COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN CONSIDERS REPORT OF KYRGYZSTAN
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has considered the third periodic report of Kyrgyzstan on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
Introducing the report, Orzubek Nazarov, Chairman of the Committee on Gender Policy, Youth and Sports of the Kyrgyz Parliament, said that it was Kyrgyzstan's great privilege to lead in the Commonwealth of Independent States countries in terms of political participation of women, with women accounting for 23 of the 90 members in the current Parliament. That new Parliament had been working for 10 months now and had already made great achievements, establishing quotas for women's participation in the public sphere and signing into law an initiative to ensure gender equality. The Parliament had also approved amendments to the Family Code and had set up two major Parliamentary conferences on violence against women and domestic violence.
Nazgul Tashpaeva, Head of the Department of Social Development of Kyrgyzstan, presenting complementary information on the situation in Kyrgyzstan from 2002 to 2005, said the National Plan of Action on Gender Equality 2007-2010 constituted a new strategy for gender development and the Millennium Development Goals. Strategic objectives of the Plan included improving the law and existing mechanisms on women's rights; ensuring gender balance; ensuring a gender perspective in health programmes; the reduction of gender violence; and the provision of further information to the public on gender issues.
Among questions and issues raised by Committee Experts were concerns on coordination of mechanisms and legislation in the area of women's rights and a need to ensure that the many good laws on equality for women were implemented on the ground. The issue of violence against women also drew a number of questions, including on measures to ensure implementation of laws on violence against women and bride kidnapping, which reportedly accounted for 51 per cent of all marriages and was a growing phenomenon; and efforts to increase gender-sensitivity among the judiciary and law enforcement officials. A particular concern was that there were only 10 crisis centres around the country for victims of violence, all of them run by NGOs. Among health issues was the fact that 60 per cent of pregnant women in Kyrgyzstan suffered from anaemia and that the maternal mortality rate for women was increasing. Experts asked for information on what Kyrgyzstan was doing to address all of those concerns.
In concluding remarks, Mr. Nazarov acknowledged that a lot of work remained to improve the legislative and institutional base in Kyrgyzstan to ensure that the provisions of the Convention were implemented fully. The delegation accepted wholeheartedly all the recommendations made by the members of the Committee and, when it returned home, it would meet with local non governmental organizations to ensure that those recommendations were known.
The delegation from Kyrgyzstan included Muktar Djumaliev, Permanent Representative of Kyrgyzstan to the United Nations Office at Geneva, and other members of the Mission; representatives of the Department of Social Development, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; as well as a district court judge, and an expert on gender issues. As one of the 185 States parties to the Convention, Kyrgyzstan is obliged to present periodic reports to the Committee on how it is implementing the provisions of the treaty.
The next meeting of the Committee will be at 10 a.m. on Friday, 24 October, when it will consider the fourth periodic report of Slovenia (CEDAW/C/SVN/4), in Chamber A, and the fifth, sixth and seventh periodic reports of Mongolia (CEDAW/C/MNG/7), in Chamber B.
Report of Kyrgyzstan
The third periodic report of Kyrgyzstan (CEDAW/C/KGZ/3) states that in 2005, at the initiative of the women's movement of Kyrgyzstan, the institution of the Special Representative of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic on Matters of Gender Development was created in the Jogorku Kenesh (Parliament), and its functions include helping to advance gender policy and gender perspectives into the law-making arena. Moreover, the Basic Programmes for the Development of Kyrgyzstan that meet the Millennium Development Goals, the Comprehensive Development Framework, and the National Poverty Reduction Strategy for the Period from 2003 through 2005 also contain objectives and sections for gender development. In terms of commitments to eliminate discrimination, the Family Code, adopted in August 2003, directly prohibits gender discrimination in family relations, and sets out that household work may not serve as a means of gender discrimination and must be done equally by both spouses. The National Plan of Action for Achieving Gender Equality, 2002-2006, is also geared to implementing the principle of gender equality in all spheres of life.
