Bir Duino team appreciates the initiative taken by six Members of the "Renew Europe" Group in the European Parliament
Май 20.2020Mr Marat Zhamankulov
Minister of Justice of the Kyrgyz Republic
ep@minjust.gov.kg
Brussels, 15 May 2020
Dear Minister,
On 13 May 2020, the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan upheld the life sentence of journalist and prominent human rights defender Azimjan Askarov.
We deeply regret this decision and ask the Kyrgyz authorities to immediately release Mr Askarov on humanitarian grounds. Mr Askarov is a 69-year old Kyrgyz citizen and ethnic Uzbek, who has been suffering for years from deteriorating health, including cardiac and respiratory problems. He did not receive appropriate medical care while in detention and is today at a
high-risk of being severely affected by Covid-19.
We have closely followed the case since Mr Askarov’s first conviction in September 2010 on charges of allegedly organising mass riots and involvement in the killing of a policeman during the ethnic tensions in southern Kyrgyzstan in June that same year. Before his arrest, Mr Azimjan Askarov had spent more than 10 years documenting cases of police brutality and mistreatment of prisoners in his hometown of Bazar-Korgon.
In March 2016, the UN Human Rights Committee declared that the Kyrgyz authorities had “arbitrarily detained, held in inhumane conditions, tortured and mistreated, and prevented [Askarov] from adequately preparing his trial defence.” and that his human rights had therefore been violated under a number of articles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In addition, Mr Askarov’s allegations of torture while in pre-trial detention have never been properly investigated. On 9 May 2020, an amnesty has been granted to hundreds of prisoners to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of the Great Patriotic War and the 2010 People’s Revolution. We welcome this decision but regret that Mr Askarov’s case has not been considered relevant.
The European Parliament has raised its concerns about the case of Mr Askarov on numerous occasions and in particular in its recommendation of 15 January 2019 and its resolution of 15 January 2015.
We therefore reiterate our call on the Kyrgyz authorities to ensure that human rights defender Askarov, and other individuals detained without sufficient legal basis, are immediately released. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the increased risk it poses to incarcerated elder prisoners with underlying health conditions, we hope that Kyrgyzstan will hear our appeal and commit to the principles enshrined in the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the Kyrgyz Republic.
Yours sincerely,
Atidzhe Alieva-Veli MEP
Vice-Chair of the EP delegation to Central Asia
Ilhan Kyuchyuk MEP
Renew Europe Vice-Coordinator on Foreign Affairs Committee
Soraya Rodríguez MEP
Renew Europe Coordinator on Human Rights Subcommittee
Petras Auštrevičius MEP
Renew Europe Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee
Javier Nart MEP
Renew Europe Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee
Engin Eroglu MEP
Renew Europe Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee
CC: H.E. Mr Muktar Djumaliev, Head of the Kyrgyz Mission to the European Union