Veronika Fonova targeted while protesting the ban of International Women’s Day Demonstration in Almaty

On February 3, 2024, woman human rights defender Veronika Fonova was targeted while holding a solo protest in the city center in Almaty, Kazakhstan, aimed to raise awareness about the ban of the 2024 International Women’s Day March in Almaty by the city authorities. On 21 April 2023, the Specialised Inter-district Administrative Court of Almaty ruled to support the Akimat of Almaty’s ban of the International Women’s Day demonstration and a march in 2024. Following the attack, Veronika Fonova filed a complaint to the police.

Veronika Fonova is a feminist activist and woman human rights defender from Almaty, Kazakhstan. She is one of the founding members of the 8MarchKZ, a grassroots feminist movement that unites to organize the annual feminist and women’s march in Almaty on International Women’s Day. The organizing committee of the initiative includes a diverse group of women human rights defenders, who work to promote and protect women and LGBTQI+ rights. The first Women’s March in Almaty took place in 2017. Veronika is also a founding member of KazFem, a feminist collective that focuses on shifting public discourse on domestic violence in Kazakhstan.

On February 3, 2024, woman human rights defender Veronika Fonova held a solo protest in the city center of Almaty, Kazakhstan, after acquiring permission from the city authorities. She was holding a poster that had multiple statements in Kazakh and Russian languages, calling for the freedom of assembly and promoting criminalization of domestic violence. The poster also said: “We need a Demonstration on March 8.” While Veronika Fonova’s friends recorded a video of her holding a poster and explaining her message, a man wearing a medical mask pushed her, attempted to hit her, and snatched the poster from her. The attacker also requested to call the police on a woman human rights defender. The police arrived on site and collected statements both from Veronika Fonova and from her attacker.

Women human rights defenders from 8MarchKz suggested that this was an orchestrated attack. An attack like this could serve as a justification for the decision of the Almaty city authorities to ban the peaceful demonstration because it is a threat to public safety. Earlier, on February 1, 2024, 8MarchKZ held a press conference in Almaty’s Press Club, where the representatives outlined the timeline of their contend with the city authorities, which commenced in April 2023, discussed systemic resistance on the side of the authorities, and publically discussed security considerations that the organizers have for the Demonstration they have envisioned. They also focused on the need for spaces where women can raise their voices and repeated that the safety of women in Kazakhstan – the theme of the 2024 demonstration – is a pressing issue in the country.

In March 2023, right after the International Women’s Day protest in Almaty, the 8MarchKZ requested a permit for the next year's demonstration “For the Rights of Kazakhstani Women.” In April 2023, the city authorities of Almaty refused to issue the permit, citing a significant threat to security and public order. Women human rights defenders from 8MarchKZ took this decision to court; in April 2023, the Specialised Inter-district Administrative Court of Almaty ruled in support of the prohibition of the International Women’s Day March in 2024 by the Almaty city authorities. In June 2023, representatives of 8MarchKZ appealed this decision, and in the following September, the Court refused to lift the ban. In December 2023 and in January 2024, 8MarchKZ representatives requested another permit for their peaceful demonstration, announcing that the new theme of the demonstration would be “For Safety and Security of Women in Kazakhstan”; both of these requests were denied by the city authorities of Almaty, citing similar “threat of disturbing public order” reasoning.

Front Line Defenders condemns the attack against woman human rights defender Veronika Fonova and urges the Kazakhstani authorities to promptly investigate the attempted assault and bring the persons responsible to justice. At the same time, Front Line Defenders urges the Kazakhstani authorities not to misuse this attack against Veronika Fonova as a justification for the continued refusal to approve the 2024 Women’s March. Front Line Defenders continues to condemn the city authorities of Almaty's denial of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly to feminist and women’s rights defenders from 8MarchKZ. Front Line Defenders calls upon the authorities of Kazakhstan to ensure that the 8MarchKZ feminist initiative can exercise their rights to protect and promote women’s rights, and feminist agendas, and to peacefully assemble and march for the cause of International Women’s Day.

On 21 April 2023, the Specialised Inter-district Administrative Court of Almaty ruled in support of the prohibition of the International Women’s Day March in 2024 by the Akimat (local government) of the city of Almaty, making this the third consecutive year that the march has been refused.

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8MarchKZ is a grassroots feminist human rights initiative in Almaty, Kazakhstan that unites for the purpose of organising the annual feminist and women’s march in Almaty on 8 March. The organising committee of the initiative includes a diverse group of women human rights defenders, who work to promote and protect women and LGBTQI+ rights. The first Women’s March in Almaty took place in 2017.

On 20 March 2023, the 8MarchKZ initiative submitted a notification to the Akimat about holding a Women’s March on 8 March 2024, with the thematic focus of the March being “for the rights of the women of Kazakhstan” which was refused by the Akimat of Almaty. During a court hearing on 12 April 2023, the Akim (local governor) of Almaty, Erbolat Dosayev, justified the decision to disallow the march by stating that it is a threat to public security. The Akim of Almaty argued that the Akimat received letters of concern from an unidentified representative of a group called On Legalisation of Foreign Vehicles and from a concerned citizen of the Turkestan region of Kazakhstan, who called to ban the “feminist movement from organising peaceful protests in the city of Almaty.” Eventually, on 21 April 2023, the Specialised Inter-district Administrative Court of Almaty ruled in support of the prohibition of the Women’s March in 2024 by the Akimat of the city of Almaty.

The local governing bodies of Almaty have a history of refusing women human rights defenders to march on International Women’s Day. In 2022, the Akimat of Almaty refused to approve a Women’s March due to alleged road works along the route. Women human rights defenders from 8MarchKZ however, reported that no road works were actually happening on 8 March. In 2023, the Akimat of Almaty once again refused to approve the march, citing that the route and the time-slot suggested were already booked by another civil society actor.

Women human rights defenders who organise the Women’s March on 8 March have also been targeted for their human rights work. In 2019, some organisers, who submittted individual requests to the Akimat for the march to take place, received threats of expulsion from their educational institutions unless they retracted their requests. In 2020, two of the march organisers, woman human rights defenders Fariza Ozpan and Arina Osinovskaya were fined for the symbolic burning of a flower wreath in commemoration of the vicitms of gender-based violence. Arina Osinovskaya was fined for 66,000 KZT (approximately EUR 119) and Farisa Ospan for 13,000 KZT (approximately EUR 26).

Front Line Defenders condemns the Akimat of Almaty’s refusal to approve the 2024 Women’s March, as well as their denial of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly to feminist and women’s rights defenders. Front Line Defenders calls upon the authorities of Kazakhstan to ensure that 8MarchKZ feminist initiative can exercise their rights to protect and promote women’s rights, feminist agendas, and to peacefully assemble and march for the cause of the International Women’s Day.