HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNED AT KYRGYZSTAN’S DEPORTATION OF UZBEK REFUGEES

10 August 2006


The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, expressed grave concern at the deportation yesterday of four Uzbek refugees and an asylum seeker by the Kyrgyz Republic. The four refugees arrived in Kyrgysztan after the violent events in the Uzbek city of Andijan in May 2005 and were detained, along with the asylum seeker, in a detention facility in Osh.

The extradition exposes them to a serious risk of being subjected to torture and is in violation of the non-refoulement principle contained in article 3 of the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to which the Kyrgyz Republic is a party.

The High Commissioner calls upon the authorities of the Kyrgyz Republic to refrain from further deportation of refugees and asylum seekers to countries where there are substantial grounds to believe that they would face an imminent risk of grave human rights violations, including torture.

The High Commissioner further calls upon the authorities of the Uzbek Republic to treat those extradited in accordance with its human rights obligations, to grant immediate access by international observers to the five detainees and to release them from detention or promptly charge and try them in accordance with international fair trial principles.