Covering events from January - December 2004

Uighur asylum-seekers and refugees faced the risk of being detained by police and of being forcibly returned to China. Conditions on death row were reported to be cruel and inhuman. Despite its own moratorium on executions, Kyrgyzstan continued to deport people to face execution in China and Uzbekistan.

Uighur asylum-seekers and refugees

In March, Kyrgyzstan formally ratified an extradition treaty with China. Local non-governmental organizations estimated that Kyrgyzstan had returned around 50 Uighurs to China in recent years, despite the risks they faced there of serious human rights violations. In 2001 the two countries had signed a bilateral agreement on fighting "terrorism", "extremism" and "separatism" under the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. There was concern that such agreements could also be used by Kyrgyzstan to restrict the rights of Uighur nationals to freedom of expression, association and assembly.

Local Uighur activists expressed alarm at a series of racist media reports, including generalized descriptions of Uighurs as "separatists" or "terrorists".

  • An Uighur asylum-seeker reported that the police had accused him of being a "separatist" and a "terrorist" when they arrested him in Bishkek. The officers ignored the official document issued to him by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and took him to a detention centre. He was only released following intervention by the UNHCR.

Deported to face execution

At least eight men were in danger of extradition to China and Uzbekistan where they were at high risk of torture and execution. Two Uighurs extradited to China in July 2002 were reportedly sentenced to death in January and executed in March.

  • On 19 February, Uzbek nationals Nodir Karimov (also known as Asadullo Abdullaev) and Ilkhom Izattulaiev were sentenced to death by the Military Court of Kyrgyzstan for involvement in violent crimes with a "religious extremist" basis, including a bomb attack on a market in Bishkek in December 2002. At the end of 2004 the two were believed to be on death row in Bishkek. If extradited to Uzbekistan they would be at imminent risk of torture and execution.

Death penalty

A moratorium on executions in force since 1998 was extended until the end of 2004. According to official information, 31 men were sentenced to death between 30 June 2003 and 30 June 2004.

Conditions on death row

At least 130 men were believed to be on death row at the end of 2004. The Kyrgyzstani Ombudsman reported problems with conditions, including overcrowding, on death row in two prisons. Dozens reportedly died from illnesses or by committing suicide and some who had been kept in single cells for a long time had lost the ability to move around unaided. He also reported that short visits by relatives and daily exercise periods had been banned.

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