KYRGYZSTAN: Continued ethnic tension in Kyrgyzstan risks fresh outbreaks of violence says U.N. Human Rights Chief, Navi Pillay
Record ID:
858221
KYRGYZSTAN: Continued ethnic tension in Kyrgyzstan risks fresh outbreaks of violence says U.N. Human Rights Chief, Navi Pillay
- Title: KYRGYZSTAN: Continued ethnic tension in Kyrgyzstan risks fresh outbreaks of violence says U.N. Human Rights Chief, Navi Pillay
- Date: 11th July 2012
- Summary: DAUGHTER IN STREET
- Embargoed: 26th July 2012 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Kyrgyzstan
- City:
- Country: Kyrgyzstan
- Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVACBKYMWT49D3OIM36ULXLIN7L4
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: Continued ethnic tension in southern Kyrgyzstan may erupt into new violence in the volatile region still healing the wounds of 2010 ethnic clashes in which hundreds were killed, U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay warned on Tuesday (July 10).
The ancient Silk Road city of Osh was the epicentre of clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks that killed nearly 500 people in June 2010.
Both sides suffered casualties during several days of violence, but ethnic Uzbeks comprise the majority of those prosecuted since, and many complain of daily harassment.
Pillay said discrimination is "particularly evident in Osh", where ethnic Uzbeks make up around 50 percent of the population, but there is not a single Uzbek judge among the judiciary. This imbalance is also reflected in many key institutions, including the police and army, she said.
During the June 2010 violence, about 75 of those killed were Uzbek, while some 77 percent of those arrested and charged with crimes relating to the violence were also Uzbek, Pillay said.
"Discrimination is particularly evident in Osh where around 50 percent of the population is of Uzbek origin but there is not a single Uzbek judge among the judiciary. I have myself heard the cries for justice from members of the affected communities who have been victimised twice, while the violence was taking place and now in its aftermath," Pillay said, reading a statement during a news conference in Bishkek.
"Continued imbalances in the treatment of various groups will simply make further outbreaks inevitable, as they feed a cycle of resentment, mistrust and prejudice on both sides," she added.
Analysts say continued ethnic tension in the overpopulated Ferghana Valley, which is shared by Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, provides a fertile field for a rise in radical Islam which defies the tenuous control of central Kyrgyz authorities.
Kyrgyz citizens said they were worried about the rise of extremism in the nation's south.
"I think the Osh situation could be repeated because these days people taking revenge has become normal. At the moment our government is not yet established and people are still angry with each other and there is a split between the north and the south. Many believers in the south have joined Hizb ut-Tahrir, especially young people," said Riskul, a resident of Narin, visiting Bishkek.
"Everyone should wish for peace or conflict between peoples will happen again from time to time. Our human rights agencies have to work hard to ensure this. We can't trust those who are deliberately agitating and provoking people. If people start to believe these provocations then these unpleasant events will happen continually," said Bishkek resident Tashtakan Makeeva.
Mainly Muslim Kyrgyzstan, is a strategic but deeply impoverished Central Asian nation of 5.5 million, neighbours China and lies along a major drug trafficking route out of Afghanistan. It hosts both U.S. and Russian military air bases. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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