The Family Code has set the minimum marriageable age at 18 years, which can be lowered by two years under special circumstances. But according to the research data of the Crisis Centres, the number of precocious marriages is growing. The reasons for such marriages in most cases are poverty, unemployment and low income, as well as unique national and cultural patterns. As for bride theft, it occurs in the villages and is seen to be growing there. Research done by the American University in Central Asia in 2004 indicated that the percentage of marriages involving abduction of the bride was greater than in 1999-2001. The number of criminal cases initiated under Article 155 of the Criminal Code also grew to 27 in 2005, from 15 in 2002. State agencies, bodies of local self-government, and civil society are sponsoring activities that condemn cases of bride theft. A round table was held in 2005 in the Suzaksk Rayon Library of Jalal-Abad Oblast, and a discussion there covered the topic "Bride Abduction – A National Custom, or a Human Rights Violation?". The discussion was broadcast on Jalal-Abad Oblast Television, which gave a much larger number of conversation participants the opportunity to ponder the roots of that "tradition" and the legal consequences of forming such family and marital relations. In 2004, a 16-day campaign against violence against women under the catchword "Bride theft – It's not a tradition, it's a CRIME!" was held, as was the national forum titled "Improving the National Mechanism for Preventing Violence against Women". The Forum resulted in a large-scale civil action to illuminate the problem of bride theft, the production of posters and booklets, the publication of a series of articles on the impropriety of such a practice and the need to eliminate it, and the conduct of information campaigns and meetings with representatives of law-enforcement bodies, local authorities, and communities, as well as with women leaders and youth. Hotlines were also set up for girls who are victims of bride theft or arranged marriages.
Introduction of Report
ORZUBEK NAZAROV, Chairman of the Committee on Gender Policy, Youth and Sports of the Jogorku Kenesh (Parliament) of Kyrgyzstan, introducing the report, said that, for the first time in the history of the Kyrgyz Parliament, gender equality had now become a separate issue. The Parliament had set up the Committee on Gender Policy, Youth and Sports, of which he was the Chair. It was Kyrgyzstan's great privilege to lead in the Commonwealth of Independent States countries, thanks to the political will of the Government and the women members, in terms of political participation of women in the Government. While there were no women elected to the previous Parliament, in the current parliament women made up 23 of the 90-member total. That new Parliament had been working for 10 months now and had already made great achievements. They had established quotas for women's participation in the public sphere, and those amendments had entered into force. They had also signed into law an initiative to ensure gender equality.
The Parliament had also approved amendments to the Family Code, and at the initiative of the Committee on Gender Policy, Youth and Sports, they had set up two major Parliamentary conferences on violence against women and domestic violence, Mr. Nazarov said. As a result of those hearings, recommendations had been formulated and carried out and external meetings organized in various areas of the country. In May 2008, an Alliance on Women's Legislative Initiatives was set up, made up of members of Parliament, women's non governmental organizations and members of the Committee on Gender Policy. The Alliance had drawn up a series of draft bills on gender violence and on women's participation in the Government and the public sphere. The Government would continue its constructive cooperation with women's non governmental organizations in the framework of that Alliance.
NAZGUL TASHPAEVA, Head of the Department of Social Development of Kyrgyzstan and Secretary of the National Council on Family, Women and Gender Affairs, said that the third periodic report contained information on the situation in Kyrgyzstan from 2002 till 2005. She would therefore set out some of the positive changes and new challenges in the country since that period.
This was a time of historic change for Kyrgyz society and government, Ms. Tashpaeva underscored. As a result of the Parliamentary elections in 2005, for the first time in the history of the country's parliamentary government, not one woman had been elected to Parliament. That had demonstrated that the laws and policies that had been put in place were not sufficient to ensure equality of women. It had also showed that gender quotas had to be established to ensure that there was at least partial participation of women.
