DUSHANBE, December 5, 2009, Asia-Plus – The Kyrgyz government should immediately stop harassing human rights monitors doing research in southern Kyrgyzstan, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on December 3.
On December 2 Kyrgyz authorities denied entry to prominent Tajik human rights defender Nigina Bahriyeva – the third foreign advocate working on southern Kyrgyzstan to be denied entry or deported in 2009.
Bahriyeva, the former head of the Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law in Tajikistan, had been invited to Kyrgyzstan as an independent expert by the Kyrgyz ombudsman”s office. In September, she provided advice about the process for filing individual complaints with the United Nations Human Rights Committee to lawyers representing individuals convicted of criminal charges after a protest in Nookat in 2008.
“Kyrgyzstan is increasingly harassing rights advocates investigating the government”s abusive campaign in southern Kyrgyzstan,” said Andrea Berg, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “It”s no coincidence that Bahriyeva was denied entry after having been in touch with Nookat lawyers.”
The government has been carrying out a campaign in the south against what it views as Islamic extremism. Residents of Nookat held the protest because they were denied permission to celebrate a Muslim holiday.
Human rights defenders from Kyrgyzstan have told Human Rights Watch that the number of arrests of alleged extremists and terrorists in southern Kyrgyzstan is rising, and have expressed concern about abuses related to these arrests, including: arbitrary detention; torture and other ill-treatment in custody; and violation of fair trial rights. They express concern that the authorities” harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders has made monitoring the situation more difficult.
The government”s harassment of local and foreign rights advocates shows why monitoring the anti-extremism campaign is so crucial,” Berg said. “The authorities should stop their repressive tactics and allow unhindered fact-finding and trial monitoring.”
Bahriyeva was pulled out of line when she arrived on December 2 from Dushanbe, Tajikistan at the Manas airport in Bishkek. A Border control representative asked her if she had experienced problems with the authorities in September. She replied that she had not, but then the officer told her that she was denied entry to Kyrgyzstan until 2019. When she asked for the reason the officer said “We don”t know. You will fly back now.” Bahriyeva boarded the same airplane back to Dushanbe.
The Kyrgyz immigration service gave Bahriyeva a deportation document stating that she is not allowed to enter Kyrgyzstan, noting persona non grata as the reason. The document notes her arrival and departure dates but does not indicate when the ban on her entry ends.
