Following the online training held on October 4-5, 2023, the second stage of the project aimed at enhancing the capacities of media representatives and civil society consisted of two-day offline trainings in Almaty (November 8-9, 2023) and Astana (November 17-18, 2023).
Representatives from the European Union, Johannes Baur, Head of Cooperation, and Edvardas Aleksandras, Political Officer, expressed the EU’s commitment to protecting and promoting human rights in their welcome speeches. They highlighted that the EU-funded project “Kazakhstan Uncensored” is one of the manifestations of that commitment, aiming to promote and protect freedom of expression in Kazakhstan. It is obvious that a first step towards this development is building technical capacity and gathering relevant knowledge, which this training aspires to deliver.
The training program covered human rights in the context of freedom of expression, digital rights, physical and cyber security, censorship, and self-censorship. Journalists and civil society representatives learned how best to protect themselves from threats arising from their professional activities, as well as how to secure their devices.
These skills are most relevant in the face of ongoing persecution and attacks on journalists and activists in Kazakhstan, as well as the rapid digitalization of media.
The program was designed to smoothly progress from one session to another, helping participants develop a clear understanding of their rights and the actions necessary to protect them.
During the first session, human rights expert and advocate Tatiana Chernobyl provided participants with tools to defend their rights and freedoms, advocating for human rights. She also highlighted the use of human rights not only in defense against violations but also in their prevention.
In the second session, a digital rights and freedoms expert from Kyrgyzstan, Irina Baikulova, elucidated the essence of the right to privacy and taught participants how to protect their private and professional lives.
The subsequent two sessions of the second day were led by a security expert and IT specialist from Kyrgyzstan, Artem Goryaynov, and a human rights activist and co-founder of PF “Wings of Liberty” Roman Reimer. In these sessions, participants acquired basic skills in using tools to establish and maintain technical and physical security related to their professional activities.
During the concluding session, psychologist Irina Yusupova taught participants to independently address their fears and biases affecting self-censorship in their professional endeavors.
Participants attentively listened to each session and actively engaged in discussions. They expressed that the training was highly relevant and crucial for their professional work, showing interest in future project events.
“Excellent organization of the training, well-chosen topics, and a thoughtful program. Charismatic and professional speakers who easily and engagingly conveyed information. High level of engagement. My main takeaway is the importance of continuous self-development and knowledge improvement. I was recognizing my misconceptions and lack of knowledge regarding human rights, digital rights, technical security, and self-censorship. I was inspired by meeting like-minded individuals, understanding the correctness of my actions, and motivated to continue journalistic work,” commented Estore Nakupbekov from Almaty about the training.
“I’ve learned new tools; everything in my mind was structured and formed into a coherent understanding of censorship and digital security. Many new nuances that I hadn’t paid attention to before – now I’ll pay attention and utilize them in practice. Friendly, open, and accessible. I also liked the organizational aspects!” said Karlygash Alatau from the “Taldykorgan Regional Women’s Support Center.”
Many participants also noted their intent to utilize the knowledge gained in their future work and planned to share this knowledge with their colleagues.
This publication was funded by the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of IWPR and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.