Conservative forces in the country had sought to reinforce the patriarchal structure of society and had led a campaign to smear women's movements, displaying women's groups as terrorists, for example. In response, the Government had conducted the first countrywide forum of all women's organizations around the country and developed a single platform of action for women's action in Kyrgyzstan on the basis of promotion of principles of gender equality. One achievement was the introduction in the new Constitution of the provision of ensuring women's equal rights with men and their right to equal participation in political life. All the suggestions made by the leaders of the women's movement were borne in mind by the head of State in establishing the new Constitution.
Ms. Tashpaeva said that in Kyrgyzstan men and women had equal freedoms and rights, as well as equal possibilities for their enjoyment. Women also had the right to equal participation in elections. When drawing up a list of candidates, political parties were now obliged to ensure that no more than 70 per cent of the candidates were of one sex or the other, and that the number of candidates of one gender did not exceed the number of candidates of the other gender by more than three persons. Today, there had been an increase in women's participation in the judiciary, where women's level of participation was 36.5 per cent, with the level of women appointed to the Supreme Court rising to 57.2 per cent. In the Executive Branch of Government out of 23 members, five were women, including the Deputy Prime Minister. In addition, for the first time the Ministry of Finance and the State Department for Science and Technology were both led by women. Out of 51 deputy ministers, there were seven women.
In terms of monitoring and follow-up, the Law on State Guarantees for Equal Rights and Equal Opportunities required the performance of gender-based legal analysis of the entire legislative base and of State, regional and local programmes and provided for an active state body to ensure monitoring and compliance with the law, as well as of Kyrgyzstan's international obligations in this sphere, Ms. Tashpaeva observed.
The current institutional mechanism in this area was the Secretariat of the National Council on Women, Family and Gender Development, which reported to the President. The Secretariat had now been renamed the Department of Social Development and Economic Policies, of which she was the head. Currently, the Department of Social Development was working on a functional analysis of all State bodies to ensure gender equality, among others.
Ms. Tashpaeva said the National Plan of Action on Gender Equality 2007-2010 constituted a new strategy for gender development and the Millennium Development Goals. Strategic objectives of the Plan included improving the law and existing mechanisms on women's rights; ensuring gender balance; ensuring a gender perspective in health programmes; the reduction of gender violence; and the provision of further information to the public on gender issues.
The Labour Code, adopted in 2004, set out the basic rules for the elaboration of labour relations and the elimination of discrimination in that sphere. The basic objective was to ensure that vulnerable persons, such as pregnant women, were covered and protected. There was a great problem with unemployment in Kyrgyzstan. The level of economic activity of women in Kyrgyzstan was 53.6 per cent in 2006. Women in age categories from 18 to 60 were heavily employed in the informal sector, ranging from 36 to 43 per cent, Ms. Tashpaeva said.
Regarding infant mortality, there had been a trend in the reduction of those phenomena, although that was not a stable decline. Some factors in that were a poor system of pre-natal care and a weak system of emergency medical assistance. To address that, a national programme 2006-2010 was launched to ensure better medical coverage. Certain medical services were guaranteed by the State either free of charge or with minimal payments. Currently, pregnant women and women over 70 received care free of charge.
In order to prevent violence against women in this period, laws had been enacted, research activities had been carried out to discover the scope of the phenomenon and to monitor policies and programmes to prevent violence against women, programmes had been carried out to sensitize members of the judiciary and other members of the population, brochures and television programmes had been created, and practical assistance had been provided to victims of violence. Nevertheless, Ms. Tashpaeva regretted to say that the results expected had not been achieved. Violence against women remained one of the most serious problems confronting women in the country. The recognition of the problem had not seen any changes in the mindset in the population. In the traditional mindset violence against women was not considered unjust or degrading. Time was needed. Since 2004, on an annual basis, they had been carrying out 16-day information campaigns.
Questions by Experts
Issues raised by Experts included a concern that the Law on State Guarantees for Equal Rights and Equal Opportunities was not enough without further implementing legislation. Acts of indirect discrimination also needed to be covered. The fact that there were no claims in court on the basis of this law was an indicator that the legislative norms in force were not sufficient.
