, the exercise by national minorities of their right to take part in public and national life, especially where matters affecting their interests are concerned;
(d) Can establish a variety of educational, cultural, religious and human rights organizations to preserve and promote national minorities' ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious identities;
(e) Devises and carries out, and where necessary brings to the attention of the President, the Zhogorku Kenesh (parliament) and the Government, activities to preserve and promote the spiritual, moral and physical health of each ethnic group, national minorities' ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identities and their languages, self-images, morals and habits;
(f) studies the situation in the country and makes proposals to local authorities on means of solving ethnic and inter-ethnic problems;
(g) Represents the interests of the ethnic groups living in the Kyrgyz Republic within international non-governmental organizations concerned with ethnic questions.
The Assembly has been involved in discussions on a range of legislative proposals including a bill on the protection of national minority rights; it has drafted amendments to the Public Associations Act and proposed amendments to the Elections Act. These amendments seek to increase the Assembly's role in representing the interests of all ethnic groups and protecting the rights of national minorities. One distinctive outcome of this phase in the Assembly's work was the drafting of a Presidential decree "On the status of the Council of the People's Assembly of Kyrgyzstan", which the President signed on 14 January 1997. The decree gives the Council of the Assembly the status of an advisory and consultative body to the President on inter-ethnic relations and nationality policy. Since its inception, the Assembly has fostered the renaissance and development of national cultures and languages, lending its support to efforts in this direction by the National-Cultural Centres. Thanks to its efforts, many of the latter have secured a nationwide platform and stage. They have taken part in pan-ethnic celebrations, and have been especially active in marking the 1000th anniversary of the Manas epic and the anniversaries of outstanding public figures, cultural figures and scholars from the various peoples that inhabit Kyrgyzstan. There is a tendency in cultural policy to move from the cultivation of aesthetic tastes and mass cultural events to an all-embracing approach to the development of culture: ethnically-based education, ethnically-based mass media and the intellectual potential of particular ethnic groups. The Assembly currently counts 28 National-Cultural Centres and ethnically-based public associations among its membership. Since it was established, it and its constituent organizations have maintained a variety of contacts with Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) structures concerned with ethnic development and inter-ethnic relations. Most such contacts take place with the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities. They began with the first international seminar on international relations and regional cooperation, held in Bishkek under Government auspices and attended by the OSCE High Commissioner, Mr. van der Stoel. The agenda for the seminar was varied, and the seminar itself marked the first step towards a more thorough analysis of the situation in inter-ethnic relations. The Assembly's Information and Research Centre was set up in January 1996 with backing from the High Commissioner and the Foundation for Inter-Ethnic Relations; it went into operation in June the same year. Seminars were held in 1996 and 1997 under the aegis of, and with support from, Mr. van der Stoel. The subject of the first was "Laying the legal groundwork for inter-ethnic relations – practical aspects". The seminar was run on 28 June 1996 by the High Commissioner's Foundation for Inter-Ethnic Relations, APK and the Kyrgyz Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Invited international experts included Professor G. Alfredsson, the Director of the Raul Wallenberg Institute for Human Rights and Human-rights Legislation, Walter Palm, a senior political adviser in the National Minority Policy Coordination Department, Public Administration Directorate, Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Netherlands, and Aleksei Semyonov, a member of the Government in Tallinn and member of the Estonian President's Roundtable. The seminar was attended by leaders of ethnic organizations, members of parliament and Zhogorku Kenesh staff, representatives of the Government ministries and departments concerned and a variety of international organizations. The second seminar took place on 7 July 1997, under APK auspices, on the topic "Towards ethnic stability and harmony". It was attended by the High Commissioner on National Minorities, Mr. van der Stoel, his adviser Mr. Stefan Vassiliev, the Deputy Director of the Foundation for Inter-Ethnic Relations, Mr. Jonathan Cohen, and OSCE experts Mr. Clem MacCarthy from Northern Ireland and Ms. Bess Brown, a staff member