Kyrgyzstan
08.09.02
Urgent Interventions
Kyrgyzstan: wave of arrests and police attacks upon demonstrators and opposition politicians
Case KGZ 290102.14
Follow-up to case KGZ 290102
Arbitrary arrests / Incommunicado detention / Torture / Demonstrations
Geneva, September 8th, 2002
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Kyrgyzstan.
New information
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights (KCHR), a member of the OMCT network, that the human rights situation in Kyrgyzstan continues to worsen, with further harassment, arrests and attacks upon demonstrators, human rights activists and politicians, who are staging a protest march in connection with the Aksy tragedy, which occurred on March 17th, 2002, in which around 40 persons were wounded and six persons died when security forces opened fire upon the peaceful demonstrators.
According to the information received, 11 Parliamentarians – A.Masaliev, N.Bailo, A.Beknazarov, A.Madumarov, A.Pronenko, A.Abdumomunov, A.Asanov, I.Isakov, I.Kadyrbekov, B.Akunov, O.Duisheev – have released two documents in which they claim that the recent arrest of demonstrators in Jalal-Abad will have a highly disruptive effect on the political situation in Kyrgyzstan. The arrests of these demonstrators are viewed as being anti-constitutional, as they constitute violations of the right to peaceful demonstration that is enshrined within the constitution.
According to the information received, the following events have occurred since September 4th, 2002: On September 4th, 2002, at 10 a.m., policemen beat the demonstrators who had gathered in Jalal-Abad, with over 100 demonstrators having sustained bodily injuries during the attack. The injured demonstrators have been refused medical assistance, despite many of them having been severely injured in the attacks.
Also on September 4th, the Chairman of the Human Rights Movement of Kyrgyzstan, Tursunbek Akunov, was reportedly arbitrarily arrested in the village of Kerben, without being given any reasons for his arrest, by Musabekov Aziz, the head of the Bakai-Ata district Department of Interior in Talas province, with the help of several agents of the National Security Council (NSC – formerly the KGB). Tursunbek Akunov reportedly managed to escape while he was being transferred to a place of detention, and has reported that tens of thousands of policemen and special forces of the OMON, Ministry of Interior, and the National Security Council, are being pulled into the Aksy district, leading to fears that there were going to be clashes between the marchers and the policemen during the Aksy to Bishkek so-called “Great March,” which was set to begin in Tash-Komyr, and gather persons from six other districts of the Jalal-Abad province, on the way towards Bishkek. Furthermore, on the same day, the NSC arrested Meder Usenov, the coordinator of the Movement for Resignation of Akaev and Reforms for People in Jalal-Abad province, who was charged with organizing peaceful demonstrations and marches, along with four other leaders: Kanat Baijumaev, Mambetaly Kubatov, Daniar Asanov, and Semetei Karabekov. A criminal case has been filed against Semetai Karabekov and Meder Usenov under the article 341, part 1 – use of violence towards representatives of the authorities.
Separately, around 100 people gathered in front of the Tuip district administration’s building in the village of Tuip in Issyk-Kul oblast on September 4th, demanding the release of the village administration’s head Omurbek Bolturukov, who was arrested in August 15th, for criticising the Government’s alleged illegal distribution of land in the region. He has been accused of having embezzled of 214 thousand soms (about US$ 4700), although it is thought that the motives for his arrest are purely political. His supporters think that he was arrested because authorities wanted to hide the facts of corruption. Boturukov reportedly held a hunger strike from the 23rd to the 30th of August while in detention. According to human rights defenders Aziza Abdurasulov and Ryskeldi Mombekov, he was subjected to torture during his hunger strike. Boturukov’s mother, Imakulova Kyrmyzy, reported that he was covered in bruises and that he had said that they beat him, especially in his stomach, and that he has been fainting several times a day since that time.
On September 5th, as about 450 people gathered in Tash-Komyr, Police officers reportedly began forcefully taking teachers and doctors (governmental workers) to Tash-Kumyr to force them to protest against the marchers, although most of them decided not to protest and some of them even joined the march, despite the presence of around 700 police officers from different provinces, who were trying to stop people from joining the protest. By the evening around 1000 demonstrators, including around 100 elderly persons and children, had reportedly gathered and were calling for the resignation of President Akaev. Members of the police reportedly began confiscating the marchers’ supplies, including all vehicles containing food and firewood, and all the shops that sell food were ordered to close.
On September 6th, 2002, the head of the defenders of the victims of the Aksy tragedy, Ormurbekov Kadyrkul was arrested, along with several un-named members of the Kyrgyz Commission for Human Rights, reportedly in the village of Kara-Suu, Aksy district. Turaliev Takimamat was also arrested in this village, leading to the villagers taking nine police officers hostage. In addition, Ainagul Junusalieva and Kubanych Matkerimov, participants of the march, were arrested in Tash-Komur. Their whereabouts are unknown, and the security services are reportedly refusing to give any information concerning their location.
