Victims of ethnic clashes in Kyrgyzstan identified in China
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 4 June 2011 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Victims of ethnic clashes in Kyrgyzstan identified in China, 4 June 2011, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4e142b09c.html [accessed 5 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
June 04, 2011
More than 400 people were killed during last year's ethnic clashes between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks.
BISHKEK – The bodies of seven people killed in ethnic clashes between local Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in Kyrgyzstan's southern Osh and Jalal-Abad regions last summer have been identified, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.
Deputy Health Minister Kasymbek Mambetov told journalists in Bishkek today that the seven were identified thanks to the work of forensic experts in China. Mambetov said the bodies will be given to the victims' relatives soon.
In late March, Health Minister Sabyrbek Jumabekov told relatives of the men and women missing since the clashes that DNA tests would be carried out in China on the remains that were still unidentified.
The Kyrgyz Health Ministry's press service told RFE/RL that Chinese officials had agreed to assist Kyrgyzstan in identifying the remains. Russia helped earlier to identify 12 bodies.
Kyrgyzstan has no laboratories equipped to carry out DNA testing.
According to the Kyrgyz Prosecutor-General's Office, 427 people were killed and about 2,000 injured in last year's violence. Thirty-three bodies remain unidentified and 23 people are still officially listed as missing.
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
