Human Rights Groups Wary of Rise in Kyrgyz-Uzbek Security Cooperation

Kyrgyz security officials have declared victory in an anti-terrorism offensive in southern Kyrgyzstan. Some observers say the crackdown is linked to Bishkek's effort to improve ties with neighboring Uzbekistan.

The chief of Kyrgyzstan's National Security Service, Lt. Gen. Busurmankul Tabaldiyev, announced September 4 that a series of special operations had succeeded in eliminating the leadership of the Islamic Party of Turkestan, which has been blamed for carrying out raids on border posts in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan last May.

Radical groups "are now left with no people to plot terror acts and other unlawful actions," the 24.kg news agency quoted Tabaldiyev as saying. The security chief said a total of 11 Islamic militants have been killed during the anti-terrorism campaign. In some instances, Kyrgyz and Uzbek security forces carried out joint anti-terrorist operations, including one that resulted in the controversial death of a prominent imam in southern Kyrgyzstan. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Political analysts in the region say Kyrgyzstan's security sweep is tied to a desire by Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to gain favor with Uzbek leader Islam Karimov. There are two motives at work, the analysts add. One, Bakiyev appears to believe that Karimov's political support might help him in his ongoing effort to consolidate his political authority in Bishkek. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The Kyrgyz president also wants to ensure that Uzbekistan will be a reliable supplier of natural gas this winter, some analysts add.

Meanwhile, human rights advocates suspect the expansion of Kyrgyz-Uzbek security cooperation is connected with the recent disappearances of four Uzbek refugees in Kyrgyzstan. Two men, identified as Ilhom Abdunabiev and Bakhtiar Ahmedov, were reportedly abducted in southern Kyrgyzstan's main city, Osh, on August 23, according to a statement issued by Human Rights Watch. According to other reports, Abdunabiev and Ahmedov may now be in Uzbek custody. In mid-August, two other refugees -- Valim Babajanov and Saidullo Shakirov -- were taken from their temporary homes and presumably returned to Uzbekistan.

"We're afraid these men have been handed over to Uzbek authorities and that their lives are in danger," Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "Kyrgyzstan is responsible for the safety of refugees and asylum seekers in its territory and it must find these men. The United Nations, the European Union and Washington should call upon the Kyrgyz government to protect refugees and asylum seekers."

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights said in a separate statement that the four abducted Uzbeks could be subjected to torture at the hands of Uzbek authorities. "In numerous previous cases, Uzbek asylum seekers who have been forcibly returned to their home country in the aftermath of the Andijan events have been subjected to torture and ill-treatment and given harsh sentences in unfair trials," said the IHF statement.

Jennifer Pagonis, spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said all the abducted men had been registered with the Kyrgyz migration authorities and UNHCR. "They were among the hundreds of Uzbeks who escaped their country in the aftermath of the Andijan events on May 13, 2005," Pagonis said. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. UNHCR has announced plans to relocate Uzbek refugees from Osh to Bishkek, in northern Kyrgyzstan, presumably to lower the risk of abduction and return to Uzbekistan.

International pressure is growing on Kyrgyzstan to investigate the disappearances. A spokesman for the US embassy in Bishkek said, "We urge the Kyrgyz Government to take immediate steps to ensure the safety and rights of all refugees and asylum-seekers in Kyrgyzstan and to uphold Kyrgyzstan's international commitments to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, as well as to the UN Convention Against Torture."