Joint letter: Call for the release of Azimjon Askarov
Mr. Sooronbay Jeenbekov
President of Kyrgyzstan
Presidential administration
205 Chuy Prospect
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Via email:pisma@mail.gov.kg, oip@adm.gov.kg
RE: Case ofAzimjon Askarov
Brussels,31 March 2020,
Your Excellency,
We, international human rights and pressfreedom organisations, recognize this is a very challenging time for thegovernment and people of Kyrgyzstan as the country deals with the threat posedby the COVID-19 virus. The government has already taken some important steps,and others may be necessary, especially to protect those most at risk.
On 22 March, the Government of Kyrgyzstandeclared state of emergency measures and introduced restrictions on public lifeafter several people in the country were diagnosed with COVID-19.
As you know, populations in places ofdetention, such as prisons and jails, face a higher risk of contractingCOVID-19 because people live in close proximity to each other and have littlepossibility of taking preventive steps, including physical distancing andisolation. States have an obligation to ensure medical care for all those intheir custody at least equivalent to that available to the general population,in line with Rule 24.1 of the Nelson Mandela Rules for the Treatment ofPrisoners, and must not deny or limit detainees’ equal access to preventive,curative or palliative health care.[1]
As recently underlined by the Subcommitteeon Prevention of Torture[2], and separately by the UN HighCommissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet,[3]governments should also consider reducing their prison populations, includingby considering if the present situation qualifies prisoners for parole, earlyor conditional release, or other alternative non-custodial measures. Individualsat high risk of suffering serious effects from the virus, such as older peopleand people with underlying health conditions, should also be considered forsimilar release with regard to whether the detention facility has the capacityto protect their health.
We therefore call upon your government to guaranteeadequate medical care and protective measures against COVID-19 for allprisoners and prison staff.
In this context, we would like to bring to yourattention the continued detention of human rights defender and journalistAzimjon Askarov. We would like to call upon you to urgently release Mr.Askarov, and until then ensure that actions are taken to protect his health,ensure access to appropriate hygiene, screening and if needed medicalassistance.
Mr. Askarov is now 68 years old and has foryears suffered from deteriorating health, including cardiac and respiratoryproblems, and has not received appropriate and adequate medical attention. Mr.Askarov is among the population that is at risk of being disproportionatelyaffected by the virus.
We would like to remind you that in 2016 theUN Human Rights Committee called on your Government to immediately release AzimjonAskarov and for his conviction to be quashed. We call on your government to urgentlyimplement this decision.
Mr. Askarov has already served close to 10 years in prison simplyfor having documented human rights violations faced by others. We hope you andyour government will support the humanitarian imperative of Mr. Askarov’ssituation and allow him to go free.
We thank you for your attention to thisurgent matter.
Sincerely,
AmnestyInternational
Civil RightsDefenders
Committee toProtect Journalists
Front LineDefenders
HelsinkiFoundation for Human Rights
Human RightsWatch
InternationalFederation for Human Rights, within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection ofHuman Rights Defenders
InternationalPartnership for Human Rights
World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT), within the framework of theObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
[1] Committee on Economic, Social andCultural Rights, General Comment No. 14 on the right to health, para. 34; UN Standard Minimum Rules forthe Treatment of Prisoners (Nelson Mandela Rules), Resolution adopted by theGeneral Assembly on 17 December 2015, A/RES/70/175: https://www.un.org/ga/search/viewm_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/175
[2] See statement ofMarch 25, https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/OPCAT/AdviceStatePartiesCoronavirusPandemic2020.pdf
[3] Urgent actionneeded to prevent COVID-19 “rampaging through places of detention” – 25 March2020: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25745&LangID=E