Unscrupulous law-enforcement officers and criminal gangs are hampering the distribution of humanitarian aid destined for victims of the violence in southern Kyrgyzstan, according to multiple reports by Kyrgyzstan's 24.kg agency.
Roadblocks set up on major roads have become choke points for aid shipments making their way from Bishkek southward. Jamila Kaparova, the head of Ensan-Diamond, a women’s rights organization, said aid convoys were being looted by “young men standing on barricades.”
Authorities also were seeing the humanitarian aid effort as an opportunity to engage in corrupt practices, alleged Tolekan Ismailova, the head of the human rights organization Citizens Against Corruption. “There are fears, and they are not groundless, that officials in Bishkek can attach their hands to the humanitarian aid that other countries send to victims of conflict in Osh,” 24.kg quoted Ismailova as saying on June 16.
“It’s sheer ugliness. Do you know how many there are who seem to wish to cash in on this human tragedy? The interim government should break this chain of corruption, otherwise it will only get worse,” she added.
Some NGO activists assert that the humanitarian assistance reaching the South is not being distributed in an equitable fashion. For example, human rights activist Elena Voronina told 24.kg it is “unsafe” to deliver aid in Uzbek areas of Osh, adding that those who try to do so are “threatened with physical harm if they give assistance to Uzbek-speaking citizens.”
Gulgaky Mamasalieva, the southern representative for the Kyrgyz non-governmental organization Interbilim, alleged 12 trucks carrying humanitarian aid were commandeered on the orders of an Osh city official. “We are going to deal with this incident, and we will demand action is taken. Such behavior by elected officials is unacceptable,” she said.
Meanwhile, Kyrgyzstan’s ombudsman, Tursunbek Akun, said aid deliveries were in danger of becoming backlogged at Manas airport near Bishkek due to a shortage of staff and volunteers.
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