Kyrgyzstan Features - The Times Of Central Asia

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Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence in Central Asia: Applications and Regulation

The debate on the need for worldwide regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) is gaining momentum, given that over the past year AI has become a key tool for millions of people. With a growing number of organizations applying AI in various fields, including medicine, politics and judicial decisions, the urgent question is how to integrate AI into legislation. In Central Asia, in 2020 the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan authorized remote identification of individuals at banks using AI, machine learning and other predictive algorithms to process customer biometric data. Bishkek also introduced a facial recognition system based on artificial intelligence which allows data about wanted persons to be entered, and cameras to automatically identify them and transmit information to law enforcement. Artificial intelligence has also found its application in the political process. In 2020, the Mekenim Kyrgyzstan Party used a digital bot farm during the elections which generated approximately 150 profiles a day, automatically wrote comments and then self-liquidated. In Tajikistan, where the use of AI is not widespread, MegaFon stands out for its introduction of the Dono chatbot in 2019. This artificial interlocutor interacts with around 14,000 subscribers per day, freeing humans from routine tasks and allowing them to deal with more complex issues. In Uzbekistan, meanwhile, the government is taking active measures to stimulate the development of AI technologies. A presidential decree has established comprehensive steps towards the digitization of the economy and the social sphere. Digitization of government data in various sectors, such as justice, communications, finance, education and healthcare are becoming an integral part of the development strategy. The application of AI technologies, starting with image recognition and navigation systems, has already become a tangible part of task-solving in large enterprises, and the country is actively working to create an enabling environment to further expand the use of AI. In Kazakhstan, AI is being actively introduced in the judicial system, and over the past two years AI systems have been used to analyze court cases and predict their outcomes. The authorities believe that this approach helps minimize errors and improves the quality of justice. In the field of healthcare, since 2022 Kazakhstan has been successfully operating the PneumoNet program based on artificial intelligence. This program makes it possible to detect 17 of the most pathogenic lung diseases, including pneumonia, tuberculosis, and cancer. Currently, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan do not have specific laws regulating the creation and use of AI. Despite this, the Strategy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence in the Republic of Tajikistan until 2040 notes that during the implementation of the first and second stages of said strategy, legal, institutional and infrastructural frameworks will be developed, and the necessary specialists will be trained. Unlike its neighbors, Uzbekistan adopted a presidential decree "On measures to create conditions for the accelerated introduction of artificial intelligence technologies" as early as 2021. This document has become the legal foundation for the further development of AI in the country, defining its main directions. The resolution emphasizes the need to develop...

Kyrgyzstan’s President Declares Own Multi-Million Dollar Property as Part of Asset Legalization

The President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Sadyr Japarov has said that he wants top business people and wealthy citizens to repatriate their assets to Kyrgyzstan instead of storing it abroad - which is why he has decided to start with himself. Last summer, Kyrgyzstan adopted a law on legalization - or declaring assets to the government - of property. According to official statements, its main goal is to transition the property and income of individuals from the shadow economy into legal economic activity through voluntary declaration of assets. The law stands until July 1st, 2024. "Voluntary legalization of and amnesty [for] assets will allow [the nation] to bring some shadow assets into legal turnover, which, as a consequence, will contribute to an increase in legal economic activity. According to the National Statistical Committee of Kyrgyzstan, the shadow economy accounts for 21% of the republic's GDP, and according to unofficial data, the shadow economy accounts for 40% of the republic's GDP. In this regard, the voluntary legalization and amnesty of assets of individuals is part of the preparatory stage of the transition to universal declaration," reads the law's background note. Image: Japarov Facebook post The president noted that all large and medium-sized business people used to register their property in someone else's name to avoid paying taxes to the state, and he was among them because he entered into politics from business. He lamented the fact that the richest citizens still keep their billions in foreign banks. Under the law, authorities guarantee that of all tax declarations previously submitted to state agencies will not be subject to prosecution. This is to give assurance to anyone seeking amnesty that the state will honor current assessments of income and property that have been legalized. The document states that if the amount a person legalizes exceeds 100 million som ($1,100,000), the submitting citizen must pay a so-called declaration payment of one million som ($11,000) to the state. "The value of my property is about 20 million dollars. I paid one million som to the state for the purpose of legalization. This is required by law. I have no savings abroad, and if I had, I would have invested them in our banks," the president wrote. Japarov said he constructed a building in the center of the capital back in 2010, but because of political persecution by the previous authorities, he had to hide the fact the multi-story building belonged to him. Now, he has registered the building under his own name. The head of state stressed that based on the law, the authorities guarantee all citizens the safety of legalized capital: "There is no other goal. There will be no questions [put] to you." The president noted that he's the first to legalize his property, despite the fact that the law came into force more than six months ago. At the end of last year, Japarov also urged owners of markets and large retail outlets to transition their assets out of the shadow economy....

