In a letter sent last week, Human Rights Watch asked President Bush to use the meeting to seek concrete steps by President Akaev to improve human rights and to commit to genuine reform.
Once heralded as an island of democracy in a highly repressive region, Kyrgyzstan's human rights record has deteriorated steadily since presidential and parliamentary elections in 2000. In recent years, the government has jailed President Akaev's chief political rivals. One of them, former Vice President Feliks Kulov, remains in prison on politically motivated charges. The authorities have used registration procedures and civil defamation suits to harass the media. In the past year, the government attempted to put a temporary ban on all public demonstrations. In March, police shot to death five demonstrators who were protesting politically-motivated charges against a popular member of parliament.
"The Kyrgyz government's record on human rights is bad and getting quickly worse," said Elizabeth Andersen, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia Division. "President Bush has an opportunity now to ask for a turnaround."
In its September 12 letter, Human Rights Watch asked the Bush administration to urge the Kyrgyz government to take a number of steps before President Akaev's arrival in the United States, including the release of Feliks Kulov, the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry into the March demonstrations, and the elimination of criminal penalties for libel.
