The investigation by Kyrgyz authorities into the recent attack on human rights activist Edil Baisalov must be thorough, independent and capable of leading to prosecution, Human Rights Watch said today. An unidentified man wounded Baisalov in the back of the head at around 6 p.m. on Wednesday, several days after Baisalov had led a demonstration to protest organized crime.
“This is a shocking attempt on the life of a respected human rights defender and champion of the rule of law,” said Holly Cartner, director of the Europe and Central Asia division at Human Rights Watch. “The government of Kyrgyzstan must bring the perpetrator to justice and show that such violence will not be tolerated.”
The attack occurred as Baisalov, head of an election monitoring group, was leaving his office, located across the street from the Office of the Prosecutor General. The Ministry of Health stated yesterday that Baisalov sustained a closed cerebral fracture, concussion, and a contusion, and said that he was in “relatively satisfactory” condition. Doctors are conducting tests to determine whether he was shot or struck with a blunt instrument.
Baisalov is the head of the Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society and has been an outspoken critic of organized crime and corruption. On April 8 he led an estimated 2,000 people in a peaceful march that called for law and order in the country and protested the growth of organized crime and attempts by criminal groups to gain access to political power.
The Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society planned to hold a series of public meetings throughout the country at the end of April to call on the government to take action against organized crime and carry out reforms, including constitutional reform and reform of the country’s law enforcement agencies. The group had also just finished monitoring the April 9 by-elections in three districts to fill vacant seats in Kyrgyzstan’s parliament.
Kyrgyz Prime Minister Feliks Kulov visited Baisalov in the hospital and decried the attack as politically motivated. Numerous civil society groups have also denounced the attack. The Bishkek city prosecutor, Uchkun Karimov, has launched a criminal investigation.
“Speaking out against corruption and organized crime is risky work, but Edil Baisalov has been determined to fight these ills and improve the situation in Kyrgyzstan,” said Cartner. “He should be commended and supported for his courage.”
Baisalov had expressed his concern to Human Rights Watch in past months that the government’s failure to take action to stop organized crime and hold members of crime syndicates accountable sent a signal that members of criminal groups could act with impunity. He said this made human rights defenders who had spoken out against such criminality particularly vulnerable to retaliation, and expressed concern that he and others would be targeted for attack.
The Kyrgyzstan Bureau on Human Rights and Rule of Law, a non-governmental human rights group, said that a number of persons close to Baisalov reported that his organization had asked law enforcement agencies to provide him protection following the April 8 demonstration, but that authorities turned down the request. They said that only after the attack were Special Forces officers assigned to guard Baisalov’s hospital room.
Shootings allegedly related to organized crime are not uncommon in Kyrgyzstan.