Bride Kidnapping

Child Brides and Forced Marriages Among Gender Equality Topics

Kyrgyz Ombudsman Dzhamilya Dzhamanbaeva met with USAID's Senior Global Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment, Jamille Bigio in Bishkek. According to the ombudsman's office, the parties discussed important issues in the protection of freedoms and human rights. The key topics of conversation were reportedly the problem of early marriage among women in Kyrgyzstan, and the protection of children's rights. The ombudsman's office cited an example of a 15-year-old girl being married against her will to a much older man. "There is an urgent need to support victims of early marriages, because they are exposed to domestic violence... For example, a 23-year-old mother of three approached the Ombudsman Institute complaining of domestic violence. As it transpired, she had been forcibly married at age 15 to a man three times her age," Dzhamanbaeva said. The ombudsman stated that her office receives many appeals from girls complaining about domestic violence, and its review has revealed facts about forced early marriages. According to the Institute, such egregious facts are not isolated in Kyrgyzstan, and there is a need for the government to take measures to prevent them. In the past, human rights activists have repeatedly stated that the police are reluctant to consider cases of domestic violence, because the spouses very often reconcile, and the victim withdraws her statement. Furthermore, the Supreme Court has recognized that police systematically fail to prosecute domestic violence cases, "because of widespread misconceptions and gender stereotypes present at all levels of law enforcement and judicial systems." "The police often see no need to intervene in what they consider to be 'private matters,' and do not recognize domestic violence as acts requiring preventive measures or investigation," noted a Kyrgyz Supreme Court report. As a result, law enforcement officials often try to dissuade victims from filing a formal complaint. The situation is similar regarding the practice of bride kidnapping. However, under public pressure, in 2019 the Kyrgyz authorities toughened the punishment for kidnapping girls in order to marry them. According to the criminal code, this offense now carries a prison sentence of 5 to 10 years. Additionally, the fine for forcing girls under the age of 17 into marriage can be up to 200,000 som ($2,200). The ombudsman also said a new bill is being drafted to strengthen the mandate of the ombudsman's office and allow representatives to participate in closed-court sessions involving children. "Currently, the institute's employees are not allowed to attend such sessions, [as per] the criminal code. In this regard, we have no opportunity to ensure the protection in court of the rights of children who have been abused. With the adoption of the new law, we will be able to monitor closed trials," the ombudsman emphasized. USAID's representative, Bigio noted the importance of strengthening cooperation on the protection of children's rights and the development of mechanisms to protect against early marriage, saying that USAID is ready to continue to cooperate with the government of Kyrgyzstan, authorized bodies and human rights defenders and to provide all of...

Kyrgyz Court Rules in Favor of Shutting Down another Mass Media Outlet

Bishkek's Oktyabrsky District Court has ruled in favor of liquidating a public foundation named Kloop Media. The official reason, as stated in a social network post by Kloop Media, is discrediting state and municipal bodies. According to the publication's staff, Bishkek prosecutor Emilbek Abdymannapov filed a lawsuit in court last August seeking to liquidate Kloop Media. The prosecutor had argued that most of the publication's stories were negative and aimed at discrediting certain representatives of state and municipal bodies. On August 22nd 2023, Kloop Media published a journalistic investigation focusing on corruption schemes undertaken by top officials in Kyrgyzstan - and later published more material criticizing the president of the republic and his relatives. Consequently, in September 2023, access to the Kloop Media website was blocked, and now the foundation itself has been closed by the authorities following the court's decision, which states that Kloop Media is not listed in the state register of Kyrgyz media and that the organization's charter doesn't specify its main activity, which is the dissemination of information. The Civil Code of the Kyrgyz Republic allows for the liquidation of legal entities if they systematically carry out activities which don't correspond to the objectives set out in their charters. Lawyers for the public fund in turn stated that the court session contained multiple violations, and they will appeal the decision to a higher authority. The public foundation, Kloop Media was established in 2007 and positioned itself as a human rights media outlet. Kloop primarily hired young writers and trained them in investigative journalism. On the day the court's decision was announced, the international organization, Reporters without Borders called on the Media Freedom Coalition to take action against what they called an "arbitrary and unjustified decision." In April 2023, the Lenin Court of Bishkek ruled in favor of a lawsuit brought by the Ministry of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy of Kyrgyzstan that called for the shutdown of Azattyk Media, which was the Kyrgyz service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, financed by the U.S. State Department. The Ministry objected to material published about fighting on the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The authorities claimed that the content contained "elements of hostility and unconfirmed information about an alleged attack by the Kyrgyz side on Tajikistan, inflaming the situation in society and causing hatred, discrimination and division among citizens when covering the events in Batken Oblast."