at the OSCE office in Tashkent. At a rough estimate, resources totalling US$ 12,800 from the Small Projects Fund of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan and US$ 15,000 from the Foundation for Inter-Ethnic Relations were mobilized for the seminars, for technical backstopping of the activities of the Assembly's Information and Research Centre, and to finance the first issue of the High Commissioner's bulletin. The OSCE High Commissioner is in regular contact with the Assembly leadership and the leaders of ethnic organizations concerned with the rights of national minorities and inter-ethnic relations; he studies the situation in this sphere and makes recommendations. Since the Assembly has been in operation (since January 1994) he has visited Kyrgyzstan six times, going twice to the south, and has taken part personally in the two seminars, attended two extended sessions of the Presidium of the Assembly, and had several meetings with leaders of ethnic organizations. The Assembly continues to receive constant support and financial assistance. An international seminar on the handling of inter-ethnic relations for akims (oblasty governors) and central Government representatives was held in 1998 under APK auspices with financial support from the Foundation for Inter-Ethnic Relations. This provided an opportunity to improve the level of work with national minorities, strengthen inter-ethnic relations, refine policy on nationalities and build a tolerant society in Kyrgyzstan.
7. In the course of the country's legal reforms, new laws are being passed that establish the principle of non-discrimination as called for in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The new Penal Code, which took effect on 1 January 1998, contains provisions designed to combat a variety of forms of discrimination, racial discrimination among them (arts. 299, 134, 373).
8. Apartheid is not practised in the Kyrgyz Republic. Kyrgyzstan acceded to the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid and the International Convention against Apartheid in Sports in 1997.
9. Acts designed to arouse ethnic, racial or religious hatred, demean ethnic dignity or propagandize citizens' exclusiveness, superiority or inferiority on the basis of their faith, nationality or race are punishable under the Penal Code if committed publicly or through the mass media (art. 299). The Penal Code defines penalties for the following racial discrimination-related offences.
Article 134 (Violation of citizens' equal rights) states:
1. Direct or indirect violations of or encroachments on human and civil rights and liberties as a function of sex, race, nationality, language, origin, estate or employment situation, residence, religious or other convictions or membership of public associations which injure a citizen's legitimate interests
- shall be punishable by a fine of up to fifty times the minimum monthly wage or by up to two months' detention;
2. The same actions, if performed while taking advantage of an official position
- shall be punishable by a fine of up to one hundred times the minimum monthly wage or by up to two years' imprisonment.
Under article 299 (Arousal of ethnic, racial or religious hatred),
1. Acts designed to arouse ethnic, racial or religious hatred, demean ethnic dignity or propagandize citizens' exclusiveness, superiority or inferiority on grounds of their attitude to religion, their nationality or their race, if committed publicly or through the mass media
- shall be punishable by a fine of up between one hundred and five hundred times the minimum monthly wage, by arrest for up to six months, or by between one and three years' imprisonment;
2. The same actions, if performed:
1. With the use or threat of violence;
2. By an individual taking advantage of his official position;
3. By an organized group
- shall be punishable by up to five years' imprisonment.
Article 373 (Genocide) states:
"Acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group by killing members of the group, causing them serious bodily harm, forcibly preventing births, forcibly transferring children, forcibly resettling them or inflicting on them conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction
- shall be punishable by between 12 and 20 years' imprisonment or by death."
10. Article 3 of the Public Associations Act prohibits the creation and functioning of public associations whose objective or method of operation is to propagandize war, violence or cruelty, to inflame social, including class-related, racial, ethnic or religious divisions, or to commit other acts punishable as criminal. The creation of public militarized associations and armed groupings is banned. The creation and operation of public associations that injure public health and morals or citizens' rights and legally protected interests is punishable by law. According to the Ministry of Justice, which registers public associations, no application to register a public organization combating racial discrimination has been submitted. The Ministry currently has on its registers 980 public associations, 96 religious organizations and 18 political parties.
