NGOs voice concern over new draft laws

NGOs in Kazakhstan have expressed concern over a set of new draft laws they believe threaten the development of civil society and democracy in Central Asia's largest nation. "This kind of law - if approved - will kill civil society in Kazakhstan, because they [the authorities] aim to put under very strict control the NGOs, not only international NGOs, but local ones as well," Antonio Stango, country director for Freedom House, a leading advocate of the world's young democracies, told IRIN from the Kazakh commercial capital of Almaty on Wednesday. "If the draft law is adopted as it is now, it will bring administrative procedures, stipulating that every activity by the civic organisations would have to be coordinated with the authorities," Amangeldy Shormanbayev, a lawyer with the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law (IBHRRL) NGO, told IRIN from the same city. "It has nothing to do with the freedom of assembly." "We are very concerned about this," Oleg Katsiev, country director for Internews, an international non-profit group supporting open media worldwide, said from Almaty. "The government is going to control everything; every activity of any international NGO," he warned. Their comments came two days after a group of leaders of human rights and pro-democracy organisations - including both Freedom House and Internews - issued a letter to the chairman of Kazakhstan's parliament, urging Astana to dismiss two draft laws that according to a statement, threatened democracy. The draft laws, currently before the Kazakh parliament, or Majilis, would place significant restrictions on the activities of foreign and domestic NGOs, especially those supporting local human rights activists. According to a group statement issued on Monday, the two laws - "On the Activities of Branches and Representative Offices of International or Foreign Non-commercial Organisations in the Republic of Kazakhstan" and "On the Introduction of Amendments and Additions into Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Matters Related to Non-Commercial Organisations" - would severely hinder international assistance to Kazakhstan. Kazakh citizens will therefore be deprived of the valuable services and experience of the international community, it added. As part of the new law, every event, including a round-table or press conference, would need to be communicated to the authorities at least 10 days in advance, while all budgets would require the tacit approval, not only of the tax authorities, but by city and provincial officials as well, Stango said. "We would waste all our time just dealing with bureaucracy," the Freedom House official explained. But even more disturbing, if an NGO was suspected of having some kind of political agenda, it could be closed down, he added. "If somebody tomorrow in the government or even the city administration wakes up with bad humour, they can just close an NGO," the Italian activist warned, noting an additional clause called for the directors of international NGOs in country should be Kazakh citizens. "This is a limitation put on international organisations without any serious justification," he said. But it's also the timing of the proposed laws that are also of concern. "My impression is that this kind of draft law is motivated solely by the panic shown by some of the authorities after the events in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan," the activist maintained, noting that these events were uniquely different with different backgrounds and different actors. "The main goal of some of the authorities in my opinion is just to do everything that is possible, hoping to avoid the collapse of the government," he added. Asked what he hoped would happened, Katsiev remarked: "We hope that this draft law will be removed from the schedule of the parliament," a sentiment shared by Stango. "I do hope that the Kazakh authorities will understand that this kind of draft law does not help with the development of civil society," he explained. "Democratisation is a goal, an official goal of the government of Kazakhstan," he explained, reminding the Kazakh government they were there through an agreement between the US government and Kazakhstan. According to Monday's eight-member group letter, the timing of the draft law submissions comes as Washington decides whether to certify that Astana had made significant improvements in the protection of human rights.