FIDH concerned over upcoming constitutional referendum in Kyrgyzstan

We, members of the FIDH International Board, express our concern over the worsening situation with human rights and freedoms in Kyrgyzstan and consider that the upcoming Constitutional Refendum will negatively impact democratic principles of Kyrgyzstan, in particular the rule of law, the separation of powers, the independence of the judiciary, and human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The stability of the Constitution is the most important condition for a state’s development, a robust rule of law, and guarantees of compliance with human rights and freedoms. The Government of Kyrgyzstan, however, has called for a referendum to amend the Constitution, in violation of the existing moratorium on introducing amendments until 2020, FIDH said.

In spite of an independent analysis conducted by lawyers from the FIDH member organisation in Kyrgyzstan "Legal Clinic "Adilet" and a joint opinion by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and by the Venice Commission, a referendum was scheduled for 11 December 2016.

We believe that the very idea of and call for a constitutional referendum without wide-ranging public discussions and recommendations from academic circles, civil society, and Kyrgyz citizens is dangerous and carries numerous risks for peaceful and democratic development.

We therefore call the authorities of Kyrgyzstan to:

 Take heed of multiple civic initiatives calling for suspension of the referendum;
 Create a space for dialogue with the society on the questions related to political reforms;
 Support the creation of a Constitutional Assembly on the basis of non-discrimination and inclusiveness of the civil society whose task will be to analyse the current Constitution and build a social and political consensus on any future constitutional amendments.

The bill "On the introduction of changes and amendments in the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic" was submitted to the Kyrgyz parliament on 23 September and has triggered sharp criticism of the country's human rights community.

Meanwhile, in 2016 several countries, including Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey, announced plans to amend their constitutions, which, in the opinion of the international community, is motivated by a desire to strengthen the authoritarian nature of the respective regimes. In late November, the Liberal Democratic Party of Belarus announced an initiative to amend the Constitution in order to increase the President's term of office. However, the question of whether the LDP's initiative meets Lukashenka's plans is still open, local analysts say.