11. Under the Guarantees and Freedom of Access to Information Act of 5 December 1997, the mass media may not be used to
call for the violent overthrow or change of the existing constitutional order or for the violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kyrgyz Republic or any other State,
to convey propaganda for war, violence or cruelty, ethnic or religious exclusivity or intolerance of other peoples and nations, or
to offend the religious feelings of believers and worshippers.
Article 23 of the Mass Media Act of 2 July 1992 prohibits the use of the mass media to
to convey propaganda for war, violence or cruelty, ethnic or religious exclusivity or intolerance of other peoples and nations,
to offend peoples' civic honour, or
Under article 24 of the Mass Media Act, "Liability for breaches of this Act shall be incurred in accordance with the procedure laid down in the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic".
12. Under article 15 of the Kyrgyz Constitution, everyone in the Republic is equal before the law and the courts. No one may be subjected to any kind of discrimination or encroachment on his rights and freedoms on grounds of origin, sex, race, nationality, language, faith, political or religious convictions or any other personal or social trait or circumstance. The Code of Criminal Procedure establishes that justice in criminal matters is to be dispensed only by the courts. No one may be found guilty of a crime or subjected to penal sanctions except by a court decision in accordance with the law. Article 15 of the Code, "Administration of justice on the premise that citizens are equal before the law and the courts", states that justice in criminal matters is to be dispensed on the premise that all citizens, irrespective of their origins, social position and estate, race or nationality, sex, education, language, attitude to religion, type and nature of occupation, place of residence and other circumstances, are equal before the law and the courts. The Code establishes that judicial proceedings are to be conducted in Kyrgyz or the language of the majority in the particular locality. Parties to a case who do not speak the language in which the proceedings are conducted are entitled to make use of the services of an interpreter. The case file and judicial documents are, in accordance with established procedure, to be made available to the defendant in translation into his native language or another language he speaks (Code of Criminal Procedure, art. 18). Under article 93 of the Code, the costs associated with payment of the interpreter are to be met by the State except where interpretation duties are performed as an official assignment.
13. Pursuant to article 16 of the Constitution, everyone has the right to life, physical and moral inviolability, and liberty and security of person. The Penal Code contains an entire section, section VII, entitled "Crimes against the individual". It lays down penalties for the following crimes:
(a) Crimes against life and health;
(b) Crimes against individual liberty, honour and dignity;
(c) Crimes against sexual inviolability and individual sexual freedom;
(d) Crimes against constitutional human and civil rights and freedoms, including violations of citizens' equality of rights (art. 134) and hindrance of the exercise of the right to freedom of conscience and belief (art. 146);
(e) Crimes against the family and minors.
14. Kyrgyz legislation on elections and referendums contains language corresponding to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Article 23 of the Constitution states:
Citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic shall participate in the running of the State, directly and through their representatives, and in the discussion and adoption of Republic-level and local-level laws and decisions; they shall have equal rights to enter State service.
Pursuant to the President of the Kyrgyz Republic (Elections) Act, any citizen of the Republic not younger than 35 or older than 65 years of age, speaking the State language and having lived in the Republic for not less than 15 years before announcing his candidacy may be elected its President.
Current legislation does not permit restrictions on voting rights or citizens' rights to take part in referendums. Subject to the restrictions established by law, any citizen is entitled to vote for and be elected to membership of the representative organs of the Kyrgyz Republic. Article 2, "Citizens' voting rights", of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic (Elections) Act, establishes that:
Citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic who have attained the age of 18 are entitled to vote in elections for the President of the Republic.
Citizens judged mentally incompetent by a court and individuals who on the day of voting are held by court order in a place of detention shall not vote in elections for the President of the Republic.
No direct or indirect restriction on citizens' right to vote in elections for the President of the Republic based on their origins, social position and estate, type and nature of occupation, race, nationality, sex, education, language, attitude to religion, political or other views, or length of residence in the Kyrgyz Republic shall be permitted.
