GOVERNMENT, OPPOSITION STRUGGLE TO DEFINE KYRGYZ CRISIS AS VIDEOTAPE MAKES THE ROUNDS
Chris Schuepp: 4/10/02

Kyrgyzstan continues to reel after riots in the southern Ak-Sui province on March 17 left at least five dead. In response, President Askar Akayev - a physicist who once represented the region's best hopes for democratic reform - has taken an increasingly hard line, consistently holding that troublemakers in the crowd, rather than police, sparked the violence. A new videotape of the riot, which surfaced in early April from an unknown source, has only stiffened each side's position.

Though the videotape caused some excitement, official word from Bishkek on the riots remains muddled. Addressing Parliament on April 5, investigative commission chairperson Asel Mambetalieva condemned the police. "[There was] shortsightedness, an inability to appraise reality objectively, criminal inactivity and even provocative action on the part of individual members of the local authorities," Mambetalieva said on Kyrgyz radio. "It was impossible for those attending the meeting in the village of Bozbek not to retaliate against the provocation by the local authorities, even though it was possible to bypass the armed police cordon."

But the next day, security services chief Kalyk Imankulov warned that a prolonged inquiry could cause "fresh disorders" and promised 20 government investigators would promptly issue a report. He did not agree that the police or security service incurred "guilt" for their handling of the March 17 meeting. According to the Kabar News Agency, on April 8 the Parliament officially rejected appeals to alter the restraining order against Azimbek Beknazarov, a dissident member of Parliament from Ak-Sui whose January 5 arrest sparked the protests. Parliament has laid blame for the deaths at the feet of local authorities.

This maneuvering has emboldened the Kyrgyz opposition, which rallied around Beknazarov when reports surfaced of his being beaten in prison. The opposition has scheduled a broad conference for April 17 and 18 to "pave the way for the development of a long-term national dialogue in an atmosphere of respect for the constitutional foundations of the state system." This conference may wring concessions from the government, or boost opposition members' political standing.

The most important facts about the violence, though, remain hard to sort. Local police claim protestors fired the first shots. The videotape, though, gives support to the demonstrators' claims that the police forces were out of control. Parliamentarians, human rights advocates and journalists have all been able to view the 30-minute tape in early April; some relatively calm portions aired on the Bishkek-based private TV station Pyramida showed parts of the video for the general public. While the tape is inconclusive, it backs Mambetaliyeva's conclusion that the police made a volatile situation drastically worse.

The tape, which seems to have been filmed by police officers, presents the sounds of stones hitting police shields - and apparently never shows a policeman shooting at the crowd. Nonetheless, the tape shows autopsies of victims. "The wounds on the corpses are all in the back - bullet wounds," said a viewer who asked for anonymity. "Obviously the people were shot while running away on the road." Parliament members saw this footage on April 5, before deciding to dismiss appeals on Beknazarov's behalf and issuing appeals for calm.

Imankulov said afterwards that yet another tape filmed by policemen in Ak-Sui on March 17 exists and that the 20 investigators are working in good faith to clear the clouds over the Ak-Sui events. Parliament is officially calling for calm - it has set April 27 as a national day of mourning - which some observers see as an indication that its pro-Akayev members are scared. A foreign NGO worker who saw the gory video thinks that if all citizens saw it unedited, anything could happen. "You can never predict, but the images are shocking and based on emotion - you can easily fill the streets with protesters, at least in the south," said this viewer. "I think that the country is being totally divided."

Editor's Note: Chris Schuepp is a freelance journalist focusing on Central Asia.

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Posted April 10, 2002 © Eurasianet
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