Violations of Freedom of Speech in Kazakhstan March 2022

The International Foundation for the Protection of\r\nFreedom of Speech \"Adil Soz\" conducted a study of the situation with\r\nthe right to freedom of expression, receipt and dissemination of information in\r\nKazakhstan in March 2022.

Itreports:

- Kassym-Jomart\r\nTokayev, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan,  put forward an initiative to \" to revise\r\nthe law on media to take into account the interests of the state, the demands\r\nof society, and the trends in the development of the media sphere.\"

On March 16 the\r\nPresident of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in his State-of-the-Nation\r\nAddress presented a program for the comprehensive modernization of the\r\ncountry\'s political system. The recommendations of the deputies of the\r\nParliament, the Constitutional Council, the Central Election Commission, the\r\nSupreme Court, and respected experts were taken into account while  developing the program.

The proposed reforms\r\nare to \"solve the two urgent problems\": \"Firstly, they promote\r\nconsistent democratization, and secondly, they ensure the stability and\r\ngovernability of the state.\"

The seventh initiative\r\nput forward by the president concerns the media - \"Increasing the\r\ncompetitiveness of the media and strengthening the role of civil society\r\ninstitutions.\"

“As an effective\r\nchannel of communication between the authorities and the people, the media can\r\nand should raise pressing issues. But this should be done with great civic\r\nresponsibility, not working on orders from outside, contributing to the\r\npolarisation of our society, and not for shady fees, participating in a hidden\r\nstruggle of political clans. Journalists should sincerely care about their\r\ncountry and its citizens,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev addressed the journalists.

To increase the\r\ncompetitiveness of the media, the president put forward an initiative to \"\r\nto revise the law on media to take into account the interests of the state, the\r\ndemands of society, and the trends in the development of the media\r\nsphere.\"

- The Mazhilis (lower\r\nchamber) of the Parliament adopted  a\r\nbill strengthening the regulation of social networks and instant messengers in\r\nthe second reading under the pretext of protecting children from cyberbullying.\r\nHuman rights activists, experts, journalists, civil society asked the Senate of\r\nthe Parliament to return the draft law to the lower chamber of the Parliament\r\nfor revision.

On March 9, the\r\nMazhilis of the Parliament adopted  the\r\ndraft law “On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the\r\nRepublic of Kazakhstan on the Protection of the Rights of the Child, Education,\r\nInformation and Informatization” in the second reading.

The draft law proposes\r\nto supplement Article 41-1 \"Procedure for suspension of work of networks\r\nand (or) means of communications\" of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan\r\n\"On Communications\" with new subparagraphs stating that the\r\nAuthorized Body in the Field of Mass Media determines the procedure for\r\nrestricting access to prohibited information, suspending and resuming access to\r\nInternet resources that host prohibited information or information restricted\r\nfor distribution, maintains a unified register of Internet resources that post information\r\n“prohibited or otherwise restricted for distribution”.

Orders to eliminate\r\nviolations of the law are sent not only to telecom operators and (or) to the\r\nstate technical service, but also to owners and (or) legal representatives of\r\nonline platforms.

The draft law has been\r\nsubmitted to the Senate of the Parliament for consideration.

On March 10, the  International Foundation for Protection of\r\nFreedom of Speech Adil Soz commented on the draft law adopted by the Mazhilis\r\ndeputies. In accordance with the bill, any content that is found to be bullying\r\nor harassment must be deleted within 24 hours.

“By what methodology\r\nthe ministry will determine what is bullying and what is not, the Majilis did\r\nnot explain. But they assured that Mark Zuckerberg and others like him would\r\nnot have to open offices in Kazakhstan, it would be enough to appoint an\r\nemployee who could work even remotely,” the Foundation said.

“The Criminal and\r\nAdministrative Codes of the Republic of Kazakhstan do not contain the concept\r\nof cyberbullying, there is no punishment for it, there are no studies and\r\nstatistics on cyberbullying in Kazakhstan.

The proposal to amend\r\nthe law “On the Mass Media” raises great concerns. It means that  users will file a complaint about\r\ncyberbullying of a child not with a court, but with the Ministry of Information\r\nand Social Development.  Besides the bill\r\nproposes to authorize the Ministry to make decisions that will be compulsory\r\nfor online platforms. Obviously, it means that Ministry specialists are to have\r\nthe skills of an expert philologist and a judge. If they don’t we will face\r\ntotal arbitrariness and hot public discussions on  what is mere criticism and what is bulling\r\netc.

The proposed measures\r\nwill in no way contribute to the fight against cyberbullying. These are  covert attempts to establish control over the\r\nInternet. Only 12 out of 200 world countries block messengers and social\r\nnetworks. Moreover, these countries can hardly be classified as developed, but\r\nthey are absolute outsiders in the freedom of speech ratings.

Well-known social\r\nnetworks and messengers operating in Kazakhstan already comply with enforcement\r\nmeasures prohibiting the dissemination such information as violence, sexual\r\nexploitation of children, abuse/harassment, hate propaganda, suicide, and other\r\nillegal content.

According to experts,\r\nthe adoption of this bill will lead to such negative consequences as\r\nrestricting the right to receive and disseminate information,” comments Adil\r\nSoz.

-  The Union of Journalists of Kazakhstan and the\r\nInternational Foundation for Protection of Freedom of Speech \"Adil\r\nSoz\" issued a statement in connection with the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.\r\nThe authors of the statement ask journalists and bloggers to respect their\r\nopponents and be aware of their responsibility to society when discussing a\r\nmilitary conflict.

