AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Media Advisory

AI Index: EUR 58/009/2005 (Public)

News Service No: 178

29 June 2005

Kyrgyzstan: Refugees under threat

Interview opportunities

Hundreds of refugees from Uzbekistan, who fled to Kyrgyzstan after security forces reportedly fired on thousands of mainly unarmed and peaceful demonstrators in the city of Andizhan on 13 May 2005, may be at risk. Amnesty International is concerned that the Kyrgyz authorities may not withstand the pressure they are under from the Uzbekistani authorities to forcibly return a large number of these refugees.

On 30 June 2005, Amnesty International will present its latest report Kyrgyzstan: Refugees in need of a safe haven, to the Standing Committee of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva. The organization calls on the authorities of Kyrgyzstan to ensure that all persons recognized as refugees -- as well as those who would be at risk of serious human rights violations -- are protected from forcible return to Uzbekistan. Amnesty International also calls on the international community to ensure as a matter of urgency that all persons recognized as refugees are provided with a durable solution to their plight, including resettlement in a third country.

There are strong reasons to believe that on return to Uzbekistan the refugees would risk being subjected to grave human rights violations and flagrant denial of justice, including cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, incommunicado detention, torture and other ill-treatment, and unfair trials and for some people, even the death penalty.

For interviews, please contact in Geneva:

Areti Sianni, Amnesty International's Refugee and Migrant Rights' Coordinator

Pia Oberoi, Amnesty International's Refugee Officer

on +(41) (0) 793668168

For an electronic version of the report, Refugees in need of a safe haven, e-mail laroyo@amnesty.org

Public Document

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