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February 15-21, 2015

Media Monitoring Report for Kyrgyzstan
Posted on February 21, 2015

Compiled by Caitlin Murphy

*All articles translated from Russian, unless otherwise indicated*

 

1. Parliament

24.kg, State-owned media, Accessed on 16 February 2015
Human rights activists file lawsuit against Parliament

  • Human rights activists filed a lawsuit against the Kyrgyz parliament for violating procedures in the election of members of the Council for the Selection of Judges.
  • The Council for the Selection of Judges is responsible for the appointment of Judges in Kyrgyzstan.
  • The Council for the Selection of Judges is to be elected from judges and representatives of civil society.
  • The most recent set of appointments, has been criticized for being political and lacking in transparency.
  • The OECD as criticized the Council for being excessively politicized, resulting in the dependency of the Kyrgyz judiciary on political elites.

Vb.kg, Privately owned media, Accessed on 19 February 2015
Military Telecommunications company, Sapatsom, challenges wiretapping

  • The company has called the amendments to the Law “On Electric and Postal Communication” unconstitutional.
  • The amendments allow the government to conduct operational searches and wiretapping activities.
  • The law requires all telecommunication companies to install surveillance technology on their products, at the company’s own expense.
  • One company, Sapatsom, has criticized the government for not only the unconstitutionality of the surveillance, but also requiring companies to assume as the costs of the additional technology and its installation.
  • The necessary technological implant means that wiretapping would be possible without the necessary court approval.
2. Military

Vb.kg, Privately owned media, Accessed on 18 February 2015
The Ministry of Defense discusses the rights of servicemen in Bishkek

  • Human rights activists have turned their attention to servicemen in Bishkek.
  • There have been reports of highly violent relationships between senior ranking officials and their subordinates.
  • This has lead to a number of suicides amongst conscripts.
  • Members of the High Command of the Defense Ministry have agreed with the human rights activists.
  • Better health care and living standards will also be sought for servicemen.

24.kg, State-owned media, Accessed on 18 February 2015
In 2014, 12 cases of deaths of servicemen with only four criminal cases

  • In 2014, there were 12 cases of unnatural deaths of servicemen in Kyrgyzstan. Only four of these cases were brought under criminal investigation.
  • This was listed in a report prepared by a Kyrgyz Human Rights consulting group.
  • From 2010-2013, there were 50 cases of unnatural deaths, and only 15 of these were investigated.
  • Another fact listed is that the Kyrgyz army has is becoming increasingly monoethnic.
  • 70% of service employees are the children of migrants.
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