The parliament in Kyrgyzstan is being urged to reject legislation which would ban “foreign agents” and “homosexual propaganda”.

The Human Rights Watch (HRC) states that the bills are intended to criminalise “homosexual propaganda”, and to force restrictions onto small charities, in moves which could marginalise minorities. Introduced this month, the bills could be put to a vote before the end of June.

 “These draft laws fly in the face of Kyrgyzstan’s human rights commitments – they would violate the fundamental rights to speech and association,” said Mihra Rittmann, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Adopting this harmful legislation would signify a clear backsliding on human rights in Kyrgyzstan and would seriously undermine the government’s efforts to improve its record.”

Read more on pinknews.co.uk.