An Expert was concerned to know more about the transfer of the mandate of the Secretariat of the National Council on Women, Family and Gender Development to the Department of Social Development and Economic Policies. It was a matter of concern, for instance, that the reference to "women" had been taken out of the title.
Response by Delegation
Responding to questions, the delegation of Kyrgyzstan noted that in the Law on State Guarantees for Equal Rights and Equal Opportunities, both direct and indirect discrimination were included. As to the responsibility of the State to ensure implementation on the ground, the new Constitution set out rules that guaranteed that result. It was true, however, that the rules in the past were more of a declarative nature.
Concerning the transfer of the mandate of the Secretariat of the National Council on Women, Family and Gender Development to the Department of Social Development and Economic Policies, the delegation said the first principle had been to move from declarative policy to real implementation of the policy. The previous body had reported to the President. But there had been no real system for implementing the President's declarations in the past. They were now trying to fix that.
On coordination mechanisms and cooperation with Government bodies, there had been a positive experience in terms of coordination in the committee that had been dealing with different diseases, including HIV/AIDS, the delegation said. There was also now government funding for those committees.
In terms of mainstreaming equality issues in all ministries, that mechanism had been established, and all ministries had units dealing with gender equality, the delegation explained. They were now exploring setting up gender councils, with the help of civil society, in each ministry.
The norms of international law were implemented in Kyrgyz legislation. As for citizenship, it was true that in cases of disputed citizenship there should be a better resolution mechanism.
On special measures, this was something that the Government would be doing in the future. They would not stop here, they were moving ahead and contemplating instituting special measures in every aspect of society, the delegation said.
Addressing the observation that women did not appear to be bringing complaints on rights violations to the courts, the delegation said that women did bring cases to court in many areas, including in cases of child custody, property rights, and others. So she would not say that women did not use the courts to defend their rights. They did, and the case law demonstrated this.
Questions by Experts
A second round of questions by Experts centred on issues of violence against women. Among issues raised were budgeting and measures to ensure implementation of laws on violence against women and bride kidnapping; gender disaggregated data on violence; and efforts to increase gender-sensitivity among the judiciary and law enforcement officials. Particularly alarming was the statement in the report that there were 11,273 individuals in Kyrgyzstan who systematically committed domestic offences, and that some 33,291 individuals constituted a risk group for the commission of violent domestic offences. What was being done to prosecute such individuals and to prevent them from committing crimes? Moreover, there were only 10 crisis centres around the country for victims of violence, all of them run by NGOs, and it was asked what the Government was doing to improve that situation.
An Expert cited a statistic according to which bride kidnapping accounted for 51 per cent of all marriages. What were the statistics on prosecutions and sentences handed down for that crime, and what programmes were in place to change mindsets that accepted that practice, which was a crime in Kyrgyz law? An Expert made the point that Sharia law was very clear in this area, and provided protection for women. She asked what was being done to work with religious leaders and the public media on this issue? This problem clearly required additional measures, as they were seeing a growth in the rate of this phenomenon.
An Expert raised concerns about a lack of sufficient shelters for women victims of trafficking and a lack of funding for those shelters.
Response by Delegation
Responding to questions on violence against women, the delegation recalled that the fight against gender violence was one of the main focuses of the Government's national plans and programmes for women. There had also been a number of important changes in legislation, including the codification of crimes of domestic violence in the Criminal Code, as opposed to the Family Code, which had previously covered this sphere. That included the crime of forced marriage. To protect victims of violence, there were protective orders that could be issued for 15 days by the law enforcement agencies and restraining orders that could be issued by judges for six months.
Parliamentary hearings had been held on this issue this year, the delegation said. As a result, the Minister of the Interior had issued a special instruction to ensure that there were a sufficient number of forms of the temporary restraint order and that all local departments of the Ministry had those forms. They were also implementing training programmes for law enforcement agencies and staff of the ministry to raise awareness of this procedure.
