Domestic Violence Against and Neglect of Women and Girls with Disabilities in Kyrgyzstan
The 63-page report, “‘Abused by Relatives, Ignored by the State’: Domestic Violence against and Neglect of Women and Girls with Disabilities in Kyrgyzstan,” documents how violence by family members or partners often goes unreported and unaddressed due to widespread discrimination against people with disabilities in Kyrgyzstan, especially women and girls. Families often perceive their existence as shameful and hide them from society. Law enforcement and judicial bodies often ignore or downplay reported cases, and a shortage of shelters and other services for survivors of domestic violence who have disabilities makes it harder for them to escape abuse.
Forces from both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan committed apparent war crimes in attacks on civilians during their brief but intense armed border conflict in September 2022. The families of victims deserve justice and reparations to pave the way for a rights-respecting resolution to this ongoing dispute.
Institutionalization and Barriers to Education for Children with Disabilities in Kyrgyzstan
The 74-page report, “Insisting on Inclusion: Institutionalization and Barriers to Education for Children with Disabilities in Kyrgyzstan,” documents how children are frequently denied quality, inclusive education, in which children with and without disabilities study together in mainstream schools. Children with disabilities are subject to discriminatory government evaluations that often lead to segregation in special schools or at home, Human Rights Watch found. Kyrgyzstan ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2019.
This report finds that in some cases, suspects are charged for possessing material that the authorities classified as extremist only after their arrests. Several suspects told Human Rights Watch that police and security agents had planted the material during searches, then demanded payoffs to end investigations. Some said law enforcement officials tortured them to extract confessions.
This 98-page report documents obstacles to accessing help or justice in cases of severe domestic abuse. Despite a 2003 domestic violence law, which guarantees survivors’ rights to protection, social services, and redress, Human Rights Watch’s report exposes gaps in state response to domestic violence, including police refusing to register or investigate complaints, police and courts failing to issue or enforce protection orders, and courts and prosecutors treating domestic violence as a minor offense carrying light penalties.
Police Violence Against Gay and Bisexual Men in Kyrgyzstan
This 65-page report found that gay and bisexual men have been subjected to a range of abuses at the hands of police in Kyrgyzstan, including physical, sexual, and psychological violence; arbitrary detention; and extortion under the threat of violence or of exposing victims’ sexual orientation to friends and family.
Kyrgyzstan’s Flawed Investigations and Trials on the 2010 Violence
This report concludes that criminal investigations into the 2010 violence have been marred by widespread use of arbitrary arrests and ill-treatment, including torture.
Interethnic Violence in Southern Kyrgyzstan and its Aftermath
This 91-page report states that some government forces acted, knowingly or unwittingly, to facilitate attacks on ethnic Uzbek neighborhoods in the violence in southern Kyrgyzstan in June 2010. Local law enforcement agencies also failed to provide appropriate protection to the Uzbek community.
Violence Against Lesbians, Bisexual Women, and Transgender Men in Kyrgyzstan
Violence against women is a nationwide crisis in Kyrgyzstan. But women who are attracted to other women, or who violate rigid gender roles defining how a woman should look or behave, may be singled out for violent retaliation. Moreover, the government ignores their needs—and denies their very existence.
In this 10-page briefing paper, Human Rights Watch articulates how the European Union should make respect for human rights an integral part of its new Central Asia strategy. The strategy, an initiative of the German EU Presidency, replaces years of an uncoordinated approach by the European Union to the five Central Asian countries, which were once part of the Soviet Union.
State Failure to Stop Domestic Abuse and Abduction of Women in Kyrgyzstan
This 140-page report concludes that although Kyrgyzstan has progressive laws on violence against women, police and other authorities fail to implement them. As a result, women remain in danger and without access to justice.
The Kyrgyz government’s human rights record has steadily deteriorated during the past several years. Human Rights Watch has documented serious rights violations, particularly in the areas of political participation, freedom of assembly, and freedom of expression. Local rights groups in particular have exposed serious violations of fundamental rights.
Akaev won the presidency of independent Kyrgyzstan in 1991 and consolidated power through a presidential referendum in 1994. Akaev was re-elected to his second term of office in 1995. Despite a constitutional provision limiting the head of state to two terms in office, Akaev ran for president again in 2000.
For much of the 1990's Kyrgyzstan was described as an "island of democracy" in a region with corrupt and repressive political leaders. But after the country's first decade of independence following the breakup of the Soviet Union, its government, under President Askar Akaev, appeared to tighten its grip on power at the expense of fundamental rights.
