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 human rights defender. She is the director of the human rights movement Bir Duino Kyrgyzstan (formerly known as Citizens Against Corruption). Its mission is to inform about the rights of vulnerable groups, promote women's leadership, reform the penitentiary system and the criminal law. The organisation 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".
