Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2004 - Kyrgyzstan

Continued harassment campaign against KCHR and its members55

Continuing prosecution of KCHR56

The Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights (KCHR) remained deprived of its legal status since it was "replaced" in November 2003 by an organisation with the same name. The new organisation was formed by former members of the KCHR who evidently have close ties to the Government. These members announced at a press conference on 25 August 2003, the appointment of a new board of directors of KCHR. On 28 November 2003, the Ministry of Justice registered the "new" KCHR in place of the "genuine" KCHR.

On 21 September 2004, the "genuine" KCHR was informed of the Bishkek City Court and Bishkek Regional Court's decision ordering the committee to pay $5,276.50 (4,100 euros) in connection with several complaints filed by a former employee of KCHR, Mr. Eliseev, in 2001 and 2002. Since 1997, Mr. Eliseev has filed numerous complaints against KCHR, which led to a real hounding by the courts, clearly aimed at financially weakening the association. KCHR had to pay numerous fines and its property was also confiscated on several occasions, pursuant to the sentences passed.

Questioning of Mr. Asanaliev Makanbet

On 23 February 2004, Mr. Asanaliev Makanbet, coordinator of KCHR in the Issyk-Kul district, was summoned by the district administration of internal affairs. He was questioned about pamphlets criticising Mr. Askar Akaev, President of Kyrgyzstan, and his family. Mr. Makanbet replied that he was unaware of the existence of the pamphlets.

Mr. Makanbet was subsequently summoned by the national security service of Issyk-Kul district, where Lieutenant-Colonel Emil Abylgaziev and Senior Lieutenant Samat Mamadaliev accused him of working to "divide" society, and asked him to stop working for KCHR. He was released the same day.

Harassment and acts of violence against close relatives of Mr. Ramazan Dyryldaev57

In the evening of 3 July 2004, Mrs. Ainura Aitbaeva, daughter of Mr. Ramazan Dyryldaev, president of KCHR currently in exile, was assaulted at her home. Unknown individuals entered her apartment, where she was with her two children, and violently beat her up, until she lost consciousness. The assailants left without taking any valuables. She was subsequently admitted to hospital suffering from trauma and remained there for 11 days.

On 4 November 2004, Mrs. Aitbaeva was assaulted again. While walking home with her husband, two men in a car, who looked like the men who had assaulted her on 3 July, ran over her. She did not file a complaint with the police, because the complaint she had filed after the previous assault had not led to an inquiry.

End of 2004, Mrs. Aitbaeva decided to flee Kyrgyzstan and sought refuge abroad.

On 22 October 2004, the home of Mrs. Gulmira Tokombaeva, wife of Mr Dyryldaev, in Ankara, Turkey, was burgled after she received phone calls from a suspicious source. Nothing was stolen. Mrs. Tokombaeva did not receive any information about any inquiry.

Abduction and acts of torture against Mr. Tursunbek Akunov58

On 16 November 2004, Mr. Tursunbek Akunov, president of the Human Rights Movement of Kyrgyzstan, was abducted, after responding to a summons by members of the National Security Services in Bishkek. He was locked in a cell for two weeks, remaining blindfolded for most of the time. He remained unconscious for his first three days in custody, after being hit on the head and forced to breathe in an unknown gas. Mr. Akunov stated that he recognised members of the National Security Services and the Ministry of the Interior, one of whom had often been sent in the past to monitor demonstrations in which Mr. Akunov participated.

On 1 December 2004, Mr. Akunov was found near Bishkek Hospital, suffering from severe head pain. Soon after his admission to hospital on a stretcher, Mr. Akunov was questioned by the police about the circumstances of his disappearance. The security forces immediately took control of the hospital entrance, only permitting Mr. Akunov's wife and a few colleagues to enter after lengthy negotiations. The doctors found Mr. Akunov to be suffering from profound psychological trauma and would probably need to receive medical treatment at home.

Since 1 November 2004, Mr. Akunov and his colleagues had been collecting signatures in downtown Bishkek, demanding the resignation of Mr. Askar Akaev as President of Kyrgyzstan for failing to comply with democratic principles.

The authorities denied that Mr. Akunov was the victim of a forced disappearance. At a press conference on 2 December 2004, Mr. Busurmankulov, spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior, and Mr. Mamyrov, director of the National Security Services, stated that they suspected Mr. Akunov of attempting to attract publicity and discredit the judicial authorities. In particular, they tried to prove that Mr. Akunov's testimony was incoherent and that he took himself to hospital. As of the end of 2004, an inquiry into the veracity of his testimony was in progress.

Harassment of Mrs. Aziza Abdurasulova59

On 26 November 2004, Mrs. Aziza Abdurasulova, president of the human rights NGO "Kylym Shamy", which was, in particular, investigating Mr. Akunov's disappearance, attended an appointment made by a supposed telephone operator to receive a prize. A person who introduced himself as Mr. Daniyar Saparbekov, an officer from the criminal police, accused her of possessing a stolen telephone and attempted to force her into his car. Mrs. Abdurasulova managed to escape. She was subsequently contacted by phone by Mr. Kadyraliev, deputy director of the Bishkek criminal branch and by Mr. Taalai Duishenbiev, deputy director of the Bishkek police, who asked to meet her. Mrs. Abdurasulova refused, on the grounds that she had not been presented with an official summons.

On 29 November 2004, at a press conference organised by Mrs. Abdurasulova, Colonel Bursurmankulov Joldoshbek, president of the press service of the Ministry of the Interior accused her of trying to draw attention to herself by claiming to have escaped from an attempted abduction by the police.

Repression of a peaceful demonstration60

On 15 April 2004, 18 people were arrested and taken to the Department of Internal Affairs in Pervomaiskyi Rayon after a peaceful demonstration organised in support of Mr. Felix Kulov, director of the Ar-Namys opposition party, currently serving a seven-year prison sentence. Those arrested were reported to include Mrs. Aziza Abdurasulova, who was beaten and mistreated during her detention, Mr. Tursunbek Akunov and Mr. Tolekan Ismailovan, director of the Civil Society Against Corruption. All of them were released the same day. Mr. Akunov was charged with "hooliganism" (Article 394 of the Administrative Code), "disobeying the law or an order given by a member of the police force" (Article 371) and "organisation of a meeting or demonstration" (Article 392). The Pervomaisky Court sentenced Mr. Akunov to a fine of 1,000 soms (20 euros).


[Refworld note: This report as posted on the FIDH website (www.fidh.org) was in pdf format with country chapters run together by region. Footnote numbers have been retained here, so do not necessarily begin at 1.]

55. See Annual Report 2003.

56. See Annual Reports 2002 and 2003 and Urgent Appeal KGZ 002/0803/OBS 044.4.

57. See Annual Report 2003 and Urgent Appeals KGZ 002/0803/OBS 044.3 and 044.5.

58. See Urgent Appeals KGZ 001/1104/OBS 088 and 88.1.

59. Idem.

60. See Open Letter to the Kyrgyz authorities, 7 May 2004.

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