According to the information received, the office of the KCHR are under the surveillance of four agents of the Ministry of Interior, who are checking every person who visits the office, and Ramazan Dyryldaev, the coordinator of the KCHR, is reportedly being followed by two cars at all times. Besides this, various human rights activists, opposition leaders, and supporters of MP Beknazarov have been under the surveillance of the NSC. On September 5, 2002, MPs Masaliev, Kadyrbekov, Isanov and Madumarov also reported having been placed under surveillance.
The International Secretariat of OMCT, is gravely concerned by the worsening of the human rights situation in Kyrgyzstan, and would once again like to express its condemnation of the Kyrgyz authorities’ use of excessive force against demonstrators and opposition political activists, and their use of beatings, arbitrary arrests, detention, torture and/or harassment against persons who have engaged in protests, as a way to halt political opposition, in violation of their rights to the freedoms of expression and association, and in the more extreme cases, the right to be free from torture and the right to life.
Brief reminder of the situation
According to the information received, after Deputy Beknazarov’s arrest on January 5th, 2002, several demonstrations took place across the country, including the Aksy demonstration on 17th March, which have been subjected to violent repression and have been accompanied by further political persecution of opposition groups. Following these events, the Kyrgyz parliament has resigned and the country continues to suffer from the instability created by these events. An amnesty for the perpetrators of the human rights violations in question has been issued by President Akaev, leading to a climate of total impunity which has been met by continuing demonstrations and protests by politicians, civil society and many members of the public. For more information on this situation please see the previous urgent appeals.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Kyrgyzstan urging them to:
1. guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of all persons being detained in connection with or participating in the Great March;
2. immediately locate the whereabouts of all persons being detained incommunicado;
3. order that all persons arrested in connection to this affair, be released immediately in the absence of valid legal charges or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
4. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the reports of these events, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
5. guarantee adequate reparation for all persons who have been injured and the families of those who have been killed during these events;
6. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights.
Addresses
· Mr Askar Akayev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Kyrgyzskaya Respublika, 720003 g. Bishkek, Prospekt Chuy, 205, Fax: 996 312 218 627/ 218 627, Email: ghpress2@rhl.bishkek.su
· Mr. Nikolai Tanaev, Prime Minister; fax: 996 312 661 382, mailto:pmoffice@mail.gov.kg
· Mr. Daniyar Narymbaev, Minister of Justice, Kyrgyzskaya Respublika, 720040, g. Bishkek, ul. Orozbekova, 37; mailto:minjust@bishkek.gov.kg
Please also write to the embassies of Kyrgyzstan in your respective country.
Geneva, September 8th, 2002
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Follow-up to case KGZ 290102
Arbitrary arrests / Incommunicado detention / Torture / Demonstrations
Geneva, September 8th, 2002
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Kyrgyzstan.
New information
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights (KCHR), a member of the OMCT network, that the human rights situation in Kyrgyzstan continues to worsen, with further harassment, arrests and attacks upon demonstrators, human rights activists and politicians, who are staging a protest march in connection with the Aksy tragedy, which occurred on March 17th, 2002, in which around 40 persons were wounded and six persons died when security forces opened fire upon the peaceful demonstrators.
According to the information received, 11 Parliamentarians – A.Masaliev, N.Bailo, A.Beknazarov, A.Madumarov, A.Pronenko, A.Abdumomunov, A.Asanov, I.Isakov, I.Kadyrbekov, B.Akunov, O.Duisheev – have released two documents in which they claim that the recent arrest of demonstrators in Jalal-Abad will have a highly disruptive effect on the political situation in Kyrgyzstan. The arrests of these demonstrators are viewed as being anti-constitutional, as they constitute violations of the right to peaceful demonstration that is enshrined within the constitution.
According to the information received, the following events have occurred since September 4th, 2002: On September 4th, 2002, at 10 a.m., policemen beat the demonstrators who had gathered in Jalal-Abad, with over 100 demonstrators having sustained bodily injuries during the attack. The injured demonstrators have been refused medical assistance, despite many of them having been severely injured in the attacks.
Also on September 4th, the Chairman of the Human Rights Movement of Kyrgyzstan, Tursunbek Akunov, was reportedly arbitrarily arrested in the village of Kerben, without being given any reasons for his arrest, by Musabekov Aziz, the head of the Bakai-Ata district Department of Interior in Talas province, with the help of several agents of the National Security Council (NSC – formerly the KGB). Tursunbek Akunov reportedly managed to escape while he was being transferred to a place of detention, and has reported that tens of thousands of policemen and special forces of the OMON, Ministry of Interior, and the National Security Council, are being pulled into the Aksy district, leading to fears that there were going to be clashes between the marchers and the policemen during the Aksy to Bishkek so-called “Great March,” which was set to begin in Tash-Komyr, and gather persons from six other districts of the Jalal-Abad province, on the way towards Bishkek. Furthermore, on the same day, the NSC arrested Meder Usenov, the coordinator of the Movement for Resignation of Akaev and Reforms for People in Jalal-Abad province, who was charged with organizing peaceful demonstrations and marches, along with four other leaders: Kanat Baijumaev, Mambetaly Kubatov, Daniar Asanov, and Semetei Karabekov. A criminal case has been filed against Semetai Karabekov and Meder Usenov under the article 341, part 1 – use of violence towards representatives of the authorities.
