An unofficial source reports that Batyrbek Kyyazov and Taalaibek Kalmatov, both herdsmen in their twenties, were sentenced to death at the beginning of 1991 by the regional court in Osh. They had reportedly been convicted of murdering three people during an outbreak of ethnic violence between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in Osh Region in 1990. Both men deny the charges and their supporters claim that there were no witnesses to the murders in question. Their sentences were upheld on appeal by the Kyrgyzstan Supreme Court in January 1992; they are now awaiting consideration of their clemency petitions. The two men are currently on death row at an investigation prison in Bishkek. AI is appealing to the Kyrgyz authorities to commute the sentences.
