NGO Law Monitor: Kyrgyz Republic

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Last updated 6 August 2013

Update:
In June 2013, a new Law on Public Councils was adopted which provides for the establishment of citizen advisory bodies in all government agencies and greatly facilitates their operations.

Introduction

The civil society sector in the Kyrgyz Republic is considered one of the strongest in Central Asia. The Kyrgyz Government respects civil society organizations (CSOs), and the overall political situation has remained stable following the overthrow of the Bakiyev regime in 2010 and the holding of democratic elections for Parliament that same year and for President in 2011. CSO representatives have become more engaged with the government at the national and local levels because of the establishment of numerous consultative public councils at the state ministries and agencies beginning in late 2010. CSOs also played a significant role in monitoring elections and are becoming more active in efforts to reform the court and police systems. There are currently over 16,000 CSOs registered in the country, working in a wide range of areas, including human rights, support to vulnerable groups, culture and art, health, protection of the environment, youth and sport, education and advocacy.

CSOs are registered as noncommercial organizations (NCOs) under a civil law structure that has its roots in the Soviet system, though many laws were modernized beginning in the late 1990s. The most popular legal forms are public associations, foundations, institutions, associations of legal entities and community-based organizations. Although the basic concept of freedom of association is respected, and registration of CSOs is quick and easy, the sustainability of the sector remains a deep concern as foreign funding diminishes. Currently the majority of Kyrgyz CSOs rely entirely on funding from foreign sources, and there have been several efforts to place restrictions on foreign assistance, most recently in early 2012. A law on social services contracting in the form of grants was adopted in 2008, but the volume of financing has been extremely low due to the country’s economic hardships and deficiencies in implementation. Philanthropy, another important source for sustaining CSOs, is almost nonexistent in the Kyrgyz Republic, due to economic conditions and poor implementation of tax legislation, which does provide some incentives to encourage donations. CSOs have the right to carry out economic activities (selling goods and services), but the resulting income is taxable unless the CSO qualifies as a charitable organization, which is a status almost impossible to maintain because of operational restrictions.

While CSOs are eager to participate in the government decision-making process and new mechanisms have been developed, access to this process and the effectiveness of CSO input is dependent on the good will of government officials. For example, the members of public councils were selected by a commission whose members were all Presidential appointees. In June 2013, a new Law on Public Councils was adopted which guarantees establishment of these citizen advisory bodies in all government agencies and greatly improves the mechanisms for their operation and selection of members of Public Councils. In addition, a progressive law on freedom of peaceful assembly was adopted in May 2012, but in February 2013, Parliament introduced amendment into the Code on Administrative Responsibility and imposed penalties on participants who block roads or traffic as well as during the exercise of this right.

At a Glance

Organizational Forms	Non-Governmental Organizations	Social Organizations
Registration Body	Ministry of Justice	Local Self-Government
Approximate Number	11,452	There is no statistical data
Barriers to Entry	No legal barriers	Ten founding members required.
Barriers to Activities	A charitable organization is forbidden to conduct economic activities unless the activities “correspond” to its statutory goals	No legal barriers.
Barriers to Speech and/or Advocacy	No legal barriers	No legal barriers; law is silent on political activities
Barriers to International Contact	No legal barriers	No legal barriers
Barriers to Resources	No legal barriers	No legal barriers

Key Indicators

Population	5,548,042 (July 2013 est.)
Capital	Bishkek
Type of Government	Republic
Life Expectancy at Birth	Male: 65.58 years Female: 74.21 (2013 est.)
Literacy Rate	98.7%
Religious Groups	Muslim 75%, Russian Orthodox 20%, other 5%
Ethnic Groups	Kyrgyz 64.9%, Uzbek 13.8%, Russian 12.5%, Dungan 1.1%, Ukrainian 1%, Uyghur 1%, other 5.7% (1999 census)
GDP per capita	$2,400 (2012 est.)

Source: The World Factbook. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2011.

International Rankings

Ranking Body	Rank	Ranking Scale (best – worst possible)
UN Human Development Index	125 (2013)	1 – 182
World Bank Rule of Law Index	10.1 (2011)	100 – 0
World Bank Voice & Accountability Index	26.4 (2011)	100 – 0
Transparency International	154 (2012)	1 – 180
Freedom House: Freedom in the World	Status: Partly free Political Rights: 5 Civil Liberties: 5	Free/Partly Free/Not Free 1 – 7 1 – 7
Foreign Policy: Failed States Index 2012	41	177 – 1

Legal Snapshot

International and Regional Human Rights Agreements

Key International Agreements	Ratification*	Year
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)	Yes	1994
Optional Protocol to ICCPR (ICCPR-OP1)	Yes	1994
International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)	Yes	1994
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention (ILO)	Yes	1992
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD)	Yes	1997
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)	Yes	1997
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women	Yes	2002
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)	No	1994
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (ICRMW)	Yes	2003
International Covenant on Refugee Status	Yes	1996
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)	No
Regional Treaties
European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms	No
Document of the Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension of the CSCE	No

* Category includes ratification, accession, or succession to the treaty

Constitutional Framework

A new Constitution of Kyrgyz Republic was adopted by referendum on June 27, 2010.

