The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Kyrgyzstan agreed on principles and modalities for an OSCE Police Advisory Group and the Kyrgyz Interim Government ultimately approved the deployment of 52 police advisors, but concerns remained about how much cooperation Osh authorities will provide. The Kyrgyz defense minister, who stepped down in preparation for running for parliament, criticized the OSCE plan due to "different mentality, laws and military training", EurasiaNet reported. EurasiaNet found contradictory reports of local demonstrations that may have been against the deployment of the OSCE police, a development Osh officials sought to minimize. Demonstrators also appear to have protested the handling of the violence in recent weeks by Tursunbek Akun, the Kyrgyz ombudsman, Interfax reported.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Parliament, the U.S. government, and other Western governments as well as international and local human rights groups have repeatedly called for a credible and impartial international investigation of the June violence in order to determine the facts of the conflict. The Interim Government appears to have set the process for such an inquiry in motion with a request July 6 to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to coordinate the preparation for such an investigation. Yet it remains to be seen if investigators can gain the cooperation of the Kyrgyz military and police, especially given concerns expressed by local and international human rights groups that some government officials may have been involved in the violent attacks, EurasiaNet reported.
Kyrgyz Health Ministry officials reported as of July 15 that 313 people were killed in the June conflict. But many more killings are believed to have occurred, say local NGOs; deaths could not be officially registered as people buried their relatives quickly during the pogroms. Kyrgyz Vice Premier Azimbek Beknazarov said in an interview with the Russian business daily Kommersant on July 12 that the death total was 893, although he declined to identify the ethnicity of the victims or explain why his figure was more than twice the number from other official sources. Thousands more were injured and hundreds of thousands temporarily displaced.
In a validation of what human rights monitors have been reporting for weeks, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said July 20 that security forces in southern Kyrgyzstan have been responsible for repeated human rights violations mainly against ethnic Uzbeks – including arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment – and said their actions threaten the return of stability.
“Large numbers of people – most of them young men, and virtually all of them Uzbek – have been arbitrarily detained in ways that not only demonstrate flagrant ethnic bias, but also break many of the fundamental tenets of both Kyrgyz and international law,” said Pillay.
The Osh city prosecutor has opened up some 1,300 criminal cases regarding killings and destruction of property in southern Kyrgyzstan, Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe reported July 21, although the ethnicity of the victims is not indicated. Local NGOs groups are concerned that as of July 1, 700 out of 759 of the criminal cases opened by the Kyrgyz government were against ethnic Uzbeks, and this appears to contract reports from international human rights groups that Uzbeks were mainly represented among the victims of the conflict. By contrast, the Interim Committee On Covering the Events in Southern Kyrgyzstan, a coalition of local and exile groups have made a list of 2,700 persons, mostly Uzbeks, whose relatives were killed and property destroyed, who photographed the damages but who have not yet been able to register their cases formally. Officials say at least 30 people are reported missing, although human rights activists have reported 60, of which 36 are Kyrgyz. Families continue to protest that their relatives are being held hostage in the face of police inaction.
Three arrests have been made in connection with the murder of a Kyrgyz policeman. Human Rights Watch previously documented the denial of due process guarantees and allegations of torture in the case of Azimzhan Askarov, a local human rights defender detained in connection with the murder case in Bazar-Kurgan.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, who serves as the principal Deputy to Secretary Clinton, led a delegation to Uzbekistan on July 17. He was joined by Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake and National Security Council Senior Director for Russian and Eurasian Affairs Michael McFaul. Steinberg said the U.S. conveyed appreciation for Uzbekistan's support for international efforts in Afghanistan and also discussed a broad range of topics, including trade, border security, cooperation on narcotics, civil society and human rights. The U.S. officials did not specifically raise any human rights cases or concerns publicly in their statements while in Tashkent, but McFaul took the opportunity to visit the Initiative Group of Independent Human Rights Activists in Tashkent. Surat Ikramov, head of the Initiative Group, said McFaul appeared to be well-informed and expressed concern about the persecution of Muslims and political prisoners. Ikramov believes McFaul's visit shows the Obama Administration will pay greater attention to human rights in Uzbekistan and more visits can be expected as the U.S. dialogue with President Karimov continues.
Although widely acknowledged as a brutal dictator at home, President Karimov's reputation among international observers has improved considerably as a result of his efficient handling of the refugee crisis induced by violence in neighboring southern Kyrgyzstan, as well as his show of restraint in refraining from Uzbek troop involvement in the conflict. Karimov's moderate statements regarding the Kyrgyz Interim Government played an important role in keeping the crisis from spreading, foreign observers say. Tashkent rapidly marshalled an unprecedented level of resources to accommodate as many as 100,000 refugees, mostly women, children and elderly, and opened up a previously unavailable level of communication with international organizations and foreign governments. Foreign observers hope that this briefly emerged window of cooperation will be a turning point for Tashkent that may bode increased cooperation by the Uzbek government with international organizations which have obstructed from full operation in Uzbekistan in recent years.
Human rights groups remain concerned, however, about numerous reports that refugees were forced to leave Uzbekistan in time to participate in the June 27 referendum, and that some who remain in hiding in Uzbekistan with relatives or friends may suffer retaliation. The same features of the Karimov government that enabled effective emergency response -- for example, the ability to order local merchants to provide food and transportation and to organize massive police interrogation about atrocities -- are aspects of authoritarian control that can be used for good as well as harm to civil society.
Catherine A. Fitzpatrick compiles the Uzbekistan weekly roundup for EurasiaNet. She is also editor of EurasiaNet's Choihona blog. To subscribe to Uzbekistan News Briefs, write [email protected]
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