Attack against KCHR chairman, Mr. Ramazan Dyryldaev

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the international Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in Kyrgyzstan.

Description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by the Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights (KCHR) of an attack on its chairman, Mr. Ramazan Dyryldaev.

According to the information received, on September 13, 2007, Mr. Dyryldaev found that the KCHR office where he lives in Bishkek had been burnt out. Indeed, on entering the office, he noticed smoke all over the place as well as a smell of carbon dioxide and of other chemicals.

On September 12, 2007, as workers had just finished the renovation of the apartment, some neighbours heard a detonation from inside the flat around 7 p.m. Later, two unidentified and burnt-out items were found in the bathroom. They were apparently thrown out through the ventilation duct of the bathroom.

The Observatory recalls that Mr. Dyryldaev has been active in the denunciation of some of the activities of the Shanghai Organisation for Cooperation, of Russian migrant policy towards Kyrgyz nationals as well as of the persecution of the Uyghur minority by the Chinese authorities.

The Observatory further recalls that over the past years, Mr. Dyryldaev has been subjected to acts of harassment. Most recently, on April 6, 2007, he was violently attacked by unknown persons who threw stones at him, after taking part in a TV show in which he criticised the policy led by the Kyrgyz authorities, in particular the President of the Republic, Mr. Kourmanbek Bakiev, as well as the opposition leader and former Prime Minister, Mr. Felix Koulov, accusing them of being involved in cases of corruption. During this event, he had also insisted on the fact that the draft Constitution adopted in December 2006 had not taken into account the democratic aspirations of the May 2005 “Tulip revolution”[1].

Moreover, the Observatory recalls that KCHR has been deprived of its legal status since November 2003, after members of the Committee close to the government established an organisation bearing the same name and aimed at discrediting the activities of the independent KCHR. The organisation has still not been able to annul the registration of the surrogate organisation, which is a prerequisite to the re-registration of the organisation. Further, Mr. Dyryldaev’s family members have regularly been targeted due to his human rights activities[2].

The Observatory strongly condemns this new act of harassment against the chairman of KCHR and recalls that as a member-State of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Kyrgyzstan acknowledges that “the [...] UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders [... places] a responsibility [...] on states to adopt and implement adequate legislation and administrative procedures that would provide for a conducive environment for human rights defenders to promote and strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”, and recognises “the need for particular attention, support and protection for human rights defenders by the OSCE, its Institutions and field operations, as well as by participating States”[3].

Action requested :

Please write Kyrgyz authorities urging them to:

1. guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Dyryldaev and of human rights defenders in Kyrgyzstan;
2. conduct a fair and impartial investigation into the above-mentioned events in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal sanctions as provided by law;
3. put an immediate end to all acts of harassment against the KCHR and Mr. Dyryldaev and, more generally, against Kyrgyz human rights defenders or their families;
4. conform with the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular its article 1 which provides that “every person has the right, individually or collectively, to promote the protection and fulfilment of human rights and fundamental liberties at the national and international levels”, 6.b, which reads that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others [...] freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms” and 12.2, which provides that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the [...] Declaration”;
5. conform more generally with the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with the international instruments ratified by Kyrgyzstan.

Addresses:

• Mr. Bakiev Kurmanbek Salievich, President of Kyrgyz Republic, Kyrgyzskaya Respublika, 720003. Bishkek, Prospekt Chuy, 205, Fax: 996 312 218 627, Email: ghpress2@rhl.bishkek.su
• Mr. Azim Issabekov, Prime Minister, Fax: 996 312 218 627
• Mr. Bolotbek Nogoybaev, Minister of Internal Affairs, Fax: 996312663031, 996312288788
• Mr. Marat Kaipov, Minister of Justice, Fax: 996312663044 / 996312656502
• Mr. Elmurza Satybaldiev, Public Prosecutor of the Kyrgyz of Republic, Fax: 996312665411
• Permanent mission of Kyrgyzstan, Rue Maunoir 26, 1207 Geneva, Switzerland, Email: kyrgyzmission@bluewin.ch, Fax: +41 22 707.92.21

Please also write to diplomatic representations of Kyrgyzstan in your respective countries.

***

Paris - Geneva, September 14, 2007.

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
Email : Appeals@fidh.omct.org
Tel et fax FIDH : + 33 1 43 55 55 05 / 33 1 43 55 18 80
Tel et fax OMCT : +41 22 809 49 39 / 41 22 809 49 29
[1] See press release of the Observatory of April 12, 2007.
[2] See 2006 Annual Report of the Observatory.
[3] See OP 6 & OP 8 of the Resolution on Strengthening OSCE Engagement with Human Rights Defenders and National Human Rights Institutions, adopted by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on July 10, 2007.