A tumultuous year
Central Asia
The NHC Representative Office in Central Asia continued supporting civil society in 2022, including through a small grants program for developing organizations working on prison monitoring, media freedom, gender equality, equal rights, and much more. Our support covered all five countries in the region – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Contributing to growth of local civil society is a priority of our Central Asian office, and among our many partners in 2022 were five new organizations that conducted their first activities with support from the NHC this year.
2022 was a tumultuous year in Central Asia. A month and a half before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, severe unrest shook Kazakhstan. In early January, peaceful protests over fuel prices quickly escalated into nationwide demonstrations. Violent elements hijacked the peaceful demonstrations, and Almaty, the country’s most populous city, was particularly severely hit. Outright rioting and civil-war-like scenes played out as the state struggled to regain control.
On 5 January, authorities declared martial law in Almaty, where the NHC office is located. On 6 January, a contingent of armed forces from the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization arrived pursuant to a request from president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. When the dust had settled after a couple of days, hundreds had been killed, many times more were badly injured, and scores had been tortured. In the aftermath of the bloody events, the NHC funded local civil society to document the many and gross human rights violations that had taken place. On their request, we also organized capacity-building trainings for local activists to equip them with updated skills to record the events. Some conclusions were shared at a public seminar in Oslo in May, with the participation of journalists from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan on a study visit to Oslo. In September we organized a public discussion on the persecution of journalists in Tajikistan in Warsaw, Poland.
The NHC also participated in election observation in Kazakhstan. When the Kazakhstani public voted over an extensive package of constitutional amendments during the summer, the NHC monitored the referendum. When president Tokayev was re-elected in late November, the NHC monitored peaceful protests against the elections.
Being based in the region allows us to provide urgent help to victims of human rights violations and activists under pressure. During 2022 more than 80 people received assistance from us through our emergency aid program. Emergency aid can take the form of a temporary relocation, legal aid, medical treatment, and other measures.
All the countries in Central Asia need a stronger free press to guarantee transparency and hold governments accountable. Meanwhile, authorities across Central Asia routinely put pressure on free reporting, and conditions for independent media remain barren. During the year, we continued to work to promote press freedom in the region.
In Kyrgyzstan, the NHC worked with Temirov Live, an independent media outlet that continually raises important social issues, investigates corruption, and holds government agencies accountable. Unfortunately, 2022 saw authorities in Kyrgyzstan cracking down on media freedom. When our partners in Temirov Live found themselves at the receiving end of the government crackdown, the NHC provided direct support. During the fall of 2022, when authorities went after Temirov Live founder Bolot Temirov with trumped-up and politically motivated charges, the NHC was present in Bishkek, monitoring court proceedings against him.
In September, violent clashes broke out in the border area between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. While official numbers vary considerably, some sources claim up to 100 people were killed. According to Kyrgyz authorities, 136,000 people were evacuated from the area, where many residential houses were damaged or destroyed in the course of these dramatic events.
The NHC arrived to the border town Batken a week after the clashes and visited a school and other areas in the regional capital where IDPs from the conflict zone had been housed. We contributed to an analysis of the situation on the ground to several international media outlets.
As Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin also intensified its propaganda efforts, seeking to obscure the truth, confuse facts and spread outright lies about the ongoing war. In Central Asia, where independent media are already under pressure, we identified a strong need for truthful reporting on the war to counter Russian propaganda. In 2022, the NHC, therefore, supported several journalists from Central Asia who travelled to Ukraine and reported on the war. Our Central Asian partners visited Irpen, Bucha, Borodyanka, and other places in Ukraine heavily affected by the Russian war and reported back to domestic audiences in Central Asia.
As the human rights crisis continued in Tajikistan, the NHC together with the organization Freedom for Eurasia, continued work on holding authorities in Tajikistan accountable. During 2022, we maintained making systematic documentation efforts, recording gross and systemic human rights violations, including, in our assessment, crimes against humanity. The extensive documentation work will form the basis for 2023 submissions against Tajikistan to several international complaint mechanisms and prosecution services that exercise universal jurisdiction.