Kyrgyzstan

[marie/pims]

I know this is a rather small country so nobody really cares about what's happening there at the moment but here you go: ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14kyrgyz.html

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/17/kyrgyzstan-ethnic-violence-refugees-united-nations

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/16/kyrgyzstan-killings-attempted-genocide-uzbeks

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/19/world/asia/19kyrgyz.html?ref=world

[nancyk58]

News in relation to Kyrgyzstan on 18 June 2010

 

THANKS FOR STARTING THIS THREAD. I was thinking of starting one thread about Kyrgyzstan last night, but ended up posting in the thread: Help Red Cross and Unicef because IRCR is involved in relief work here.

 

 

Go to http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home where is described how you can help the victims of this crisis in Kyrgyzstan by making a DONATION. By doing so you contribute to providing shelter and emergency aid to thousands forced from their homes.

 

Here you can also read UNHCR's articles both about this and other crises where UNHCR is active trying to help the victims.

 

LATEST NEWS from http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home :

 

Myanmar and Bangladesh: UNHCR rescues, shelters flood victims

 

Displacement inside Kyrgyzstan reaches 300,000

 

Crisis in Kyrgyzstan leaves 300,000 internally displaced

 

UNHCR airlifting aid to Uzbekistan

 

 

Swedish SVT: AT LEAST 400,000 HAVE FLED KYRGYZSTAN

According to the UN, at least 400,000 people in KYRGYZSTAN have been forced to flee due to unrest and ethnic cleansing. The humanitairan disaster aid is reaching refugees having crossed the border to neighbouring Uzbekistan. The Red Cross (ICRC) has described the situation as an "immense crisis".

 

The number of people killed in the violence against primarily ethnic Uzbeks is unknown. In Osj alone, 1,526 people have been killed in the clashes according to the local management of the news site Fergane.

 

 

German ARDtext: US AID TO KYRGYZSTAN INCREASED TO 6.5bn $ Kyrgyzstan is shaken by clashes. The USA has increased its aid to Kyrgyzstan to 6.5 billion $. The money is primarily earmarked for food to the refugees, says Crowley, spokesman for the US secretary of state. The EU made 5million € available.

 

Hundred thousands - mostly ethnic Uzbeks - have fled to the neighbouring country, Uzbekistan. The situation in Kyrgyzstan continues to be very tense. The Kyrgyz and members of the Uzbek minority continue their clashes.

 

 

NEWS IN RELATION TO KYRGYZSTAN ON 18 JUNE 2010:

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10347472.stm

Page last updated at 10:48 GMT, Friday, 18 June 2010 11:48 UK

 

DEATH TOLL IN KYRGYZSTAN CLASHES COULD BE 'MUCH HIGHER'

 

Kyrgyzstan's interim leader Roza Otunbayeva has said the death toll in the country's worst ethnic violence in decades could be as high as 2,000.

 

Officials say at least 191 people were killed in fighting between Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks around Osh and Jalalabad.

 

But Ms Otunbayeva told a Russian newspaper that the real toll could be "10 times the official figures".

 

Meanwhile, a US envoy in the region has called for an investigation into the unrest.

 

Central Asia envoy Robert Blake made the call while visiting refugees in camps in the Uzbek border city of Andijan on Friday.

 

About 400,000 people have fled their homes, with many ethnic Uzbeks crossing into Uzbekistan.

 

Mr Blake is due to travel later to the capital, Bishkek, for talks with Kyrgyz officials.

'Rebuild city'

 

Ms Otunbayeva made the comments about the death toll in the Kommersant newspaper, saying that the real toll might never be known because of the custom of family burying loved ones as soon as possible.

 

She travelled to Osh on Friday for the first time since the violence.

 

Speaking in Osh's main square, Ms Otunbayeva said: "I came here to see, to speak with the people and hear first hand what happened here."

 

She rejected criticism of her interim government's handling of the crisis, adding: "We will do everything to rebuild this city."

 

The Kyrgyz government had earlier appealed to Russia to send in peacekeeping troops. But Moscow rejected the request, offering instead technical assistance to track those committing the violence.

 

The Red Cross (ICRC) has described the situation as an "immense crisis", with shortages of basic necessities.

 

The unrest last week came two months after the country's former president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, was forced out of office.

 

Ms Otunbayeva's government has blamed the former leader for stoking the conflict.

 

Eyewitnesses say Kyrgyz mobs began attacking people in Uzbek areas of Osh and Jalalabad in the early hours of Friday last week.

 

About 300,000 people have fled their homes, while another 75,000-100,000 people - not counting children - are thought to have taken refuge in Uzbekistan.

 

The UN's health agency, the WHO, said up to a million people could be affected.

 

In the refugee camps in Uzbekistan, there are many reports of rape and severe beatings.

 

Some aid has begun to arrive in the region, but the ICRC says refugees are running short of basic supplies. At least 40,000 refugees were without shelter.

 

The organisation said insecurity and fear, combined with shortages of basic necessities like food, water, shelter and medicine, were putting a tremendous strain on communities, hospitals and families.

 

Kyrgyzstan's interim leaders have been struggling to impose their authority since coming to power after President Bakiyev was overthrown in April.

 

The government believes allies of Mr Bakiyev, who now lives in exile in Belarus, want to derail a national referendum on constitutional reform scheduled for 27 June.

 

But the government has said it will go ahead with the referendum despite the clashes.

 

Ethnic Uzbeks have largely supported the interim government, but Mr Bakiyev remains popular with many Kyrgyz in the south.

 

NEWS SITES

 

Canada.com : Kyrgyzstan toll 'much higher'

 

Sydney Morning Herald : Death toll may be 2000: Kyrgyz leader

 

NEWS.com.au : Kyrgyz death toll may be 10 times higher

 

Deutsche Welle : NGOs demand international intervention in Kyrgyzstan

 

Financial Times : Kyrgyz leader pledges to rebuild ravaged south

 

 

Danish DR1: UN: 1 MILLION PEOPLE WILL NEED HELP

 

According to the United Nations, 1 million people will need help due to the violent clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan.

 

Also Robert Blake, US-Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia warns that the situation for the many hundred thousand is very dangerous / serious. After having visited several refugee camps in neighbouring Uzbekistan today, Blake called the situation a "humanitarian crisis".

 

At the same time the interim leader announced that up to 2,000 may be dead - 10 times as much as previously estimated.

[nancyk58]

FACTS ABOUT KYRGYZSTAN and NEWS on 19 + 20 June 2010

 

NEWS ON 19 and 20 JUNE 2010 IN RELATION TO NATURAL DISASTERS

 

FACTS ABOUT KYRGYZSTAN

 

KYRGYZSTAN is a mountainous country in Central Asia between China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

 

The capital is Bishkek. Some 5.5 million people.

 

The country was a Soviet republic until USSR collapsed in 1991.

 

The country's young democracy was stable under former President Askar Akajev in the 1990s, but has since moved on to autocracy and authoritarian rule. After Revolution in Kyrgyzstan in 2005, President Akajev withdrew.

 

The political situation in the country is currently unstable. In southern Kyrgyzstan there are currently violent clashes between the Kyrgyz majority and the Uzbek minority.

