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KYRGYZ BORDER PACT WITH CHINA STIRS TENSION IN BISHKEK
Dmitri Plenseev: 5/17/02
Kyrgyzstan's People's Assembly, in a reversal of an earlier
vote, approved on May 17 an agreement on the delimitation
of the country's border with China. Under terms of the pact,
Kyrgyzstan will transfer about 95,000 hectares of territory
to China.
The People's Assembly, the upper house of parliament, had
rejected the agreement in an earlier vote May 14. The lower
house of parliament had already ratified the pact on May 10.
Opposition leaders have denounced the agreement, asserting
that President Askar Akayev negotiated the border deal in
1999 without consulting parliament, thus violating Kyrgyzstan's
constitution. Akayev's political opponents also condemn an
earlier 1996 border accord, under which Kyrgyzstan was to
transfer an additional 30,000 hectares of territory to China.
The border agreements have sparked large protests in Kyrgyzstan.
In the capital Bishkek, authorities arrested 70 demonstrators
on May 17 after taking an estimated 90 protesters into custody
the previous day, according to the Kyrgyz
Committee for Human Rights. In addition to demanding the
nullification of the border pacts with China, protesters also
are critical of the government's harassment of opposition
leaders, especially Feliks Kulov and Azimbek Beknazarov.
By May 17, some demonstrators arrested the day before had
already been sentenced by Bishkek courts. For example, the
chairman of the Human Rights Movement of Kyrgyzstan, Tursunbek
Akunov, was ordered to pay a 1,000 soms (about $21) fine for
violating public order.
On May 16, Human Rights Watch sent an open
letter to Akayev expressing concern over the government's
response to the Bishkek protests. Human Rights Watch noted
a rapid rise of political tension in Kyrgyzstan, which was
the scene of rioting involving Beknazarov supporters in March
in the Jalalabad Region. [For
background see the Eurasia Insight archives].
"[The] arrests happened in a context of a rapid deterioration
of your government's human rights record throughout the past
two years. In recent months, your government has dramatically
narrowed the space for free expression by issuing a decree
limiting media freedom. Police and security forces used excessive
force during protests in Jalalabad and elsewhere," the
Human Rights Watch letter to Akayev said.
"We urge you to take the steps necessary to guarantee
that rights embraced in the covenant become a reality for
people in Kyrgyzstan," the letter continued.
EurasiaNet has obtained photos of the Bishkek protests against
the Chinese border pacts. The photos were taken May 16.
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Posted May 17, 2002 © Eurasianet
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