The Ombusman of the Kyrgyz Republic acts in accordance with Article 109 of the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic "On the Ombudsman". The mandate of the Ombudsman of the Kyrgyz Republic as a national human rights institution involves the resolution of all types of human rights violations, both by state bodies, local governments or their officials throughout the state. Within the powers of the Office of the Ombudsman - protection of human rights and freedoms, prevention of violations of rights and assistance in their restoration, suppression of any form of discrimination.

Ulan Abdymomunov, an expert on the consolidated analysis and planning of the Ombudsman's Office, shares about Ombudsman's Office contribution to advancing BHR agenda.  

What contribution has been made by Ombudsman's Office to advancing the business and human rights agenda?

Business and human rights in Kyrgyzstan is a new topic. It was developed recommendation based on the report of the Akyikatchy (Ombudsman) on the observance of human rights in the Kyrgyz Republic as of 2021 and was enshrined in a resolution of the Jogorku Kenesh (Parliament) and sent to the Cabinet of Ministers for implementation. As part of the implementation of this recommendation, an interdepartmental working group was established to develop a National Action Plan in the field of business and human rights.

This initiative is carried out in cooperation with other state structures, which are entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring and observing the rights of citizens.

According to the expert, the Public Foundation “Legal Clinic “Adilet” is currently conducting a “National Baseline Study on Business and Human Rights in Kyrgyzstan” and based on the results of this study, the interdepartmental working group will develop a draft National Action Plan in the field of business and human rights.

“This issue is actual for Kyrgyzstan. Human rights should not be violated in the course of business activities. Enterprises should have internal tools to assess the risks of negative impact on human rights within their activities, work proactively so that there are no situations with violation of human rights and freedoms,” - said Ulan Abdymomunov, the Ombudsman Office’s expert.

However, according to the expert, so far there are no staff in the office of the Akyikatchy who specialize directly in the norms of international law governing the corporate activities of a business.

Citizens appeals on labor disputes

Frequent appeals to the Office of the Ombudsman on violation of human rights and freedoms showcases that usually employers do not comply with the terms of the employment contract toward employees. There is a date on the topics of calls to the 115 hotline. Out of them, there were following cases on violation of labor rights:

 ● 2019 - 92 appeals;

● 2020 - 67 complaints;

● 2021 - 74 appeals.

Determining the true extent of business and human rights violations is “almost impossible.” The statistics are built on the basis of citizens' appeals to the Akyikatchy apparatus.

“When compared proportionally to the total number, their fractional mass practically does not change, it is approximately 2% of all calls,” - the expert says.

The reason for the small number of appeals to the Akyikatchy, the specialist sees in the low level of awareness of citizens about the powers of the Ombudsman institution.

“If you leave Bishkek for 40-50 kilometers, people don't even know about the institution of the Ombudsman. We are approached mainly by people who are in a hopeless situation. Perhaps there would be more of them if people were more deeply informed about our institution,” - complains an employee of the Ombudsman’s office.

What should the victims do?

“Akyikatchy has such a mandate that begins to operate only after a person has exhausted all the mechanisms provided for the protection of рук/his rights. And only there Ombudsman starts to act. If a person really went through all the instances and still did not achieve a fair decision, or somewhere, perhaps at the legislative level, some law really does not work, or perhaps the rules of law are incorrectly applied. We act in this situation. We are not as lawyers, we are acting as a human rights defender in order to identify the real problem at the legal level,” - says expert Ulan Abdymomunov.

If human rights have been violated or you think that the court made an unfair decision, you may contact the 115 hotline. For more detailed advice, please visit the Office of the Ombudsman at Tynystanov str. 120, Bishkek. 

  This article is a part of  information campaign to promote human rights issues in the aspect of entrepreneurship in Kyrgyzstan within the framework of the UNDP project "Business and Human Rights" (B + HR), with the financial support of the Government of Japan.

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The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is one of the leading development organizations in Kyrgyzstan. Since 1993, we have been working in various areas, including inclusive development, environmental protection, crisis response, gender equality promotion, and collaborative efforts towards sustainable development goals.

For more information, please visit our website: www.undp.org/ru/kyrgyzstan or follow us on social media @undpkg.

Media Contact: Nurzhan Alymkanova, Communications Specialist, UNDP Nurzhan.alymkanova@undp.org