Article 1, "General Principles of Elections", of the Members of the Zhogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic (Elections) Act states that:
Members of the Zhogorku Kenesh shall be elected by single-member constituencies for five years on the basis of unrestricted, universal and equal suffrage and secret voting in direct elections.
Under article 2, "Universal suffrage", citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic who have attained the age of 18 are entitled to vote. Citizens judged mentally incompetent by a court and citizens deprived of the right to vote in elections by a legally enforceable court decision may not vote. Any mentally competent citizen who has attained the age of 25 and lived in the Republic for not less than five years before announcing his candidacy may stand for election to the Zhogorku Kenesh. Individuals with criminal records that have not been legally set aside or annulled may not be members of the Zhogorku Kenesh. Other direct and indirect restrictions on citizens' voting rights based on their origins, political views, social position and estate, race, nationality, sex, education, language, attitude to religion, or type and nature of occupation are prohibited. Under article 3, "Equal voting rights", of the Act, every voter has one vote. All voters participate in elections on an equal footing. Hence no restrictions on racial, national, ethnic, birth or other grounds are permitted. Regard is had, however, to the representation of the various social and ethnic groups in the membership of the commissions. When elections and referendums are held in the Kyrgyz Republic, the Central Electoral Commission and the election commissions it sets up are guided strictly by the Constitution and legislation governing elections and referendums in the Republic. Electoral commissions are constituted of representatives put forward by political parties, public associations, local communities, labour collectives, and ward-based electoral assemblies.
No restrictions on racial, national, ethnic, birth or other grounds are permitted. The composition by nationality of the Legislative Assembly of the Zhogorku Kenesh (Parliament) is as follows:
Kyrgyz : 27 (26) * The first figure shown refers to the chamber as constituted, the figure in brackets is adjusted to take account of subsequent departures.*
Russian : 3 (2)
Uzbek : 3
Karachai : 2
Total : 35 (33)
That of the Assembly of People's Representatives is:
Kyrgyz : 59 (58)
Russian : 3
Uzbek : 5
Dungan : 2
German : 1
Total : 70 (69)
15. According to the Constitution, everyone in Kyrgyzstan has the right to freedom of movement and freedom to choose his place of residence anywhere in the country, the freedom to leave the country and unobstructed right of return. Figures on migration are give in the annex (Table 8).
16. The Constitution states that no citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic may be stripped of his citizenship or the right to change his citizenship. The Citizenship Act guarantees citizens equal rights in all areas of economic, political, social, cultural and spiritual life. Article 4 of the Act guarantees equal citizenship to all citizens of the Republic, irrespective of how that citizenship is acquired.
17. Under article 4 of the Marriage and Family Code, all citizens have equal rights in family relationships. The Code permits no direct or indirect restriction of rights and the establishment of no direct or indirect advantage upon marriage or in family relations that is based on origin, social position or estate, race, nationality, sex, education, language, attitude to religion, type and nature of occupation, place of residence or other circumstances. A table giving information on inter-ethnic marriages within the Republic is reproduced in the annex (Table 6).
18. Article 16 of the Constitution states that everyone in the Kyrgyz Republic has the right to own property and to use and dispose of it as he sees fit. The State Property (De-Statization and Privatization) Act brought into effect by decision of the Zhogorku Kenesh dated 12 January 1994 states, in article 8, "Purchasers and middlemen", the following:
State property may be purchased by bodies corporate and citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic, foreign corporations and stateless persons.
During the de-Statization and privatization of particular spheres of the economy, the Government may establish restrictions on the range of purchasers so as to ensure the priority rights of Kyrgyz Republic citizens and bodies corporate.
