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Amnesty International Report 2006 - Kyrgyzstan

Hundreds of people fled to Kyrgyzstan after security forces reportedly fired on thousands of mainly unarmed and peaceful demonstrators in neighbouring Uzbekistan in May. Four Uzbekistani men were forcibly returned to Uzbekistan in June, and the Uzbekistani security forces pursued refugees and asylum-seekers on Kyrgyzstani territory, in some cases with the co-operation of the authorities in Kyrgyzstan. Many were unable to access asylum procedures. Kyrgyzstani citizens among those who fled Uzbekistan were not protected from being pursued illegally in Kyrgyzstan by the Uzbekistani security forces.

Background

In February elections to a new unicameral parliament sparked widespread protests amid allegations of fraud and vote-rigging. On 24 March opposition supporters stormed government buildings in the capital, Bishkek, and a loose coalition of political groups took power. President Askar Akaev formally resigned on 4 April after talks in Moscow.

Feliks Kulov, leader of the opposition Ar-Namys (Dignity) party and former Minister of National Security, was released from prison – where he was serving a 17-year sentence for abuse of office and embezzlement after an allegedly political trial – and was asked by parliament to take charge of national security and restore order. Kurmanbek Bakiev, a leading opposition member and a former Prime Minister, was named acting Prime Minister and President by parliament. The old parliament disbanded on 28 March and recognized the legitimacy of the newly elected parliament. In April the Supreme Court overturned Feliks Kulov's convictions on charges of embezzlement and corruption. In presidential elections on 10 July, Kurmanbek Bakiev was elected President. He appointed Feliks Kulov Prime Minister.

A law enacted in August to outlaw extremism appeared to threaten freedom of expression and, in particular, freedom of the media because of its broad definition of extremist activities and extremist materials.

Tensions increased in September and October. More than 20 inmates were killed in widespread prison riots, which were reportedly in response to harsh prison conditions and collusion between prison authorities and jailed criminal leaders. Tynychbek Akmatbaev, a member of parliament (MP), two of his assistants, and Ikmatullo Polotov, a senior prisons official, were killed while visiting one of these prisons on 20 October. Demonstrations in Bishkek led by the MP's brother, Ryspek Akmatbaev, who was awaiting trial on murder charges in a separate case, accused Feliks Kulov of complicity in the deaths. However, the demonstrations were called off a week later after President Bakiev agreed to meet a delegation. On 1 November more violence erupted when government forces tried to regain control of prisons left without guards and administrators following the October riots.

A moratorium on executions was extended for another year. Draft amendments to the Constitution included the permanent and full abolition of the death penalty.

Refugees from Uzbekistan at risk

Over 540 men, women and children crossed into Kyrgyzstan in the early hours of 14 May following the reported killings of hundreds of demonstrators in Andizhan, Uzbekistan, on 13 May (see Uzbekistan entry). Initially in a makeshift camp near the border, their safety could not be guaranteed and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) moved them to a camp at Besh-Kana on 4 June. However, Kyrgyzstani officials allegedly handed over lists of their names and home addresses to the Uzbekistani security services, who put pressure on relatives to persuade refugees to return voluntarily – including by transporting the relatives in buses to the camp – and reportedly infiltrated the camp. Uzbekistani media reports described it as a "terrorist" camp run by "dangerous criminals", and the local population reportedly threatened to force the refugees out. On 29 July, UNHCR airlifted 439 refugees to a holding centre in Romania, pending resettlement.

Extraditions and threat of forcible return

Kyrgyzstan came under pressure from Uzbekistan to extradite a large number of the refugees. Although President Bakiev gave UNHCR guarantees of temporary protection for an initial group of over 540 refugees, on 9 June the authorities forcibly returned four of them to Uzbekistan in contravention of their international obligations. On 16 June the Uzbekistan Prosecutor General's Office said it was seeking the extradition of 131 refugees who were "direct participants in the acts of terrorism [in Andizhan]".

On 22 June the Prosecutor General of Kyrgyzstan reportedly described as "criminals" 29 refugees who had been transferred from the Besh-Kana camp to detention, indicating they would be returned to Uzbekistan within a week. On 24 June he reportedly called for the detention of a further 103 refugees. He later said Kyrgyzstan would abide by its international obligations to protect refugees, and that the 29 in detention would not be sent back to Uzbekistan until their refugee determination had been completed. Fourteen of the 29 were evacuated to Romania for resettlement in July and a further 11 of them were resettled to other European countries in September. The status of the other four was disputed. The Uzbekistani authorities said that one had been convicted of narcotics offences and the others were wanted for the killing of the Andizhan city prosecutor on 13 May. UNHCR recognized one as a refugee, a decision rejected by the Kyrgyzstani authorities. The Kyrgyzstani authorities initially did not allow the other three to apply for asylum, and a court upheld the men's appeal against this decision, referring the cases back for reconsideration.

Lack of access to asylum procedures

Of the hundreds of people who fled Uzbekistan after 13 May, some were reportedly denied entry or were forcibly returned to Uzbekistan. Others were said to have stayed with relatives or friends, or lived without proper registration, since effective opportunities to legalize their presence in Kyrgyzstan did not exist. Little or no information was readily accessible to them on how to lodge an asylum claim. Although UNHCR registered asylum claims independently, the Kyrgyzstan authorities did not provide physical protection from the Uzbekistani authorities.

• In late June, Bakhodir Sadikov, an asylum-seeker from Uzbekistan hiding in Osh region, registered his asylum claim with UNHCR but was detained on his way from the office for having no registration papers. He was on a list of criminal suspects published by the Uzbekistani authorities in June. Two days later he was reportedly in a transit prison with another Uzbekistani asylum-seeker, Hadir Ulmas, who had also been hiding in Osh. Both were believed to have been subsequently sent back to Uzbekistan.

Failure to protect nationals of Kyrgyzstan

As many as 50 Kyrgyzstani men, in Andizhan for professional or private reasons, fled with the refugees after 13 May. However, in Kyrgyzstan they were put in a refugee camp; no notification was sent to their families; and there was no record of their arrival in search of protection or of their protection needs. The camp authorities transferred them directly to a temporary detention centre, where they were held for up to 15 days on administrative charges.

Families reported that law enforcement officers systematically extorted large sums of money to allow them to visit their relatives in the camp or to have relatives released from the camp or from detention. The details of 37 of the Kyrgyzstani men were included in the list of wanted criminal suspects published by the Uzbekistani authorities in June. To avoid being seized and forcibly transferred to Uzbekistan, those on the list went into hiding.

• Relatives asked the local authorities in Osh for information about the whereabouts of four young men from Kyrgyzstan who went missing after the Andizhan events. Two days later a car with Uzbekistani number plates came to their house after dark, and well-built men who presented no identification papers or legal warrant, and who they suspected were from the Uzbekistani security services, questioned them about every member of the household.

AI country visits

In February an AI delegate visited Kyrgyzstan. AI representatives also visited Kyrgyzstan to interview refugees from Uzbekistan in May, June and July.

Topics: Effective protection, Refugees,