Prominent women human rights defenders at risk following their participation in OSCE meeting

Human rights defenders Tolekan Ismailovaand Aziza Abdirasulova are both heads of FIDH member organisations inKyrgyzstan, Bir Duino and Kylym Shamy. They have recently been the subject tovirulent verbal attacks and threats by Kyrgyz Members of Parliament (MPs), lawenforcement agents and State-owned on-line media following theirparticipation in the 2016 Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe(OSCE) Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM),which is taking place from September 19 to 30, 2016, in Warsaw (Poland).

On September 20, 2016, Ms. Tolekan Ismailovamade a speech in Warsaw, focusing on the rights of Kyrgyz women migrants andtheir children, during the working session of the annual OSCE/HDIM conference, titled “The International Covenants on HumanRights and their importance for OSCE Human Dimension”. As she was deliveringher speech, she found herself sitting by coincidence next to a Kyrgyz ethnicUzbek political activist sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia forhis alleged role in the ethnic conflict that took place in 2010 and who nowresides in Sweden as a political refugee.

Shortly after Ms.Ismailova' speech, a photo of her sitting next to the individual was publishedon the Internet, and sparked virulent reactions on the part of Kyrgyz MPs andlaw enforcement agents. Ms. Aziza Abdirasulova was also captured on the pictureas she was entering the plenary hall, and was also subject to similar threats.

On September 22, 2016, arepresentative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kyrgyzstan who attended aParliamentary Committee on International Affairs Defence and Security publiclystated that the Ministry had received a negative reply from Interpol to itsrequest to search for the above-mentioned individual, on the grounds thatInterpol would not search persons prosecuted on politically motivated charges.During the same session, some MPs called for the opening of a criminal caseagainst Ms. Ismailova, after which the press office of the Ministry of InternalAffairs confirmed that ”operational work” had been opened to hold “Kyrgyzcitizens” accountable[1]. Through social networks,a number of Internet users also promised to “welcome” “the traitors” upon theirreturn to the country.

The Observatory fears forthe physical integrity of the two human rights defenders, and urges diplomaticmissions and the OSCE office in Bishkek to condemn the threats uttered againstMs. Tolekan Ismaikova and Ms. Aziza Abdirasulova, and provide them with allnecessary protection, in line with the European Union and OSCE Guidelines onHuman Rights Defenders.

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 program is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations ofrepression against human rights defenders. OMCT and FIDH are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented byinternational civil society.

[1] See http://kloop.kg/blog/2016/09/22/mvd-proverit-pravozashhitnitsu-ismailovu-za-ulybku-vo-vremya-vystupleniya-batyrova/