Kyrgyzstan
29.05.02
Urgent Interventions
Kyrgyzstan: Beknazarov sentenced to one year, activists attacked
Case KGZ 290102.12
Follow-up to case KGZ 290102
Unfair trial / Torture
Geneva, May 29th, 2002
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Kyrgyzstan.
New information
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights (KCHR), a member of the OMCT network, that Kyrgyz Parliamentarian, Deputy Beknasarov, has been sentenced to one year in prison following an unfair trial. Separately, OMCT has learned about an assault on two political opposition activists by the Kyrgyz authorities.
According to the information received, on May 24th, 2002, the Toktogul District Judge sentenced Mr. Beknasarov to one year in detention under two clauses of the old Kyrgyz Criminal Code (1960): clause 177 – abuse of power and official rank; and clause 178 – exceeding power or official commissions. It is thought that Mr. Beknasarov’s trial was unfair since the Government Commission in charge of the Aksy tragedy investigation (see previous appeals) had reportedly declared previously him innocent of these charges. At the trial, Judge Mombekov reportedly prepared the verdict for one hour in the advisory room, however it took him about an hour to read it out, which suggests that the verdict, which was reportedly formulated in a heavily biased way, had been prepared in advance. In order to further illustrate the lack of independence of the judiciary and lack of fairness in this trial, Mr. Bukeev, who had initially accused Beknasarov with abuse of power, was recently granted an apartment by the local government, for which the District Prosecutor reportedly prepared the legal documents, and everything reportedly points to the fact that these events are heavily related.
Deputy Beknasarov had previously been arrested on January 5th, 2002 and was subsequently released on March 18th, 2002. The period that he spent in detention (two months and a half) will reportedly be counted in lieu of his one-year sentence, which OMCT welcomes, as he will therefore not be arrested a second time. However, because he has been officially imprisoned, he will now lose his seat in the Kyrgyz Parliament, which is a travesty, given the arbitrary nature of his arrest and detention.
In a separate incident, on May 24th, 2002, Ishen Aitmambetov and Ulan Osmonaliev, who are opposition MP Ishenbay Kadyrbekov’s assistants, were reportedly beaten by the Kyrgyz authorities. Mr. Aitmambetov suffered from concussion as a result, lost consciousness, and had to be hospitalised. Mr. Kadyrbekov is the head of a parliamentary group known as “Kyrgyzstan” and has publicly opposed President Akaev’s policy of land transfer to China, which is the same reason for which Deputy Beknazarov has reportedly been harassed by the Kyrgyz authorities.
The International Secretariat of OMCT, is gravely concerned that, due to the suspected political agenda that is thought to have motivated his arrest, Deputy Beknazarov has not been afforded a fair trial. OMCT fears that this decision will aggravate the situation in Kyrgyzstan, since, following Mr. Beknasarov’s arrest, demonstrations and hunger strikes were sparked across the country in protest of this act of political harassment, leading to hundreds of arbitrary arrests and detentions of demonstrators, as well as the wounding and killing of some of their number. Furthermore, the situation is likely to worsen given that the Kyrgyz government has recently adopted a law that will limit demonstrations, meetings and protests. The International Secretariat of OMCT strongly condemns the Kyrgyz authorities’ use of excessive force against demonstrators an opposition political activists, and their use of beatings, arbitrary arrests, detention, torture and/or harassment against persons currently engaged in protests, as a way to halt political opposition, in violation of their rights to the freedoms of expression and association, amongst other things.
Brief reminder of the situation
According to the information received, after Deputy Beknazarov’s arrest on January 5th, 2002, he was charged under two clauses of the Kyrgyz Criminal Code: clause 177(2) – abuse of power; and clause 185(2) – deliberate detention of an innocent person, following allegations that he had mishandled a murder case, which took place in February 1995, when Mr. Beknazarov was an investigator at the office of the Toktogul District Prosecutor. It is, however, believed that Mr. Beknazarov’s arrest was largely politically motivated, and a result of his recent criticism of the Government, most notably the Kyrgyz-Chinese agreement ratified on May 10th, 2002, under which a section of Kyrgyz territory (some 125,000 hectares) is transferred to China, and he also publicly opposed a similar Kyrgyz land transfer to Kazakhstan. Several demonstrations are currently taking place across the country, they are part of a larger political context which emerged since the arrest of M. Beknazarov, including the Kyrgyz-China border treaty, the violent repression of the Aksy demonstration on 17th March, the recent political persecution of opposition groups, and the call for the resignation of President Askar Akaev and the Interior Minister. Following these events, the Kyrgyz parliament has resigned and the country continues to suffer the instability created by these events.
Action requested :
Please write to the authorities in Kyrgyzstan urging them to:
1. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the reports of these events, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
2. put an immediate end to the harassment of Mr. Beknazarov and other persons who are engaged in protests and political opposition;
3. guarantee adequate reparation to Mr. Beknasarov, who, during his previous detention was subjected to torture, and to Ishen Aitmambetov and Ulan Osmonaliev;
4. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights.
Addresses :
· Mr Askar Akayev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Kyrgyzskaya Respublika, 720003 g. Bishkek, Prospekt Chuy, 205, Fax: 996 312 218 627, Email: ghpress2@rhl.bishkek.su
· Mr. Kurmanbek Bakiev, Prime Minister, Fax: 996 312 218 627
· Mr. Temirbek Akmataliev, Minister of the Interior, Fax: 996 312 663 031, 996 312 288 788, mail@mvd.bishkek.gov.kg
· Mr. Jakyp Abdyrahmanov, Minister of Justice, Fax: 996 312 663 044, injust@bishkek.gov.kg
Please also write to the embassies of Kyrgyzstan in your respective country.