The Act and other documents make no provision for restrictions on grounds of race. Since de-Statization and privatization began, around 6,400 State organizations have been converted; 237 coupon and over 200 cash auctions have been held; yet there has not been a single case of restrictions based on race (nationality), and not a single complaint of restrictions has been lodged or entertained. Under article 222 of the Civil Code, the right to own property, which is recognized and upheld in legislation, is guaranteed, as is the right of the owner to make use of and dispose of his property as he sees fit.
19. According to article 19 of the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic, the right to inherit is upheld and protected by law. Rights of inheritance are governed by the Civil Code, which bans discrimination on grounds of race, nationality or language.
Paragraph (d) (vii) and (viii)
20. Article 16 of the Constitution gives everyone in the Republic the right to freedom of religion, freedom of conscience and worship, free expression and dissemination of thoughts, ideas and opinions, freedom of literary, artistic, academic and technological creation, freedom of the press, freedom of broadcast material and the freedom to disseminate information. Under the Freedom of Religion and Religious Organizations Act of 16 December 1991
Citizens of the Republic are equal before the law in all areas of civil, political, economic, social and cultural life irrespective of their attitude to religion.
Any direct or indirect restriction of rights, the establishment of any advantage for citizens based on their attitude to religion, the arousal of enmity or hatred or the injury of citizens' feelings, or the desecration of objects of worship revered in any religion, shall render the culprit liable as established by law.
Kyrgyzstan has laws on the mass media, on guarantees and freedom of access to information and on the protection of the professional activity of journalists, which regulate the guarantees of freedom to receive and disseminate information. That some 400 media organs are registered in the country is an indication of the degree of press freedom. The Protection of the Professional Activity of Journalists Act, article 4, states:
Access by journalists to information of public interest [or] affecting citizens' rights, freedoms or legitimate interests shall not be subject to restriction.
21. Article 16 of the Constitution guarantees everyone in the Kyrgyz Republic the right of assembly. Citizens are entitled to gather peacefully, unarmed, and to conduct political meetings and demonstrations without restriction. Under the Public Associations Act of 1 February 1991,
The right of assembly is an inalienable human and civic right proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and enshrined in the Constitutions of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan and the USSR. The Republic of Kyrgyzstan, being concerned with the development of creative initiative, the social and political activity of its citizens and their involvement in the government of the State and society, guarantees citizens of the Republic the freedom to establish public associations.
Citizens' involvement or lack thereof in the activities of a public association may not serve as grounds for restricting their rights or freedoms, inter alia as a condition of employment in a State organization, or as grounds for failing to perform duties required by law.
Individuals shall not be required to declare membership of any public association in official documents.
There are at present 1,215 public associations, 232 religious organizations and 18 political parties registered with the Ministry of Justice.
22. The Constitution states that everyone in the Kyrgyz Republic has the right to economic freedom, the right to make free use of his capacities and property in any economic activity, the right to freedom of labour and free choice of type of activity and profession. Measures to combat racial discrimination are set forth in the Labour Code. Section 1, chapter 1, article 11, "Prohibition of discrimination in the labour sphere", states:
In accordance with the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic, every citizen shall have equal opportunities to exercise his labour rights. No one may be restricted in his labour rights or receive any kind of advantage in their exercise on the grounds of sex, age, race, nationality, language ... (See annex, Table 7, Age distribution of members of different nationalities).
Article 11 of the Code specifies that:
In accordance with the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic, every citizen shall have equal opportunities to exercise his labour rights. No one may be restricted in his labour rights or receive any kind of advantage in their exercise on the grounds of sex, age, race, nationality, language, estate or employment situation, residence, attitude to religion, convictions, membership of public associations or other circumstances unrelated to the worker's qualities on the job and the results of his work.
Persons believing that they have suffered discrimination in the labour sphere may make a statement to that effect to the courts. If the court finds that discrimination is proven, it shall issue a decision ordering the discrimination to cease and compensation to be paid for the physical and moral injury caused.
