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Tax authorities in Kazakhstan last week walked back charges against several non-governmental organizations. The authorities reversed decisions meted out in January, following warnings issued in the fall of 2020, to fine and temporarily suspend the operations of six groups.
The turn of events underpins the value of a quick and loud domestic and international outcry, even if the decision-making process (and the ultimate deciders) remains opaque.
On February 4, per RFE/RL’s reporting, six groups the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, Erkindik Kanaty (Wings of Liberty) Foundation, the MediaNet International Journalism Center, the International Legal Initiative, the Legal Media Center, and the Echo civil rights group said that the charges against them had been dropped and the penalties levied, fines and three-month operational suspensions, rescinded.
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Judicial harassment /
Kazakhstan
January 28, 2021
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in
Kazakhstan.
Description of the situation:
The Observatory has been informed by the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law (KIBHR) about the judicial harassment of the KIBHR and the International Legal Initiative (ILI Foundation), two FIDH member organisations working in Kazakhstan, over the alleged violations of financial reporting procedure.
On January 25, 2021, the district office of the Almaty City Department of the State Revenue Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan ruled to fine and suspend the activities of the KIBHR and the ILI Foundation. After inspecting thousands of pages of the organisations reports over several years, the tax authorities drew up multiple protocols