 

Kyrgyzstan is a multiethnic society. 55% of the inhabitants are ethnic Kyrgyz, whereas the Russians, Uzbeks and Ukrainians constitute the minority.

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10356065.stm

Page last updated at 03:19 GMT, Saturday, 19 June 2010 04:19 UK

 

UN LAUNCHES $71m APPEAL FOR KYRGYZSTAN REFUGEE CRISIS

 

The UN has announced a $71m (£48m) flash appeal for Kyrgyzstan, where it says some 400,000 people have been displaced by inter-ethnic fighting.

 

The Central Asian state's interim leader believes the number of people killed since violence erupted just over a week ago may be as high as 2,000.

 

Up to a million people are said to have been affected by fighting between the Kyrgyz majority and minority Uzbeks.

 

Many of those who fled their homes are staying in Uzbekistan.

 

Uzbekistan's government has asked the UN to launch a similar appeal for its own camps next week.

 

Having accepted tens of thousands of refugees, it fears its capacity to help them will soon run out, reports the BBC's Tom Lane from the UN in New York.

 

'Shocked and appalled'

 

John Holmes, head of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, is meeting donor member states, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said.

 

The focus of the Kyrgyz appeal will be food and shelter, with the hope that the aid will last at least six months.

 

There are shortages of food, water and electricity, said Mr Ban, because of looting, lack of supplies and restrictions on movement.

 

"Hospitals and other institutions are running low on medical supplies," he added.

 

Mr Ban said an estimated 300,000 people were living displaced within Kyrgyzstan and up to 100,000 had fled to Uzbekistan, of whom 80,000 were located in refugee camps.

 

"Tens of thousands more are reportedly waiting to cross the border," he added.

 

He said he had contacted Kyrgyzstan's interim leader, Roza Otunbayeva, Uzbek President Islam Karimov and others "to explore options for restoring order, preventing further loss of life and coordinating humanitarian assistance".

 

Mr Holmes urged a "generous and rapid response" from donors.

 

"I have been shocked by the extent of the violence and appalled by the deaths and injuries, widespread arson, sexual violence, looting of state, commercial and private property and destruction of infrastructure," he said.

 

The UN Human Rights Council called on the Kyrgyz government to conduct a full and transparent investigation into the clashes.

 

Unknown death toll

 

Ms Otunbayeva's estimate of 2,000 deaths is 10 times higher than previous official figures.

 

On Friday, she flew into Osh, the city at the centre of the violence, to inspect the damage.

 

As her helicopter landed in the city's main square, she emerged wearing a bullet-proof vest and surrounded by bodyguards with automatic weapons.

 

Even so, the BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports, she made no attempt to enter the Uzbek neighbourhoods of the city.

 

It is there that the worst of the damage was done in four days of ethnic bloodletting last weekend.

 

She said the Muslim tradition of burying the dead before sunset on the day of death meant many hundreds of victims had not been counted.

 

Her government now faces the difficult task of persuading tens of thousands of refugees to return to their homes, our correspondent says.

 

Visiting a refugee camp in Uzbekistan, US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake said there must be an independent investigation into what had happened.

 

Eyewitnesses and victims have repeatedly said that the violence was orchestrated, and many have accused soldiers from the Kyrgyz military of being involved.

 

Since taking power after the overthrow of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev in April, the interim government has struggled to assert its authority in Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic of some 5.5 million people.

 

 

Swedish SVT: UN LAUNCHES APPEAL IN FAVOUR OF KYRGYZSTAN

UN launches an appeal for donations of 71 billion $ - the equivalent of ½ billion Swedish kroner - to disaster-struck Kyrgyzstan. This was done by UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon on Friday.

 

It is estimated that 400,000 have fled the ethnic violence in the central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan. More than 1,000 are assumed dead.

 

According to UN, there is an urgent need for food, water and electricity in large parts of Kyrgyzstan. Looting is an enormous problem.

 

 

German ARDtext: BAN APPEALS TO UN MEMBER STATES TO MAKE DONATIONS IN FAVOUR OF KYRGYZSTAN

 

UN appeals to its member states to donate 71 billion $ to Kyrgyzstan which is struck by violent clashes.

 

The amount - equivalent of 58 billion € - should be suffient to support more than 1 million people, said UN-Secretary-General Ban. The donor appeal is without any obligation for the 192 member states.

 

Earlier, the Kyrgyz interim leader Otunbayeva had said that up to 2,000 people could have been killed in the violent clashes.

 

 

German ZDFtext on 19 June 2010: RELIEF WORKERS WARN AGAINST EPIDEMICS IN REFUGEE CAMPS

After violent clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan, relief workers warn against the danger of epidemics in the refugee camps along the border between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. "The camps are overcrowded", said Andreas Bründer from the relief organization Medicins sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders). UN plans a 71-million $ aid programme.

 

 

German ZDFtext on 20 June 2010: RELIEF WORKERS: BIG HUMANITARIAN PROBLEMS IN KYRGYZSTAN

One week after the violent ethnic clashes started in southern Kyrgyzstan, relief workers report with regret that there are enormous humanitarian problems. "We see people who have nothing left", said Alexandre Baillat, who is from the relief organization Medicins sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders). Up to 2,000 died in clashes according to the interim government. Drinking water & food is scarce, he said.

 

The clashes between the Kyrgyz majority and the Uzbek minority continue. According to the UN more than 400,000 have fled the violent unrest in Kyrgyzstan.

[marie/pims]

Here's the BBC video about the UN's emergency appeal

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10356432.stm

 

And this a French article/blog from Lemonde.fr They skyped with people on the ground

 

http://sylvielasserre.blog.lemonde.fr/2010/06/18/kirghizistan-en-direct-avec-des-ouzbeks-assieges-a-osh/

[hotdensestate]

My friend's going to college in Kyrgyzstan D: This sucks.

[nancyk58]

News on 21 June 2010 in relation to Kyrgyzstan

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10366032.stm

Page last updated at 12:11 GMT, Monday, 21 June 2010 13:11 UK

 

NEW CLASHES NEAR SOUTHERN KYRGYZ CITY OF OSH

At least one person has been killed in Kyrgyzstan as security forces clashed with ethnic Uzbeks near the troubled southern city of Osh, officials say.

 

A man was shot dead in Nariman as the authorities attempted to flush out "militants" behind the recent violence between Kyrgyz and Uzbek people.

 

Human rights activists said the troops had killed two people and injured 20.

 

Kyrgyzstan's interim leader has said as many as 2,000 people may have died in the fighting earlier this month.

 

Officials say at least 208 people were killed in fighting between Kyrgyz people and ethnic Uzbeks around Osh and Jalalabad.

 

But Roza Otunbayeva told a Russian newspaper on Friday that the real toll could be "10 times the official figures".

 

About 400,000 people have fled their homes since the violence erupted on 10 June, with many ethnic Uzbeks crossing into Uzbekistan.

 

Different accounts

 

Human rights workers say the latest incident occurred when government forces went on patrol in the Uzbek neighbourhood of Nariman.

 

"The military have been going around doing checks... and looking for weapons. A lot of people have been beaten up," Human Rights Watch researcher Ole Solvangwas was quoted by Reuters as saying.

 

Other activists allege the attack was in retaliation for the recent killing of a local police chief.

