The Kyrgyz government should release an estimated ninety protesters rounded up by police yesterday as they gathered for a peaceful demonstration, Human Rights Watch said today. In a letter to Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev, Human Rights Watch also said that Kyrgyzstan's human rights situation was deteriorating rapidly.
Kyrgyzstan is going down the road of intolerance and brutality," said Elizabeth Andersen, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia division. "Yesterday's arrest of peaceful protesters is part of a much larger picture of government abuse."
About ninety peaceful protesters were arrested on May 16 outside the parliament building in Bishkek as they prepared for a demonstration. They planned to protest the government's decision to cede contested territory to China, and also to speak out against the arrest of political opposition leaders and the dire state of Kyrgyzstan's economy.
In its letter to President Akaev, Human Rights Watch expressed concern regarding the fate of those detained, including leading rights defenders Ramazan Dyryldaev, who was subsequently released, and Tursunbek Akunov. Also arrested was parliamentarian Azimbek Beknazarov, whose earlier detention sparked mass protests throughout the country. On the eve of Beknazarov's scheduled trial in March, police reportedly opened fire on hundreds of protesters marching through the Aksy district in Jalal-Abad province, killing at least five persons.
Local and international rights groups were denied access to those arrested yesterday. The detainees face a period of fifteen days in detention under the administrative code, and may be in danger of ill-treatment by police.
