EurasiaNet Civil Society - Kyrgyzstan: Anti-Government Protesters Seek Asylum in Jordan

CIVIL SOCIETY

KYRGYZSTAN: ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTERS SEEK ASYLUM IN JORDAN
1/22/09

Ten former residents of Nookat, the scene of unrest during a Muslim holiday in 2008, are currently in Jordan seeking asylum, a leading Kyrgyz human rights activist told EurasiaNet January 22.

Aziza Abdurasulova said the asylum seekers, mostly adult males, fled after it became apparent they would face ongoing pressure, including physical abuse, at the hands of local law enforcement agencies. Many, she claimed, had left to protect their extended families from further harassment. Abdurasulova added that the heavy-handed actions by authorities had heightened the distrust of a large segment of the local population.

Suspects questioned in the wake of the Nookat protests were subjected to torture and humiliation, Abdurasulova asserted. "I talked to a lawyer who told me outrageous things," the human rights activist said. "Arrestees were treated with shocking violence and abuse. One pregnant woman, Zaripa, who was three months along, lost her baby because of physical violence."

"Two women were shaved bald; there is no law or rule saying that women should be shaved like men. Law enforcement agencies said that they were afraid that women would hang themselves with the help of their hair. Men’s beards were burnt," she added.

Authorities maintain the 10 asylum seekers are members of the banned Hizb-ut-Tahrir underground movement, which seeks the ouster of incumbent governments in Central Asia and their replacement with an Islamic caliphate.

Thirty-two protesters received lengthy prison sentences for their alleged roles in disturbances in Nookat last October 1. Crowds threw stones at the local administration building after they were prevented from praying publicly on Eid al-Fitr, a festival marking the end of Ramadan. Several policemen were injured in scuffles.

On November 28, Nookat district court sentenced 10 protesters to 20-years in prison each, one minor to nine years and the remainder to sentences between 16 and 19-years in prison. Human rights activists have maintained that many suspects were wrongly convicted and imprisoned and have called for the creation of parliamentary committee to properly investigate events. More than 50 percent of Nookat’s residents are classed as "poor" or "extremely poor." Unemployment in the predominantly ethnic Uzbek town near Osh city in southern Kyrgyzstan runs at 36 percent.

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