 

However, the Kyrgyz interim government said its soldiers had come under attack and a man was killed in an exchange of gunfire.

 

"The acts of the officer were justified," it said in a statement, adding that claims 20 people were injured did not "correspond to reality".

 

The unrest comes two months after the country's former president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, was forced out of office.

 

Ms Otunbayeva's government has blamed the former leader for stoking the conflict ahead of a referendum on Sunday on constitutional reform that would give greater power to the prime minister.

 

Mr Bakiyev, who is in exile in Belarus, has rejected the allegations.

 

Ms Otunbayeva said on Monday that the referendum must go ahead as planned to "create a legal framework".

 

"If we allow any delays, this will threaten us with further instability," she said.

 

 

OTHER NEWS SITES

 

Yahoo! UK and Ireland :: Kyrgyzstan hunts for 'militants' behind ethnic clashes

 

Financial Times : Two killed in fresh Kyrgyzstan violence

 

Reuters UK : Trouble flares in Kyrgyzstan as vote nears

 

France24: Kyrgyzstan hunts for 'militants' behind clashes

 

TheStar.com.my : Kyrgyz leader backs referendum, trouble flares

[marie/pims]

My friend's going to college in Kyrgyzstan D: This sucks.

 

really?wow.

[hotdensestate]

really?wow.

 

Yeah, he lived there up until about a year ago, then he went to live with his parents in Macedonia (his home country) to go to college, then he dropped out of said college (he's 16 and completely failed at being able to take college seriously) and now he's going back to Kyrgyzstan to go to a different college.

[nancyk58]

News in relation to KYRGYZSTAN on 23 June 2010

 

Danish TV2 TTV: EU: POLICE FORCE TO KYRGYZSTAN

 

The OSCR, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, negotiates in Kyrgyzstan on deploying an international police force in southern Kyrgyzstan. A number of EU's ministers of foreign affairs are involved in the negotiations, says Kimmo Kiljunen who is the special representative for Central Asia for OSCE's parliamentary assembly. "OSCE chairs the negotiations on that issue. I know that EU's ministers of foreign affairs already are discussing the possibility of police crisis management in Kyrgyzstan, he says.

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10394312.stm

Page last updated at 16:04 GMT, Wednesday, 23 June 2010 17:04 UK

 

ETHNIC UZBEKS IN KYRGYZSTAN FREED AFTER ABDUCTION

 

A group of ethnic Uzbek officials were briefly kidnapped in Kyrgyzstan before being released.

 

The six officials, all women, were seized by a crowd at a polling station in the southern city of Osh, the Central Election Commission said.

 

However, news agencies say the situation has now been resolved and the women have been freed.

 

Ethnic violence between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz people broke out on 10 June.

 

The kidnapped women were due to act as officials during a referendum on Sunday. Kyrgyzstan will vote on a package of constitutional reforms which would give greater powers to the prime minister.

 

As many as 2,000 people may have died in the fighting earlier this month, Kyrgyzstan's interim president has said.

 

About 400,000 people have fled their homes since the violence began, with many ethnic Uzbeks crossing into Uzbekistan.

 

Bakiyev blamed

 

The unrest comes two months after the country's former president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, was forced out of office.

 

The interim government has blamed Mr Bakiyev for stoking the conflict ahead of the referendum on Sunday.

 

Mr Bakiyev, who is in exile in Belarus, has rejected the allegations.

 

Ethnic Uzbeks have mainly supported the interim government.

 

The European security body, the OSCE, has called for an international police force to be deployed in southern Kyrgyzstan.

 

The OSCE's special representative for Central Asia, Kimmo Kiljunen, said it could create an "atmosphere of trust" in the region.

 

Police in Osh have raided Uzbek neighbourhoods in what they say is an effort to restore order. Uzbeks have accused the police of brutality and looting.

 

 

OTHER NEWS SITES

 

France24 : KYRGYZSTAN: Thousands return home amid calls for international security force

 

Miami Herald : Kyrgyz authorities try to get Uzbeks to vote

 

Reuters UK : OSCE calls for int'l police force in Kyrgyz south

 

Financial Times : Kyrgyzstan denies driving out ethnic Uzbeks

 

CBC : Kyrgyz cities face unrest ahead of vote

[nancyk58]

News in relation to Kyrgyzstan on 24 June 2010

 

News on 24 June 2010

 

Danish DR1: REFUGEES RETURN TO KYRGYZSTAN

According to Kyrgyzstan's border police, the 70,000 people who fled to Uzbekistan after violent clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan, will soon have returned. Yesterday, 26,000 refugees returned. 2,000 were killed during the ethnic clashes between the Kyrgyz majority and ethnic Uzbeks which made the many thousand ethnic Uzbeks flee to Uzbekistan.

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10410397.stm

Page last updated at 00:10 GMT, Friday, 25 June 2010 01:10 UK

 

THOUSANDS OF UZBEK REFUGEES RETURN TO TENSE KYRGYZSTAN

 

Refugees from the clashes two weeks ago in the south of Kyrgyzstan have been returning in large numbers across the border from Uzbekistan.

 

The UN refugee agency told the BBC that figures provided by Tashkent showed that some 70,000 people, mainly ethnic Uzbeks, had gone back so far.

But thousands of refugees are believed to remain in Uzbekistan.

 

At least 200 people are known to have died in the clashes though the final number is feared to be much larger.

 

Very frightened

 

A spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in Uzbekistan said that many camps were now empty and dozens of buses were transporting people to the Kyrgyz border.

 

A Kyrgyz army officer at a border crossing point near the city of Osh - the epicentre of the clashes - said that refugees started coming back this week and that 5,000 people had come across on Wednesday alone, the BBC's Richard Galpin in Osh reports.

 

One group of women told our correspondent that they were returning with mixed emotions: very frightened and yet desperate to be reunited with husbands and sons who had stayed in the city to protect homes.

 

Our correspondent adds that there are still sporadic attacks on the Uzbek community, and security remains a big problem.

 

Up to 100,000 people fled into Uzbekistan after violence between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz broke out on 10 June.

 

As many as 2,000 people may have died in the fighting, Kyrgyz interim leader Roza Otunbayeva said. Ethnic Uzbeks - the minority community in Kyrgyzstan - bore the brunt of the violence.

 

The unrest came two months after the country's former President, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, was forced out of office.

 

The interim government has blamed Mr Bakiyev - who now lives in exile in Belarus - for stoking the conflict ahead of a referendum on Sunday. He rejects the allegations.

 

The European security body, the OSCE, has called for an international police force to be deployed in southern Kyrgyzstan.

 

 

OTHER NEWS SITES

 

The Independent : Kyrgyz leaders urged to halt 'illegitimate' referendum

 

Reuters UK : After bloodshed, Kyrgyzstan to vote on future

 

The Economist : Sad homecoming

 

AFP via Yahoo! : Refugees return to uncertain future in Kyrgyzstan

 

Financial Times : Fresh accusations of human rights abuses in Osh

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10401917.stm

Page last updated at 11:22 GMT, Thursday, 24 June 2010 12:22 UK

 

US PLEDGES MILLIONS IN AID FOR KYRGYZSTAN REFUGEES

 

By Tom Esslemont / BBC News, Bishkek

 

The US government has pledged $48m (£32m) in aid to help ease the humanitarian crisis in Kyrgyzstan.

