Kyrgyzstan
08.02.05
Urgent Interventions
Kyrgyzstan: Threat of arrest and defamation of Mr Dyryldaev of KCHR
URGENT APPEAL – THE OBSERVATORY
New Information
KGZ 002 / 0803 / OBS 044.6
Threat of arrest / Defamation
Kyrgyzstan
February 8, 2005
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint program of FIDH and OMCT, has received new information concerning the following situation in Kyrgyzstan and requests your urgent intervention.
New Information:
The Observatory has been informed by the Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights (KCHR) that its chairman, Mr. Ramazan Dyryldaev, has again been the object of acts of harassment.
According to the information received, on February 2, 2005, about ten policemen went to the building where Mr. Dyryldaev used to live until 2003. Two law enforcement officials went into his former apartment while the others stayed outside watching the entrance, and requested that those who currently live there provide documents proving they had purchased the residence. Then the policemen asked for Mr. Dyryldaev’s whereabouts claiming that they had received an order to arrest him due to his alleged plundering of financial resources amounting to over 400,000 US dollars. The current dwellers claimed that they had bought the apartment two years ago through an attorney mandated by Mr. Dyryldaev and that they did not know where he currently lives.
According to KCHR, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Security Service had informed the Kyrgyz President, Mr. Akayev, that Mr. Dyryldaev was back in Kygyzstan during the current parliamentary election campaign, hence his arrest has been ordered.
Moreover, on February 1, 2005, an article was published in the “Slovo Kyrgyzstana” newspaper claiming that Mr. Dyryldaev’s denunciations of human rights violations by the Kyrgyz state agents and government are invented as an instrument to obtain funding from Western institutions, and that such false information is disseminated through international organisations, citing namely the Vienna-based International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights.
This seems to be a reaction to the repeated denunciations Mr. Dyryldaev has recently made on behalf of KCHR of irregular nomination and registration procedures of candidates to the Kyrgyz parliament who are to be elected on February 27, 2005, as well as on the recent measures that have been taken by the authorities in Bishkek to obstruct protests and other assemblies on the eve of elections. In particular, KCHR has denounced the fact that former ambassadors such as Ms. Roza Otunbaeva, co-chair of the political block “Atajurt”, have been denied registration to run in the parliamentary elections, and those who have organised protests against such measures have been fined and repressed.
The Observatory recalls that active members of the “real” KCHR (see below), and in particular Mr. Dyryldaev, who is now living abroad in exile, have long endured threats, harassment and defamation campaigns because of their activity in favour of human rights and democracy in Kyrgyzstan.
Background information:
Following many years of harassment in particular in the form of judicial proceedings and obstacles to the maintenance of KCHR’s registration, in the aftermath of Mr. Dyryldaev’s re-election on March 11, 2003, as the Committee’s chairman, he left Kyrgyzstan as the threats against him increased.
On August 25, 2003, three former members of KCHR, Messrs. Tynaliev, Mombekov, and Jakishev, announced in a press conference that they were dismissing Mr. Dyryldaev as chairman and instituting Mr. Tynaliev in his place. No acting members or board members of KCHR participated in this decision or this conference. Despite the official government registration of KCHR with Messrs. Tynaliev, Jakishev and Bulatov as the executive body, human rights organisations such as the Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, as well as FIDH and OMCT, have refused to recognise this new leadership. Some members of the “real” KCHR continued their work in defence of human rights in sometimes precarious conditions.
As the harassment of KCHR and its members continued, Mr. Dyryldaev’s family members have also been targeted due to his human rights activities. On July 3, 2004, Mrs. Aitbaeva Ainura, the daughter of Mr. Dyryldaev, was was violently beaten by unknown persons who broke into her home. On November 4, 2004, as Mrs. Aitbaeva and her husband were walking home, they managed to escape a vehicle that drove violently into their direction. Since then, Mrs. Aitbaeva, her husband and their children have remained hidden and decided to flee Kyrgyzstan.
Action requested :
Please write Kyrgyz authorities urging them to:
i. 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;
ii. put an end to all infringements of and limitations to the right to conduct peaceful assemblies;
iii. 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”;
iv. Conform more generally with the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with the other international instruments binding Kyrgyzstan.
