Kyrgyzstan
There were further restrictions on freedom of
expression. Three human rights defenders were
deported. Security forces used torture and other
ill-treatment in the fight against terrorism.
Counter-terror and security
In September, the Head of the National Security
Service (NSS) openly advocated public executions,
compulsory re-education and separate prison facilities
for members of banned Islamic groups and Islamist
parties, such as Hizb-ut-Tahrir. June and October saw
clashes between security forces and armed groups
allegedly affiliated to the banned Islamic Movement of
Uzbekistan and trying to infiltrate the south of the
country.
In May, the Supreme Court turned down the
appeals of all 32 individuals sentenced in November
2008 to prison terms of between nine and 20 years for
calling for the overthrow of the constitutional order.
The sentences of a 17-year-old boy and two women
were reduced. The group had been accused of
membership of Hizb-ut-Tahrir and of participating in
violent protests in the town of Nookat after the
authorities cancelled celebrations at the end of
Ramadan in October 2008. The Supreme Court did
not order an investigation into allegations that the
defendants had been tortured. According to reports,
the women had their heads shaved and were forced to
stand in freezing water, and the men had their beards
set on fire, were stripped naked, tied to metal beds
and beaten on the soles of their feet. Families
reported that they were threatened by security officers
to stop them lodging complaints about the torture
allegations.
Human rights defenders
In February, Vitaly Ponomarev, director of the
Central Asia department of the Russian NGO
Memorial, was deported to Russia shortly after his
arrival in Kyrgyzstan to present a report on unfair trial
and torture allegations linked to the Nookat protests
(see above). He was banned from re-entering the
country for five years.
In November, Bakhrom Khamroev, a Russian
human rights defender of Uzbek origin, was arbitrarily
detained by NSS officers while he was conducting
research for Memorial on developments relating to the
Nookat protests. He was detained incommunicado for
over 18 hours and interrogated about his research and
his alleged links to banned Islamist groups. Following
international pressure he was released and deported to
Russia.
In December, Nigina Bakhrieva, a Tajikistani human
rights defender, was banned from entering Kyrgyzstan
for 10 years, reportedly for highlighting violations in
relation to the Nookat protests during an international
human rights training seminar in Bishkek in
September.
Freedom of expression
There was an increase in violent and sometimes fatal
attacks, some by masked men, on independent
journalists, including stabbings, beatings and
shootings.
The authorities condemned these attacks and
ordered investigations, but denied any link to articles
or investigations by the journalists into corruption and
organized crime, among other issues.
In August, a former police officer confessed to the
October 2007 murder of ethnic Uzbek journalist and
editor Alisher Saipov, but reportedly later withdrew his
confession in court, claiming that he had been tortured.
The Court of First Instance decided to send the case for
investigation but in December the Supreme Court
overruled this decision.
