Supporting Civil Society and International Action

Supporting Civil Society and International Action

A thriving, independent civil society is an essential element for a healthy democracy. Repressive governments seek to exercise control over civil society by establishing burdensome registration processes as well as adopting restrictive laws aimed at criminalizing certain sources of funding or specific activities.

Freedom Now documents attempts to restrict civil society and provides trainings to build the capacity of local activists. We also advocate for the strengthening of international institutions to empower civil society.

In January 2022, we published Oppression by Design: Authoritarian Governance and Obstacles to Human Rights Reform in Eurasia, a comprehensive report which detailed the political and human rights environment in the region. To learn more about the specific countries featured in the report, please visit one of following briefs:

• Azerbaijan
• Kazakhstan
• Tajikistan
• Turkmenistan
• Uzbekistan

In March 2023, we published Duty to Rehabilitate: Assessing Reparations of Former Political Prisoners in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which highlights the deficiencies in the current rehabilitation frameworks in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan that violate the right to reparations for former prisoners of conscience. Summaries of our findings and recommendations for each country can be found here:

• Summary of the Kazakhstan portion of Duty to Rehabilitate – (English) (қазақ)
• Summary of the Uzbekistan portion of Duty to Rehabilitate – (English) (Ўзбек)