Separately, around 100 people gathered in front of the Tuip district administration’s building in the village of Tuip in Issyk-Kul oblast on September 4th, demanding the release of the village administration’s head Omurbek Bolturukov, who was arrested in August 15th, for criticising the Government’s alleged illegal distribution of land in the region. He has been accused of having embezzled of 214 thousand soms (about US$ 4700), although it is thought that the motives for his arrest are purely political. His supporters think that he was arrested because authorities wanted to hide the facts of corruption. Boturukov reportedly held a hunger strike from the 23rd to the 30th of August while in detention. According to human rights defenders Aziza Abdurasulov and Ryskeldi Mombekov, he was subjected to torture during his hunger strike. Boturukov’s mother, Imakulova Kyrmyzy, reported that he was covered in bruises and that he had said that they beat him, especially in his stomach, and that he has been fainting several times a day since that time.
On September 5th, as about 450 people gathered in Tash-Komyr, Police officers reportedly began forcefully taking teachers and doctors (governmental workers) to Tash-Kumyr to force them to protest against the marchers, although most of them decided not to protest and some of them even joined the march, despite the presence of around 700 police officers from different provinces, who were trying to stop people from joining the protest. By the evening around 1000 demonstrators, including around 100 elderly persons and children, had reportedly gathered and were calling for the resignation of President Akaev. Members of the police reportedly began confiscating the marchers’ supplies, including all vehicles containing food and firewood, and all the shops that sell food were ordered to close.
On September 6th, 2002, the head of the defenders of the victims of the Aksy tragedy, Ormurbekov Kadyrkul was arrested, along with several un-named members of the Kyrgyz Commission for Human Rights, reportedly in the village of Kara-Suu, Aksy district. Turaliev Takimamat was also arrested in this village, leading to the villagers taking nine police officers hostage. In addition, Ainagul Junusalieva and Kubanych Matkerimov, participants of the march, were arrested in Tash-Komur. Their whereabouts are unknown, and the security services are reportedly refusing to give any information concerning their location.
According to the information received, the office of the KCHR are under the surveillance of four agents of the Ministry of Interior, who are checking every person who visits the office, and Ramazan Dyryldaev, the coordinator of the KCHR, is reportedly being followed by two cars at all times. Besides this, various human rights activists, opposition leaders, and supporters of MP Beknazarov have been under the surveillance of the NSC. On September 5, 2002, MPs Masaliev, Kadyrbekov, Isanov and Madumarov also reported having been placed under surveillance.
The International Secretariat of OMCT, is gravely concerned by the worsening of the human rights situation in Kyrgyzstan, and would once again like to express its condemnation of the Kyrgyz authorities’ use of excessive force against demonstrators and opposition political activists, and their use of beatings, arbitrary arrests, detention, torture and/or harassment against persons who have engaged in protests, as a way to halt political opposition, in violation of their rights to the freedoms of expression and association, and in the more extreme cases, the right to be free from torture and the right to life.
Brief reminder of the situation
According to the information received, after Deputy Beknazarov’s arrest on January 5th, 2002, several demonstrations took place across the country, including the Aksy demonstration on 17th March, which have been subjected to violent repression and have been accompanied by further political persecution of opposition groups. Following these events, the Kyrgyz parliament has resigned and the country continues to suffer from the instability created by these events. An amnesty for the perpetrators of the human rights violations in question has been issued by President Akaev, leading to a climate of total impunity which has been met by continuing demonstrations and protests by politicians, civil society and many members of the public. For more information on this situation please see the previous urgent appeals.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Kyrgyzstan urging them to:
1. guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of all persons being detained in connection with or participating in the Great March;
2. immediately locate the whereabouts of all persons being detained incommunicado;
3. order that all persons arrested in connection to this affair, be released immediately in the absence of valid legal charges or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
4. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the reports of these events, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
5. guarantee adequate reparation for all persons who have been injured and the families of those who have been killed during these events;
6. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights.
Addresses
· Mr Askar Akayev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Kyrgyzskaya Respublika, 720003 g. Bishkek, Prospekt Chuy, 205, Fax: 996 312 218 627/ 218 627, Email: ghpress2@rhl.bishkek.su
· Mr. Nikolai Tanaev, Prime Minister; fax: 996 312 661 382, mailto:pmoffice@mail.gov.kg
· Mr. Daniyar Narymbaev, Minister of Justice, Kyrgyzskaya Respublika, 720040, g. Bishkek, ul. Orozbekova, 37; mailto:minjust@bishkek.gov.kg
Please also write to the embassies of Kyrgyzstan in your respective country.
Geneva, September 8th, 2002
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.