As for statistics, unified statistics were needed on violence against women, the delegation agreed. The Government was currently carrying out a programme to develop statistics in the area of domestic violence, as well as for victims of trafficking. One of the elements of that programme was to create a unified database on complaints brought to crisis centres. A problem had been that very few complaints of domestic violence were lodged with the police, partly because the police often recorded such incidents under the rubric of public disorder. Further training of law enforcement and judicial staff could help improve that situation.
Citing statistics on cases brought to the court, the delegation said that, in 2007, 16 trafficking cases had been brought; 12 cases of forced marriage with minors; and 19 cases had been brought with regard to forced marriage.
On 25 November, a national awareness-raising campaign on violence against women would be launched, the delegation confirmed.
Responding to questions on medical and health issues relating to victims of violence, including psychological issues, over the past two years the recorded number of persons treated as victims of violence by the health service had not exceeded 300 persons a year. Most victims never requested treatment, the delegation explained. Victims that did request assistance received free care for 30 days, and could petition to have the free care extended beyond that date. The health service reported such cases to the police.
The delegation said that Kyrgyzstan did recognize the Sharia law prohibited bride kidnapping and was working with other Muslim countries in fighting that phenomenon. They had also launched a campaign to show that bride kidnapping was not a Kyrgyz tradition. It was something that had begun under the Soviet rule, and which was sadly growing today.
Questions by Experts
Further questions were raised by Experts on issues including efforts to protect female sex workers and migrant women against violence; coordination between the Department for Social Development and the "focal points" or assessment bodies described in the Law on Equal State Guarantees and Equal Opportunities; and whether there had been any research into the causes of the increase in the phenomenon of bride kidnapping.
Response by the Delegation
On violence against sex workers, the delegation said that procedures were in place to address such cases, whether committed by private individuals or by law enforcement officers. Despite low reporting of such complaints, there were cases brought by sex workers against law enforcement officers.
As for root causes of the growing phenomenon of bride kidnapping, the delegation said the main reason for the increase in bride kidnapping was closely linked with the economic situation of the country. In addition, infrastructure was poor in Kyrgyzstan and it was difficult for young people to meet. They were trying to provide more opportunities for that to happen. A number of studies had been carried out in this area, as well as a documentary on this problem, including a 2006 Human Rights Watch study on a lack of government action on domestic violence and bride kidnapping. All of those had mobilized the Government to focus on the issue.
Questions by Experts
An Expert noted that it was unjust that battered women were the ones who were forced to quit their family homes and to flee with their children to shelters. She suggested that the men be removed from the home and that the women and children be allowed to stay.
An Expert asked about rules to ensure not just equality in Government, but in the political parties themselves, seeing as they received State funds. It was also asked what was being done to ensure women were equally represented in the diplomatic service.
Response by Delegation
In terms of the promotion of the Convention and the Committee's work, the delegation would hold a press conference upon its return, in conjunction with non governmental organizations responsible for presenting a shadow report, to publicize the Committee's concluding observations.
The delegation noted that, according to the new laws on political participation, if political parties wished to be included in Parliamentary elections, they could not present electoral lists with more than 70 per cent of candidates of any one sex.
As for women in the diplomatic service and special measures, in 2006 a special decree related to measures on improving gender policies was published, including for the promotion of women to decision-making posts in the State and local government. That decree set a quota of 30 per cent for women's participation. There were four women appointed as Ambassadors to foreign posts, including to Vienna and the United States. However, this was an area that had been targeted for further efforts.
Reverting to the issue of gender violence, the delegation noted that there was a mechanism in place that allowed the possibility of granting the family home to the victim of domestic violence. However, sufficient resources were lacking to enforce that law in practice. The mechanism for the protection of victims doubtless needed to be strengthened.
Questions by Experts
On education, while the enrolment levels of boys and girls showed parity, there was little or no information on education in rural areas, where two thirds of the population lived, an Expert observed. Also, were there religious schools in Kyrgyzstan and what rules applied to them? A particular concern was to know how the school curriculum was developed and whether human rights was part of it.
