KYRGYZSTAN: Protesters and police clash as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visits the Central Asian state

Record ID: 561088

  • Title: KYRGYZSTAN: Protesters and police clash as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visits the Central Asian state
  • Date: 4th April 2010
  • Summary: BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN (APRIL 3, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS BEING DISPERSED BY POLICE ON SQUARE NEAR PARLIAMENT IN BISHKEK U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON'S WIFE ARRIVING AT PARLIAMENT/ PROTESTERS IN BACKGROUND ON SQUARE SIGN OF KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT ON WALL U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON ARRIVES AT KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON ENTERING SESSION HALL OF KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT FOR SPEECH (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON, SAYING: "I thank Kyrgyzstan for hosting the Central Asia office of the UN High Commissioner for human rights here in Bishkek and I ask for your full support. Like all 192 member states of the United Nations Kyrgyzsan will undergo a universal period review by the Human Rights Council next month. This takes your soul commitment, I look forward to a vigorous discussion of these fundamental principles." WIDE OF U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON HOLDING SPEECH MEMBERS OF KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON TAKES SEAT AFTER FINISHING HIS SPEECH
  • Embargoed: 19th April 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kyrgyzstan
  • Country: Kyrgyzstan
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA6ZQCAGDAQI0RQHI44TXTY3M2G
  • Story Text: Protesters and police clash as UN chief visits Kyrgyzstan, UN chief says "troubled" by Kyrgyz media crackdown, Kyrgyzstan accused of cracking down on independent media.
    U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Saturday he was "troubled" by a crackdown on media freedom in Kyrgyzstan as police clashed with opposition protesters during his visit to the Central Asian state.
    Seeking to draw Ban's attention to what they see as human rights violations in the former Soviet nation, protesters shouted "help us" as Ban arrived in the parliament building to make a speech. Police broke up the crowd after a brief clash.
    Ban's tour of Central Asia is being watched closely for how strongly he pushes human rights issues in the vast Muslim region run by authoritarian leaders who tolerate little dissent.
    "I thank Kyrgyzstan for hosting the Central Asia office of the UN High Commissioner for human rights here in Bishkek and I ask for your full support. Like all 192 member states of the United Nations Kyrgyzsan will undergo a universal period review by the Human Rights Council next month. This takes your soul commitment, I look forward to a vigorous discussion of these fundamental principles," said Ban Ki-moon addressing the Kyrgyz parliament.
    Although Ban is likely to stick to diplomatic language during his first tour of Central Asia, his visit has emboldened local rights defenders to speak up about problems in the region.
    On the sidelines of Ban's closed-door meeting with Foreign Minister Kadyrbek Sarbayev, a senior U.N. official told Reuters the U.N. chief had particularly stressed he was "troubled" by steps taken by the authorities to limit independent reporting.
    The U.N. official quoted Ban as telling Sarbayev: "How do I answer such questions from the media and how do you answer the world?" The official said Ban delivered a similar message in a separate meeting with President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.
    Just days before Ban's visit, Kyrgyz police seized equipment in a raid on a local television channel, effectively taking it off the air in what the opposition said was an attack on press freedom.
    Advocacy groups have accused the West of putting oil and security above democracy in its contacts with Central Asia, a region lying on vast energy reserves and serving as a transit route for supplies headed for NATO-led troops in Afghanistan.
    Outside the parliament building in the centre of the capital Bishkek, opposition and human rights defenders rallied and shouted "freedom" as Ban's motorcade arrived.
    Police pushed the crowd back and cordoned off the entire area around the parliament building.
    "We are deeply disturbed by the actions of Kyrgyz authorities to systematically unplug their citizens from independent and opposition news sources," the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement.
    Two prominent journalists were killed in the region late last year. Several independent media websites and radio stations have not been accessible in Kyrgyzstan since early March.
    Speaking in Turkmenistan on Friday, Ban said he had won human rights concessions from the Turkmen leader after urging the country to focus more on the issue on his first tour of former Soviet Central Asia.
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