OSCE/CoE, Warsaw/Strasbourg, 27 Aug 2008 – The OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe today expressed their disappointment at the signing into law of amendments to Kyrgyzstan’s freedom-of-assembly law. The amended law was signed by President Kurmanbek Bakiyev on 6 August.
In a joint opinion prepared in June at the request of the speaker of the Kyrgyz parliament, ODIHR and the Venice Commission concluded that the amendments raised serious concerns and constituted a setback from the earlier version of the law.
“The amended law regrettably does not adequately reflect the recommendations made in our legal opinion,” said Ambassador Janez Lenarcic, ODIHR Director. “We hope that the parliament will reconsider the law in the near future and bring it into line with international standards.”
Gianni Buquicchio, Secretary of the Venice Commission, added: “Freedom of assembly is a fundamental democratic right.” He called on the Kyrgyz authorities to reconsider the law in order to secure conditions permitting the exercise of freedom of assembly in line with international standards.
In their joint opinion, ODIHR and the Venice Commission highlighted concerns relating to the blanket restrictions on the place and time of assemblies, and said that this exposed a larger problem of inadequate compliance with the core principle of proportionality.
The amended law does not provide for a genuine notification procedure, as there is no specific provision allowing an assembly to proceed if the authorities fail to present timely and well-founded objections. In addition, the amendments do not provide for spontaneous assemblies.
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