yrgyz Border Pact with China Stirs Tension in Bishkek

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.