En grupp oberoende människorättsexperter uppmanar parlamentet i Kirgizistan att förkasta ett lagförslag som kriminaliserar och bestraffar ”en positiv attityd till icke-traditionell sexuell läggning”.

Experterna konstaterar att FN redan dokumenterat våld och diskrimering mot hbtq-personer i Kirgizistan och visat på konsekvenserna av liknande lagar i andra länder. Nu framhåller de att myndigheterna, istället för döma hbtq-personer till tystnad, borde motarbeta alla former av våld och diskriminering i Kirgizistan.

Lagförslaget som experterna kritiserar har redan behandlats i parlamentet en gång, och ytterligare två omröstningar som godkänner det, samt presidentens signatur, krävs för att lagen ska kunna träda i kraft.

– Om lagen går igenom skulle den strida mot Kirgizistans skyldigheter och åtaganden när det gäller mänskliga rättigheter, konstaterar de.

The draft law passed its first reading at Parliament last month, and must be voted on twice more before going to the President for signature. “If passed, the law would run afoul of the Kyrgyzstan’s human rights obligations and commitments,” they noted.

The explanatory note accompanying the bill defines non-traditional sexual relations as ‘sodomy, lesbianism, and other forms of non-traditional sexual behavior’. It proscribes the dissemination of information in the media and internet, as well as the organization and participation in peaceful assemblies on these issues.

Punishment includes fines up to 3,000-6,000 som (USD 36 to 91 – the average worker’s salary in Kyrgyzstan is around USD 140 a month) and between six months to one year of imprisonment.

“Limiting freedom of expression is only acceptable in very exceptional circumstances and based on objective criteria – this is clearly not the case here,” UN Special Rapporteur on the freedom of opinion and expression David Kaye said. “Imposing limits to the dissemination of information on ‘non-traditional sexual relations’ simply means silencing those who identify as LGBT and, indeed, any discussion of the situation of the LGBT community in the country.”

“Rejecting one’s right to organize a public assembly on the basis of its content is one of the most serious interferences with the freedom of peaceful assembly,” UN Special Rapporteur on the freedom of peaceful assembly and of association Maina Kiai said. “The freedom of assembly protects demonstrations promoting ideas that may be seen as annoying or offensive by others.”

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Michel Forst, also warned that “the draft law not only discriminates against a specific subset of the population, but would also chill the legitimate work of human rights defenders advocating for the human rights of the LGBT community.”

“The full enjoyment of the right to health is impossible without access to information and open discussion on sexual and reproductive rights,” said Dainius Puras, the UN Rapporteur on the right to health. “The Bill as it stands would inhibit such access, as well as the possibility of free and open discussion on sexual and reproductive health and rights,” he added. In his view, in addition to targeting the LGBTI community, the bill would infringe upon the overall enjoyment of the right to health in Kyrgyzstan.

The group of experts recalled two recent Human Rights Council resolutions condemning acts of violence and discrimination, in all regions of the world, committed against individuals because of their sexual orientation and gender identity.

“Adopting new laws banning any expression on LGBT issues is certainly not the response needed to ensure better support and protection for the human rights of this group, which is often stigmatized and at risk,” they concluded.

(*) The experts: The Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom or opinion and expression, David Kaye; the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai; the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Michel Forst; and the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Dainius Puras.