Trading Regional Insults Could be Outlawed
Trading Regional Insults Could be Outlawed
The Kyrgyz government is considering making it a criminal offence to incite animosity between the country’s different regions. NBCentralAsia observers say the intent is laudable, but warn that such a legal ban could be counter-productive if people start using it for political purposes.
On June 19, Interior Minister Bolotbek Nogoybaev put forward proposals to change the criminal code to introduce tougher penalties for separatist activity and inciting hatred on faith grounds, but also to make “advocating exclusivity and superiority on the basis of regional origin, place of birth or residence” punishable by three to five years in jail.
The focus on Kyrgyzstan’s north-south regional divide has been become a central theme of political discourse over the past few years.
Political scientist Bakyt Beshimov believes that regionalism is a threat to Kyrgyzstan’s national security and that those who promote it should be answerable under criminal law.
However, some experts say that labelling those who stir up regional animosities as criminals may have the opposite effect to that intended, driving an even bigger wedge between different groups and allowing the legal ban to be used as a weapon in the political struggle.
Kurmanbek Osmonov, head of the Supreme Court, is concerned that the law could be misused to prosecute politicians and officials as a way of getting them out of the way.
“Offensive remarks relating to regional divisions are already covered by libel and defamation law. I really don’t se the need for this kind of penalty,” he said.
Political scientist Turat Akimov believes the north-south divide currently exists only among politicians and officials, but he fears it could become an issue in wider society if people start accusing one another of regional hate crimes on the basis of a vaguely-defined law. Then there would be a risk that Kyrgyzstan would begin an irreversible slide towards actual division between north and south.”
“The division between south and the north exists mainly at the level of officials and comes to the fore when wealth and positions are being distributed,” he said. “Ordinary people aren’t fixated on regionalism.”
Akimov says that regionalism among officials should be dealt with by introducing transparent recruitment processes based on genuine competition and qualifications rather than on sharing a common regional origin.
Analyst Toktogul Kakchekeev is similarly wary of fighting regionalism through criminal law and believes it would be better to foster an all-embracing national ideology. Other positive steps, he says, would include a more professional style of government, reform of the political system and an improvement in the economy.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
On June 19, Interior Minister Bolotbek Nogoybaev put forward proposals to change the criminal code to introduce tougher penalties for separatist activity and inciting hatred on faith grounds, but also to make “advocating exclusivity and superiority on the basis of regional origin, place of birth or residence” punishable by three to five years in jail.
The focus on Kyrgyzstan’s north-south regional divide has been become a central theme of political discourse over the past few years.
Political scientist Bakyt Beshimov believes that regionalism is a threat to Kyrgyzstan’s national security and that those who promote it should be answerable under criminal law.
However, some experts say that labelling those who stir up regional animosities as criminals may have the opposite effect to that intended, driving an even bigger wedge between different groups and allowing the legal ban to be used as a weapon in the political struggle.
Kurmanbek Osmonov, head of the Supreme Court, is concerned that the law could be misused to prosecute politicians and officials as a way of getting them out of the way.
“Offensive remarks relating to regional divisions are already covered by libel and defamation law. I really don’t se the need for this kind of penalty,” he said.
Political scientist Turat Akimov believes the north-south divide currently exists only among politicians and officials, but he fears it could become an issue in wider society if people start accusing one another of regional hate crimes on the basis of a vaguely-defined law. Then there would be a risk that Kyrgyzstan would begin an irreversible slide towards actual division between north and south.”
“The division between south and the north exists mainly at the level of officials and comes to the fore when wealth and positions are being distributed,” he said. “Ordinary people aren’t fixated on regionalism.”
Akimov says that regionalism among officials should be dealt with by introducing transparent recruitment processes based on genuine competition and qualifications rather than on sharing a common regional origin.
Analyst Toktogul Kakchekeev is similarly wary of fighting regionalism through criminal law and believes it would be better to foster an all-embracing national ideology. Other positive steps, he says, would include a more professional style of government, reform of the political system and an improvement in the economy.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
