AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PUBLIC STATEMENT
17 June 2010
AI Index:
EUR 58/002/2010
While urgently needed humanitarian assistance is beginning to
reach refugees and internally displaced persons in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan,
allegations are mounting that Kyrgyzstani security forces may have colluded in
some of the human rights violations, in particular violent acts against ethnic
Uzbeks, which drove thousands of people to flee the violence which engulfed the
south of Kyrgyzstan over the last six days.
Amnesty International calls for an international independent and
impartial investigation into the violent events of the past days to ensure that
both armed individuals and security forces are held accountable for human
rights abuses. The organization believes that only an international
investigation is likely to be considered unbiased and credible by all affected
groups and therefore would be key to restoring
sustainable peace and the rule of law.
For any investigation to be effective evidence of the crimes
committed needs to be collected and secured without delay in as objective and
impartial a way as possible. Amnesty International is therefore concerned that,
amidst allegations of collusion of law enforcement, security forces have
attempted to confiscate video and photographic evidence from local journalists
and residents who have documented the violence. In this context reports that
local human rights defenders who have collected eyewitness testimonies have
been threatened by security forces and in some cases detained are particularly
worrying. In one particular incident armed and masked men claiming to be
security forces allegedly fired on the gate of a human rights defender’s home
in Bazar Korgan when his
wife refused to hand over his camera and evidence he had collected from individuals
in the village. Human rights defenders play an important role in the documentation
human rights violations.
While the Kyrgyzstani government reports that security forces have
regained control of the situation in the cities of Osh, Jalal-Abad
and surrounding towns and villages, and are concentrating their efforts on
restoring order and apprehending those responsible for the violence, the
security situation in the south of Kyrgyzstan remains tense and the fragile
security situation is reported to hinder distribution of humanitarian aid.
Amnesty International urges the Kyrgyzstani interim government to
immediately react to allegations of collusion of security forces and to send a
clear signal that any human rights violations will be prosecuted.
While reiterating its call on the Kyrgyzstani interim government
to protect its population and ethnic minorities in particular, Amnesty
International is concerned that an emergency decree “on granting the use of
lethal force to security forces “, issued on 12 June, allows the use of lethal
force beyond that permitted under international law and may facilitate unlawful
killings or even extrajudicial executions.
Kyrgyzstani authorities must respect and protect the right to life
by adhering to international standards on the use of force. The UN Basic
Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials
require that less dangerous means be used before resorting to the use of
firearms even in the context of violent assemblies and that intentional lethal
use of force may not be used except where "strictly unavoidable in order
to protect life." The obligation to protect life can never be derogated
from or restricted, even in emergencies.
With regard to a second decree “on the formation of citizens’
defence groups”, also issued on 12 June, Amnesty International emphasizes that
these groups are state-organized, state-coordinated and state-funded. The
Kyrgyzstani government has an obligation to ensure that such groups are
adequately trained, including
Background:
The
deadly violence which has devastated large parts of the south of Kyrgyzstan is
said to have started on 10 June with clashes between rival gangs of mostly
Kyrgyz and Uzbek youths which rapidly escalated into large-scale arson, looting
and violent attacks, including killings, on mainly Uzbek-populated districts in
Osh. Subsequently, the violence spread to the city of Jalal-Abad
and surrounding towns and villages.
On
15 June, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated
that the violence appeared to be “orchestrated,
targeted and well-planned” and that it was set off by five simultaneous
attacks by armed masked men in the city of
The
interim government have blamed the violence on supporters of former President Kurmanbek Bakiev and on organized
criminal groups with the intent to destabilize the situation in the country
ahead of the referendum on a new constitution on 27 June.
On 12 June, the Kyrgyzstani interim government issued an emergency
decree “On granting the use of lethal force to security forces”. The decree
allows law enforcement bodies, when a state of emergency is in place, to use
lethal force:
-
To protect citizens and to
protect themselves from attacks that threaten life and health, to release
hostages, also to prevent the violent capture of fire-arms;
-
To prevent a group or armed
attack on law enforcement officers or the armed forces involved in restoring order,
or any other persons who are carrying out official duties or a public duty to
restore public order and fight against criminality, and also any other attack
when their life and health is in danger;
-
To repel a group or armed
attack on important and protected objects or locations, premises of citizens,
premises and buildings of the state and public bodies, enterprises, establishments, organisations,
to repel attacks on the army or law-enforcement bodies;
-
To arrest armed men who
resist, or are caught in the commission of a crime, and also to detain armed
persons, refusing comply with the orders to hand over their weapons.
Article 9 of the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms
by Law Enforcement Officials, which elaborate the obligations of the state to
respect and ensure the right to life, guaranteed under the International Convention
on Civil and Political Rights, state that the application of lethal force is
permissible only "when strictly unavoidable in order to protect
life." While the emergency decree partly adheres to this principle, other
provisions could be used to justify the use of lethal force beyond the
limitations of international human rights law, potentially leading to
extra-judicial executions or other unlawful killings.
A second emergency decree, issued by the interim Kyrgyzstani
government on 12 June “On the formation of citizens’ defence groups” resolves
to “form a uniform system of voluntary national teams of the Kyrgyz Republic”,
“taking into account the demands of the citizens for their personal security
and the protection of their rights”, involving “patriotic citizens, reserve
officers of law enforcement bodies … to
carry out its activities according to the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic
together with law enforcement bodies”.
According to obligations of international law the state is
responsible for preventing abuses by such groups, for preventing, investigating
and punishing human rights abuses, as well as for providing remedies to
victims. Any unlawful killing or other human rights violation committed by
these groups that is encouraged or ordered by state authorities is attributable
to the state, as is any unlawful killing that results from following
Kyrgyzstani law, such as unlawful elements of the emergency decree identified
above.
As the Special Rapporteur on
extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions has noted, the “State’s role can
exist on a continuum from being non-existent; to failing effectively to prevent
the killings and prosecute perpetrators; to implied approval or tacit support
for killings; to active encouragement, including official verbal support for
killings; and overt direct State involvement, including official assistance in
the formation of vigilante groups and their activities, and official
participation or collusion in vigilante activities.” (Report of the Special Rapporteur on
extrajudicial executions to the General Assembly (A/64/187, 29 July 2009), para. 56)
End/