The Employment Act passed on 20 April 1998 establishes the legal, economic and organizational foundations for employment under market economy conditions where various forms of ownership are equivalent, and offers State safeguards of citizens' right to work. Article 4 defines the principle underlying State policy on labour and employment. This is that all citizens should have equal opportunities, irrespective of their race, nationality, language, sex, age, attitude to religion, political convictions or social status, to exercise their rights to voluntary labour and to free choice of occupation. In the social security sphere, the Kyrgyz Republic has ratified a number of fundamental International Labour Organisation Conventions: No. 118, Equality of Treatment (Social Security) Convention, 1962, and No. 157, Maintenance of Social Security Rights Convention, 1982. These guarantee equal social security opportunities for all citizens of the Republic irrespective of their race, sex and religion. As regards refugees, the Republic also complies with the stipulations of international agreements on social security for refugees on Kyrgyzstan territory irrespective of their race. Table 4 in the Annex gives data on refugees that have arrived in the Kyrgyz Republic.
Under article 8 of the Constitution, political parties, trade unions and other public associations may be set up in the Republic on the strength of a free declaration of will and commonality of interests. The State guarantees the rights and legitimate interests of public associations. The Labour Code states:
There have been no instances of any kind of discrimination among workers in the activities of the Republic's trade union bodies. Union charters permit any worker, without distinction as to race, language or religion, to be a member. Moreover, the principal function of a trade union is to protect the labour, economic, social and spiritual interests of its members irrespective of their race. As of 1 January 1998, trade unions had members of over 80 nationalities, among them:
23. Article 33 of the Constitution states that citizens of the Republic have the right to housing. The State supports the exercise of this right by providing and selling housing from the State housing stock and encouraging individual home-building. The Housing Code, in keeping with the Constitution, offers citizens the right to housing. This right is guaranteed by expanding and maintaining the State and public housing stock, supporting co-operative and individual home-building, allocating fairly, under State supervision, the living space that becomes available as the decent housing construction programme proceeds, and setting low payments for apartments and communal services. Citizens' right to housing is protected by law, and actions that would hinder citizens in the exercise of that right are prohibited.
24. Under article 27 of the Constitution:
The Medical Insurance Act contains the following provisions:
The Families with Children (State benefits) Act establishes a State-guaranteed minimum level of support for citizens raising children, making provision for State benefits to be paid with due regard for family size and the children's ages and health. Hence Kyrgyz citizens raising children are entitled to pregnancy and maternity benefits; a one-off benefit upon the birth of a child; child benefits; a benefit for looking after a sick child; a benefit for children of single mothers; a benefit for children of members of the military serving in the emergency services; a benefit for children in (foster) care; and a benefit for minor children whose parents refuse to support them. State social insurance is a system of State-guaranteed benefits payable to insured individuals, out of the proceeds of mandatory insurance premiums levied on employers and citizens, if they lose their earnings or income as a result of illness, an industrial accident or job-related disability, invalidity, pregnancy or childbirth, old age, unemployment, loss of the breadwinner or death. State social insurance is compulsory (State Social Insurance Act). Under the State Pension Insurance Act, entitlement to receive a pension from the State social insurance scheme extends to insured citizens of the Republic, foreigners and stateless persons resident in Kyrgyzstan who have paid into the State pension insurance scheme in accordance with the principles and conditions it establishes. The following are payable under the Act: (a) old age pensions; (b) invalidity pensions; and (c) pensions upon loss of the breadwinner. Article 34 of the Constitution gives citizens of the Republic the right to health care and free use of the network of State health-care institutions. Citizens may obtain medical services for payment on the conditions and in accordance with the procedure established by law. The Health Care Act stipulates that citizens have the right to health care and free use of the network of State health-care institutions. The level of medical care provided for Kyrgyz citizens, as established by the Ministry of Health and approved by the Government, comprises:
(a) The provision to all citizens living within the Republic of equal opportunities to exercise their rights to obtain medical assistance;
(b) The establishment of a guaranteed basic level of service at each level of medical assistance throughout the Republic;
(c) The provision of medical care to citizens throughout the Republic, including outside their area of permanent residence;
(d) The provision to citizens of free choice of doctor and treating institution;
(e) The provision of emergency medical treatment by the nearest treating institution, irrespective of its form of ownership and the Government department it is accountable to.
