BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, February 12. President of
Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov has invited US Secretary of State Antony
Blinken to visit Kyrgyzstan, addressing US concerns about the
respect for human rights in the country, Trend
reports.
Kyrgyz president’s press secretary, Askat Alagozov published
Sadyr Zhaparov’s response to a letter from Blinken. Blinken had
previously expressed concern about the draft law on amendments to
the Law “On Non-profit organizations,” which is under consideration
by the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan.
“This draft law was initiated by a group of members of the
Jogorku Kenesh (Parliament) of Kyrgyzstan and provides amendments
to the current law “On Non-Profit Organizations,” adopted back in
October 1999. Currently, the above-mentioned draft law has been
adopted by the Parliament in its first reading.
The purpose of the draft law is to clarify and streamline the
activities of non-governmental and non-profit organizations
operating in Kyrgyzstan.
Today, there are tens of thousands of non-governmental and
non-profit organizations that are successfully working throughout
Kyrgyzstan, addressing many problems that previously the state had
neither the will nor the desire to deal with,” the letter
stated.
According to the president, over the past three decades, a layer
of non-governmental and non-profit organizations that receive
funding from abroad have appeared in Kyrgyzstan, whose leaders have
turned them, in fact, into “family enterprises” engaged in sawing
off the money coming from foreign sponsors.
“In this regard, I propose to conduct an audit of the use of
funds by non-governmental or non-profit organizations funded by US
government organizations—at least for the last 10 years,” Zhaparov
said.
“I have the honor to invite you, dear Mr. Blinken, to visit our
country and witness that human rights and freedoms in Kyrgyzstan
are reliably protected by the Constitution and laws of Kyrgyzstan,”
the president concluded.