Urgent Action In Focus: November 2005: Blood on the streets: the aftermath of the killings in Andizhan

Index Number: ACT 60/024/2005
Date Published: 1 November 2005

This document considers the events of 13th May 2005 when a group of unidentified armed men broke into the jail in Andizhan and reportedly freed several hundred prisoners. Later thousands of civilians gathered to speak out against poverty and to demand justice. Security forces shot indiscriminately at the crowd. The government has tried to prevent information that contradicts their official version from reaching the outside world. Human rights defenders have been charged with criminal offences for exercising their right to freedom of expression. Hundreds of people have sought refuge in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, where they are not necessarily safe.