Citizens may obtain medical services for payment under the procedure established by the Government. They are entitled to social security under Kyrgyz legislation in the event of losing their health or capacity to work either wholly or in part.
25. The Constitution states that:
Under the Education Act, citizens of the Republic have the right to education irrespective of their sex, nationality, language, social status and estate, type and nature of occupation, faith, political and religious convictions, place of residence and other circumstances. Information is provided in the Annex (See Tables 4, 9, 10, 11). The main principles underlying the education system are:
(a) Equal rights to obtain an education for all citizens of the Republic;
(b) Education free of charge at State teaching institutions up to the State educational standard, and conditions permitting fee-paying education to operate;
(c) Humanitarian education with priority given to common human values;
(d) Orientation towards academic accomplishment and international educational standards;
(e) System and continuity;
(f) Independence from political and religious institutions;
(g) Institutions offering a variety of forms of teaching and instruction, areas of activity and forms of ownership;
(h) Secular education and secular State educational institutions;
(i) Accessibility, and an education system adapted to students' levels of development, education and individual characteristics;
(j) Conditions enabling talented students to be selected and grow creatively;
(k) Possibility for alternative educational institutions and non-State educational structures to operate.
The thrust of vocational and technical education is wholly consistent with article 5 (e) of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which calls for "the right to education and training". The Republic's 113 vocational and technical schools cater for over 25,000 pupils of virtually all the nationalities living in Kyrgyzstan. Every student is allowed to choose one of the four main languages spoken in the Republic as the language of instruction: 52.5 per cent of the student body study in Kyrgyz, 46.2 per cent in Russian, 0.7 per cent in Uzbek and 0.7 per cent in Turkish. All students, irrespective of their nationality, have the right to subsistence and hostel accommodation, medical care and cultural recreation. When they leave school, the school administration helps each of them to find a job.
26. Under article 36 of the Constitution, culture, art, literature, science and the mass media are unrestricted. Citizens are entitled to have access to cultural assets and to pursue art and science. Every citizen of the Republic has the right to free expression and dissemination of thoughts, ideas and opinions, to freedom of literary, artistic, academic and technological creation, freedom of the press and freedom to broadcast and disseminate information.
27. Citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic and foreigners, irrespective of their race and nationality, have the right of access to any kind of service and to any place set aside for public use: transport, hotels, restaurants, cafes, theatres and parks. Services are provided in public places in Kyrgyzstan without distinction as to race, ethnic group or knowledge of a language.
28. Under the Constitution, it is the duty of the State and all State bodies and officials to afford full, unconditional and prompt protection of citizens' rights and freedoms, to put a stop to any violations and to restore the status quo ante. The Kyrgyz Republic guarantees judicial protection of all its citizens' rights and freedoms set forth in the Constitution and laws. The Codes of criminal and civil procedure stipulate that justice in criminal and civil matters is to be administered on the premise that citizens are equal before the law and courts irrespective of their origins, social status and estate, race, nationality, sex, education, language, attitude to religion, type and nature of occupation, place of residence and other circumstances. The table below shows criminal cases brought under article 68 of the Penal Code (1961 version) (Violations of ethnic and racial equality and of citizens' equal rights based on their attitude to religion) and heard by the criminal courts between 1991 and 1997:
The figures above relate to the "Osh events" in a number of Osh Oblasty towns and villages in 1990, where there were clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks. Criminal proceedings were brought against the individuals who set about inflaming national divisions (Penal Code, art. 68, sect. 3, "Violations of ethnic and racial equality and of citizens' equal rights based on their attitude to religion", art. 94, para. 1.6, "Wilful homicide in aggravating circumstances", and art. 15-94, para. 4, "Attempted wilful homicide in aggravating circumstances"). The crimes occurred in the following circumstances. Between 4 and 8 June 1990, in a number of towns and villages in Osh oblasty, there was widespread unrest and force was used between local ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek inhabitants. Crimes were committed and human rights were violated. The population suffered significant injury, destruction, arson and mass killings. Eighty-eight people were found guilty in the court proceedings and convicted.
