From 28 April to 1 May 2021, an armed confrontation took place on the border territory between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. To collect and document the facts of human rights violations, from 4 to 6 May 2021 the expert working group of Bir Duino - Kyrgyzstan, together with the NGO Ensan Diamond, the Union of Cinematographers of the KR, with the information support of the Public TV and Radio Broadcasting Yntymak, visited 17 villages of the Batken region, located in the conflict zone.

According to official data, as a result of the armed aggression, the number of Kyrgyzstan citizens killed reached 36, including a boy born in 2016 and a girl born in 2008. Tajik authorities have officially announced that 19 people died and 88 were injured. 44,651 citizens of Kyrgyzstan (27,136 of them were children) and about 15,000 residents of Tajikistan were evacuated from the conflict zone, dozens of residential buildings and institutions were destroyed.[1]

On 28 May 2021, 10 citizens of Kyrgyzstan were captured and subjected to torture and ill-treatment. Only on 1st May, as a result of negotiations, the prisoners were released. The facts of torture and ill-treatment were recorded in accordance with the Istanbul Protocol, while they were undergoing treatment in the BSRCTO (Bishkek Scientific Research Center of Traumatology and Orthopedics).

After the conflict, the MoI of the Kyrgyz Republic initiated 11 criminal cases on the fact of an armed conflict on the border with Tajikistan under Articles 380, 381 "Crimes Against the Peace and Security of Mankind", Article 138 "Causing Serious Harm to Health", Article 130 "Murder", Article 358 "Illegal Crossing of the State Border", Article 264 "Mass Riots", Article 244 "Hostage-taking", Article 143 "Torture", Article 144 "Torment", Article 170 "Kidnapping", Article 200 "Theft", Article 201 "Robbery" , Article 208 "Unauthorized Occupation or Seizure of Premises, Buildings or Structures", Article 210 "Destruction or Damage to Other People's Property" of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic. The law enforcement agencies of the Kyrgyz Republic are conducting a pre-trial investigation according to all of the above mentioned articles.

During the period of the conflict, FIDH and its member organizations issued a statement on the use of indiscriminate force against the civilian population and facilities. There is evidence of the use of machine guns, mortars and aircraft missiles by military personnel, which is prohibited and is a gross violation of international humanitarian law (IHL).[2]

We believe that the absence of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission has had a negative impact on documenting the true extent of human rights violations, determining the scale of the consequences of the armed aggression, the impunity of conflict participants, and the possibility of preventing subsequent clashes and conflicts in border areas of Central Asian countries.

The issue of the role of the CSTO and its participation in preventing the escalation of the conflict remains open for us, since the day before the events, on 27 April, a meeting of the CSTO Council of Ministers of Defense was held in Dushanbe, and on 29 April, a meeting of the CSTO Committee of Secretaries of Security Councils.

The Republic of Tajikistan signed and ratified the Statute of the International Criminal Court in 2001. The ratification of the Rome Statute makes it possible to use the UN legal mechanisms and extend the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court to the war crimes committed by the Tajik authorities. The actions of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Tajikistan are an armed aggression and constitute a war crime.

The Republic of Tajikistan has violated the requirements of the following international agreements and multilateral regulatory legal acts:

1. The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted in 1976,

2. Agreement on the Establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) concluded in 1991,

3. Alma-Ata Declaration of 1991 on the goals, principles and foundations of the CIS,

4. Moscow Declaration on Respect for the Sovereignty, Territorial Integrity and Inviolability of the Borders of the CIS member States adopted in 1994,

5. Agreement on the Foundations of Interstate Relations between the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Tajikistan of 1996,

6. Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms,

7. Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, adopted by the UN General Assembly resolution No. 48/104 as of 20 December 1993,

8. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, adopted by the UN General Assembly resolution No. 34/180 as of 18 December 1979,

9. Rules of international humanitarian law, which strongly condemns the commission of war crimes against humanity,

10. Principles of State and territorial integrity within the framework of multilateral agreements between the OSCE participating states,

11. The UN General Assembly Resolution No. 3093 as of 10 October 1980 on Prohibition or Restriction of the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects,

12. UN Security Council Resolution No. 1325 on the importance of the role of women in conflict prevention and resolution in order to maintain peace and security.

Therefore, it is necessary to:

• Ensure timely usage of the OSCE "Moscow Mechanism" in conflict zones and launch international mechanisms of the UN and the EU to de-escalate the conflict, preserve the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan;
• Initiate a Special OSCE Monitoring Mission to document the human rights violations during conflicts on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border in April-May 2021;
• Conduct an investigation to identify those responsible for civilian casualties, destruction of civilian objects and other violations of IHL;
• Call on Kyrgyzstan to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
• Bring to justice the law enforcement officers of the RT who abducted 10 civilians of the KR and subjected them to torture and ill-treatment in the Ghafurov District Police Department of the RT;
• Ensure the restoration of rights and the payment of adequate compensation to victims of the armed aggression on the territory of the Batken oblast of the KR.
• The OSCE should insist on changing the status of the Program Office to the OSCE Center in Bishkek, as well as opening a mission in the south of Kyrgyzstan to conduct systematic monitoring and timely response to conflicts for their peaceful settlement;
• Recommend the OSCE, taking into account new risks and disasters, to use a new concept to ensure equal participation of women in the decision-making process to prevent new conflicts and disasters.