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Resolution 1984 (2014) Final version
Request for Partner for Democracy status with the Parliamentary Assembly submitted by the Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic
1. In adopting Resolution 1680 (2009) on the establishment
of a “partner for democracy” status with the Parliamentary Assembly,
the Assembly resolved to establish a new status for institutional
co-operation with parliaments of non-member States in neighbouring
regions wishing to benefit from the Assembly’s experience in democracy
building and to participate in the political debate on common challenges
which transcend European boundaries.
2. In accordance with Paragraph 15 of Resolution 1680 (2009), the national
parliaments of all southern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries
participating in the Union for the Mediterranean-Barcelona Process,
and of central Asian countries participating in the Organization
for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), should be eligible to request
partner for democracy status with the Assembly. The Parliament of
Morocco and the Palestinian National Council were granted this status
in June and October 2011 respectively.
3. On 27 October 2011, the Speaker of the Parliament of the Kyrgyz
Republic officially requested that the parliament be granted partner
for democracy status with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe. The Assembly welcomes this request, which is the first
to come from central Asia.
4. The Assembly takes note that, in his letter, the Speaker of
the Kyrgyz Parliament, in line with the requirements set out in
Rule 61.2 of the Rules of Procedure, reaffirmed the following:
“The current situation in our country and the achievements of the past few years show that the Kyrgyz Republic shares the Council of Europe’s values, which are founded on pluralism and gender equality, together with parity-based democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. Firm evidence of this can be seen today in the abolition of the death penalty in the Kyrgyz Republic, media freedom, and the equal representation of women and men in public and political life.
Our co-operation with the Council of Europe through our membership of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission) has proved extremely useful for the Kyrgyz Republic and has produced positive results. We are therefore interested in making further use of the Assembly’s experience in our institutional and legislative work.
We have set ourselves a clear goal: to hold free and fair elections in line with international standards. We are therefore intent on building stable relations with all international organisations that have sufficient experience in this area.
We are, without doubt, committed to further improving our efforts in these areas, and to encouraging the competent authorities of Kyrgyzstan to become party to the relevant Council of Europe conventions and partial agreements which are open for signature and ratification by non-member States, in particular those dealing with human rights, rule of law and democracy issues.”
5. The Assembly deems these statements to be political commitments,
on the part of the Kyrgyz Parliament, to continue work towards compliance
with the basic values and principles of the Council of Europe and
to the requirements set forth in the Rules of the Assembly.
6. The Assembly particularly welcomes the fact that Kyrgyzstan
abolished the death penalty in 2007.
7. At the same time, the Assembly notes that the request contains
no formal reference to the statutory obligation to inform the Assembly
regularly on the state of progress in implementing Council of Europe principles.
However, it deems accountability to be an integral part of the partnership,
and the obligation of accountability to be a direct consequence
of the granting of the status.
8. On this understanding, the Assembly considers that the request
by the Kyrgyz Parliament broadly meets the formal conditions set
out in its Rules of Procedure.
9. Furthermore, the Assembly acknowledges that the parliament,
the main political actors, State and public officials and civil
society in Kyrgyzstan broadly share the objectives of the partnership
for democracy, and consider that obtaining it would be an important
incentive to further developing democracy, the rule of law and the
protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the country.
10. The Assembly is convinced that it is important that Kyrgyzstan,
the only country in central Asia to have chosen parliamentary democracy
as the basis of its political system, succeeds on the path to democratic transition.
It believes that Kyrgyzstan deserves full support in this endeavour.
11. The Assembly welcomes Kyrgyzstan’s commitment to deep constitutional,
institutional, political and legal reforms in order to strengthen
democracy, and encourages the national authorities to make full
use of the Council of Europe’s expertise and standards. It considers
that the partner for democracy status provides an appropriate framework
for strengthening the involvement of the Kyrgyz Parliament in the
realisation of these reforms.
12. At the same time, the Assembly is fully aware that Kyrgyzstan,
as a young independent country with a turbulent political history
and a burden of problems inherited from the past, still has a long
way to go towards democracy, the rule of law and full respect for
human rights and fundamental freedoms.
13. The Assembly commits itself to helping Kyrgyzstan overcome
these obstacles. It stands ready to share its experience and offer
its assistance in addressing them. It recalls that partner for democracy
status is a tool to improve democracy. It deems that, by requesting
partner for democracy status, the Kyrgyz Parliament has demonstrated
its will to embark on this path and its readiness to learn from
European practice, and has chosen Council of Europe standards as
benchmarks on its way forward.
14. In this context, several factors are cause for very serious
concern and must be addressed as matters of priority, particularly
in the framework of future co-operation between the Council of Europe
and Kyrgyzstan as partners for democracy. These include pervasive
corruption, an ethnically unbalanced judiciary lacking impartiality
and independence, continued use of torture, impunity of law-enforcement
agents with regard to the latter, acts of intimidation of civil
society and still unresolved consequences of interethnic tensions.
