[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 34 (Thursday, March 21, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E430-E431]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               KYRGYZSTAN'S RELEASE OF AZIMBEK BEKNAZAROV

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 20, 2002

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, yesterday authorities in 
Kyrgyzstan released Azimbek Beknazarov, a parliamentarian who had been 
in jail since January 5. The decision was made after disturbances in 
the Ak-Su District of Jalal-Abad, Mr. Beknazarov's native region in 
southern Kyrgyzstan. In an unprecedented outburst of violence on March 
17, six people were killed and scores wounded when police opened fire 
on demonstrators. Mr. Beknazarov has pledged not to leave the area and 
his trial has been postponed indefinitely while the authorities and the 
public catch their breath and reassess the situation.
  The incident and the events leading up to it are alarming--not only 
for Kyrgyzstan but for the United States, which is now basing troops in 
the country and expects to be in the region for the foreseeable future. 
Despite attempts by some Kyrgyz officials to pin the blame on a mob of 
demonstrators fired up by alcohol, the real cause of the bloody riot 
was popular discontent with an unresponsive government reaching the 
boiling point.
  Kyrgyz authorities have accused Mr. Beknazarov of improperly handling 
a murder case when he was an investigator in a district prosecutor's 
office years ago. In fact, it is widely believed that Beknazarov's real 
transgression was to suggest that Kyrgyzstan's parliament discuss the 
country's border agreement with China, which would transfer some 
territory from the tiny Central Asian state to its giant neighbor.
  This is reflective of Akaev's intensified efforts to consolidate his 
power while cracking down on dissent and opposition. In February 2000, 
President Akaev rigged the parliamentary election to keep his main 
rival--Felix Kulov, who had served as Vice President and in other high-
level positions--from winning a seat in the legislature. The 
observation mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in 
Europe (OSCE) openly questioned the results in Kulov's district, and 
said the election had fallen far short of international standards. 
Subsequently, Kulov was arrested and could not participate in the 
October 2000 presidential election, in which Akaev faced no serious 
contenders and was easily re-elected.
  Kulov is serving a 7-year jail term and now faces new criminal 
charges. Amnesty International considers him a political prisoner. Last 
December I chaired a hearing of the Helsinki Commission which focused 
on the deterioration of human rights in Kyrgyzstan. Mr. Kulov's wife 
was able to attend the hearing and offered her perspective on the 
current political climate in her country.
  The independent and opposition media in Kyrgyzstan have also been 
under severe pressure, usually in the form of libel cases which 
official authorities use to fine newspapers out of existence so they 
cannot report on corruption. In January 2002, the authorities issued 
Decree No. 20, which would introduce mandatory official inventory and 
government registration of all typographical and printing equipment, 
while imposing stricter controls on its imports. Decree No. 20 would 
also threaten U.S. Government plans to establish an independent 
printing press in Kyrgyzstan. Furthermore, the decree will be used 
against religious groups, both Muslim and Christian, by blocking their 
ability to produce religious material and by calling for an 
``auditing'' of all religious communities that create publications. 
While the pretext of the decree is to combat ``religious extremists,'' 
the decree has clear implications for religious communities out of 
favor with the government, as well as with opposition groups. The State 
Department has urged Kyrgyzstan to repeal Decree No. 20 but so far, 
Bishkek has stubbornly refused.
  So when legislator Azimbek Beknazarov was arrested on January 5, his 
colleagues in parliament, members of opposition parties and human 
rights activists reacted strongly to the latest step in an ongoing 
campaign to clamp down on civil society. Since January, hundreds of 
people, including parliamentarians, have gone on hunger strikes to 
demand his release. Protests and demonstrations have continued 
throughout, which the police have either ignored or roughly dispersed. 
The U.S. Government, the OSCE and international human rights groups 
have called for Beknazarov's release, but President Akaev, hiding 
behind the fig leaf of ``executive non-interference in judicial 
deliberations,'' contends that the case must be decided by the courts. 
His position is an absurd pretense in a country where the courts are 
under state influence, especially in sensitive political cases. More to 
the point, this stance is simply no longer credible, considering the 
widespread belief that Beknazarov's imprisonment was politically 
motivated and the public's lack of confidence in the government's good 
faith.
  Finally, pent-up tensions exploded two days ago, when demonstrators 
and police clashed, with tragic consequences. Kyrgyz officials have 
accused organizers of unauthorized pickets and rallies of 
responsibility for the violence. In an address to the nation, President 
Akaev described the events as ``an apparent plot [in which] a group of 
people, including prominent politicians, staged unauthorized mass 
rallies simultaneously.'' He said the events were ``another move in the 
targeted activities of opposition forces to destabilize the situation 
in the country. They have been engaged in these activities for the last 
few years.''
  Mr. Speaker, I would contend that the riots in Jalal-Abad Region were 
the predictable outcome of frustration and desperation. Askar Akaev, by 
falsifying elections and repressing freedom of expression, has made 
normal politics impossible in Kyrgyzstan. A long-suffering populace, 
which has seen its living standard plummet while corrupt officials grow 
rich, has signaled that enough is enough. The authorities have heard 
the message and now have to make a critical decision: either to try to 
find a common language with society or to crack down. If they choose 
the former, Kyrgyzstan may yet realize its promise of the early 1990s; 
if they choose the latter, more confrontations are likely, with 
unpredictable ramifications for Kyrgyzstan and its neighbors.
  The United States has a real stake in the outcome. We are in Central 
Asia to make sure terrorists cannot use the region to plan attacks on 
us or recruit new members. But all the region's states are led by men 
determined to stay in power indefinitely. This means they cannot allow 
society to challenge the state, which, in turn, insures that 
discontented, impoverished people with no other outlets could well be 
attracted by radical ideologies.
  We must make it plain to President Akaev that we are serious when we 
declare that our war on terrorism has not put democracy and human 
rights on the back burner. And we must insist that he implement his 
OSCE commitments, as well as the pledge he made in last month's 
bilateral Memorandum of Understanding with the United States. That 
document obligates Kyrgyzstan to ``confirm its commitment to continue 
to take demonstrable measures to strengthen the development of 
democratic institutions and to respect basic human and civil rights, 
among which are freedom of speech and of the media, freedom of 
association and public assembly, and freedom of religion.''
  The events earlier this week have given us a wake-up call. We had 
better understand properly all its implications.

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