Blog 6 : Kyrgyzstan: Film Ban Violates Free Speech

The Kyrgz government placed a ban on a documentary film I am Gay and Muslim, which is a film describing the live and religious view of gay men in Morocco. It was to be screened on September 27, 2012, but the Kyrgz authorities illegally confiscated one of the film copies the day before. The police then prohibited film festival organizers from showing another copy at the same cinema. As said by Graeme Reid, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Rights Program at Human Rights Watch, “Although not everyone in Kyrgystan may like this film or agree with its content, the authorities should respect free speech by allowing the film to be screened.” To make matters worse National Security Service (KNB) officers took a copy of the film on September 27 from another cinema in central Bishkek where the film was to be shown on the 28^th. Organizers for the festival said that the KNB official confiscated the film with no search warrant nor any official documentation. However, the organizers refused to comply and tried to show another copy of the film in Bishkek on the scheduled day but over a dozen law enforcement officers came and prevented the showing, even going to the extremes of ushering the audience members from the theater. “Ismailova, head of Citizens against Corruption, a local group and one of the festival’s organizers, told Human Rights Watch that government officials, journalists, and private individuals had pressured her, other festival organizers, and the Manas cinema director not to show the film. Unidentified people had also threatened to set the Manas cinema on fire if the film was shown.”

I feel that the rights Kyrgyzstan citizens' were complete disrespected Article 19 of their constitution clearly states, “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.” And Article 31 says, “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought and opinion. Everyone shall have the right to free expression of opinion, freedom of speech and press.” What was done to those in Krygyzstan was clearly unconstitutional and the authorities had absolutely no right to forbid the showing of the documentary. The articles referring to the citizens' freedoms defines very clearly what they have the right to do, and showing and seeing a documentary about the lives and religious views of gay men in Morocco was not violating any of them.

 

http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/10/04/kyrgyzstan-film-ban-violates-free-speech