Relevant provisions include (unofficial translation):

Article 4, para 2. Political parties, trade unions and other public associations can be created by individuals based on free will and common interests for enjoyment and protection of one’s own rights and liberties, meeting political, economic, social, labor, cultural and other interests.

Article 6. para 1. The Constitution possesses supreme legal power and its norms have direct application in the Kyrgyz Republic. para 2. Constitutional laws, laws and other normative and legal acts are adopted in compliance with the Constitution. para 3. International treaties recognized by the Kyrgyz Republic, as well as generally recognized principles and norms of international law are an integral part of the legal system of the Kyrgyz Republic. Norms of international treaties on human rights have a direct effect and priority over norms of other international treaties. para 4. Official publication of laws and other normative legal acts is mandatory to become effective.

Article 20, para. 1. Laws revoking or derogating human and citizen’s rights and liberties shall not be adopted in the Kyrgyz Republic. para. 2. The rights and freedoms of the person and the citizen can be limited by the Constitution and laws for the purposes of ensuring national security, public order, protection of health and morality of the population, protection of the rights and freedoms of other persons.

Article 34. para. 1 Every person has a right to freedom of peaceful assemblies. No one may be forced to participate in these activities. para. 2 Everyone has the right to submit a notification form to the state bodies on plans to conduct peaceful assembly. Nobody can prohibit or restrict peaceful assembly. The state bodies may not refuse to provide technical support (fire, police, and emergency services) to organizers of peaceful assembly even if the organizers fail to notify the state bodies or the content, form or term for submission of notification form is not correct. para. 3 Organizers of and participants at peaceful assembly are not responsible for not notifying the state bodies, or for non-compliance with form of notification, content and time of submission.

Article 35. Every person has a right to freedom of association.

National Laws and Regulations Affecting Sector

Relevant national-level laws and regulations affecting civil society include:

The Constitution of Kyrgyzstan (June 27, 2010);
The Civil Code of Republic of Kyrgyzstan, Part 1 (May 8, 1996, with latest amendments on October 12, 2009);
The Civil Code of Republic of Kyrgyzstan, Part 2 (January 5, 1998, with latest amendments on July 17, 2009);
The Tax Code of Kyrgyzstan (October 17, 2008, with latest amendments on April 21, 2010);
The Labor Code of Kyrgyzstan (2004, with latest amendments on October 12, 2009);
The Law of Kyrgyz Republic “On Noncommercial Organizations” (October 15, 1999);
The Law of Kyrgyz Republic “On Partnerships of Homeowners” (October 28, 1997);
The Law “On Registration of Legal Entities, Branches” (Representative Offices) (February 20, 2009);
The Law “On Political Parties” (June 12, 1999);
The Law “On Freedom of Religion and Religious Organizations” (December 31, 2008);
The Law “On Trade Unions” (October 16, 1998);
The Law “On Association (Union) of Water Users” (March 15, 2002);
The Law “On Association of Employers” (May 22, 2004);
The Law “On Jamaats (Communities) and Their Associations” (February 21, 2005);
The Law “On Cooperatives” (June 11, 2004);
The Law “On Credit Unions” (October 28, 1999);
The Law “On Local Self-Governance” (May 15, 2011);
The Law “On Social Services Contracting” (July 21, 2008);
The Law “On Philanthropy and Charitable Activity” (November 6, 1999).
The Law of Kyrgyz Republic “On Peaceful Assemblies” (May 23, 2012);
Regulation on Public Supervisory Council under State Body (March 5, 2011).

Pending NGO Legislative / Regulatory Initiatives

1) In 2011 and again in 2012, a bill was introduced into Parliament that would give the Government broad discretion to impose new restrictions on foreign funding and burdensome reporting procedures for CSOs, international development organizations and state bodies. Following a vigorous advocacy campaign by CSOs, the Social Democratic Party agreed to oppose the draft law. It has since been formally withdrawn by the initiators but could be reintroduced at any time.