 

The US state department said the money would be spent on serving the needs of some 400,000 people displaced by the recent ethnic violence in the south.

 

Kyrgyzstan's interim authorities say as many as 2,000 people died in clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks.

 

It is two weeks since violence began in the southern city of Osh. A state of emergency remains in force.

 

Volatile situation

 

The authorities say that of the estimated 100,000 who fled across the border into neighbouring Uzbekistan nearly all have returned to their homes.

 

Many others have not, wary that more violence could be on the way.

 

The authorities are under pressure to keep security tight in the build up to a referendum on constitutional reform planned for Sunday.

 

Clearly not everything is going according to plan: the central election committee said six of its Uzbek workers were kidnapped briefly on Wednesday before being released unharmed.

 

In all this, it is important to remember the volatile political situation this country finds itself in only three months since President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was overthrown after days of protests.

 

The interim authorities - put to the test by the destabilising events of the last fortnight - now need to prove their worth by holding a peaceful referendum.

The West has tentatively backed the vote.

[nancyk58]

News in relation to KYRGYZSTAN from Unicef's website

 

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/kyrgyzstan_54025.html

 

UN AND UNICEF TAKE HUMANITARIAN ACTION IN RESPONSE TO KYRGYZSTAN CRISIS

 

FLASH APPEAL SEEKS EMERGENCY FUNDING

 

By Tim Ledwith

 

NEW YORK, USA, 18 June 2010 – As the crisis in Kyrgyzstan enters its second week, there are reports that violence against ethnic Uzbeks in the southern part of the country is gradually declining. However, the situation remains volatile and could still deteriorate.

 

As of today, 192 people are officially confirmed dead and about 2,000 have been wounded in southern Kyrgyzstan, including many in and around the cities of Osh and Jalal-Abad. But the country’s interim president has been quoted in the media stating that the actual number of casualties could be 10 times higher.

 

Meanwhile, an estimated 300,000 people have been displaced in Kyrgyzstan.

More than 90,000 others have taken refuge at camps across the border in neighbouring Uzbekistan.

 

In response to the crisis, the United Nations has initiated a humanitarian action plan that is evolving as conditions on the ground allow. A UN flash appeal issued today seeks $71 million in funding from international donors to address the needs of more than a million people affected by the ethnic violence that broke out in Kyrgyzstan on 10 June. UNICEF's portion of the appeal amounts to nearly $9.8 million.

 

Needs of displaced families

 

Because of continued sporadic fighting, the specific needs of the displaced population in Kyrgyzstan have been hard to assess so far – though there is a broad consensus that their situation is grave.

 

It’s very difficult to have accurate information,” said UNICEF Representative in the Kyrgyz Republic Jonathan Veitch, referring to the conditions faced by children and women in the south.

 

While most of those displaced inside Kyrgyzstan are thought to be staying with host families, Mr. Veitch added, tens of thousands may need shelter, safe water or other support. “We are receiving reports of diarrhoea cases resulting from limited access to clean water, and we are particularly concerned about it,” he said.

 

Another key concern is the status of children who have been separated from their families and need to be reunited with parents or other caregivers.

 

“It will be very important to start family tracing,” said Mr. Veitch, “linking up children who been reported alone in Osh and other places with their parents, who may have come across the border or could be internally displaced persons in Kyrgyzstan.”

 

Emergency supplies

 

To aid the displaced, UNICEF is dispatching 40 metric tonnes of emergency health, water, sanitation and hygiene supplies from its global supply hub in Copenhagen. The supplies are scheduled to reach Kyrgyzstan by air tomorrow for overland distribution to affected areas. An additional shipment of 40 metric tonnes will follow early next week.

 

In Uzbekistan, UNICEF has already delivered several truckloads of emergency supplies to refugee camps and is now procuring $1.5 million in additional aid for refugee children and families there.

 

Although the level violence inside Kyrgyzstan has gone down, tensions remain high. Pending security arrangements, UNICEF plans to open an office in Osh soon, and additional staff are expected to arrive shortly to provide urgently needed surge capacity. The agency’s crisis-response plan will be revised and updated as the security situation permits a better assessment of the needs of women and children at risk.

[marie/pims]

New York Times

 

June 26, 2010

After Kyrgyz Unrest, Question Lingers

By ANDREW E. KRAMER

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — Two weeks after thousands are thought to have died in a wave of ethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan, and days before a national referendum on a new constitution, the interim government here has yet to provide a convincing explanation of why it occurred — a reflection, experts and former officials say, of the leadership’s inner turmoil and a possible portent of troubles to come.

 

The victims, mostly minority Uzbeks, say they were attacked by the Kyrgyz military and the police, and their accounts have been backed up by independent observers.

 

Yet the loose coalition of political figures who took power here in April after a popular uprising is so weak, these experts and former officials say, that it could be toppled if it acknowledges that it lacks control over the police and the army.

 

The government has offered a variety of explanations blaming groups and people from outside the country — particularly the former president, Kurmanbek S. Bakiyev, who is in exile in Belarus — and has denied that its soldiers were involved.

 

“It is very useful for them to say it was caused by people outside of Kyrgyzstan,” Mars Sariyev, a political analyst with the Institute of Social Policy, a think tank in Bishkek, the capital, said in an interview. It is far more convenient than admitting the reality, he said, which is that “when the interethnic violence began, the police and army took part on the side of the Kyrgyz.”

 

In the meantime, continued persecution of Uzbeks in the south by the police has suggested a lack of control or even a pandering to rising Kyrgyz nationalism — perhaps in an effort to win passage of the constitutional referendum scheduled for Sunday, which would keep the interim president, Roza Otunbayeva, in power.

 

Speaking on Friday in Washington, where he is visiting, President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia offered his glummest assessment yet of the Kyrgyz crisis, saying that the country was facing “degradation and, unfortunately and very likely, disintegration” if the referendum failed to solidify the government’s control.

 

“Then we will be forced to tackle the same problems that are being tackled in other regions, for instance in Afghanistan,” Mr. Medvedev said.

 

Ms. Otunbayeva said in an interview on Saturday in Bishkek that the referendum would stabilize the country, and she denied that she had lost control of the army or the police, or that they had taken part in the killing.

 

But, she repeated an appeal for international police intervention from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. “Because we have such monoethnic law enforcement, we badly need a third party that would help look after them,” she said.

 

Many Uzbeks said they were attacked by the Kyrgyz Army and police, riding armored personnel carriers and firing automatic weapons at civilians. Armored military vehicles pushed aside makeshift barricades at the entrances to Uzbek neighborhoods, witnesses said, allowing Kyrgyz mobs to storm in.

 

But the first detailed government account, from a police commander, blamed the violence on Tajik mercenary snipers, hired by Mr. Bakiyev’s family.

 

Later, to explain why so many victims died of gunshot wounds, the authorities said that rioters stole hundreds of rifles from military arsenals, and that some had donned stolen police and military uniforms, an explanation reiterated by Ms. Otunbayeva on Saturday. Of the military’s armored vehicles, she said, “They were taken by very aggressive young people.”

