Central Asia: Entrenched Restrictions and Emerging Threats to Civic Space – Joint Statement

In a joint statement for the 2026 Warsaw Human Dimension Conference, International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR), Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law (KIBHR), Association for Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA) and Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights (TIHR) draw attention to the ongoing erosion of civic freedoms in Central Asia and call for sustained action to reverse this trend.

Although the level and nature of repression vary across the five Central Asian countries, developments over the past year have reinforced troubling regional patterns.

Legitimate civic activity is often framed as a threat to national security, stability and cohesion, while criticism of those in power is deemed “false” and “discrediting”.

Across the region, independent civil society organisations (CSOs) face registration barriers; excessive oversight and restrictions, particularly in relation to foreign funding; hostile and stigmatising rhetoric; and heightened pressure when working on non-discrimination, minority rights and other issues deemed sensitive. At the same time, declining funding opportunities undermine the ability of many groups – including those based in exile – to carry out their work.

Widespread impunity persists for unlawful force, torture and other serious abuses related to the suppression of mass protests in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan (Karakalpakstan) and Tajikistan (GBAO) in 2022.

Peaceful assembly also remains tightly constrained. Draft legal amendments under consideration in Kyrgyzstan would give local authorities broad powers to restrict protest locations, weakening the country’s relatively liberal assembly law. Despite a 2025 Constitutional Court ruling requiring appropriate alternatives to be offered, authorities in Kazakhstan continue to deny permission for protests on dubious grounds, while cracking down on unsanctioned gatherings. In Turkmenistan, citizens continue to be compelled to participate in state-organised celebrations and mass events.

Across Central Asia, human rights defenders, activists, journalists, bloggers and other critical voices face ongoing and widening persecution, including retaliatory criminal charges, arrest and imprisonment – often under broadly worded criminal provisions.

Those imprisoned on politically motivated charges are often subjected to ill-treatment and torture, unjustified restrictions on contact with the outside world, and other forms of pressure. They rarely benefit from mass amnesties and pardons, and when they do – as recently in several cases in Tajikistan – their convictions are typically not reversed, nor are they offered remedies for the injustices suffered. The same applies to those who have served out their sentences – a persistent concern in Uzbekistan, for example.

Moreover, numerous defenders, activists and journalists across the region continue to serve lengthy prison sentences imposed following unfair trials.

The repeated failure of Central Asian authorities to heed calls from international human rights bodies to release those unjustly and arbitrarily imprisoned, quash their convictions and provide reparations reflects a broader lack of accountability for the persecution of those peacefully exercising their fundamental freedoms.

While it was welcome that Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court earlier this year reopened the case of an unjustly imprisoned journalist based on an opinion from the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the retaliatory charges against her were not dropped; instead, a new trial was initiated.

Even those who avoid imprisonment when convicted for legitimately exercising their civic freedoms face serious obstacles to continued engagement, including unsubstantiated bans on civic and even professional activity, as increasingly seen in Kazakhstan.

Misuse of psychiatric detention in cases involving critics of those in power also remains a serious concern.

Civic actors across the region increasingly face surveillance, cyber interference and other forms of digital persecution, including criminal prosecution for social media activity.

Repression also increasingly reaches across national borders, with Central Asian governments targeting critics abroad, including through politically motivated extradition requests and suspected abductions – such as in the case of two Turkey-based bloggers from Turkmenistan last year.

In another worrying trend, individuals in the region have faced criminal cases because of legitimate engagement and criticism inconvenient to powerful neighbouring states, particularly China and Russia, as illustrated by recent cases in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

IPHR, KIBHR, AHRCA and TIHR call on the Central Asian states to stop treating peaceful civic participation and legitimate efforts to scrutinise, comment on and criticise public policies as dangerous, suspicious or undesirable. Instead, they should recognise that protecting civic space is indispensable to accountable governance, public trust and lasting security, and take effective steps to reverse the ongoing erosion of civic freedoms and achieve meaningful improvements in law and practice, in line with their OSCE and other international commitments.

At a time of growing international engagement with Central Asian governments, the four NGOs also urge international partners to ensure that expanded political, economic, development and security cooperation does not come at the expense of fundamental freedoms. International actors should use their growing cooperation to promote concrete improvements in civic space through effective scrutiny, principled engagement and strong support for independent civil society actors.

The full statement can be downloaded below – in English and Russian.

*** For more information on recent civic space trends in Kazakhstan, see also separate KIBHR-IPHR briefing note for the Warsaw Conference. ***