Addresses:
Paris – Geneva, February 8, 2005
Kindly inform the Observatory of any action undertaken quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, an 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:
Tel and fax: FIDH: +33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT: + 41 22 809 49 39 / 809 49 29
E-mail : observatoire@iprolink.ch
New Information
KGZ 002 / 0803 / OBS 044.6
Threat of arrest / Defamation
Kyrgyzstan
February 8, 2005
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint program of FIDH and OMCT, has received new information concerning the following situation in Kyrgyzstan and requests your urgent intervention.
New Information:
The Observatory has been informed by the Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights (KCHR) that its chairman, Mr. Ramazan Dyryldaev, has again been the object of acts of harassment.
According to the information received, on February 2, 2005, about ten policemen went to the building where Mr. Dyryldaev used to live until 2003. Two law enforcement officials went into his former apartment while the others stayed outside watching the entrance, and requested that those who currently live there provide documents proving they had purchased the residence. Then the policemen asked for Mr. Dyryldaev’s whereabouts claiming that they had received an order to arrest him due to his alleged plundering of financial resources amounting to over 400,000 US dollars. The current dwellers claimed that they had bought the apartment two years ago through an attorney mandated by Mr. Dyryldaev and that they did not know where he currently lives.
According to KCHR, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Security Service had informed the Kyrgyz President, Mr. Akayev, that Mr. Dyryldaev was back in Kygyzstan during the current parliamentary election campaign, hence his arrest has been ordered.
Moreover, on February 1, 2005, an article was published in the “Slovo Kyrgyzstana” newspaper claiming that Mr. Dyryldaev’s denunciations of human rights violations by the Kyrgyz state agents and government are invented as an instrument to obtain funding from Western institutions, and that such false information is disseminated through international organisations, citing namely the Vienna-based International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights.
This seems to be a reaction to the repeated denunciations Mr. Dyryldaev has recently made on behalf of KCHR of irregular nomination and registration procedures of candidates to the Kyrgyz parliament who are to be elected on February 27, 2005, as well as on the recent measures that have been taken by the authorities in Bishkek to obstruct protests and other assemblies on the eve of elections. In particular, KCHR has denounced the fact that former ambassadors such as Ms. Roza Otunbaeva, co-chair of the political block “Atajurt”, have been denied registration to run in the parliamentary elections, and those who have organised protests against such measures have been fined and repressed.
The Observatory recalls that active members of the “real” KCHR (see below), and in particular Mr. Dyryldaev, who is now living abroad in exile, have long endured threats, harassment and defamation campaigns because of their activity in favour of human rights and democracy in Kyrgyzstan.
Background information:
Following many years of harassment in particular in the form of judicial proceedings and obstacles to the maintenance of KCHR’s registration, in the aftermath of Mr. Dyryldaev’s re-election on March 11, 2003, as the Committee’s chairman, he left Kyrgyzstan as the threats against him increased.
On August 25, 2003, three former members of KCHR, Messrs. Tynaliev, Mombekov, and Jakishev, announced in a press conference that they were dismissing Mr. Dyryldaev as chairman and instituting Mr. Tynaliev in his place. No acting members or board members of KCHR participated in this decision or this conference. Despite the official government registration of KCHR with Messrs. Tynaliev, Jakishev and Bulatov as the executive body, human rights organisations such as the Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, as well as FIDH and OMCT, have refused to recognise this new leadership. Some members of the “real” KCHR continued their work in defence of human rights in sometimes precarious conditions.
As the harassment of KCHR and its members continued, Mr. Dyryldaev’s family members have also been targeted due to his human rights activities. On July 3, 2004, Mrs. Aitbaeva Ainura, the daughter of Mr. Dyryldaev, was was violently beaten by unknown persons who broke into her home. On November 4, 2004, as Mrs. Aitbaeva and her husband were walking home, they managed to escape a vehicle that drove violently into their direction. Since then, Mrs. Aitbaeva, her husband and their children have remained hidden and decided to flee Kyrgyzstan.
Action requested :
Please write Kyrgyz authorities urging them to:
i. 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;
ii. put an end to all infringements of and limitations to the right to conduct peaceful assemblies;
iii. 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”;
iv. Conform more generally with the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with the other international instruments binding Kyrgyzstan.
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. Nikolai Tanaev, Prime Minister, Fax: 996 312 218 627
- Mr. Kurmanbek Osmonov, Minister of Justice, Fax: 996 312 663 044
Paris – Geneva, February 8, 2005
Kindly inform the Observatory of any action undertaken quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, an 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:
Tel and fax: FIDH: +33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT: + 41 22 809 49 39 / 809 49 29
E-mail : observatoire@iprolink.ch