Tolekan Ismailova
For the first time in this region we are talking about women’s equality, women’s political participation, access to land resources, things that are important to women.
Tolekan Ismailova is a Kyrgyz woman human rights defender. She is the director of the human rights movement Bir Duino Kyrgyzstan (formerly known as Citizens Against Corruption). Bir Duino has also carried out advocacy work for imprisoned human rights defender Azimjan Askarov and victims of the June 2010 conflict. The movement organises the international documentary human rights film festival “Bir Duino-Kyrgyzstan”, a large Platform for young filmmakers and activists from different countries. In September 2012, following the projection of the documentary "I'm gay, I'm a Muslim", KR intelligence agencies declared Tolekan an "extremist and promoter of inter-ethnic and inter-religious conflicts". The movement is also involved in providing legal advice, advocacy on women's, labour, and lands rights, monitoring of elections and budget transparency of government organs, promotion of the freedom of association, and the work of human rights defenders through culture and arts. Tolekan Ismailova’s human rights work and leadership has been recognised by several national and international awards. The latest recognition was Ukraine’s Order of Princess Olha for women human rights defender’s contributions to peacebuilding efforts.
