Kyrgyz authorities trying to regulate nonprofits

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BISHKEK – The Kyrgyz Parliament, or Jogorku Kenesh, is discussing a proposal to more closely regulate non-profit and non-governmental organisations.

One of the amendment’s proponents, Iskhak Masaliyev, leader of the Communist Party and of the parliamentary leftist faction, said a sense of order was essential.

“Everything must be transparent”, he said. “In our country it is directly prohibited for political parties to get financing from foreign sources, but, regarding nonprofits, there is no such prohibition. In the meantime, almost all of them receive funding from outside Kyrgyzstan”.

Masaliyev has called for a ban on non-profit groups from receiving foreign money.

Aziza Abdirasulova, head of the human rights centre Kylym Shamy (Torch of the Century), agreed on transparency for nonprofits but not on regulation.

“How nonprofits and political parties can be compared, I don't understand”, Abdirasulova said. “Parties fight for power. Of course it is unacceptable for someone from abroad to be able to finance a real political power”.

Marat Kazakpayev, political science professor at Kyrgyz-Russian Slavonic University, collaborates with nonprofits extensively as a political consultant.

“I am afraid that in this situation, a gradual fallback to authoritarianism may occur", he said. "That is to say, one restriction will follow another restriction, and so on until (there is) total control, like in Uzbekistan. There is a very cumbersome nonprofit system. They are gathered into some sort of big association that reports directly to the government. … In its own time, the Uzbek authorities began the very same way as what Masaliyev is now proposing: a prohibition on funding nonprofits from abroad". Abdirasulova said the prohibition on foreign financing contradicts logic.

“(Kyrgyzstan) itself is constantly receiving all sorts of loans, tranches and donations. So why can’t nonprofits receive them? Everything is transparent and everything is open”, she said. “We pay taxes—they check us constantly. Where do these millions of dollars that the government borrows go? No one knows”.

The authors of the amendments blame the nonprofits for an allegedly direct involvement in the political life of the country. A prohibition on non-profit "interference" in politics is another cornerstone in the parliamentary proposals.

Masaliyev says nonprofits are striving for influence in the country, including through participation in demonstrations.

“These are baseless accusations”, Abdirasulova said. “Masaliyev said we are participating in picketing and rallies, but this is the political right of any citizen of the country! … The civil sector can observe elections and trial proceedings. We do not nominate parliamentary or presidential candidates. So what political participation and pursuits can this talk be about”?

Kazakpayev says that some nonprofits have a habit of engaging in political affairs.

“There are times when nonprofits receive grants and engage in politics, but these ‘politics’ are a background to their primary work", he said. "They have very good records; they do a lot for the protection of human rights. And we must bear in mind that the vast majority of non-profit organisations work in those spheres where contact with politics is not possible—ecology, for example, or healthcare.”

A third proposed change would require nonprofits to clearly describe the scope of their activities and could limit them to doing only those types of programmes or work listed in their charter. Masaliyev said nonprofits now work under the principle that “it is possible to do anything that is not prohibited by law".

Last year, nonprofits held several roundtables dedicated to the proposed amendments. Human rights activists say that the Jogorku Kenesh is hesitating to make a decision thanks to the nonprofits' vigorous defence of their interests.

Deputies have sent back Masaliyev’s initiative several times for revision. The Communist Party leader himself confirmed the activists’ opinion: “You know, there is a saying: ‘The honey is sweet, but the bee stings.’ On the one hand, we all understand that this is necessary, but on the other, our government is also heavily dependent on international organisations”.

Umetaliyeva is unequivocal about the reasons for proposing the amendment: “The main purpose of these amendments is to weaken civil society. We are the arbiters. We examine the situation and express our views. This is the goal of civil society. And, if we are not able to do this, society will become weaker.”

The number of nonprofits in Kyrgyzstan is unclear. Parliamentarians Masaliyev and Avtandil Arabayev say the number is 10,000, as estimated by the Ministry of Justice. But parliamentarian Alisher Mamasaliyev put the number at 545.

Kazakpayev points out that everybody may be right: “The thing is that 10,000 may indeed be registered, but there are actually only 500 working. Many nonprofits register and then exist only on paper ... because they don't succeed in getting a grant. So they just ‘hang around’ with a zero balance. The government still has not figured out what to do about this situation.”