Reminder: Foreign Agents' Laws in Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan: Development Trends and New Challenges for Civil Society

Foreign Agents' Laws in Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan: Development Trends and New Challenges for Civil Society

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

10:00am - 11:30am

Online

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Since 2012, the "foreign agents" laws have been actively developing in Russia and have now become one of the most prominent instruments of repression against civil society. Despite the fact that these laws were originally stated as a means of ensuring transparency of the activities of recipients of foreign funding and applied only to NGOs, today anyone who is not loyal to the Kremlin can get on the register of "foreign agents". Moreover, legislation on "foreign agents" is being actively developed outside Russia as well. In 2023, relevant legislative initiatives appeared in several countries at once, including Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. These initiatives have been heavily criticized, with many experts seeing them as a threat to civil society and fearing the possibility of a Russian scenario.

Join our legal experts and human rights practitioners from Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to discuss the main features of the development of national laws on "foreign agents”, their similarities and differences, as well as the challenges they pose for civil society.

Speakers

Maxim Krupskiy, Ph.D.,is an attorney-at-law. He is a research scholar at the Kennan Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center, as well as a Non-Resident Fellow with The Russia Program at George Washington University.

Aizat Ruslanova is the Executive Director of the regional youth organization IDEA Central Asia. She is a civil activist and a member of the Council for the Rights of Women and Children under the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic (the country’s parliament). She has been working on the topic of the shrinking of civic space in Kyrgyzstan for 5 years.

Roman Reimer is the co-founder of the Public Foundation "Wings of Liberty." He is a member of the Coalition of the New Generation of Human Rights Defenders of Kazakhstan, member of the expert group on digital rights, a practicing lawyer, and a participant of missions to monitor electoral cycles in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Sebastien Peyrouse is Director of the Central Asia Program and Research Professor, IERES, The George Washington University. His main areas of expertise are political systems in Central Asia, economic and social issues, Islam and religious minorities, and Central Asia’s geopolitical positioning toward China, India, and South Asia.

Moderator

Dr. Ivan Grek is the Director of the Russia Program at George Washington University’s Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies. Trained in political science and history, Ivan specializes in studies of illiberal grassroot movements and ideology in Russia. Ivan’s research was published in peer-reviewed political science journals, as well as US and Russian media outlets such as the Washington Post and Kommersant.

This event is on record and open to the media.

The Russia Program at GW condemns Russia's invasion of Ukraine and calls for the restoration of Ukraine's territorial sovereignty.

The Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES)

Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University

1957 E Street, NW / Suite 412 / Washington, DC 20052

Tel (202) 994-6340 / Fax (202) 994-5436 / Email ieresgwu@gwu.edu

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