OPEN LETTER TO KYRGYZ PRESIDENT ASKAR AKAYEV
From Human Rights Watch

16 May 2002
President Askar Akaev
Prospekt Chuy, 205
Dom pravitelstva
Bishkek 720003
Kyrgyzstan

By facsimile: +996 312 218 627

Dear President Akaev,

Human Rights Watch learned that today police in Bishkek arrested an estimated ninety people, including human rights defenders, political activists, and journalists, as they gathered for a peaceful demonstration outside the parliament building. I am writing to request that you ensure that those detained are immediately released, and that their rights are respected as long as they are in custody.

According to an eyewitness, police began to detain dozens of people as they gathered peacefully at about 8:30 a.m., before the demonstration was scheduled to begin. Included among them were individuals who had been holding a hunger strike. Police continued to detain individuals as they arrived at the site. According to eyewitness reports, protesters did not engage in any acts of violence. By 10:00 a.m., police had barricaded the area.

Police took the detainees to the Pervomai district police department, where they were reportedly charged with "violating public order." Local and international rights observers who visited the station were denied access to the detainees, who face a fifteen-day period of detention under the administrative code.

Among those arrested at the gathering were members of the Kyrgyz Center for Human Rights (KCHR)-Ramazan Dyryldaev, Alexandr Fomenko, Mamasadyk Jakyshev, and Kachkyn Bulatov-and rights defender Tursunbek Akunov. Parliamentarian Azimbek Beknazarov, recently released from custody but still facing dubious criminal charges, was reportedly also among those detained today, as were numerous members of the "Ar-Namys" party, the leader of the Communist Party, and an estimated twenty people who had come from the Aksy district in Jalal-Abad. Reportedly detained along with them were the editor of a local newspaper and a Radio Free Europe journalist.

Protesters wanted to express their opposition to several Kyrgyz government policies: the decision to cede disputed territory to China; the conviction of opposition party leader Feliks Kulov; and the criminal charges against Azimbek Beknazarov. In addition, they sought to voice their dissatisfaction with worsening poverty and the rising cost of electricity in Kyrgyzstan. These issues have sparked continual protests throughout the country during the past several months.

Today's 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 Jalal-Abad and elsewhere.

As a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the government of Kyrgyzstan is obligated to respect its citizens' rights to freedom of expression (article 19) and freedom of assembly (article 21). We urge you to take the steps necessary to guarantee that rights embraced in the covenant become a reality for people in Kyrgyzstan.

We look forward to news of the release of those detained today and to a prompt inquiry into police actions. I thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Andersen
Executive Director
Europe and Central Asia division

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Posted May 17, 2002 © Eurasianet
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