To: President of Kyrgyzstan Roza Otunbaeva
Cc: Minister of Internal Affairs of Kyrgyzstan Zarylbek Rysaliev,
General Prosecutor of Kyrgyzstan Kubatbek Baibolov
Brussels, 22 October 2010
Dear Madam President,
I am writing to you on behalf of the International Partnership for Human Rights as we are concerned about the safety of the staff members of the Jalal-Abad based NGO Spravedlivost (Justice), who have been subjected to threats and pressure because of their human rights activities. We ask you to ensure that adequate measures are taken to protect the employees of this organization.
Spravedlivost is an independent NGO that is well-known and respected for its human rights work both in Kyrgyzstan and abroad. In recent months the organization has actively been monitoring and documenting human rights violations perpetrated during the inter-ethnic violence that broke out in southern Kyrgyzstan in June 2010. The organization has also provided free legal assistance to both ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in the aftermath of the interethnic violence of the summer. Lawyers from the organization defend, among others, some of the ethnic Uzbek men charged in relation to events that took place near a cotton-processing plant in the Jalal-Abad region on 13-14 June and resulted in the death of 16 people.
On 12 October, two unknown men who claimed to be relatives of ethnic Kyrgyz who died in these events came to the office of Spravedlivost and harassed and intimidated staff members of the organization. The two men asked why the organization is "defending killers" and demanded that the lawyers engaged by it in the case concerning the events near the cottonprocessing plant "sit quietly" during the trial and do not ask any questions or submit any petitions to the judge. The two men also requested the full names and contact details of the director and the employees of the organization and threatened to "punish" them if they do not comply with the demands made.
This incident took place in a general climate of insecurity facing human rights defenders and lawyers who are working on cases related to the recent inter-ethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan. There have been numerous reports about intimidation, harassment and physical attacks against human rights defenders, in particular those engaged in efforts to assist ethnic Uzbeks in the aftermath of the violence. During several trials held in cases of ethnic Uzbeks accused of involvement in the inter-ethnic clashes, members of the audience have shouted nationalist slogans and threats and physically attacked defendants and their lawyers and family members without an adequate response from the side of judges, prosecutors and police officers present.