 

Last week, the head of the country’s national security agency issued a statement saying that the younger son of Mr. Bakiyev, Maksim Bakiyev, had hired Islamic radicals from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a group with ties to the Taliban, to infiltrate Uzbek neighborhoods and stoke conflict. The statement said the Islamic radicals fired rifles at civilians and then hid, only to reappear in other areas.

 

Reinforcing the message of external instigation, on Thursday an airplane dropped leaflets over Bishkek warning that “provocateurs” could foment ethnic violence in the capital, though the streets remained calm.

 

Mr. Sariyev and former government officials say the new leaders stumbled early in their rule by failing to win over the police or oust commanders appointed by the former president.

 

Bolot E. Sherniyazov, the interior minister, acknowledged difficulties assuming command of the police, but he said in an interview on Saturday that he was now largely in control. “I am in command of 80 percent of the Ministry of Interior,” he said. “The other 20 percent is still waffling.”

 

The problems first emerged as early as May 13, they say, in a little-noticed but in hindsight critical confrontation after supporters of Mr. Bakiyev seized a provincial government building in Jalal-Abad, a city in the south.

 

Faced with a regional revolt and unable to appeal to the police, members of the government asked a leader of the Uzbek minority in the south, Kadyrzhan Batyrov, a businessman and university director, to help regain control with volunteer gunmen, which he did.

 

In the tinderbox of ethnic mistrust in the south, this decision turned out to be a fateful error, according to Alikbek Jekshenkulov, a former foreign minister, recasting the political conflict in ethnic terms. “They got the Uzbeks involved in a Kyrgyz settling of scores,” Mr. Jekshenkulov said.

 

The next day, a crowd of thousands of Kyrgyz gathered to demand that the interim government arrest Mr. Batyrov.

 

“Instead of standing up to this mob, they opened a criminal case against Batyrov,” even though he had been responding to the government’s plea for help, said Edil Baisalov, who served as Ms. Otunbayeva’s chief of staff until he resigned this month.

 

In a shift, the interim government then sought to reform the southern police rather than rely on civilian militias, but by this point the police were seething with anger at the Uzbeks for taking sides in the political unrest.

 

Most Uzbeks Return Home

 

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — The United Nations and regional officials said Saturday that most of the roughly 80,000 refugees who fled to Uzbekistan to escape the recent ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan had returned home.

 

The Uzbek authorities told the United Nations that they had closed all 46 refugee camps on their territory, said Savita Naqvi, a spokeswoman for the United Nations.

 

The authorities in the interim Kyrgyz government told news agencies that all but 300 had returned, and that those whose homes were destroyed would live in tents or with relatives.

[nancyk58]

Swedish SVT: CURFEW LIFTED IN KYRGYZSTAN

The curfew in southern Kyrgyzstan was lifted on Saturday before Sunday's national referendum on a new constitution. The national referendum takes place despite warnings of possible new clashes between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks resulting from it. More than 264 people have been killed during clashes earlier in June, and hundred thousands have fled their homes.

 

Saturday, Human Rights Watch stated in a report that the clashes had been well-organized and systematic - in particular the attacks in Uzbek areas.

[nancyk58]

NEWS IN RELATION TO KYRGYZSTAN ON 27 JUNE 2010

 

NEWS IN RELATION TO KYRGYZSTAN ON 27 JUNE 2010

 

 

German ARD Text: KYRGYZSTAN: INTERIM GOVERNMENT HOLDS CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM

 

With the referendum the interim government under the interim leader, President Otunbayewa, will reach a more balanced distribution of power. According to the draft / bill, the president will have less power and the parliament will be stronger.

 

2 weeks ago several hundred people were killed in clashes between Kyrgyz and members of the Uzbek minority.

 

 

Swedish SVT: KYRGYZSTAN VOTES IN THE HOPE OF DEMOCRACY

 

In spite of the recent violence / clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan, today Sunday 27 June 2010 the population in Kyrgyzstan will take a vote on a new foundation - a new constitution. The hope is for the nation to become

CENTRAL ASIA's FIRST PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY.

 

The new constitution will imply that the mainly executive power held by the President will be transferred to a prime minister.

 

If the population passes the draft / bill, a parliamentary election will be held in October, and the international community will accept the interim leadership which took over when President Kurmanbek Bakijew was overthrown in April 2010.

[nancyk58]

News on KYRGYZSTAN on 27 JUNE 2010

 

NEWS IN RELATION TO KYRGYZSTAN ON 27 JUNE 2010

 

 

Swedish SVT, Danish DR1 and TV2 TTV and German ZDFtext and ARDtext:

 

NEW CONSTITUTION IN KYRGYZSTAN

 

Kyrgyzstan has approved the new constitution on parliamentary democracy after today’s referendum.The voter turnout was more than 65% according to the interim leader Otunbayewa. “We believe that the referendum is valid, and that Kyrgyzstan’s new constitution has been passed”, Otunbayeva said and added that Kyrgyzstan is on the way to “the establishment of a real / true democracy”.

 

The approval of the new constitution will lead to “a parliamentary election this fall / autumn and international acknowledgement of Kyrgyzstan’s leadership that took over when President Kurmanbek Bakijew was overtrown in April 2010.

 

Critics say that the referendum takes place too soon after the violent clashes in the Central-Asian republic.

 

The new constitution will make Kyrgyzstan the first parliamentary democracy in the former Soviet Central-Asia.

 

 

German ARDtext: The election committee – on the basis of the first interim results: 90% of those voting were backing the reform. The voter turnout was 69%. “This is a historic day”, said the leader of the interim government, Otunbayeva.

 

 

KYRGYZSTAN “BACKS REFORM PLANS”

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10426533.stm

Page last updated at 18:50 GMT, Sunday, 27 June 2010 19:50 UK

 

KYRGYZ REFERENDUM 'BACKS CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE PLAN'

 

Early results from the referendum in Kyrgyzstan show a LARGE MAJORITY APPROVING a new constitution giving parliament more power.

 

The interim government called the referendum after President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was overthrown in April.

 

It took place in the wake of an outbreak of ethnic violence between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in the south, when hundreds of people died.

 

Opposition parties had called the timing of the referendum inappropriate.

 

Officials say voter turnout was at least 65% and early results indicate almost 90% of voters backed the proposed changes.

 

Interim leader Roza Otunbayeva endorsed the outcome in comments shortly after polls closed.

 

'Deep divisions'

 

The BBC's Tom Esslemont in the capital, Bishkek, said the conditions for holding a referendum were far from perfect.

 

Health officials say 275 people were killed in the clashes, but other officials put the number of deaths at 2,000.

 

Thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed and an estimated 400,000 people - many of them from the minority ethnic Uzbek community - were displaced.

 

A curfew imposed in Osh, the country's second-largest city, was lifted for the vote.

 

The referendum is supported by the UN, the US and Russia, as a step towards restoring democracy.

 

Under the new constitution, Kyrgyzstan would become a parliamentary republic, with more power given to the prime minister.

 

Roza Otunbayeva would remain interim president until the end of 2011, before stepping aside.

 

Parliamentary elections would be held every five years and the president limited to a single six-year term.

 

But opposition parties and some human rights groups have criticised the vote, saying it is happening too soon after the ethnic clashes in Osh and neighbouring Jalalabad.

 

The violence has abated but the country's Uzbek and Kyrgyz populations remain deeply divided.

