48
Concerns in Europe: January - June 2001
AI Index: EUR 01/003/2001
Amnesty International September 2001
chairwoman of Nuzugum Foundation which she set up
to provide assistance to ethnic Uighur women and
children from XUAR and Central Asia. She was also
a member of the Germany-based Permanent
Committee of the East Turkestan National Congress,
an organization campaigning for the independence of
XUAR. She played an active role in defending the
rights of ethnic Uighurs: following the September
2000 police operation in Almaty, she provided care
and assistance to the wife and children of one of the
men killed, after China requested the wife’s
extradition. More recently Dilbirim Samsakova
travelled to Osh in Kyrgyzstan to assist four ethnic
Uighur men from XUAR who had been charged with
terrorism and murder in relation to a 1998 bomb
explosion in Osh which killed four people. She acted
as translator and legal adviser for the accused during
a retrial in March (see entry on Kyrgyzstan for further
information).
K Y R G Y Z S T A N
Prisoner of Conscience Topchubek Turgunaliev
(update to AI Index: EUR 01/001/2001)
On 20 March the Supreme Court turned down
Topchubek Turgunaliev’s appeal against his
September 2000 conviction, and upheld the November
2000 decision by Bishkek City Court to reduce his 16-
year prison sentence to six years on appeal.
In January Topchubek Turgunaliev was moved
from the custody of the Ministry of National Security
(MNS) to the prison hospital in colony number 47
outside Bishkek, reportedly to receive treatment for a
deteriorating heart condition. He continued to serve
his sentence in labour colony number 36 in Novo-
Pokrovka outside Bishkek.
In September 2000 Topchubek Turgunaliev, a
former prisoner of conscience, leader of the
opposition Erkindik (Liberty) party and chairman of
the independent human rights organization Guild of
Prisoners of Conscience, was sentenced to 16 years’
imprisonment with confiscation of property. He was
convicted and sentenced on charges alleging that he
intended to plot an attempt on the president’s life in
1999 together with seven other people. He was
arrested in the courtroom. Topchubek Turgunaliev
consistently denied the charges, and alleged that the
case against him was fabricated by the Ministry of
National Security (MNS) in order to punish him for
his peaceful opposition political activities. On 30
November 2000 President Askar Akayev signed a
decree of amnesty for five of Topchubek
Turgunaliev’s co-accused, reportedly because they
had admitted their guilt and asked for pardon.
Topchubek Turgunaliev did not qualify for the
amnesty because he refused to admit any guilt.
Harassment of Human Rights Defenders
The authorities continued to harass a number of
independent human rights organizations and several
individual human rights defenders.
Coalition of NGOs for Democracy and Civil Society
The Coalition of NGOs for Democracy and Civil
Society and its leader, Tolekan Ismailova, have
suffered continued harassment at the hands of the
authorities, especially for their activities as
independent
election
monitors
during
the
parliamentary and presidential elections. On 13 March
Tolekan Ismailova was attacked by an unknown
assailant as she left her home. She was hit over the
head and lost consciousness. Human rights sources
alleged that she had been deliberately targeted by
authorities to frighten her into stopping her activities
to promote and monitor human rights.
The Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights
(update to AI Index: EUR 01/001/2001)
The chairman of the Kyrgyz Committee for Human
Rights (KCHR), Ramazan Dyryldayev, was forced
into exile in July 2000 following repeated attempts by
local district officials in Bishkek to open a criminal
case against him. The KCHR had its registration
revoked by the Justice Ministry in September 1998,
but
following
international
protests
and
an
intervention by the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) it was finally re-
registered in August 1999. Since then the KCHR has
faced harassment from local officials, mostly over
administrative issues, with the intention of preventing
the KCHR from investigating and publicizing human
rights violations.
In March the KCHR’s property was confiscated
from their office in Bishkek.
In January Albert Korgoldoev, the KCHR
coordinator for Jalal-Abad region, was forced to go
into hiding and later secretly leave Kyrgyzstan after
the authorities issued a warrant for his arrest in
relation to a criminal case opened against him in
November 2000. He was charged with hooliganism
and accused of having assaulted a member of the
Coalition
of
Non-Governmental
and
Non-
Commercial Organizations (CNNO) during the
monitoring of the October 2000 presidential elections.
Albert Korgoldoev denied the charges and claimed
that the case was fabricated in order to punish him for
his monitoring activities during the presidential
elections. In February Albert Korgoldoev applied for
asylum in Austria.
In May plainclothes police officers reportedly
visited the home of Albert Korgoldoev’s mother and
threatened her and her family with eviction. Also in
May Eden Korgoldoev, Albert’s brother, who took
over as KCHR coordinator for Jalal-Abad region, was
accused by the Jalal-Abad authorities, together with
four other KCHR members, of “violating the
established order for organizing and conducting
gatherings,
meetings,
street
processions
and
demonstrations” for their participation in a peaceful
demonstration on 1 May. They were tried by Jalal-
Abad Court on 17 and 18 May, and sentenced to pay
large fines.