The Public Foundation “Institute of Media Policy” in Kyrgyzstan analyzed the amendments to the Law “On resistance to terrorism”, which was submitted for discussion at the end of March by the State Committee for National Security, and the Civil Procedure Code. Experts came to the conclusion that if the changes are adopted, they will allow the state not only to tighten control over the media, but also to close media projects that are disliked by the authorities.
On March 31, the State Committee for National Security submitted for public discussion the amendments to the Law “On resistance to terrorism” and the Civil Procedure Code. They provide for the recognition of information materials as terrorist and extremist. As follows from the justification note to the proposed amendments, their goal “is to ensure the harmonization of regulatory legal acts of the Kyrgyz Republic in the field of combating terrorism”.
Representatives of the Public Foundation “Institute of Media Policy” believe that, by proposing a bill in the field of counteracting terrorism, the initiator interferes the sphere of counteracting extremism. The norm on the procedure for recognizing materials as extremist additionally includes organizations, including the media, rights and legitimate interests that will be directly affected.
“According to the requirements of the article 20 of the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On regulatory legal acts”, draft regulatory legal acts, which affect the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens, as well as the activities of the media, are subject to legal, human rights, gender, environmental, anti-corruption and other scientific expertise. So, civil society has the right to familiarize with the findings of scientific examinations and examinations conducted by the Ministry of Justice. In article 115 of part 3 of the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the regulations of the Parliament”, parliamentary hearings on draft laws on ensuring constitutional rights, freedoms and duties of citizens, the legal status of non-profit organizations and the media, and the fight against offenses are obligatory,” experts of the Institute of Media Policy emphasize.
However, currently in connection with the coronavirus pandemic, parliamentary hearings and organization of proper public discussions is not possible.
In general, this bill entails serious risks for the activities of independent media. For the reasons set forth below, its adoption seems unacceptable.
The bill entrusts the media with functions unusual for them and contradicts the norms of the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic
In general, the proposed bill raises again the problems of imperfection of the relevant Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On counteracting extremist activities”, which in its content doesn’t contain a conceptual definition of extremism.
The concept of extremism in the law is revealed through a list of various acts, including activities aimed at:
– forced change of the foundations of the constitutional system and violation of the integrity of the Kyrgyz Republic;
– undermining the security of the republic;
– incitement to racial, national (interethnic) or religious strife, as well as social strife associated with violence or incitement to violence;
– humiliation of national dignity;
– propaganda of exclusivity, superiority or inferiority of citizens on the basis of their attitude to religion, social, racial, national (ethnic), religious or linguistic belonging;
– propaganda of attributes or symbols of an extremist organization;
– public calls for the implementation of specified activity or actions.
Most of the types of extremist activities, presented in the list, are related to the restriction of the right to freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Moreover, the aforementioned acts are formulated in such a way that they can be interpreted very broadly and, given the presence of formal signs, make it possible to classify many statements and materials as extremist.
“When studying bills in state and official languages, it is clear that organizations, as well as information materials, will be recognized as extremist and terrorist simultaneously.
Recognition of an organization as extremist or terrorist entails, in accordance with the requirements of part 2 of article 96 of the Civil Code of the Kyrgyz Republic, the liquidation of a legal entity. It turns out that this law allows the closure of the media that spread the information without knowing that it was extremist,” the media lawyers explain.
The bill allows a forced closure of organization, including media, in an accelerated manner
The amendments proposed to apply the decision-making mechanism on recognizing an organization (including the media) as terrorist or extremist within 3-5 days.
“It is unacceptable and illegal to apply this simplified mechanism in relation to the organization, because it doesn’t allow comprehensively and fully investigating the organization’s activities, including the media, in such a short period of time. It’s impossible to consider during 3-5 days the question of whether the organization in the form of media can be terrorist or extremist,” say lawyers of the Institute of Media Policy.
Since, in accordance with the requirements of the article 11 of the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On counteracting extremist activities”, in order to consider terminating activities, it is necessary to establish a violation of human and civil rights and freedoms, harm to individuals, the health of citizens, the environment, public order, public safety, property, and legitimate economic interests of individuals and (or) legal entities, society and the state, the presence of a real threat of causing such harm.
In all cases, these circumstances are established by the court through appropriate examinations (philological, linguistic, political), including commission, complex, repeated examinations, which cannot be prepared and examined in three days.
“The inability to establish these circumstances in a short time will undoubtedly lead to arbitrariness, since organizations will be recognized as prohibited without any analysis and substantial trial. Thus, the absence of all procedural rights of the media and the reduced time for consideration of the application represent significant risks for independent media,” the Institute of Media Policy emphasizes.
The bill strips media founders of their ownership
The recognition of organization as extremist or terrorist should be considered exceptionally in the proceedings, in which it should be examined whether there has been repeated publication or distribution of prohibited materials from the list of extremist materials of the Ministry of Justice of the Kyrgyz Republic.
This provision violates the defendant’s constitutional right to judicial protection, since in this situation the defendant, on the established three days for the consideration of the case, doesn’t have time to receive a judicial notice of the appointment of the hearing or he/she is not notified at all, since the Prosecutor’s office didn’t make efforts to find the defendant.
In the proposed provision, the case of the closure of the media can be considered without the participation of the defendant, as a result, when the organization finds out that it has been recognized as extremist or terrorist, only the supervisory authority remains – the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic. However, in this instance, it is no longer possible to present new evidence and invite new witnesses. The Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic can consider only those materials that were examined by the court of first instance. In other words, the organization is deprived of procedural rights to protect its violated interests.
Policy express concern that the bill is being introduced by the government of the Kyrgyz Republic to the Parliament under the conditions of a state of emergency and emergency with a request for consideration as urgent.
“At the same time, there is no explanation in the document why this bill needs to be considered and adopted in such an emergency at a time, when the main and real threat to the security of the population and the country is now the coronavirus pandemic, to which this draft law has nothing to do. Obviously, this initiative doesn’t meet the urgent and real needs of the population, such as ensuring the uninterrupted payment of pensions, wages to budget employees, establishing compensation for people involved in the fight against the epidemic, providing social support to low-income families, and legal regulation of support for small and medium-sized businesses,” emphasize media lawyers. They suggest to withdraw the bill from consideration in the Parliament.
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