2) In January 2013, the State Financial Intelligence Service (SFIS) initiated a draft law designed to combat money laundering and financing of terrorist activities (said to be based on FATF recommendations). The draft contained numerous provisions that would harm CSOs receiving foreign funding by, among other things, requiring them to submit additional reports to three state bodies and subjecting them to other forms of unwarranted scrutiny. Public hearings and other efforts to raise awareness among CSOs and international organizations caused the SFIS to create a CSO/Government working group to redesign the draft law. As a result, the draft law submitted to Parliament in June by SFIS did not contain any of these burdensome provisions that would have discriminated against CSOs.

Legal Analysis

Organizational Forms

The Kyrgyz Republic recognizes at least 16 distinct organizational forms for noncommercial organizations, including public associations, foundations, institutions, non-profit cooperatives, and community based organizations. The Civil Code and the Law on Noncommercial Organizations (NCO Law) establish the primary NCO legal framework. Article 2 of the NCO Law defines an NCO as “a voluntary, self-sustained organization created by individuals and (or) legal entities on the basis of community of interests for implementing spiritual and other non-material needs in the interests of its members and (or) the whole society, where the deriving a profit is not a major objective, and the obtained profit is not distributed among members, founders and employees.”
The five most common types of NCOs which can be recognized as CSOs are the following:

(1) A Public Association is a voluntary association of individuals, united by their common interest in meeting spiritual or other non-material needs. A public association is a membership organization, and its highest governing body is the general meeting of members, which in turn creates the executive body (governing board, directorate, etc.) of the organization. The potential area of activity of a public association is very broad: it may include such things as environmental protection, social support of the disabled, education, addressing national issues (for example, through community organizations), culture and art, etc.

(2) A Foundation is a non-membership organization, established by individuals and/or legal entities that make voluntary contributions to the organization, which pursues social, charitable, cultural, educational or other public benefit goals. A foundation may also be created by a last will and testament. A foundation’s characteristics contrast with those of a public association in that a foundation has no membership and the basis for its creation is the voluntary donation of property transferred by its founders for the pursuit of certain goals.

(3) An Institution is an organization created by an owner for carrying out managerial, social and cultural, educational or other functions of a noncommercial character and financed fully or partially by its owner. An institution may be the most appropriate organizational and legal form for NCOs such as hospitals, clinics, kindergartens, schools, universities, and museums.

(4) An Association or Union of Legal Entities is an organization created in order to coordinate the activities of its member organizations, as well as to represent and protect their common interests.

(5) A Community Based Organization is a local community-level organization, representing a voluntary association of members of a local community, residing on the territory of one street, block or other territorial formation of the village or city, for joint resolution of problems of local importance.

As of October 1, 2012, the total number of registered NCOs is 11,452, including 5,287 public associations; 4,078 foundations; 1,339 institutions; 748 associations of legal entities. There are no statistics on the number of community-based organizations. It should be noted that informal NCOs (organizations that have not registered as legal entities) are permitted under Kyrgyz law and are not included in the foregoing figures.

Public Benefit Status

According to the Tax Code, a “charitable organization” is a “noncommercial organization (а) created and carrying out charitable activity in compliance with the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic on noncommercial organizations and charitable activity; (b) not participating in the activity on production and/or sale of excise goods and gambling business; (c) not participating in the support of political parties or election campaigns.”

Although the tax benefits to charitable organizations and their donors are significant, very few organizations in the Kyrgyz Republic attempt to qualify for them. One reason for this can be found in Article 9 of the Charity Law, which requires that a charitable organization spend 98% of its income for charitable purposes and not more than 2% of its income for general overhead expenses. Most organizations find this provision to be unworkable and therefore do not attempt to qualify as charitable organizations even if they are otherwise eligible. Another difficulty lies in Article 7 of the Charity Law, which permits a charitable organization to carry out economic activity only to the extent the activity is directed for achievement of the goals for which it was created and corresponds to these goals. The meaning of this provision is untested in the law and the resulting uncertainty as to its scope inhibits charitable organizations from conducting any economic activity at all. By way of contrast, Article 12 of the Law on Noncommercial Organizations permits NCOs to carry out any economic activity so long as it does not contradict the goals and tasks of the organization.

Barriers to Entry

There are no legal barriers to entry. In contrast to the laws of many other countries in the region, NCOs can exist as unregistered organizations. Without legal entity status, however, such organizations will not be able to engage in certain activities in their own name, such as opening a bank account, ordering a seal, and filing a lawsuit. Registration is quick and easy under the “single window” system and generally takes 10 days.

There is no restriction on who can serve as a founder. Founders of an NCO may include any legal entity, foreigner or citizen, or other individuals. Three founders are required to register a public association. There is no minimum amount of assets required to register an NCO.

