Kyrgyzstan
24.01.17
Urgent Interventions

Kyrgyzstan tramples upon its human rights commitments and maintains Askarov in jail

Paris-Geneva, January 24, 2017 - Today,the Chuy Regional Court of Kyrgyzstan upheld the life sentence against humanrights defender Azimjan Askarov, in blatant violation of a decision issued by aUnited Nations body, requesting his release and the quashing of his conviction.The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (a FIDH-OMCTpartnership) denounces Kyrgyzstan's failure to comply with the UN decision -and calls for Mr. Askarov's immediate and unconditional release.

This morning, the Court confirmedthe original verdict of 2010, finding Mr. AzimjanAskarov, an ethnic Uzbek, founder of the human rights NGO Vozduh (Air), guiltyof complicity in the murder of a policeman,inciting violence and mass disorder. As the initial trial was marred byallegations of torture, intimidation, due process violations and violations ofthe right to a fair trial, in March 2016, the UN Human Rights Committee (CCPR)ordered the quashing of Mr. Askarov’s conviction as well as his release on thegrounds that his defence was obstructed during the judicial process, throughthe prevention of the examination of witnesses on his behalf, obstacles posedon his lawyer from attending the first hearing, and the little time allocatedfor the preparation of his defence. During the appeal retrial hearings, whichtook place from October 4, 2016 to January 24, 2017, six other co-accusedadmitted having been tortured, ill-treated and threatened with further violencein case they did not testify against the defendant.

Thisverdict is clearly politically motivated. Azimjan Askarov should never havebeen imprisoned in the first place, and every day of his sentence isKyrgyzstan's defiance of international human rights law and UN institutions”,said lawyer Kirill Koroteev, who attended several hearings of the retrial onbehalf of the Observatory.

Prior to hisarrest in June 2010, Mr. Azimjan Askarov was investigating police brutality aswell as detention conditions in Kyrgyz prisons. He notably documented violencein Bazar Korgon during ethnic clashes that sparked in June 2010 in southern Kyrgyzstan,resulting in the death of nearly 500 Uzbeks and the displacement of hundreds ofthousands. Mr. Askarov and his lawyers haverepeatedly claimed the innocence of the defendant, providingproof that he was not even present at the crime scene.

Throughout the new appeal re-trial, the principle of equality of armswas once again blatantly violated: Mr. Askarov was not released as requested inthe UN decision, placed in a metal cage during all hearings and forced to weara jacket bearing the inscription "Life imprisonment", in breach ofthe principle of presumption of innocence. In addition, his lawyers andsupporters were intimidated and slandered throughout the process. Three of thesix main prosecution witnesses questioned on October 11, 2016 - all formerpolice officers present at the scene of the accident - failed to rememberwhether Mr. Azimjan Askarov was among the crowd when it attacked the policeofficer. The other three witnesses could not remember neither how the latterlooked that day, nor how he would have incited the crowd to attack policemen.Finally, the failure by the court to investigate claims of torture and pressureexerted on defence witnesses also demonstrated that the appeal re-trial fellshort of recognised fair trial standards.

At the normative level, this trial has led to the adoption ofconstitutional amendments by referendum on December 11, 2016, resulting in theeffective repeal of Article 41.2 of the Constitution. This Article providedthat the finding by an international human rights body of a violation ofinternational treaties ratified by Kyrgyzstan shall be considered as “newcircumstances” that warrant the reopening of criminal proceedings. On April 27,2016, in the aftermath of the UN CCPR decision, Mr. Askarov had filed an appealto review his conviction before the Supreme Court on the basis of that Article.

The Observatory will publish a trial observation report in the comingweeks, shedding light on fair trial violations that took place during theproceedings before the Chuy Regional Court, in breach of Kyrgyzstan’s international human rights commitments.

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) wascreated in 1997 by FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). Theobjective of this programme is to prevent or remedy situations of repressionagainst human rights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented byinternational civil society.

Formore information, please contact:

•FIDH: Arthur Manet / Audrey Couprie: +33143552518

•OMCT: Delphine Reculeau: +41228094939