OSCE joins UN call to free Kyrgyz rights defender
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 22 April 2016 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, OSCE joins UN call to free Kyrgyz rights defender, 22 April 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5769004b15.html [accessed 31 May 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. |
April 22, 2016
By RFE/RL
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has joined the April 21 call by the UN for Kyrgyz authorities to free a jailed rights activist.
In his statement on April 22, the ODIHR Director Michael Georg Link welcomed the UN Human Rights Committee's decision on Azimjan Askarov's complaint.
"Kyrgyzstan now has an opportunity to correct this injustice, restoring both Mr. Askarov's rights and its national human rights record in this regard," Link said.
Askarov, a Kyrgyz national of Uzbek origin, is serving a life sentence after being convicted of involvement in organizing deadly clashes between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in southern Kyrgyzstan in 2010 and in the murder of a policeman who was killed during the violence.
More than 450 people, mostly ethnic Uzbeks, were killed in the clashes.
Askarov says he is innocent and that his conviction was retaliation for his human rights activism.
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