The procedure for registration consists of 3 steps: (1) drafting incorporation documents and formation of governing bodies; (2) registration under the “single window” system at the Ministry of Justice, which notifies tax authorities, statistical bodies and other government agencies of the registration and obtains the necessary registration numbers for the applicant; (3) opening a bank account and ordering a stamp (which are optional but necessary if the organization intends to conduct significant activities in its own name). After the application for registration is submitted, the Ministry checks the incorporation documents for compliance with the requirements of the Civil Code and other laws regulating NCOs. After 10 days, if the application is not rejected, the Ministry issues a Certificate of State Registration, and the NCO is officially registered in Ministry of Justice, Tax Service and Social Fund.

Generally, the Law on Registration of Legal Entities requires the following documents to be submitted with the application: (1) charter; (2) minutes of meeting of founders; (3) the list of members of governing bodies; and (4) the list of founders. The registration fee is approximately 224 KGS (less than $5). The Ministry can deny registration if the information provided is incorrect or contradicts applicable law, but the applicant has the right to appeal a denial to the Ministry or a court.

Community based organizations must seek registration with the Local Self-Governmental Bodies and consist of no fewer than 10 founding members (Articles 5(3) and 6(1)).

Barriers to Operational Activity

There are some legal barriers to the operational activity. An NCO may conduct any activity not forbidden in its charter, except that charitable organizations and public associations are forbidden to conduct economic activities unless the activity corresponds to its statutory goals. The government has no right to interfere with the internal self-governance of an NCO, and the law does not require advance approval for project activity. Reporting requirements for NCOs are generally the same as for other legal entities (some additional rules requiring public disclosure are applicable to charitable organizations), and NCOs have the same rights and obligations as other legal entities with respect to inspections and audits conducted by government agencies. NCOs are subject to dissolution in case of conducting an activity that violates the law (such as engaging in activity without a license where a license is required).

Barriers to Speech / Advocacy

No legal barriers.

Barriers to International Contact

No legal barriers.

Barriers to Resources

A law on social services contracting was enacted in 2008, which establishes a competitive tender mechanism for government financing (outsourcing) of social services provided by NCOs. Up to now, however, only the Ministry of Social Development has used this mechanism, even though it is available to other government agencies. Moreover, the volume of financing has been extremely low due to the country’s economic hardships and deficiencies in implementation. Also Kyrgyz legislation does not provide conditions for economic (as well as entrepreneurial) activities of CSOs.

Barriers to Assembly

There is a ban on conducting gatherings and peaceful assemblies closer than 100 meters from elementary and high schools, hospitals and properties of the penal system. In February 2013, Parliament introduced amendment into the Code on Administrative Responsibility and imposed penalties on participants who block roads or traffic as well as during the exercise of right to assemble.

Reports

UN Universal Periodic Review Reports	National Report Compilation of UN Information Summary of Stakeholders’ Information Questions submitted in advance Report of the Working group
Reports of UN Special Rapporteurs	Kyrgyzstan
U.S. State Department	2010 Human Rights Reports: Kyrgyzstan
Failed States Index Reports	Foreign Policy: Failed States Index 2012
Human Rights Watch	HRW Report 2010
International Federation for Human Rights	Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2009 - Kyrgyzstan
IMF Country Reports	Kyrgyz Republic and the IMF
International Center for Not-for-Profit Law Library	Kyrgyzstan

News and Additional Resources

While we aim to maintain information that is as current as possible, we realize that situations can rapidly change. If you are aware of any additional information or inaccuracies on this page, please keep us informed; write to ICNL at ngomonitor@icnl.org.

General News

Open Letter to the authorities (May 2013)
We are writing to you to express our concern regarding Article 12 of the draft Law of the Kyrgyz Republic on "Fighting against the Legalization (Laundering) of Criminal Proceeds and the Financing of Terrorist or Extremist Activities". In April 2013, a restrictive Article 12, titled “Preventive measures for [Non-Commercial Organisations] NCOs”, was incorporated in the bill. If adopted, this Article would violate a number of international and regional standards related to freedom of association and result in additional burdens for the Kyrgyz civil society.

Kyrgyzstan to amend extremist and electronic correspondence laws (April 2013)
The Ministry of Internal Affairs is advocating changes in the law to impose liability for extremism online. The ministry would like to amend two laws: the law on fighting extremism and the law on electronic and mail correspondence. However, oftentimes information is hosted outside of Kyrgyz servers, and it is impossible to bring to court people who are spreading extremist materials through social networks from outside the country.

Nookat Idrisov: The destiny of NGO sector will depend on Prime-minister’s decision if the bill on Foreign Gratuitous Aid will be adopted

“A new law on foreign funding of NCOs is not needed”, Daniar Terbishaliev, parliamentarian

Experts on the role of civil society to get political stability in Kyrgyzstan

The Public Councils at the state bodies annually reported on their activity.

The foregoing information was collected by ICNL and the ICNL, LLC Legal Advisor based in Kabul.