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Paris-Geneva,
September 29, 2023 - The Observatory and FIDH’s
member organisations, the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human
Rights and Rule of Law,
ILI Foundation,
and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, are concerned over Kazakhstani
authorities’ recent publication of a register of 240 civil society
organisations and individuals receiving foreign support. The
register, released on September 20, appears to be aimed at
discrediting foreign support and civil society that receive it,
echoing troubling parallels with the so-called foreign agent
legislation in Russia. The human rights groups urge the Kazakhstani
authorities to cease efforts to stigmatise and harass civil society,
and to guarantee freedom of association in Kazakhstan.
On
September 20, 2023, the Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan released a
register listing 240 individuals and legal entities receiving support
from foreign countries and international and foreign organisations.
Among the listed entities are human rights organisations,
environmental funds, legal foundations, media outlets, and individual
journalists. Among others, the list features two FIDH member
organisations, namely the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human
Rights, and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. Concerningly, the list
also included personal information on individual journalists,
including their personal identification numbers.
Kazakhstan's
Ministry of Finance explained
the publication
by the need to "increase the level of trust of citizens – both
in the state and in non-governmental organisations". The
signatory organisations fear, however, that such justifications are
merely rhetorical, and that the real intention of the authorities is
to discredit and stigmatise the legitimate work of the civil society
organisations listed in the register. The publication appears to
imply that all foreign funds are automatically suspect.
Following
the register's publication on September 25, 2023, the public
association "Echo" had its bank account temporarily frozen.
Nurbank, the organisation's account manager, identified withdrawals
of funds from the United States and requested documentation to
confirm their designated use.
The
register appears amid Kazakhstan's persistent attempts to harass NGOs
over the reception of foreign funding. In December 2015 and July
2016, tax authorities imposed demanding reporting requirements on
non-profit organisations receiving foreign funds. In 2020-2021, a
dozen local human rights groups were targeted with fines and possible
suspension over alleged financial reporting violations. FIDH member
organisations, the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights
and the International Legal Initiative Foundation, faced
temporary suspension
over minor financial reporting inaccuracies.
Alarmingly,
these efforts to curtail the ability of civil society organisations
to access foreign funding, and the publication of the list, echo the
Russian Federation’s so-called foreign agent legislation and
practice. For over a decade, Russian authorities have used the
foreign agent legislation to stigmatise,
silence, shut down civil
society groups, human rights initiatives, independent media and
others. The Russian legislation has been criticized by
various international entities
for
infringing upon the freedom of association. Back in 2009, Margaret
Sekaggya, former Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights
defenders, emphasized
that the right to freedom of association inherently includes the
ability of human rights organisations to seek, receive, and utilise
funding. She further highlighted
that civil society should have access to foreign funding as a
component of international cooperation, on a par with governments.
The
Observatory, and FIDH’s
member organisations, the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human
Rights,
ILI Foundation, and
the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, urge Kazakhstan's authorities to
halt their endeavors to restrict civil society actors from receiving
foreign grants and to cease their attempts to discredit organisations
that receive such funding. Instead, the signatory organisations call
on the authorities to regard civil society initiatives as a resource
and to facilitate a strong and vibrant civil society throughout the
country.
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