 

The New York-based organisation HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH said in a statement: "The situation in the south remains extremely tense and unpredictable, with ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek residents having largely retreated into ethnically near-homogenous areas."

 

Each side blames the other for the violence.

 

The provisional government said it had been started deliberately by allies of the deposed president in an effort to stop the referendum from going ahead.

 

Ethnic Uzbeks accuse Kyrgyz soldiers and policemen of taking part in attacks on their neighbourhoods in Osh - many of which have been destroyed.

 

Mr Bakiyev, who is in exile in Belarus, has rejected the allegations.

 

KYRGYZ REFERENDUM:

 

· One question: Do you support the new constitution?

· Sets up a parliamentary republic

· Single six-year presidential term

· Parliamentary polls every five years

 

 

Tom Esslemont, BBC News, Bishkek

 

It didn't take long for Roza Otunbayeva to endorse the referendum. She said Kyrgyzstan would become a "true people's democracy".

 

It's a hurdle out of the way for the interim authorities; they can now press ahead with the voted-on reforms: shifting power from the president to the parliament.

 

Already we are looking at the seeds of Central Asia's first parliamentary democracy, but there is still a lot of work to do.

 

First the interim leader needs to act on her promise for a full investigation into the clashes sparked two weeks ago. The origins of the violence are still unclear.

 

Then there's the talk of "unity" of the people. Ms Otunbayeva has used that word a lot in the last few days. The clashes entrenched divisions in the south. Will they heal? Or does the fear and hatred run deeper than the authorities would like?

 

With the referendum out of the way, at least some of these questions can be addressed

[nancyk58]

News in relation to KYRGYZSTAN on 28 June 2010

 

Swedish SVT: KYRGYZSTAN VOTED IN FAVOUR OF A NEW CONSTITUTION

 

More than 90% voted yes to a new constitution in Kyrgyzstan. International observers of the referendum described it as peaceful and just / fair.

Russia's president warned that Kyrgyzstan is on its way to collapse. The new constitution implies that Kyrgyzstan will be the first parliamentary republic in the former Soviet Central Asia.

 

The new constitution implies that parliamentary elections will be held every 5 years. The president will hold the office for six years. Parties based exclusively on religious or ethnic affiliation are forbidden.

 

 

German ARDtext: KYRGYZSTAN: MEDWEDJEW WARNS OF KYRGYZSTAN'S COLLAPSE AFTER REFERENDUM / MOSCOW WARNS OF CHAOS

 

After the constitutional referendum in Kyrgyzstan, Russia's President Medwedjew warned of a collapse of the central-asian state.

 

The referendum in which the population said yes to Kyrgyzstan becoming a parliamentary democracy could end with extremists coming to power, he said.

 

By the referendum more than 90% of the citizens had voted for a reform of the constitution. The president's power is thus reduced in favour of the parliament. Kyrgyzstan is thus the first parliamentary republic in Central Asia.

[marie/pims]

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/06/25/kyrgyzstan-new-evidence-emerges-brutality-attacks?print

 

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

Kyrgyzstan: New Evidence Emerges on Brutality of Attacks

 

Kyrgyzstan: Latest Violence

This month’s violence was the worst to hit Central Asia in two decades. There needs to be an international investigation to establish what happened, determine who was responsible, and ensure this kind of violence never happens again.

 

June 25, 2010

(New York) - Newly uncovered evidence of vicious attacks during the massive violence in Kyrgyzstan on June 10 to 14, 2010, underscores the need for an international inquiry into the mayhem, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch said the international inquiry should supplement the Kyrgyz government's investigation.

 

In one case that came to light during Human Rights Watch investigations, a 50-year-old ethnic Uzbek woman told researchers how on June 11, a mob invaded her home and beat and burned her as they tried to get her to reveal her son's whereabouts. She refused, but as she watched, helpless, the men entered and then torched an adjacent building where the son was taking shelter, burning him to death.

 

"This month's violence was the worst to hit Central Asia in two decades," said Ole Solvang, emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch. "There needs to be an international investigation to establish what happened, determine who was responsible, and ensure this kind of violence never happens again."

 

On the eve of the June 27 constitutional referendum, the situation in the south remains extremely tense and unpredictable, with ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek residents having largely retreated into ethnically near-homogenous areas, each group fearing attacks by the other. Representatives of both groups told Human Rights Watch that they fear a resumption of violence, and many doubt that government forces would be able to control it. Human Rights Watch documented several attacks on ethnic Uzbeks who ventured out of their neigborhoods after large-scale violence had subsided.

 

The government's decision to proceed with the referendum and the return of thousands of refugees and internally displaced people to almost uninhabitable areas make the situation even more volatile, Human Rights Watch said. The interim government has not announced how it will ensure that refugees and individuals who lost their identification documents in the violence will be able to vote, raising concerns that the referendum will provoke new violence.

 

On June 17, Human Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group called for the deployment of an international stabilization mission in Kyrgyzstan to facilitate a safe environment for delivery of humanitarian assistance, provide security for return of displaced persons and refugees, and forestall further outbreaks of ethnic violence.

 

From Clashes to Mob Violence

Mass violence erupted on June 10 when hundreds of Uzbeks gathered near a dormitory in the center of Osh, allegedly in response to recent scuffles between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz. The Uzbek crowd torched several buildings, including a casino, and set fire to several cars. Violence escalated when rumors spread that people in the Uzbek crowd had raped a Kyrgyz girl in the dormitory, a rumor that turned out to be false.

 

Human Rights Watch researchers working in southern Kyrgyzstan from June 10 to 22 documented the massive looting and destruction of civilian property and widespread acts of violence by Kyrgyz and Uzbek mobs in the city of Osh and the towns of Jalal-Abad and Bazar-Kurgan.

 

While both ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks fell victim to the violence, Uzbek neighborhoods were particularly affected as mobs of ethnic Kyrgyz, many of them reportedly from villages surrounding the city of Osh, repeatedly attacked Uzbek areas. Over the following days mobs looted and burned to the ground an estimated 2,000 houses in at least six Uzbek neighborhoods in Osh, Jalal-Abad, and Bazar-Kurgan. Human Rights Watch documented dozens of killings and beatings during these attacks, interviewed two Uzbek victims of rape, and received detailed information about the rape of nine others, ages 15 to 40, from the doctor who had treated them.

 

Human Rights Watch also spoke with relatives of Kyrgyz men who were killed during the violence and documented the destruction of several buildings belonging to ethnic Kyrgyz.

 

Hospital records and witness testimony indicate that the majority of dead and wounded are young Uzbek and Kyrgyz men. However, dozens of women and children were also shot or burned in their homes.

 

Human Rights Watch research suggests that the violence - particularly the attacks on Uzbek neighborhoods - was systematic and, at least in some cases, well-organized. Witnesses in several neighborhoods told Human Rights Watch that Kyrgyz men in military uniform riding on top of an armored personnel vehicle would first clear the barricades that the Uzbeks had erected at the entrance of their neighborhoods. A group of armed men, including gunmen strategically placed on rooftops, would then fire at people in the neighborhood, forcing them to flee.

