Central Asia, News Watch, Side Feature

The Activity of 21 Organizations was Banned in Kyrgyzstan

On November 22, 2022, the Kyrgyz Zhogorku Kenesh Committee on Law Enforcement, Crime and Corruption approved a draft law on countering extremism. This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kyrgyzstan.

Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Kyrgyzstan Major General Nurbek Abdiev noted that “the bill was developed in order to comply with the new edition of the Constitution of the country, which came into force on May 5, 2021, the norms of the international law, the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes, which came into force on December 1, 2021”. According to him, the main purpose of the law is to protect Human Rights and freedoms, the foundations of the constitutional system, territorial integrity from extremist activities, and to ensure the national security of Kyrgyzstan.

Comment:
In Kyrgyzstan today, judicial authorities have banned the activities of 21 organizations under the pretext of extremism and terrorism.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the authorities of Kyrgyzstan, like the rest of the countries in the region, resisted the Islamic revival among the population for many years. However, this confrontation took place in a softer and more veiled form compared to other Central Asian countries. But at the same time Kyrgyzstan was a kind of gateway for the security services of such countries as Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which could easily carry out their activities in Kyrgyzstan against the carriers of Islamic call and famous preachers, up to their physical elimination.

However, recently, namely after Sadyr Zhaparov came to power, the fight against dissent in general, and especially against the carriers of the Islamic call, has gained momentum and acquired completely different forms. Several dozens of Muslims, including members of the Hizb ut Tahrir, have been detained and put behind bars in recent years for their participation in Islamic jamaats.

The nature of the detentions and the manner of their coverage in the mass media clearly show that the State Committee for National Security of the Kyrgyz Republic (SCNS) worked not only according to the methodical instructions of the Russian special services, but most likely under their responsive and constant guidance.

When Sadyr Zhaparov became a president (with the full support of Moscow), he began methodical actions to strengthen the presidential powers. Thus, on April 11, 2021 a referendum was held in Kyrgyzstan on the adoption of a new draft constitution, which provided for the transition from a parliamentary-presidential to a presidential form of government. The initiator of these changes was Sadyr Zhaparov.

Thus, having strengthened its vertical of power, the Zhaparov’s regime began to purge the socio-political field, violently repressing both oppositionists and Islamic activists, because in recent times the population of Kyrgyzstan at a great pace began to return to the fold of Islam.

The regime, under the slogan of combating so-called “extremism and terrorism,” is trying to prevent the Islamic revival in the country and the return of Muslims to their roots.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Firdavs Salimzoda