Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 - Kyrgyzstan

KYRGYZ REPUBLIC

Mainly covers the period June 1998 to April 2001 as well as including some earlier information.

• Population:
  – total: 4,669,000
  – under-18s: 1,948,000
• Government armed forces:
  – active: 9,000
  – reserves: 57,000
  – paramilitary: 5,000
• Compulsory recruitment age: 18
• Voluntary recruitment age: unknown
• Child soldiers: unknown
• CRC-OP-CAC: not signed
• Other treaties ratified: CRC; GC/API+II; ILO 138

• It is not known whether there are under-18s in government armed forces due to lack of information regarding minimum recruitment age. There is potential child involvement with armed opposition groups from neighbouring Uzbekistan.

CONTEXT

In late 1999, Kyrgyzstan faced incursions by Islamist armed opposition groups believed to be linked to armed groups in neighbouring Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan.¹⁰⁶⁷ Insurgents were said to belong to the banned Uzbek opposition party, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.¹⁰⁶⁸ The Kyrgyz government reacted by declaring a state of emergency and Kyrgyz forces launched an attack against the armed groups who had taken a number of civilians hostage.¹⁰⁶⁹ By November 1999, the insurgents had seemingly been driven out of the country.¹⁰⁷⁰ Armenia, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Uzbekistan were all reported to have provided assistance during the conflict, operating within the context of the 1992 CIS Collective Security Treaty.¹⁰⁷¹ Kyrgystan's defence budget has been almost tripled in preparation for attacks which were expected to resume in the spring of 2001. In January 2001, the governments of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan agreed to cooperate against the threat (see Uzbekistan entry).¹⁰⁷²

GOVERNMENT

National Recruitment Legislation and Practice

Article 24 of the 1993 Constitution states: "Citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic have the right and duty to defend the Motherland. Citizens perform military service within the limits and in the forms established by law".¹⁰⁷³ The legal basis of conscription is apparently the 1992 Law on general military duties as amended in 1994. All men between 18 and 27 years are liable for military service. The length of military service is 18 months, or 12 months in the case of university and college graduates.¹⁰⁷⁴ Military service can be performed either in the Kyrgyz armed forces or the Russian border guards.

The armed forces, which have been reduced in size by more than 40 per cent since independence, are in the process of undergoing substantial reform in order to become a professional army.¹⁰⁷⁵ Draft evasion and desertion are reportedly widespread due to poor conditions and ill-treatment within the armed forces.¹⁰⁷⁶

There have been no reports of under-18s into the Kyrghyz armed forces, which reliable sources have confirmed.¹⁰⁷⁷

OPPOSITION

Child Recruitment

The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan is believed to number around 5,000 fighters.¹⁰⁷⁸ Uzbek Islamist armed groups are believed to recruit boys under 18 and it is possible that children have been involved in recent incursions and fighting (see Uzbekistan entry).

1067 HRW Report 2000; RB, www.rb.se; "Kyrgyzstan declares emergency after clash with kidnappers", CNN, 26/8/99; "Kyrgyz troops move against guerrillas", BBC, 25/8/99.

1068 "Uzbekistan voices security concerns", BBC Monitoring Service, 19/11/99.

1069 CNN, 26/8/99 op. cit.

1070 "Kyrgyzstan ends operation against rebels", BBC Monitoring Service, 22/11/99.

1071 Ibid.

1072 Economist, 7/1/01.

1073 Blaustein and Flanz op. cit.

1074 Horeman and Stolwijk op. cit; UNICEF confirmed that the minimum age for conscription is 18 years in information provided on 10/6/99.

1075 "Kyrgyzstan needs solid, mobile and professional army, Defence Minister says", BBC Monitoring Service, 5/2/00; also www.rb.se.

1076 Horeman and Stolwijk op. cit.

1077 Information provided by reliable source that requests confidentiality, 3/00.

1078 www.rb.se.