 

Once residents fled or hid in their basements, the next group, in civilian clothes, entered the neighborhood and systematically looted the houses, often loading the loot on cars stolen on the spot. Another group then followed, setting the looted houses on fire with Molotov cocktails or gasoline. In several cases documented by Human Rights Watch, the mob also beat and killed residents who did not manage to escape or who tried to prevent the destruction of their homes.

 

Both Uzbek and Kyrgyz mobs seem to have specifically targeted the other ethnic group. Human Rights Watch observed that many houses had been marked with the ethnicity of their owners. In several neighborhoods, virtually all Uzbek homes were destroyed, while the few houses that remained intact belonged to Kyrgyz, indicating that the mobs obtained information about the owners of the houses and limited attacks to Uzbek houses. The Kyrgyz mobs covered the walls on Uzbek homes with graffiti saying "Death to the Uzbeks" and similar slogans.

 

Questions About Involvement of Government Forces

Many Uzbeks told Human Rights Watch that they believe government forces participated in the attacks on their neighborhoods, referring to the presence of armed men in military uniform among the attackers and the use of armored personnel carriers (APCs) to remove the Uzbek barricades.

 

Local law enforcement officials admitted to Human Rights Watch that APCs had been used in the attacks. They claimed, however, that the mobs had stolen weapons and military vehicles from nearby military bases. A high-level local official in Jalal-Abad told Human Rights Watch that at least 59 automatic guns, a grenade launcher, and two armored vehicles were taken from two military bases in Jalal-Abad. The official told Human Rights Watch that "in order to avoid bloodshed the troops abandoned the base," but claimed that they had first "broken" the military vehicles to avoid them being used by the mob.

 

While Human Rights Watch has not been able to conclude whether Kyrgyz security forces were directly involved in the attacks based on the information collected so far, the presence of men in military uniform, the apparent ease with which the mobs obtained weapons, including heavy military vehicles, and the failure to stop the violence should be key elements of the investigation, Human Rights Watch said.

 

"Given the circumstances, one can understand why the Uzbeks believe that government forces were complicit in these attacks," Solvang said. "The authorities need to investigate these allegations thoroughly and bring to justice those who participated in these attacks, regardless of whether they belonged to government forces."

 

Skepticism About the Government's Investigation

The interim government has begun an investigation into the June violence. Many Uzbeks told Human Rights Watch, however, that they do not believe that the authorities will conduct an impartial and objective investigation.

 

An Uzbek man who fled the town of Bazar-Kurgan and who, as of June 20, was still staying near the Uzbek border with thousands of other displaced Bazar-Kurgan residents who were too afraid to go home, told Human Rights Watch: "We don't believe the authorities any more. While the Kyrgyz were burning our homes and killing us, the police were nowhere to be seen. How can we trust them now to investigate these violations if they failed to prevent them and refused to protect us in the first place?"

 

Recent actions by government forces have reinforced the perception in the Uzbek communities that they cannot trust the law enforcement authorities to be objective. Shortly after the military forced residents of Uzbek neighborhoods to remove barricades that they had erected for protection, security forces carried out several abusive sweep operations, during which the security forces killed at least two ethnic Uzbeks and beat and wounded dozens of others.

Human Rights Watch said that in addition to an international inquiry into the violence, the Kyrgyz government investigation should involve international experts.

 

"Many Uzbeks told us they believed security forces either perpetrated the attacks or deliberately turned a blind eye to them," Solvang said. "Regardless of whether this is true, the result has been a complete breakdown in trust between the Uzbek community and the government. The participation of international experts in the investigation would lend the investigation crucial credibility."

 

Human Rights Watch said that for an investigation to be effective, it needs to be prompt, impartial, independent, and thorough. Impartiality and independence are essential to public confidence that allegations of collusion or tolerance of the perpetrators of the violence will be addressed. Those responsible for carrying out the investigation need to be independent from those implicated in the events, not just institutionally but in practical terms.

 

For example, the investigators should not rely on evidence or information solely from the source being investigated, and should have the mandate to establish the key issues of responsibility and liability, coupled with the power and resources to secure the necessary evidence. Given these standards, international participation would provide added essential expertise and credibility.

 

Selected cases from Human Rights Watch research

 

Gang-rape of 16-year-old "Umida"

Late at night on June 10, hundreds of young Kyrgyz men came to several streets in the Cheremushki neighborhood in the eastern part of Osh, inhabited predominantly by ethnic Uzbeks. Numerous witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch said the men were beating the residents and looting and burning the houses. Umida, whose name was changed to protect her, said:

 

"The men came and took me to the neighbor's house. There were about 30 women and children there. The Kyrgyz said they would hold us hostage and then exchange us for $4,000 each.

 

Then I saw that my house was on fire, and minutes later the Kyrgyz men dragged my father out. He was badly beaten, bleeding, and I tried to get out and started screaming at the Kyrgyz who were guarding us to protect him.

 

Then, two men dragged me out of the house. I was trying to resist, and then a third one hit me hard on the lower back and I was in so much pain I couldn't fight with them any more. The men dragged me to the toilet in the yard of the house, and the two of them raped me. Then another three came and raped me, too. I lost consciousness, and I am not sure how long I stayed there after they left.

 

I managed to make it back to the house, and then my father and I ran away."

 

Along with hundreds of other Uzbeks who lost their homes or had to run for their lives, Umida found refuge with wealthy neighbors, who arranged shelter and medical help for her and other victims of the violence. A doctor confirmed to Human Rights Watch that Umida had been raped. Umida expressed willingness to talk to Human Rights Watch and made an effort to tell her story, but she was visibly in a state of deep shock, not getting out of bed and hardly speaking to anyone else.

 

Attack on 22-year-old Emil and 22-year-old Ruslan

On June 10, at around 10 p.m., two ethnic Kyrgyz men, Emil and Ruslan, who work in a computer club in Osh, were on their way back to their home village of Japalak on the outskirts of the city. They had not yet heard of any clashes in the city and thus took their usual route - through an Uzbek neighborhood. Emil told Human Rights Watch:

 

"We took a taxi, and everything seemed quiet, but on Telmana street we saw that the road was blocked by a car and there were about 200 to 300 Uzbek men there, with sticks, shovels, and some with weapons. They stopped our car, screamed, "Get you, Kyrgyz!" and dragged us out of the car.

 

About 20 or 30 of them started beating us mercilessly until we were on the ground and could hardly move. I was begging them to stop, saying that we are all Muslims and can't treat each other like that, but they didn't listen.

 

They would have killed us, but an older man suddenly intervened and dragged us away from the crowd. He made us sit by the side of the road and said he would shoot us if we tried to flee.

 

As we were sitting there, we saw the Uzbeks stopping other cars and beating the passengers, while more and more Uzbeks arrived to support them.

 

Eventually, the old man who rescued us led us across the street and told us to escape by foot. We crossed into Cheremushki neighborhood, and from there a friend gave us a lift home."

 

When Human Rights Watch interviewed Emil and Ruslan, whose last names were withheld to protect them, on June 18, they still had marks from the beating on their faces and bodies. Emil's eyes were extremely swollen, and he had trouble seeing.

 

Also, on June 11, an Uzbek mob raided the village of Kyrgyzcheck, which is predominately Kyrgyz, resulting in the deaths of at least eight people. Dozens sustained gunshot, knife, and burn injuries.

