URGENT APPEAL - THE OBSERVATORY
New information
KGZ 001 / 0315 / OBS 025.1
Judicial harassment
Kyrgyzstan
April 14, 2015
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Kyrgyzstan.
New information:
The Observatory has been informed about the ongoing harassment of the human rights organisation Bir Duino Kyrgyzstan.
According to the information received, on April 6 and 8, the brother and father of human rights defender Mr. Khusanbay Saliev, lawyer at the Osh office of Bir Duino, who has been working on the violations committed during the Osh events in June 2010, and in particular on a case of corruption in the South involving a security service official, were summoned for questioning to the Department of the State Committee of National Security in the city of Osh. Both were questioned without legal basis for the second time since March 27, 2015.
Furthermore, the Observatory regrets that the documentation regarding over one hundred cases together with electronic equipment confiscated as a result of the search in organisation’s Osh Chapter on March 27, 2015 have not yet been returned to the organisation.
Finally, the Observatory notes that on April 8, 2015 Bir Duino filed urgent appeals to the State Committee of National Security and its Anti-corruption Agency calling to take immediate actions to stop the judicial harassment of Bir Duino. It argued that the search violated the “Law on the Practice of Law”of the Kyrgyz Republic protecting lawyers from any arbitrary interference in their professional activity. In particular, Article 29.5 of the aforementioned law allows for confiscation of information on a criminal case only if a lawsuit was previously finedagainst the lawyer in question. The day the Osh City Court issued its order to search Bir Duino premises and the residences of Mr. Vakhitov and Mr. Saliev, neither of the two lawyers were accused in a lawsuit. Therefore, Bir Duino filed a complaint before the Osh Regional Сourt to challenge the lawfulness of the searches.
The Observatory expresses is deep concern for the harassment of human rights lawyers in Kyrgyzstan, and calls the Osh Regional Court to examine independently the legal complaint filed by Bir Duino.
The Observatory calls also on the authorities to put an end to any act of harassment, including at the judicial level, against members of Bir Duino as well as against all human rights defenders in Kyrgyzstan, and to conform in all circumstances with the Kyrgyz Constitution as well as with international obligations of Kyrgyzstan, including the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.
Background information:
On March 27, 2015, at 4.20 pm, officers from the Osh Office of the State Committee of National Security (SCNS) came into the premises of the Osh office of Bir Duino, on the basis of a court decision issued on March 26 within the framework of the criminal case against Mr. Umar Faruk, a US journalist, under Article 13 of the Penal Code (“countering extremism activity by confiscating forbidden material of religious character”) by Judge K. M. Matisakov sitting at the Osh City Court.
On that occasion, the officers from the SCNS seized computers, material related to criminal cases and USB drives containing working documents on human rights issues. Four staff members were in the Bir Duino office at that moment. Subsequently, a number of colleagues, partners, human rights lawyers, as well as a representative of the Ombudsman office of the Osh region and a member of Parliament, Ms. Alnura Altinaeva, came on the spot, but were denied access to the premises.
SCNS officers also searched and seized material at the place of residence of two lawyers, Mr. Valerian Vakhitov and Mr. Khusanbay Saliev, both members of the Osh office of Bir Duino, who have been working on the violations committed during the Osh events in June 2010, and notably on the case of human rights defender Azimjan Askarov, a well-known ethnic Uzbek defender and Director of the human rights organisation “Vozdukh” (Air), who was found guilty of killing a policeman during violent clashes between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in the south of Kyrgyzstan, following an unfair and politically motivated trial. During those searches, books and USB drives were notably seized.
On March 28, 2015, the lawsuit against Mr. Umar Faruk, a US journalist, was examined as an administrative case and resulted in Mr. Faruk deportation from Kyrgyzstan.
The above-mentioned searches and confiscations were carried out on the basis of an illegal judicial decision. Article 13 of the Criminal Code indeed provides for a clear procedure before material of so-called “extremist” character can be seized: the Prosecutor must send a request to the judge, who must in turn convey the request to the Ministry of Justice. If the Ministry of Justice considers that the material in question can have an “extremist” character, it must publish the list of the documents in question, before the latter can be seized. In the present case, none of these procedures were respected. In addition, the seizure of material at the place of residence of Messrs. Vakhitov and Saliev violates another piece of Kyrgyz legislation guaranteeing the immunity of professional documents of lawyers.
The Observatory recalls that this was not the first time that Bir Duino and its representatives are facing harassment. In December 2013, unknown perpetrators had broken into the Bishkek office of Bir Duino and stolen some money as well as the video surveillance camera and five laptops that contained many key data of the organisation. In addition, in July 2013, unknown perpetrators had already broken into the second Bir Duino Bishkek office on Juvenile Justice, and stolen two computers and data on human rights issues [1]. Bir Duino staff members and Director, Ms. Tolekan Ismailova, have also been judicially harassed and slandered on several occasions [2].
Actions requested :
i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Messrs. Valerian Vakhitov and Khusanbay Saliev, as well as of his father and brother, and of all human rights defenders in Kyrgyzstan;
ii. Immediately and unconditionally return the confiscated equipment and material to their owners, and notably to Messrs. Valerian Vakhitov and Khusanbay Saliev;
iii. Put an end to all acts of harassment, including at the judicial level, against all human rights lawyers and defenders in Kyrgyzstan;
iv. Comply with all the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, in particular with:
– its Article 1, which provides that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”;
– its Article 5 (a): “For the purpose of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, at the national and international levels (a) To meet or assemble peacefully”;
v. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments ratified by Kyrgyzstan.
Addresses :
· Mr. Almazbek Atambaev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Chuy Ave, 205, Bishkek,
Kyrgyzstan Tel: +996 312 63 91 17, Fax: + 996312626191
· Mr. Melis Turganbayev, Minister of Internal Affairs, Frunze st. 469, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Tel: 0996 312 66 24 50, Fax: + 996312682044 / + 996312623853, email: pressa226@mvd.kg
· Ms. Aida Salyanova, General Prosecutor of KGZ, Fax: +996312661734
· Permanent Mission of Kyrgyzstan to the United Nations in Geneva, Rue Maunoir 26/Rue du Lac 4-6, 1207 Geneva, Switzerland, Email: kyrgyzmission@bluewin.ch, Fax: +41 22 707.92.21
· State Committee of National Security, Erkindik blvd 70, Bishkek 720040, Kyrgyzstan, tel: (0 312) 66-04-75, fax: (0 312) 66-00-24
· Embassy of Kyrgyzstan in Brussels, 47 rue de l’Abbaye, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium, Tel: + 32 2 640 18 68 / + 32 2 640 38 83, Fax: + 32 2 640 01 31, Email: aitmatov@infonie.be
Please also write to diplomatic representations of Kyrgyzstan in your respective countries.
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Paris-Geneva, April 14, 2015
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.