Constitutional Provisions

According to Article 16 of the 2010 Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan):

1. In the Kyrgyz Republic, basic human rights and freedoms are recognized and guaranteed in accordance with universally accepted norms and principles of international law, international treaties and agreements concerning human rights which have joined into legal force.

2. Every person in the Kyrgyz Republic has the essential right to life. No one can be deprived of his life arbitrarily.

Everyone has the right to defend his life and health, life and health of other persons from unlawful infringements.

According to Article 18(1): "No one may be tortured, subjected to mistreatment or inhuman or degrading punishments."

Article 34) of the Constitution provides that:

1. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of peaceful assembly. No one may be forced to participate in the assembly.

2. In order to ensure the conduct of a peaceful assembly everyone shall have the right to submit notice to state authorities. Prohibition and limitation on conduct of a peaceful assembly shall not be allowed; the same applies to refusal to duly ensure it failing to submit notice on conduct of free assembly, non-compliance with the form of notice, its contents and submission deadlines.

3. The organizers and participants in peaceful assemblies shall not be liable for the absence of notice on the conduct of a peaceful assembly, non-compliance with the form of notice, its contents and submission deadline.

 The Constitution does not specifically regulate the use of force by law enforcement agencies in Kyrgyzstan.

Treaty Adherence

Global Treaties

Adherence to Selected Human Rights Treaties
1966 Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) State Party
ICCPR Optional Protocol 1 State Party
1984 Convention against Torture (CAT) State Party
Competence of CAT Committee to receive individual complaints No
CAT Optional Protocol 1 State Party
Adherence to International Criminal Law Treaties

1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

Signatory

Regional Treaties

There is no regional human rights treaty to which Central Asian nations can become party.

National Legislation

Police Use of Force

Law enforcement in Kyrgyzstan is primarily the responsibility of the Kyrgyz Police Force (militsiya) under the Ministry of Internal Affairs. A reform program was launched by the government in 2013. In 2018, Prime Minister Sapar Isakov suggested to transform the militsiya into a properly constituted police service. 

There is not believed to be national legislation in place governing police use of force. As the OSCE has reported, "Kyrgyz law currently defines the duties of police officers, yet
it is largely silent on how officers are to carry out these duties." On 1 January 2019, the new Criminal Code and new Code of Criminal Procedure entered into force. According to the authorities, these new instruments strengthen the fundamental safeguards against torture during the police custody and preliminary investigation phases.

According to Article 17(1) of the 2012 Law on Peaceful Assemblies: "Use of force for assembly termination shall be an extreme measure." Article 17(2) prohibits the use of "physical force, including special methods of hand-to-hand fighting, means at hand, special means and firearms, if an assembly with illegitimate purposes does not resort to violence or use of firearms". Article 17(3) dictates that force "shall be used for assembly termination, including cases of mass riots that require extreme action, ... as stipulated by legislation".

Police Oversight

There is no civilian independent police oversight body in Kyrgyzstan. Complaints about the police can be made to the national Ombudsman

Caselaw

Global

Views and Concluding Observations of United Nations Treaty Bodies

In its 2014 Concluding Observations on Kyrgyzstan, the Human Rights Committee remained concerned "about the ongoing and widespread practice of torture and ill-treatment of persons deprived of their liberty for the purpose of extracting confessions, particularly in police custody; the number of deaths in custody and the fact that none of the cases reported to the Committee led to any conviction".

Regional

There is no regional human rights court with jurisdiction over police use of force in Kyrgyzstan.

Downloads

2010 Constitution of Kyrgyzstan (English translation)

OSCE Report on Police Reform in Kyrgyzstan

1997 Criminal Code of Kyrgyzstan

1999 Criminal Procedure Code of Kyrgyzstan (as amended)

2012 Law on Peaceful Assemblies of Kyrgyzstan

Human Rights Committee Concluding Observations on Kyrgyzstan (2014)