From: Justin Burke (JBurke@sorosny.org)
Date: Mon Apr 01 2002 - 12:25:25 EST
RFE/RL KYRGYZ NEWS
1 APRIL 2002, MONDAY
_______________________________________
A Daily Review of News from Kyrgyzstan
1. Parliament discusses an appeal by 55 deputies.
2. Parliamentary commission postpones its report.
3. Local authorities asked doctors to be ready before the tragedy.
4. Opposition parliamentarians say they are shadowed.
5. Session of the parliamentary upper chamber begins.
6. Parliament approves deployment of troops by four more countries.
7. US State Department official to Bishkek.
8. Prime minister postpones its trip to the south.
9. Foreign ministers of the Netherlands and Switzerland to Kyrgyzstan.
10. Sixty Afghani refugees to return home.
1. PARLIAMENT DISCUSSES AN APPEAL BY 55 DEPUTIES. Deputies of the
parliamentary Legislative Assembly (lower chamfer) discussed on 1
April the appeal by 55 deputies of the both chambers to the nation.
A lot of deputies condemned it saying the appeal splits not only the
parliamentarians but also the nation too into two hostile sides,
because none of the commissions investigating the case made any
conclusion on the cause of the killings in Jalal-Abad. According to
Deputy Dooronbek Sadyrbaev, Deputy Turdakun Usubaliev organized the
action inviting the deputies in his room and forcing them to sign
the appeal. Sadyrbaev said there were no public disturbances in
Jalal-Abad until the police began shooting on the demonstrators.
Speaker of the assembly Abdygany Erkebaev said he did not sign the
appeal, because it was not discussed at the assembly. Deputy Azimbek
Beknazarov ashamed the speaker of the upper chamber, Altai Borubaev,
of signing the appeal without open discussion. Deputy Adaham
Madumarov said that the signatories of the appeal become the third
side in the conflict between people and power, making a dissentient
policy.
Fifty-five deputies of parliament appealed to the nation on 27 March
asking not to be misled by some intriguers disturbing people and
forcing tensions in the society. According to them, main cause of
the tragedy in Jalal-Abad was unlawful policy of those intriguers,
political extremism of who forced people to anti-constitutional
actions. At least five people were killed and about 20 injured
during the clashes between police and demonstrators on 17 and 18
March.
2. PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION POSTPONES ITS REPORT. Asel Mambetalieva,
chairwoman of the parliamentary commission, investigating the events
in Jalal-Abad, announced on 1 April that the commission would report
to the parliamentary session on its findings on 4 April. She also
said the commission taped in the south the bodies of the killed
people as well as wounded and hospitalized people, interviewing them
and other witnesses.
On 29 March, Mambetalieva announced that prosecutor of the Aksy
district in Jalal-Abad Abdykalyk Kaldarov is responsible for the
bloodshed. According to Mambetalieva, all the witnesses say he
ordered in front of the demonstrators on 17 March to detain Chairman
of the Human Rights Movement of Kyrgyzstan Tursunbek Akunov, and
when the crowd tried to defend him, disturbances began.
3. LOCAL AUTHORITIES ASKED DOCTORS TO BE READY BEFORE THE TRAGEDY.
Chairman of the Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights (KCHR) Ramazan
Dyryldayev told RFE/RL on 1 April by phone from Vienna that some
witnesses in Jalal-Abad say that the local authorities planned the
massacre. The witnesses and doctors told KCHR officials in Jalal-
Abad, that head of the Aksy district administration Shermamat
Osmonov warned the local hospital officials in the morning of 17
March to be at their work places the whole day. Clashes between the
police and the demonstrators happened in the afternoon of 17 March.
Chairman of the public commission on the bloodshed Topchubek
Turgunaliev also said in Bishkek on 1 April, that the authorities
planned the massacre. He said his commission returned to Bishkek
form Jalal-Abad in the evening of 31 March and has number of proves
of it. According to Turgunaliev, a special public congress should
convene in a month to form a special public court to try those
responsible for the bloodshed. Several political parties formed the
public commission on 23 March.
