Kyrgyzstan
28.09.04
Urgent Interventions
Kyrgyzstan: harassment of the Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights (KCHR)
URGENT APPEAL – THE OBSERVATORY
KGZ 002 / 0803 / OBS 044.4
New Information
Judicial proceedings
Kyrgyzstan
September 28, 2004
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint program of FIDH and OMCT, has received new information concerning the following situation in Kyrgyzstan and requests your urgent intervention.
New Information:
The Observatory has been informed by the Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights (KCHR) that the KCHR and its chairman, Mr. Ramazan Dyryldaev, have again been the object of acts of harassment. On September 21, 2004, legal executive Mr. T. A. Umurkulov passed on to the KCHR the ruling on the institution of executive proceedings and charges regarding writs of execution which were issued by the Bishkek city court and the Pervomaikyi rayon court of Bishkek city. The ruling stipulates that, on the basis of the rulings on January 12, July 13, October 8, 2001 and February 19, 2002, based on the complaints of Mr. Eliseev A. V. against the KCHR, the KCHR must pay a sum of 5276,5 US$.
The Observatory recalls that active members of the “real” KCHR (see below), and in particular Mr. Dyryldaev, who is now living abroad in exile, have long endured threats, harassment and campaigns of defamation because of their activity in favour of human rights and democracy in Kyrgyzstan. The repeated judicial complaints lodged by M. Eliseev, have been part of this strategy of harassment orchestrated by the authorities. The Observatory is deeply concerned about this new ruling, the object of which seems to be to paralyse financially the human rights activities of the KCHR, on the eve of the local election to take place in October 2004. The Observatory calls upon the Kyrgyz authorities to put an immediate end to the harassment of the KCHR and of Mr. Dyryldaev.
Background information:
In December 1997, Mr. Eliseev, a former collaborator of the KCHR filed numerous charges against the Committee after having been fired for non-authorised absences, which resulted in the Committee having to pay large sums of money and its property being regularly confiscated.
In March 1998, the KCHR was sentenced to pay 40,000 soms ($1,000), a sum that was duly paid. Another charge was pressed by Mr. Eliseev in an attempt to be reinstated in his job, and the court decided in his favour in March 2000. Mr. Eliseev went back to his job, but he was dismissed again for the same reasons. He pressed charges again, and the court decided again in his favour, sentencing the KCHR to pay over $ 840 in June 2000. In addition, Mr. Eliseev pressed charges in April 2000 for moral wrongdoing in order to pay for the medical treatment that followed after the loss of his job. The court did not recognise the charge of moral wrong, but the KCHR still had to pay for the medical treatment.
It was also in April 2000 that a criminal case was opened against Mr. Ramazan Dyryldaev, president of the KCHR, for non-compliance with a legal ruling. These legal proceedings were yet again a consequence of charges pressed by Mr. Eliseev against the KCHR in March 1999. The Committee, which had by then been dissolved by the authorities, and replaced by a fictional Committee directed by Mr. Botaliev (presumed to be an agent of the National Security Services), was sentenced to pay Mr. Eliseev 30,000 soms. The re-instated KCHR refused to pay this fine, as it was not the legal entity originally sentenced. A warrant to arrest Mr. Dyryldaev was issued in July 2000, while he was abroad.
In May 2001, equipment costing 8000 $ was seized in Bishkek and Talas offices. On May 31, 2001, Bishkek regional Court condemned KCHR to pay Mr. Eliseev the sum of 1600 $ again as compensation. This court decision appeared to be the nineteenth in the Eliseev case, bringing the total amount KCHR had had to pay Mr. Eliseev up to approximately 8000 US $.
Following an arrest warrant issued against him, Mr. Dyryldaev did not return to Kyrgyzstan until April 2002, after which he was constantly under surveillance, as well as the object of numerous acts of harassment.
Throughout 2003, the harassments and threats against the KCHR significantly increased after Mr. Dyryldaev criticised the President of the Kyrgyz Republic. On 26 March, 2003, former members of the Committee, accompanied by uniformed officers from the Ministry of the Interior and National Security, burst into the offices of the KCHR in Bishkek. On 21 April, 2003, after former members of the KCHR had accused the Committee President of embezzlement, officers from the Organised Economic Crime Unit burst into the home of Mr. Vladimir Tihonov, a member of the KCHR, and asked him about Mr. Dyryldaev’s whereabouts.