Kazakhstani social\r\nnetworks users actively discuss the Russian invasion of  Ukraine, that started on February 24. Public\r\nfigures, journalists, bloggers, users of social networks express their point of\r\nview on the military conflict in Ukraine, and do not mince their words.

On March 11, the Union\r\nof Journalists of Kazakhstan and the \r\nInternational Foundation for Protection of Freedom of Speech Adil Soz\r\nissued a statement in connection with the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, that is\r\nbeing discussed around the world.

« It caused extreme\r\nactivity in Kazakhstani social networks. Citizens, primarily journalists, make\r\nfull use of the freedom of expression guaranteed by our Constitution. However,\r\nmany of them cross the line and fall into hate speech while standing up for\r\ntheir beliefs.

We remind\r\nthat international standards, in particular the Rabat Plan of Action for the\r\nProhibition of Propaganda of National, Racial or Religious Hatred, define the\r\nterms „hatred‟ and „hostility‟ as intense and irrational emotions of\r\nopprobrium, enmity and detestation towards the target group. That means that\r\none can hate some action or inaction, but \r\ncannot hate  people, a nation,\r\nreligious or other group  on the basis of\r\ncitizenship, nationality, religion.

Publicly\r\nexpressed hatred to someone, especially in the media and social networks is a\r\npropaganda, albeit indirect, an  appeal,\r\nalbeit insignificant. What for? What it may lead to? First of all one should\r\nanswer these questions while expressing his/her opinion.

We are for\r\nopen discussion of any acute issues, for polemics and discussions. We are for\r\nwell-grounded disputes, without insults and humiliation of opponents, without\r\nthreats and aggression. No one needs such chain: Chaos in the minds - chaos in\r\nwords - chaos in society.

We believe\r\nthat now it is more important than ever that journalists and bloggers should\r\nexpress their views observing the culture of controversy, respecting for the\r\nopponent and observing their responsibility to society», - the Statement says.

- Journalists of Uralskaya Nedelya\r\nreceive threats caused by thier articles on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

On the\r\nmorning of March 28, an unknown person called personal number of Maria\r\nDracheva, a  Uralskaya Nedelya reporter.\r\nThe man called her first and last name, and then asked when the journalist\r\nwould leave her job, what was the sum she sold herself for, and why the\r\neditorial office supports “the nationalists in Ukraine.” To Mary’s question -\r\n“Who are you?”, The man replied: “You will learn it soon ...” and broke the\r\nconversation. The same morning Lyudmila Kalashnikova, deputy editor of\r\nUralskaya Nedelya, received a call from the same number, but she did not answer\r\nthe call, as she was in a bus.

The editors\r\nof Uralskaya Nedelya regard the contents of the call from an unknown man as a\r\nreal threat to the lives of journalists and believes that the threats are\r\nconnected with the articles  about the\r\nconflicet in Ukraine.

- The killer and the burial place of\r\nthe journalist Oralgaisha Omarshanova found 14 years after she went missing.

The killer\r\n- crime boss Serik Golova confessed to the crime and showed the burial place of\r\nOmarshanova. An autopsy confirmed the identity of the deceased.

Journalist\r\nOralgaisha Zhabagtaykyzy, director of the Anti-Corruption Department of the\r\nrepublican newspaper \"Zakon i Pravosudiye\" (Law& Justice), was\r\nlast seen by colleagues and relatives on March 30.

Her article\r\n“Bloody Mayhem, or Who Is Behind the Makhnovist Brothers” was published in No.\r\n12 of the newspaper “Zakon i Pravosudiye” on March 26, 2007. The article was\r\nwritten in the genre of investigative journalism after a work trip. It  analyzed the causes of the bloody conflict in\r\nthe village of Malovodnoe, Almaty region, where on March 17-18 there was a mass\r\nclash between local residents. The journalist told about the links of the\r\ninitiators of the clash with state and large commercial structures and\r\ndisclosed their names and positions. The article ended with \"to be\r\ncontinued...\" note.

Then there\r\nwere many  articles, appeals, press\r\nconferences, a nice photograph of Oralgaisha, provided by her brother, was\r\npublished for many times. Finally, the most “loud-voiced” human rights\r\nactivists were invited to the Almaty Police Department and were told that most\r\nlikely the journalist fell into the hands of a criminal boss whom she trusted.\r\nPolice even called his nickname but asked to keep silence for a while in order\r\nnot to scare the killer.

.

The following charges were filed in connection with\r\nthe exercise of the right to freedom of expression in March 2022:

- 4 criminal charge (3 in court)

- 5 civil claims and lawsuits (all 5 of them for\r\nprotection of honor, dignity and business reputation).

- 2 administrative charges

The following charges were filed since the beginning of the year:

- 10 criminal charges (3 in court).

- 8 claims and suits in civil procedure (all of them\r\nfor protection of honor, dignity and business reputation).

Claims for compensation for non-pecuniary damage\r\namounted to 6 million 650 thousand tenge. The courts collected 500 thousand\r\ntenge.

- 10 administrative charges, including 7 related to\r\nJanuary riots

The monitoring is based on the reports of the Adil Soz\r\nFoundation\'s and publicly available information

Head of monitoring service of Adil Soz Foundation

Elena Tsoi e-mail: lena@adilsoz.kz

For all monitoring questions, you can also contact\r\ninfo@adilsoz.kz