 

Killings and Torture During Raids on Osh Uzbek Neighborhoods

At about 1 p.m. on June 11, 14 armed men with guns stormed into the house of 60-year old "Nigora" in the Shait-Tube neighborhood in Osh city. The men beat Nigora on her legs with a baton and burned her skin with a loofah sponge, which they set on fire, in an attempt to force her to tell them where her son was. The bruises and burn marks were still visible more than a week after the attack. Nigora said:

 

"Some of the men wanted to kill me, but the oldest of them, who was about 30 years old, stopped them. I told them that there was nobody else at home, but they didn't believe me. They went to the building in our courtyard where my son was staying. When they came out, they set fire to the house while my son was still there. They laughed and forced me to watch as the house burned down with my son inside. I don't know why he did not run out. Maybe they killed him when they went in.

 

Eventually they dragged me out on the street. I was crying and screaming. I watched as they cut the throat of my 56-year old neighbor, set fire to his house, and threw his body into the burning house. I also saw the dead body of our 14-year old neighbor on the street."

 

Nigora later saw the dead body of her son among the burned ruins of her house. She eventually made it to the town of Suratash on the Uzbek border,where she told her story to Human Rights Watch.

 

"Now I am just sitting here," she said. "I am afraid of a new war. I don't know what to do. I can't go to Uzbekistan and I have nothing to go home to."

[nancyk58]

German ARDtext: KYRGYZSTAN: SHOTS OF WARNING BY DEMONSTRATION

 

New tensions in the central-Asian republic. The police used teargas against the oppositional participants in the demonstration. Security forces had denied the leader of the opposition, Baryktabassow and hundreds of his followers / supporters access to the capital, Bischkek. Numerous supporters of Baryktabassow gathered in front of the Parliament despite the police blockade, and the supporters demanded the resignation of the interim government. The population is to elect their new representatives this coming fall / autunm.

[nancyk58]

News on 10 August 2010 in relation to Kyrgyzstan

 

ELECTION IN KYRGYZSTAN TO BE HELD ON 10 OCTOBER 2010

 

Today, Roza Otunbayeva, leader of Kyrgyzstan's interim government signed a decree determining the election day.

 

By virtue of Kyrgyzstan's new constitution, Otunbayeva is Kyrgyzstan's president until the end of 2011. She cannot run for the new and far more powerful post as Kyrgyzstan's prime minister.

 

The interim government has lifted the state of emergency declared in the southern part of Kyrgyzstan after June's violent clashes that cost at least 350 human lives.

[nancyk58]

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Report on the ethnic clashes in Kyrgyzstan in June 2010

 

Berlingske Tidende (a major conservative Danish newspaper) on 17 August 2010:

 

MASSACRE BASED ON A LIE / KYRGYZSTAN

 

The KYRGYZ ARMY contributed to ethnic butchery, says Human Rights Watch. False rumours of murder and rapes triggered the bloodshed.

 

By Simon Kruse

 

"Uzbeks have raped Kyrgyz girls at a university college." That was the contents of small messages and that was the message in telephone calls spreading quickly in the southern Kyrgyzstan on 11 June 2010.

 

The evening before, groups of Uzbeks and Kyrgyz had been involved in clashes in the city of OSJ. Now gangs armed with iron pipes, clubs and petrol cans attacked Uzbek neighbourhoods.

 

In the following days more than 2,500 houses were destroyed, at least 371 killed and hundred thousands forced to flee.

 

There was only one problem. The rumour was untrue. Noone had been raped at the college in Osj, the authorities later confirmed.

 

This instance/example appears from a new report from Human Rights Watch that tried to reconstruct the bloody events in Central Asia two months ago.

 

"It was terrifying to see how false information could spread so easily and have such consequences", says Anna Neistat, one of the authors of the report to Berlingske Tidende.

 

The massive misinformation was a factor that became so much more dangerous as the authorities could or would not intervene. On the contrary - in some cases, SOLDIERS from the KYRGYZ ARMY participated in the ETHNIC CLEANSING, Human Rights Watch concludes based on interviews with several hundred witnesses.

 

DEMOCRATIC ISLAND

Uniformed men in armoured vehicles removed i.a. road blocks so that Kyrgyz gangs could get access to the Uzbez neighbourhoods. In some cases uniformed soldiers participated in the butchery according to witnesses.

 

Also the official investigation / inquiry in the time following the clashes is criticized. In a number of cases the authorities have used "torture, threats and violence" according to the report.

 

KYRGYZSTAN once known as a "democratic island" in Central Asia has for months been troubled with violence and power struggles. That has created a tense situation in the region immediately north of war-ravaged Afghanistan.

 

"VARIOUS FORCES ADDED FUEL TO THE FIRE"

Since the massacre Kyrgyzstan's interim government which promised democratic reforms has primarily blamed the violence on the dictatorial ex-president Kurmanbek Bakijev.

 

"We have not found any evidence that the outbreak of violence was planned. But then on the other hand, it is clear that various forces added fuel to the fire when it had broken out", says Anna Neistat.

 

For the same reason it might flare up again, she warns.

 

Both the EU, USA and Russia have hesitated to intervene in the explosive conflict. So far, they have only agreed on sending an international police force of 52 men.

 

"The danger/threat is by far not blown over", according to the interim leader, Roza Otunbayeva. Last week she ordered the security forces to move to the southern part of Kyrgyzstan, because she fears "provocative attacks and strenghtening of extremistic and criminal groups that are ready to resume the unrest."

 

 

BRIEFING.

 

ETHNIC VIOLENCE

 

UNREST. On 10 June 2010 violent clashes between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz triggered a wave of violence that forced 300,000 people in Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia to flee. The death toll = number of victims is stated at between 371 and 2,000.

 

POWER STRUGGLE. Kyrgyzstan is run by an interim government. The dictatorial ex-president Kurmanbek Bakijev was overthrown in April 2010. An election is planned to be held on 10 October 2010.

 

HELP / ASSISTANCE. The EU, USA and Russia have agreed to send a little police force to the area due to arrive in week 33.

[nancyk58]

News on 15 September 2010 in relation to Kyrgyzstan

 

Swedish SVT: IMPRISONMENT FOR LIFE IN KYRGYZSTAN AFTER UNREST

 

The first sentences following the ethnic clashes in the southern Kyrgyzstan in June were pronounced today, Wednesday, 15 September 2010.

 

5 men including a local human rights activist were sentenced to imprisonment for life for having murdered a police man. Another man and a woman were sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment.

 

The judges were criticized by human rights activists. All those sentenced to imprisonment are ethnic Uzbeks despite numerous testimonies that the Uzbeks were worst hit during the clashes.

 

The trial was very one-sided and dominated by the charges, said the activist Sardar Bagsjibekov.

[nancyk58]

Latest news in relation to Kyrgyzstan - 11.10.10

 

LATEST NEWS ON 11.10.10 IN RELATION TO KYRGYZSTAN

 

Parliamentary election held with no clear winner.

 

The nationalists got 8.9% of the votes, the Social-Democratic party got 8.4% and a Russian-friendly party 6.9%. 5 parties will be represented in the new parliament.

 

Voting was 56.6% of those entitled to vote.

 

Difficult negotiations ahead, before a government can be formed.