On May 11, 2003, Mr. Dyryldaev was again elected as chairman of the KCHR by the active members of the KCHR. However, as a consequence of the threats against him, he decided to definitely leave the country on May 26, 2003. On August 25, 2003, three former members of KCHR, Messrs. Tynaliev, Mombekov, and Jakishev announced in a press conference that they were dismissing Mr. Dyryldaev as chairman and instituting Mr. Tynaliev in his place. No acting members or board members of KCHR participated in this decision or this conference. Despite the official government registration of KCHR with Messrs. Tynaliev, Jakishev and Bulatov as the executive body, human rights organizations such as the Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, as well as FIDH and OMCT, have refused to recognize this new leadership.
Finally, on July 3, 2004, Mrs. Aitbaeva Ainura, the daughter of Mr. Dyryldaev, was attacked at her home. Unknown persons broke into her home while she was there with her two children. She was violently beaten to the point of unconsciousness and was admitted to the hospital with a concussion. It is likely that the attack against Mrs. Ainura may be linked with her father’s human rights activities.
Action requested :
Please write Kyrgyz authorities urging them to:
i. put an immediate end to all harassments against the KCHR and Mr. Dyryldaev and, more generally, against Kyrgyz human rights defenders or their families;
ii. conform with the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular its article 1 which provides that “every person has the right, individually or collectively, to promote the protection and fulfilment of human rights and fundamental liberties at the national and international level.”
iii. Conform more generally with the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with the other international instruments binding Kyrgyzstan.
Addresses:
Paris – Geneva; September 28, 2004
Kindly inform the Observatory of any action undertaken quoting the
code number of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, an FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the
protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete
support in their time of need.
The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the
French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
Tel and fax: FIDH : +33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT : (+ 41 22) 809 49 39 / 809 49 29
E-mail : observatoire@iprolink.ch
KGZ 002 / 0803 / OBS 044.4
New Information
Judicial proceedings
Kyrgyzstan
September 28, 2004
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint program of FIDH and OMCT, has received new information concerning the following situation in Kyrgyzstan and requests your urgent intervention.
New Information:
The Observatory has been informed by the Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights (KCHR) that the KCHR and its chairman, Mr. Ramazan Dyryldaev, have again been the object of acts of harassment. On September 21, 2004, legal executive Mr. T. A. Umurkulov passed on to the KCHR the ruling on the institution of executive proceedings and charges regarding writs of execution which were issued by the Bishkek city court and the Pervomaikyi rayon court of Bishkek city. The ruling stipulates that, on the basis of the rulings on January 12, July 13, October 8, 2001 and February 19, 2002, based on the complaints of Mr. Eliseev A. V. against the KCHR, the KCHR must pay a sum of 5276,5 US$.
The Observatory recalls that active members of the “real” KCHR (see below), and in particular Mr. Dyryldaev, who is now living abroad in exile, have long endured threats, harassment and campaigns of defamation because of their activity in favour of human rights and democracy in Kyrgyzstan. The repeated judicial complaints lodged by M. Eliseev, have been part of this strategy of harassment orchestrated by the authorities. The Observatory is deeply concerned about this new ruling, the object of which seems to be to paralyse financially the human rights activities of the KCHR, on the eve of the local election to take place in October 2004. The Observatory calls upon the Kyrgyz authorities to put an immediate end to the harassment of the KCHR and of Mr. Dyryldaev.
Background information:
In December 1997, Mr. Eliseev, a former collaborator of the KCHR filed numerous charges against the Committee after having been fired for non-authorised absences, which resulted in the Committee having to pay large sums of money and its property being regularly confiscated.
In March 1998, the KCHR was sentenced to pay 40,000 soms ($1,000), a sum that was duly paid. Another charge was pressed by Mr. Eliseev in an attempt to be reinstated in his job, and the court decided in his favour in March 2000. Mr. Eliseev went back to his job, but he was dismissed again for the same reasons. He pressed charges again, and the court decided again in his favour, sentencing the KCHR to pay over $ 840 in June 2000. In addition, Mr. Eliseev pressed charges in April 2000 for moral wrongdoing in order to pay for the medical treatment that followed after the loss of his job. The court did not recognise the charge of moral wrong, but the KCHR still had to pay for the medical treatment.
