30 June 2010. Johannesburg. CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation is concerned that two prominent human rights defenders in Kyrgyzstan -- who are among the leading voices documenting the ongoing crisis -- were detained and interrogated by the Office of the Prosecutor of the Osh Oblast, Kyrgyzstan on 28 June. This action of the authorities sends a negative message to civil society groups working towards restoring peace in the country.
According to local sources, Tolekan Ismailova of Human Rights Center "Citizens against Corruption" and Aziza Abdirasulova of Public Foundation "Kylym Shamy" were interrogated as witnesses, related to misinformation about death toll published in the online newspaper 24.kg.
Although the news site journalist received news of 20 deaths during the military operations in Nariman village of Karasuu district on 21 June via online mailing lists, Ismailova and Abdirasulova feel they were wrongly accused of spreading misinformation. Ismailova had immediately contacted 24.kg upon hearing the news, to inform the paper that the actual death toll was two individuals.
This interrogation happened only a day after the adoption of the new Constitution of Kyrgyzstan through a referendum and sends, what local partners call, a strong signal of pressure and warning to human rights defenders across the country. On the same day Ismailova also reported confrontation and harassment by unknown individuals, who told her and Abdirasulova that they were not welcome in Osh, because they were defending the rights of Uzbeks.
"Human Rights Defenders are essential to monitoring and reporting upon the conflict and promoting peace and reconciliation between all parties. They must be supported by the government as allies in the struggle to build a new and democratic Kyrgyzstan, and not pressured for their activities," said Netsanet Belay, Policy and Research Director of CIVICUS.
CIVICUS is deeply concerned about the ethnic, political and humanitarian crisis in the south of Kyrgyzstan, and supports local civil society in their efforts to document, report and resolve the crisis through peaceful means, and advocates for full respect of human rights and international law in Kyrgyzstan.
Further, CIVICUS is fearful of spill over of the crisis into the Ferghana valley in Uzbekistan, where local sources inform of spread of hatred through distribution of footage of bloodshed against ethnic Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan.
The crisis in southern Kyrgyzstan, which broke out earlier this month, has led to at least 2,000 deaths and approximately 400,000 displaced citizens, with an estimated 100,000 crossing the border into neighbouring Uzbekistan. A number of civil society groups are working to ease the tensions. CIVICUS calls upon the Kyrgyz Government to protect them in doing their work and ensure that they are not intimidated in any way by both state and non-state actors.
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation is a global movement of civil society with members and partners in over a hundred countries. The Civil Society Watch (CSW) programme of CIVICUS tracks threats to civil society freedoms of expression, association and assembly across the world. In 2009, CSW tracked threats to civil society in over 75 countries around the
globe.
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