Geneva, May 29th, 2002
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Follow-up to case KGZ 290102
Unfair trial / Torture
Geneva, May 29th, 2002
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Kyrgyzstan.
New information
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights (KCHR), a member of the OMCT network, that Kyrgyz Parliamentarian, Deputy Beknasarov, has been sentenced to one year in prison following an unfair trial. Separately, OMCT has learned about an assault on two political opposition activists by the Kyrgyz authorities.
According to the information received, on May 24th, 2002, the Toktogul District Judge sentenced Mr. Beknasarov to one year in detention under two clauses of the old Kyrgyz Criminal Code (1960): clause 177 – abuse of power and official rank; and clause 178 – exceeding power or official commissions. It is thought that Mr. Beknasarov’s trial was unfair since the Government Commission in charge of the Aksy tragedy investigation (see previous appeals) had reportedly declared previously him innocent of these charges. At the trial, Judge Mombekov reportedly prepared the verdict for one hour in the advisory room, however it took him about an hour to read it out, which suggests that the verdict, which was reportedly formulated in a heavily biased way, had been prepared in advance. In order to further illustrate the lack of independence of the judiciary and lack of fairness in this trial, Mr. Bukeev, who had initially accused Beknasarov with abuse of power, was recently granted an apartment by the local government, for which the District Prosecutor reportedly prepared the legal documents, and everything reportedly points to the fact that these events are heavily related.
Deputy Beknasarov had previously been arrested on January 5th, 2002 and was subsequently released on March 18th, 2002. The period that he spent in detention (two months and a half) will reportedly be counted in lieu of his one-year sentence, which OMCT welcomes, as he will therefore not be arrested a second time. However, because he has been officially imprisoned, he will now lose his seat in the Kyrgyz Parliament, which is a travesty, given the arbitrary nature of his arrest and detention.
In a separate incident, on May 24th, 2002, Ishen Aitmambetov and Ulan Osmonaliev, who are opposition MP Ishenbay Kadyrbekov’s assistants, were reportedly beaten by the Kyrgyz authorities. Mr. Aitmambetov suffered from concussion as a result, lost consciousness, and had to be hospitalised. Mr. Kadyrbekov is the head of a parliamentary group known as “Kyrgyzstan” and has publicly opposed President Akaev’s policy of land transfer to China, which is the same reason for which Deputy Beknazarov has reportedly been harassed by the Kyrgyz authorities.
The International Secretariat of OMCT, is gravely concerned that, due to the suspected political agenda that is thought to have motivated his arrest, Deputy Beknazarov has not been afforded a fair trial. OMCT fears that this decision will aggravate the situation in Kyrgyzstan, since, following Mr. Beknasarov’s arrest, demonstrations and hunger strikes were sparked across the country in protest of this act of political harassment, leading to hundreds of arbitrary arrests and detentions of demonstrators, as well as the wounding and killing of some of their number. Furthermore, the situation is likely to worsen given that the Kyrgyz government has recently adopted a law that will limit demonstrations, meetings and protests. The International Secretariat of OMCT strongly condemns the Kyrgyz authorities’ use of excessive force against demonstrators an opposition political activists, and their use of beatings, arbitrary arrests, detention, torture and/or harassment against persons currently engaged in protests, as a way to halt political opposition, in violation of their rights to the freedoms of expression and association, amongst other things.
Brief reminder of the situation
According to the information received, after Deputy Beknazarov’s arrest on January 5th, 2002, he was charged under two clauses of the Kyrgyz Criminal Code: clause 177(2) – abuse of power; and clause 185(2) – deliberate detention of an innocent person, following allegations that he had mishandled a murder case, which took place in February 1995, when Mr. Beknazarov was an investigator at the office of the Toktogul District Prosecutor. It is, however, believed that Mr. Beknazarov’s arrest was largely politically motivated, and a result of his recent criticism of the Government, most notably the Kyrgyz-Chinese agreement ratified on May 10th, 2002, under which a section of Kyrgyz territory (some 125,000 hectares) is transferred to China, and he also publicly opposed a similar Kyrgyz land transfer to Kazakhstan. Several demonstrations are currently taking place across the country, they are part of a larger political context which emerged since the arrest of M. Beknazarov, including the Kyrgyz-China border treaty, the violent repression of the Aksy demonstration on 17th March, the recent political persecution of opposition groups, and the call for the resignation of President Askar Akaev and the Interior Minister. Following these events, the Kyrgyz parliament has resigned and the country continues to suffer the instability created by these events.
Action requested :
Please write to the authorities in Kyrgyzstan urging them to:
1. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the reports of these events, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
2. put an immediate end to the harassment of Mr. Beknazarov and other persons who are engaged in protests and political opposition;
3. guarantee adequate reparation to Mr. Beknasarov, who, during his previous detention was subjected to torture, and to Ishen Aitmambetov and Ulan Osmonaliev;
4. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights.
Addresses :
· Mr Askar Akayev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Kyrgyzskaya Respublika, 720003 g. Bishkek, Prospekt Chuy, 205, Fax: 996 312 218 627, Email: ghpress2@rhl.bishkek.su
· Mr. Kurmanbek Bakiev, Prime Minister, Fax: 996 312 218 627
· Mr. Temirbek Akmataliev, Minister of the Interior, Fax: 996 312 663 031, 996 312 288 788, mail@mvd.bishkek.gov.kg
· Mr. Jakyp Abdyrahmanov, Minister of Justice, Fax: 996 312 663 044, injust@bishkek.gov.kg
Please also write to the embassies of Kyrgyzstan in your respective country.
Geneva, May 29th, 2002
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.