Freedom House Denounces Kazakhstani Internet Law
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington – July 13, 2009 – Freedom House urges participating states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to make clear that the decision of Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev to sign a repressive new internet law does not bode well for the success of Kazakhstan’s upcoming chairmanship of the OSCE. The bill has been sharply criticized by domestic media organizations, civil society groups and the international community.
Freedom House Executive Director Jennifer Windsor sent a letter to President Nazarbayev in May stating that the law would restrict the constitutional right of Kazakhstani citizens to freely access information and violate the country’s international commitments to liberalize working conditions for the media. The OSCE representative on freedom of the media also wrote President Nazarbayev that adoption of the law “would be a step backwards in the democratization of Kazakhstan's media governance."
The law defines all content that appears on the internet as "media"—including blogs, chat rooms and discussion forums—making them subject to a broad range of punishments under Kazakhstani legislation. The law expands the grounds that can be used to justify suspending or shutting down both traditional and internet media. It also sets up a special legal proceeding that would lead to the blocking of international websites in Kazakhstan without giving the owners of the site a fair chance to defend themselves.
"This law contradicts the Kazakhstani foreign minister’s promise to other OSCE states that his country would liberalize its legislation governing the media before assuming the OSCE chairmanship in 2010," said Windsor, adding that these states chose Kazakhstan to lead the organization. "Freedom House calls on the governments of OSCE states to make clear to Astana that this law is incompatible with Kazakhstan’s desire for its chairmanship to heal rather than inflame divisions within the organization.”
Last week, Freedom House and Kazakhstani nongovernmental organizations issued a report<http://oscemonitor.freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/The_OSCE_Chairmanship_and_Kazakhstan_FINAL.pdf> that explains how the Kazakhstani government has so far failed to fulfill both its basic obligations as an OSCE member and the domestic reform commitments it made in its bid to chair the organization.
Kazakhstan is ranked Not Free in the 2009 edition of Freedom in the World, Freedom House's survey of political rights and civil liberties and in the 2009 version of Freedom of the Press.
To learn more about Kazakhstan, read:
OSCE Monitor
<http://www.oscemonitor.org/>
Analysis: Kazakhstan Draft Law on Informational-Communication Networks
<http://www.freedomhouse.org/uploads/OSCE/Feb09InternetLaw.pdf>
The OSCE Chairmanship and Kazakhstan: Reform Commitments Remain Unfulfilled
<http://oscemonitor.freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/The_OSCE_Chairmanship_and_Kazakhstan_FINAL.pdf>
Freedom in the World 2009: Kazakhstan
<http://www.freedomhouse.org/uploads/FIW09Kazakhstan.pdf>
Freedom of the Press 2008: Kazakhstan
<http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=251&year=2008&country=7421>
Nations in Transit 2009: Kazakhstan
<http://www.freedomhouse.eu/images/nit2009/kazakhstan.pdf>
Freedom House, an independent nongovernmental organization that supports the expansion of freedom in the world, has been monitoring political rights and civil liberties in Kazakhstan since 1990.
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CONTACT: Laura Ingalls<mailto:ingalls@freedomhouse.org>
in Washington, +1-202-747-7035