4. OPPOSITION PARLIAMENTARIANS SAY THEY ARE SHADOWED. Deputy of
parliament Azimbek Beknazarov announced in Bishkek on 1 April that
unknown people shadow him and his family. According to Beknazarov,
they beat his wife in Bishkek on 31 March when she tried to put down
license plate number of their car.
Deputy Adaham Madumarov also said on 1 April he is shadowed. The
other deputy of parliament, Alevtina Pronenko, also announced on 1
April that if an accident happens with her, the police must be
blamed for it. All the three deputies are severe critics of the
government and the president. Beknazarov was arrested on 5 January
and released on 19 March after the bloodshed in Jalal-Abad. Local
residents went to the district center to organize a picket in his
support on 17 March, when police blocked their way and opened fire.
5. SESSION OF THE PARLIAMENTARY UPPER CHAMBER BEGINS. The ninth
session of the People's Assembly (upper chamber) of the parliament
begins on 2 April. Heads of its committees met in Bishkek on 1 April
and defined an agenda of the session, putting 58 items in it. Main
of them is considering of the tragedy in Jalal-Abad. Prosecutor
General Chubak Abyshkaev and Minister of Interior Temirbek
Akmataliev are invited to report before the assembly.
6. PARLIAMENT APPROVES DEPLOYMENT OF TROOPS BY FOUR MORE COUNTRIES.
The Legislative Assembly (lower chamber) of parliament approved on 1
April the governmental decision on deployment of the troops of four
more countries in Kyrgyzstan. The Netherlands, Norway, Poland and
South Korea are allowed to station troops in Kyrgyzstan.
The parliament has taken since December the similar decisions on the
troops of Australia, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Canada, Turkey, France
and the United States who are already use the Manas airport near
Bishkek for operations in Afghanistan. There are now about 1,500
troops of the international coalition against terrorism at Manas
now.
7. US STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TO BISHKEK. According to the Foreign
Ministry, Bill Taylor of the US State Department would pay one-day
visit to Kyrgyzstan on 2 April. He plans meeting in Bishkek with
First Vice Prime Minister Nikolai Tanaev discussing aspects of
cooperation between the two states as well as participation of
Kyrgyzstan in the aid operations in Afghanistan. Taylor is
coordinator of the US aid programs to European and Eurasian
countries, he goes to Tashkent after Bishkek.
8. PRIME MINISTER POSTPONES ITS TRIP TO THE SOUTH. According to the
governmental press service, Prime Minister Kurmanbek Bakiev
postponed his trip to the south due to bad weather. Before, he
planned visiting the Osh and Batken provinces on 1-4 April
acquainting with the spring works in the south. Instead of the
south, Bakiev plans now going to the mountainous Naryn Province on 2
April and then to the northern Issyk-Kul and Talas provinces.
9. FOREIGN MINISTERS OF THE NETHERLANDS AND SWITZERLAND TO
KYRGYZSTAN. According to the Foreign Ministry press service, the
foreign minister of the Netherlands comes to Kyrgyzstan on 3 April.
He plans meeting President Askar Akayev, Foreign Minister Muratbek
Imanaliev, and speakers of the two parliamentary chambers Abdygany
Erkebaev and Altai Borubaev to discuss bilateral relations. On 5
April, the foreign minister of Switzerland would also arrive in
Kyrgyzstan.
10. SIXTY AFGHANI REFUGEES TO RETURN HOME. Head of the Migration
Department of the Foreign Ministry Tolen Turganbaev announced in
Bishkek on 1 April, that about 60 Afghani refugees in Kyrgyzstan
would return home soon. According to him, there are now 839 refugees
from Afghanistan, 7,098 refugees from Tajikistan, and six refugees
from Iran. Also, about 400 people from Chechnya want receive refugee
status in Kyrgyzstan.
(Compiled and translated by Naryn Idinov in Prague)
******************************************************************
Copyright (c) 2002. RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.
"RFE/RL Kyrgyz News" is published six days a week and is based today
on reports sent by RFE/RL Kyrgyz Service correspondents Bubukan
Dosalieva and Aidanbek Tashkenbaev from Bishkek. Feedback should be
sent to idinovn@rferl.org.
For information on re-use of the "Kyrgyz News," see:
http://www.rferl.org/reprints/content.asp.
|