15. Against this background, and building on its experience of
co-operation with other countries in transition, the Assembly considers
that the following specific issues are of key importance for strengthening
democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms in Kyrgyzstan:
15.1. holding
free and fair elections in accordance with relevant international
standards, and improving the electoral legal framework in co-operation
with the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission);
15.2. enhancing public interest in, and awareness of, the democratic
process, as well as ensuring a higher level of participation in
elections and involvement of citizens in political life;
15.3. strengthening public monitoring of elections by independent
observers, including strengthening the capacities of domestic observer
networks;
15.4. consolidating the institutional framework resulting from
the 2010 constitutional reform, in particular by enhancing the separation
of powers and strengthening the role of the parliament;
15.5. further involving civil society organisations in legislative
and other decision-making processes;
15.6. strengthening the development of political participation
in political parties, to ensure a pluralistic representation of
all parts of Kyrgyz society;
15.7. promoting education in democratic citizenship and respect
for human rights;
15.8. improving equal opportunities for women and men in economic,
political and public life;
15.9. strengthening local and regional democracy;
15.10. stepping up the fight against corruption, in particular
in law-enforcement agencies; strengthening transparency and accountability
in the governance system;
15.11. stepping up efforts to ensure respect for the right to
a fair trial, in particular by ensuring that the right to defence
is respected in practice, and consolidating legal reform with a
view to ensuring the independence and impartiality of the judiciary,
with particular focus on excluding ethnic bias;
15.12. adhering to and effectively implementing relevant international
instruments in the field of human rights, including full co-operation
with United Nations special mechanisms and implementation of the United
Nations Universal Periodic Review recommendations;
15.13. reinforcing the training of judges, prosecutors, prison
staff, law-enforcement agents and lawyers as regards respect for
international human rights standards;
15.14. erasing practices of arbitrary detention;
15.15. effectively implementing international norms on the prevention
of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment of persons deprived
of their liberty; fighting impunity for torture and ill-treatment,
in particular by introducing an effective complaint mechanism against
such acts;
15.16. improving conditions of detention as well as the effectiveness
of the national prevention mechanism, in line with the United Nations
prison-related norms and standards;
15.17. fighting xenophobia and all forms of discrimination;
15.18. guaranteeing and promoting the rights of ethnic minorities,
reaffirming Kyrgyzstan’s status as a multi-ethnic State where all
ethnic groups enjoy equal rights, promoting reconciliation, participation
in political and public life, cultural diversity and intercultural
dialogue, and actively fighting nationalist rhetoric;
15.19. guaranteeing respect for the linguistic rights of minorities
and promoting the right to education in minority languages;
15.20. ensuring full respect for freedom of conscience, of religion
and belief, including the right to change one’s religion;
15.21. guaranteeing and promoting freedom of expression and media
independence and plurality; implementing legal provisions that effectively
guarantee press freedom and protect the media from political pressure;
15.22. guaranteeing and promoting, in law and in practice, freedom
of association and peaceful assembly; ensuring strict implementation
of the law on associations;
15.23. refraining from adopting laws aimed directly or indirectly
at restricting civil society activities;
15.24. combating all forms of discrimination and violence based
on sexual orientation and gender identity;
15.25. not following up on the draft law based on the model of
laws relating to the prohibition of “homosexual propaganda”;
15.26. fighting, in law and in practice, all forms of discrimination
based on gender; ensuring and actively promoting effective equality
between women and men; fighting discrimination against lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender people (LGBT); fighting all forms
of gender-based violence;
15.27. refraining from harassing defenders of human rights and
civil society activists and protecting them against attacks or other
acts of intimidation by non-state actors; releasing Mr Azimjon Askarov
and guaranteeing him a fair trial;
15.28. increasing efforts in the fight against trafficking in
human beings for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced
labour;
15.29. drawing up and implementing a coherent and comprehensive
policy aimed at improving the situation of children, including stepping
up efforts to ban child labour and providing all children with the opportunity
to receive high quality education and high quality health treatment.
16. The Assembly encourages the Council of Europe and Kyrgyzstan
to take these elements into account in their current discussions
on Neighbourhood Co-operation Priorities 2014-2016.
17. The Assembly expects Kyrgyzstan to accede in due course to
relevant Council of Europe conventions and partial agreements open
to non-member States, in particular those dealing with human rights,
the rule of law and democracy issues, in accordance with the commitment
contained in the letter of 27 October 2011 from the speaker of the
parliament.
18. Noting that the Kyrgyz Parliament has reiterated its determination
to work to ensure full implementation of the political commitments
contained in Rule 61.2 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly,
and entered into by the letter of its speaker of 27 October 2011,
the Assembly resolves to:
18.1. grant
partner for democracy status to the Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic
as from the moment of the adoption of the present resolution on
the understanding that it will regularly inform the Assembly on
the state of progress in implementing Council of Europe principles;
18.2. invite the Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic to appoint
a partner for democracy delegation consisting of three representatives
and three substitutes, to be composed in accordance with Rule 61.4 of
the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure.
19. The Assembly believes that progress in taking forward reforms
is the prime aim of the partnership for democracy and should constitute
the benchmark for assessing the efficiency of this partnership.
20. It accordingly resolves to review, no later than two years
from the adoption of this resolution, the state of progress achieved
in implementing the political commitments undertaken by the Parliament
of the Kyrgyz Republic, as well as in carrying forward the specific
issues mentioned in paragraph 15 above.
21. The Assembly stresses the importance of free and fair elections
as a cornerstone of a genuine democracy. It therefore expects to
be invited to observe elections in Kyrgyzstan as from the next general election.
22. The Assembly is confident that granting partner for democracy
status to the Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic will contribute
to intensifying co-operation between the country and the Council
of Europe and promoting Kyrgyzstan’s accession, in due course, to
Council of Europe conventions. It therefore encourages the Secretary
General of the Council of Europe, in co-ordination, as appropriate,
with the European Union and other international partners, to mobilise
the Organisation’s expertise, including that of the Venice Commission, with
a view to contributing to the full implementation of democratic
reforms in Kyrgyzstan.
23. The Assembly calls on Council of Europe member and observer
States and international organisations, in particular the European
Union, to:
23.1. increase their assistance
to Kyrgyzstan in the field of democratic reforms;
23.2. find appropriate ways to assist the Kyrgyz partner for
democracy delegation to take part in the work of the Assembly and
its committees.