Aziza Abdurasulova’s imprisonment and the civil freedom in Central Asia

Translated by Angela Tagliafierro

Aziza Abdurasulova is a journalist and human rights Defender famous in Kyrgyzstan for her strong activity in denouncing corruption, abuses of power and violations of the main human rights. She focuses her activity above all on the protection of the marginalised communities, on women rights and the promotion of governmental frankness. She has always worked, risking her own personal safety: she became famous outside Kyrgyzstan as well as the target of the local authorities.

Aziza Abdurasulova was arrested in 2024, being accused of sedition, i.e. incitement to social destabilisation, a charge often used by the local authorities to silence the critical voices. In particular, Aziza was accused of organising pacific manifestations and diffusing articles openly criticising the government behaviour and drawing the attention of the international community to the political nature of the accusations.

While imprisoned, in the last weeks, she has become the target of serious threats of death apparently by anonymous groups of people, suspected of being related to influential officials or powerful people. According to her lawyer, these are organised, and systemic threats aiming to intimidate and break her determination to pursue the fight for human rights. Despite the several demands for protection, the Kyrgyz authorities have not taken any concrete action to guarantee her safety; they fostered the worries about the State’s complicity or indifference. The UN and other international organisations solicited the Kyrgyz government to guarantee her personal safety and to investigate about the guilty party.

These threats are part of a wider context of repression and systemic repression toward those who dare to openly criticise the institutions or denounce abuses.

The human rights Defenders in Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia

As a matter of fact, Abdurasulova’s case is the sign of a wider situation worrying the human rights defenders in Kyrgyz and the whole Central Asia. In the last years the mood for activists, journalists and lawyers dealing with human rights has become more and more hostile. The region is characterized by authoritarian or half-authoritarian governments, considering the human rights defenders as a threat to their political stability.

In Kyrgyzstan, considered for years one of the most open-minded countries in the region, the civil freedoms and political rights have been progressively falling apart. Limiting laws, governmental surveillance and defamatory campaigns against activists have become a common custom. Many activists, including investigative journalists and lawyers defending victims of abuses, were arrested, falsely charged of sedition, defamation or illegal financing. The criminalization of solidarity is also used to suppress the critical voices, discouraging the public support to the human rights defenders.

Kyrgyzstan is not the only country in the region to pursue a repressive strategy. In Uzbekistan, the authorities arrested many independent journalists and bloggers, charging them of promoting anti-government texts. In Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, human rights defenders work in a mood of constant fear, risking forced disappearances and tortures. In Kazakhstan as well, more important from an international point of view because of its energetic resources, has been criticised for the way activists and civil organisations are treated.

Sometimes Central Asia is not internationally considered. Despite some episodes of repression being mentioned in some global newspapers, a systematic supervision and a long-term strategy to face the violations in the region are still missing. This media and political isolation contribute to perpetrate a feeling of impunity among the local governments.

The local institutions, the independent media and the scholars of the region may create strategic partnerships, with global institutions as well, aiming to spread the responsibility. However, interrupting the repressive tendency towards the human rights still seem a long and obstructed road.

Mondo Internazionale APS - Reproduction Reserved® 2025