Border

Enclaves, Exclaves, and Soviet Mapmakers

Representatives of the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan met in Bishkek on February 5th to complete negotiations on another 3.71 km of the common state border, the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic has reported. The next meeting will be held in Tajikistan, with no date yet specified. Currently, approximately 90% of the border has been demarcated, with the remaining 10% still considered disputed. A long-standing source of conflict between the two nations, it is emblematic of the problem that even the length of the border - sometimes cited as being 975-kilomtres long, and at others times 972-kilomteres - is rarely agreed upon. As of January 2023, Tajikistan’s President Rahmon stated that 614-kilometres had been settled upon, backtracking on a previously stated figure of 664. In a sign of thawing relations, however, on November 9th 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic announced that a further 17.98 kilometers of the border had been agreed. With its scant natural resources and dwindling water supplies, the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan has been the scene of numerous skirmishes for many years. In 2014, all borders between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan were closed indefinitely to Kyrgyz and Tajik citizens following clashes over a bypass road in disputed territory; mortars were fired and both armies suffered casualties. Trouble spilled over again throughout 2021 and 2022, reportedly starting over a water dispute in the Vorukh enclave, and leaving an unknown number in the hundreds killed, and up to 136,000 people evacuated. An enduring example of the chaos left behind by the USSR, the arbitrary division of Central Asia into Soviet Socialist Republics wholly disregarded existing cultural and geographical realities. This is exemplified by Stalin's application of Lenin’s policy on the “self-identification of working people,” a classic divide-and-rule play which saw culturally Tajik cities such as Samarkand and Bukhara being incorporated into Uzbek territory. In exchange, Tajikistan was given the inhospitable Khojand landmass surrounding the Fan Mountains. As late as 1989, Tajikistan petitioned Mikhail Gorbachev for the ‘return’ of Samarkand and Bukhara. This haphazard division also isolated around 100,000 residents in the Ferghana Valley from their central governments, creating eight large enclaves. Although three of these enclaves had populations fewer than 10,000 and two were used exclusively for pastures, the remaining three - Sokh (Uzbekistan within Kyrgyzstan), Vorukh (Tajikistan within Kyrgyzstan), and Shakhimardan (Uzbekistan within Kyrgyzstan) have repeatedly proven problematic, particularly when countries enforce strict border regulations in response to disputes and disagreements over demarcation arrangements. These enclaves have been hotbeds for conflict: between 1989 and 2009, the Ferghana Valley witnessed approximately 20 armed conflicts, and in 2014 alone, Kyrgyzstan reported 37 border incidents.

Kazakhstan And Kyrgyzstan Address Border And Water Issues

Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan will be working together to open an additional checkpoint for goods vehicles on their countries’ border. They are also set to further their cooperation in the water and energy sectors. These agreements were reached at a meeting between the Kazakh prime minister, Alikhan Smailov, and the chairman of Kyrgyzstan’s cabinet of ministers Akylbek Japarov in Almaty on February 1st. Kyrgyzstan has complained for years about long lines at the Kazakh border for its cargo trucks bringing goods to Russia through Kazakhstan. The most recent big traffic jam occurred on the Kyrgyz side of the border in August 2023, when more than 600 trucks were stuck at the crossing. These delays were caused by Kazakh authorities carrying out enhanced checks on trucks entering the country from Kyrgyzstan, ostensibly to combat illegal border activity. However, the situation caused speculation that the jams were a result of a dispute over irrigation water resources between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Irrigation water remains an issue in Kazakh-Kyrgyz relations. Last summer the southern regions of Kazakhstan experienced a severe shortage of water for their fields, while upstream Kyrgyzstan also lacked water and couldn’t supply enough of it to its northern neighbor. Kazakhstan, especially its dry southern regions, is dependent on water coming from Kyrgyzstan. At the meeting on February 1st Mr Smailov also spoke about the growing trade between the two countries, with bilateral trade growing by 12% and reaching $1.3bn between January and November 2023.