After two revolutions that ousted authoritarian presidents in 2005 and 2010, Kyrgyzstan adopted a parliamentary form of government. Governing coalitions proved unstable, however, and corruption remained pervasive. Unrest surrounding the annulled 2020 parliamentary elections led to significant political upheaval and the violent repression of opponents of nationalist politician Sadyr Japarov, who became president through a rapid series of appointments and resignations under pressure. Constitutional changes adopted in 2021 concentrated political power in the presidency and reduced the size and role of the parliament. Both the judiciary and extralegal violence have since been used to sideline President Japarov’s political opponents and civil society critics.

• In April, President Japarov signed long-debated legislation—modeled on Russia’s “foreign agents” law—that required nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to register as “foreign representatives” if they received foreign funding and engaged in vaguely defined “political activities.” Registered groups would be subject to onerous and intrusive government monitoring. By year’s end, only a handful of NGOs had registered under the law, and many more had chosen to close down rather than risk violating its provisions.
• In May, following a smaller brawl that was captured in an online video, a mob of hundreds of ethnic Kyrgyz attacked an international student dormitory in Bishkek, targeting Pakistanis but beating international students indiscriminately. Forty-one people reportedly sought medical attention for their injuries. The incident underscored xenophobic sentiment in the context of an influx of South Asian students and migrant workers in recent years.
• In July, Kyrgyzstani and Tajikistani delegations reported progress on the delimitation of their shared border, stating that they had reached tentative agreement on 94 percent of the total; the two sides said in December that the delimitation talks were complete, but a public release and formal approval of the final documents was still required. The negotiations were aimed at ending roughly three years of military tensions and sporadic conflict over the disputed border. A similar agreement with Uzbekistan in 2022 had prompted public protests and arrests of leading activists in Kyrgyzstan, and while most of those charged were acquitted in June 2024, final rulings and appeals were pending at year’s end.
• The authorities continued to persecute independent journalists and outlets during the year. Four journalists and media workers associated with exiled anticorruption journalist Bolot Temirov were convicted in October of inciting unrest through their reporting; one of them, Temirov’s wife and colleague Makhabat Tazhibek kyzy, received a six-year prison sentence, while another received five years and two received three-year suspended sentences. The defendants’ lawyer, Samat Matsakov, was detained in November and remained behind bars at year’s end. Separately in July, the Supreme Court upheld a 2023 order to shut down the investigative online news outlet Kloop, but it apparently continued to operate in the subsequent months.
• As part of a broader crackdown on online dissent, numerous social media users were summoned for questioning, threatened, physically mistreated, charged, or sentenced to prison for their posts during the year. In July, for example, poet and folk musician Askat Jetigen was sentenced to three years in prison for “calling for a seizure of power” after he posted a video in which he criticized President Japarov’s government. Jetigen asserted in court that police had tortured him after his arrest in March.

This report has been abridged for Freedom in the World 2025 due to ongoing budget constraints. Freedom in the World is entirely funded by nongovernmental sources such as private foundations, corporations, and individuals like you. Please consider making a donation to support future editions of this vital resource.

For additional background information, see last year’s full report.