An Expert also asked what was being done to address reportedly rampant hate speech and homophobia in the media.
Touching on labour issues, was there any legislation on sexual harassment in the books? Also, how were labour laws enforced? Did they have special boards and tribunals to hear complaints? Finally, what efforts were planned to diminish the informal labour sector and to help women make the transition from that unprotected sector to the formal sector?
Concerning health issues, an Expert was worried about the statistics in the report that 60 per cent of pregnant women in Kyrgyzstan were suffering from anaemia and that the maternal mortality rate for women was increasing, rising from 49.3 per 100,000 live births in 2003 to 60.1 in 2005. What measures were being taken to reduce those numbers?
An Expert asked for a more detailed portrait in general of the lives of rural women of all ages to be given in the next report so that the Committee could better understand their situation. In that connection, an Expert asked whether rural women and girls had the same inheritance rights as boys and men.
Response by Delegation
On education, there were new standards for education which included awareness of students of human rights including gender issues. A special training course from the first to eleventh years of education contained a family issues component. In the eighth year there was also a special unit on gender in the course on Humans and Society. The Ministry of Education published a recommendation that gender issues be mainstreamed in humanities courses. In 2003, the principles of gender issues had been introduced into different school curricula at different levels through the training of teachers, and more than 150 teachers participated in summer gender training schools.
Regarding higher education, the delegation noted that, whereas there were an equal number of boys and girls entering education, many boys dropped out around the tenth year, owing to the need to work. There were also a number of girls that left school owing to early marriages and pregnancies. Those girls after giving birth did have the opportunity to continue their studies, via correspondence courses or night school. As for gender parity, 60 per cent of students in higher education were women, the delegation added.
Turning to health issues, on anaemia, the Government was working to produce iron-enriched flour. However, so far, only 17 per cent of the population was able to receive that enriched flour. There was also a product, "sprinkles" which could be used to enrich flour with iron, and the Government was working to spread availability of that product.
As for high maternal mortality rates, one factor had been underreporting or poor reporting in prior years, the delegation said. For the past couple of years, in conjunction with the World Health Organization, the Ministry of Health had been working to get a better picture of the situation and to ensure correct compilation of statistics. That might be part of the reason behind the rise in the numbers of maternal deaths reported, the delegation believed. Pre- and peri-natal programmes were also being set up, in particular looking to provide emergency medical assistance to women during birth, to improve the qualifications of service providers in these areas, and to ensure adequate and up-to-date equipment, including ambulances, were available for women.
Up until recently, there was a problem with access for rural women to health services, as not all regions were equally allocated. Since then, funding had increased and the levels of access for rural women was on a par with that of other areas in the country. A network of rural pharmacies was also being set up. Indeed, all the basic social services – health, education, pensions – were in place for those in rural areas.
With respect to economic activity, the Government was looking into reorganizing the rural banks, in particular to allow for microcredit.
Regarding women's rights to the land, the delegation noted that, previously, land laws worked to prevent the splitting up of family land. In the past, that meant that divorced women were dispossessed of their land. Today, those laws had changed. Following a divorce, men and women split their family property. Whether or not that had actually become a reality on the ground was not yet clear. The laws were very new.
Deaths through clandestine abortions were on the decrease, the delegation said. However, work would continue in terms of providing sexual and reproductive health services, so as to eliminate that practice completely.
Concluding Remarks
ORZUBEK NAZAROV, Chairman of the Committee on Gender Policy, Youth and Sports of the Kyrgyz Parliament, in concluding remarks, thanked the Committee for a constructive dialogue and the understanding and support shown by the members. The questions raised were quite useful. A lot of work remained to improve the legislative and institutional base in Kyrgyzstan to ensure that the provisions of the Convention were implemented fully. The delegation accepted wholeheartedly all the recommendations made by the members of the Committee. When it returned home, the delegation would meet with local non governmental organizations to ensure that the recommendations of the Committee were known.
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