The Kyrgyz Republic runs a parliamentary system of Government that limits the presidential power and enhance the role of parliament and prime minister.

In a USA Department of State reports, it was reported that the authorities of Kyrgyz Republic failed at times to maintain effective control over security forces, particularly in the south of the country where instances of human right abuses were committed by the security forces[1].

Due to the past ethnic unrest in the country, the majority of the human right abuse was as a result of ethnic tensions in the south of Kyrgyz. Denial of due process, lack of accountabilities in judiciary and law enforcement proceedings, use of arbitrary arrest by the law enforcement officials, mistreatment torture and extortion against the Uzbeks are the most popular sources of human right abuse in the country.

It was reported by BBC that Azimzhan Askarov who is an ethnic of Uzbek was found guilty of inciting ethnic hatred during a deadly violence in the southern city of Osh in earlier 2010. Askarov trail was well reported as an unfounded ruling and his criminal case was fabricated even as Transparency International confirmed and claimed that Askarov collected evidence that implicated the police in the violence of 2010[2].

Furthermore, Human Rights Watch described disturbing scenes from the trial of Askarov as his lawyer was physically attacked while the police watched the scene[3]. Also, one of the prominent local activist Sardar Bagshibekov told Reuters that the trial was “very biased, heavily dominated by the prosecution. Strong pressure was put on defense lawyers and the accused”[4].

In 2015 Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) in Warsaw where the coalition of NGOs against torture in Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan raised concerns on torture in the three countries. It was reported that the three countries lack of effective investigations into the allegations of torture remains a problem which perpetuates a vicious circle of torture and impunity[5].

Due to the intervention of the coalition of NGOs against torture, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have made significant progress regarding the implementation of the standard contained in the Istanbul Protocol in recent years by obliging employees of the respective Ministry of Health to abide by the standard of Istanbul Protocol when examining the detainees and documenting their findings. The NGO coalitions against torture in the two countries are currently monitoring the situation to assess the impact of these recent steps.

Though there has been some dialogue on the human right abuses and torture in Kyrgyzstan, there is still a lot to achieve as the Human Right Watch (HRW) reported in their 2016 Human right report of the country.

Furthermore, the HRW reported that there were few meaningful improvements in Kyrgyzstan human right record of 2016 as authorities have failed to implement a March 2016 decision of the UNHRC calling for the immediate release of the human right defender Azimzhan Askarov. In conclusion, the HWR reported that the government did not take any steps to provide justice for the victims of interethnic violence of 2010. Impunity for ill-treatment and torture remains the norm and violence & discrimination against women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people still continues[6].

Footnotes:

[1] http://photos.state.gov/libraries/kyrgyzrepulic/788/docs/kyrgyz-republic-2013-human-rights-report.pdf

[2] http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-11326361

[3] https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/01/24/kyrgyzstan-travesty-justice-rights-defender

[4] http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-51515820100915

[5] http://iphronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ENG-Freedom-from-Torture-Newsletter-5-November-2015.pdf

[6] https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2017/country-chapters/kyrgyzstan