It was also in April 2000 that a criminal case was opened against Mr. Ramazan Dyryldaev, president of the KCHR, for non-compliance with a legal ruling. These legal proceedings were yet again a consequence of charges pressed by Mr. Eliseev against the KCHR in March 1999. The Committee, which had by then been dissolved by the authorities, and replaced by a fictional Committee directed by Mr. Botaliev (presumed to be an agent of the National Security Services), was sentenced to pay Mr. Eliseev 30,000 soms. The re-instated KCHR refused to pay this fine, as it was not the legal entity originally sentenced. A warrant to arrest Mr. Dyryldaev was issued in July 2000, while he was abroad.
In May 2001, equipment costing 8000 $ was seized in Bishkek and Talas offices. On May 31, 2001, Bishkek regional Court condemned KCHR to pay Mr. Eliseev the sum of 1600 $ again as compensation. This court decision appeared to be the nineteenth in the Eliseev case, bringing the total amount KCHR had had to pay Mr. Eliseev up to approximately 8000 US $.
Following an arrest warrant issued against him, Mr. Dyryldaev did not return to Kyrgyzstan until April 2002, after which he was constantly under surveillance, as well as the object of numerous acts of harassment.
Throughout 2003, the harassments and threats against the KCHR significantly increased after Mr. Dyryldaev criticised the President of the Kyrgyz Republic. On 26 March, 2003, former members of the Committee, accompanied by uniformed officers from the Ministry of the Interior and National Security, burst into the offices of the KCHR in Bishkek. On 21 April, 2003, after former members of the KCHR had accused the Committee President of embezzlement, officers from the Organised Economic Crime Unit burst into the home of Mr. Vladimir Tihonov, a member of the KCHR, and asked him about Mr. Dyryldaev’s whereabouts.
On May 11, 2003, Mr. Dyryldaev was again elected as chairman of the KCHR by the active members of the KCHR. However, as a consequence of the threats against him, he decided to definitely leave the country on May 26, 2003. On August 25, 2003, three former members of KCHR, Messrs. Tynaliev, Mombekov, and Jakishev announced in a press conference that they were dismissing Mr. Dyryldaev as chairman and instituting Mr. Tynaliev in his place. No acting members or board members of KCHR participated in this decision or this conference. Despite the official government registration of KCHR with Messrs. Tynaliev, Jakishev and Bulatov as the executive body, human rights organizations such as the Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, as well as FIDH and OMCT, have refused to recognize this new leadership.
Finally, on July 3, 2004, Mrs. Aitbaeva Ainura, the daughter of Mr. Dyryldaev, was attacked at her home. Unknown persons broke into her home while she was there with her two children. She was violently beaten to the point of unconsciousness and was admitted to the hospital with a concussion. It is likely that the attack against Mrs. Ainura may be linked with her father’s human rights activities.
Action requested :
Please write Kyrgyz authorities urging them to:
i. put an immediate end to all harassments against the KCHR and Mr. Dyryldaev and, more generally, against Kyrgyz human rights defenders or their families;
ii. conform with the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular its article 1 which provides that “every person has the right, individually or collectively, to promote the protection and fulfilment of human rights and fundamental liberties at the national and international level.”
iii. Conform more generally with the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with the other international instruments binding Kyrgyzstan.
Addresses:
- Mr Askar Akayev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Kyrgyzskaya
Respublika, 720003 g. Bishkek, Prospekt Chuy, 205, Fax: 996 312 218
627, Email: ghpress2@rhl.bishkek.su - Mr. Nikolai Tanaev, Prime Minister, Fax: 996 312 218 627
- Mr. Kurmanbek Osmonov, Minister of Justice, Fax: 996 312 663 044
Paris – Geneva; September 28, 2004
Kindly inform the Observatory of any action undertaken quoting the
code number of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, an FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the
protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete
support in their time of need.
The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the
French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
Tel and fax: FIDH : +33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT : (+ 41 22) 809 49 39 / 809 49 29
E-mail : observatoire@iprolink.ch