29. The Government, under its national "Kyrgyzstan Our Common Home" programme, has been taking steps to create National-Cultural Centres, ensure freedom of communication in any language, and give effect to the right to education, work, and equal participation in public and political life; it has been setting up ethnically-based general schools, children's institutions and institutions of higher learning (the Slav University, the Kyrgyz-Uzbek University). The Republic now has functioning National-Cultural Centres, ethnic groups living in compact communities (Dungans, Germans, Uighurs and other nationalities) have their own newspapers and schools where the teaching is given in their languages and are entitled to broadcast over State television and radio, and all national minorities and ethnic groups have equal rights and responsibilities – the same as those of the entire people of Kyrgyzstan - for satisfying their religious needs and requirements. Whether Russian should be given official status as a language is currently under discussion. The Government is working closely with the OCSE High Commissioner on National Minorities, who is providing cooperation and technical assistance in addressing the problems of achieving inter-ethnic concord within the country and in protecting national minority rights. The "Kyrgyzstan Our Common Home" programme is actively publicized in national educational institutions. The mass media are playing a substantial part in spreading information about it. Several universities, notably the Kyrgyz State National University and the Slav University, have established special chairs in human rights; the Osh State University has a Human Rights Centre. The Kyrgyz State National University publishes a bulletin entitled "Human Rights and Democracy". Higher educational institutions offer an experimental course on human rights and democracy (18 hours) developed by workers in a United Nations Development Programme - Kyrgyz State National University group. To mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Ministry of Education and Culture is arranging lectures and practical courses on human rights at a number of higher educational institutions. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees branch in Kyrgyzstan and the Soros Foundation - Kyrgyzstan run annual summer courses on human rights. In 1997, the Soros Foundation - Kyrgyzstan ran an essay contest for secondary school pupils, with mass media support, on the subject "People and their rights in my country". Human rights primers for schoolchildren, in Kyrgyz and Russian, entitled "Your rights" (based on the Universal Declaration), have been published with Foundation support. A "Rights of the Child" primer in Russian and Kyrgyz is now being readied for publication. With backing from the Soros Foundation - Kyrgyzstan, the Education Support Fund in Djalal-Abad has published the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Kyrgyz, Uzbek and Russian.
Annex 1. Permanent population of the Kyrgyz Republic by nationality (Table 1).
Annex 2. Population of the Kyrgyz Republic by nationality and native language (Table 2).
Annex 3. Population of the Kyrgyz Republic by nationality and second language (Table 3).
Annex 4. Refugees arriving in the Kyrgyz Republic (Table 4).
Annex 5. Levels of education among individual nationalities (Table 5).
Annex 6. Inter-ethnic marriages in 1989 (Table 6).
Annex 7. Age distribution of individual nationalities (Table 7).
Annex 8. External migration by inhabitants of the Kyrgyz Republic, by nationality, 1989-1997 (Table 8).
Annex 9. Students at technical and vocational schools and other State-run specialized secondary educational institutions, by nationality (Table 9).
Annex 10. Students at State-run higher educational institutions, by nationality (Table 10).
Annex 11. Students at non-State-run higher educational institutions, by nationality (Table 11).
Population of the Kyrgyz Republic by nationality and second language (1989 census data)*
* Conventional signs: -: no example exists.
0: example smaller than unit of measurement.
Table 7
Students at non-State-run higher educational institutions, by nationality (beginning of academic year 1997/98)