“Tradition” Is No Excuse, Daily Brief September 17, 2024

Aizada Kanatbekova was abducted in broad daylight in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Two days later, the 27-year-old woman was found strangled to death outside the city.

She’d been snatched by a group of people led by a man intent on forcing her to marry him.

The police response was rotten, as it too often is in these cases of “bride kidnapping” in Kyrgyzstan. A witness told police about the abduction, and police also had access to street camera footage. The Bishkek city police claimed they were conducting a nonstop search, but regional police offices outside Bishkek knew nothing about it.

This was all more than three years ago, but to this day, police officials continue to evade accountability for inaction that may have contributed to the death of Kanatbekova at the hands of her “bride kidnapper.” Just last week, the Bishkek City Court upheld the acquittal of the police chief at the time, rejecting charges of negligence in Kanatbekova’s death.

Bride kidnapping – that is, abducting women for forced marriage – is illegal in Kyrgyzstan. However, like so much gender-based violence in the country, it continues to be a grave problem, because the authorities are not taking it seriously enough.

The national security agency has pledged to address it, but law enforcement officers are generally indifferent to cries for help from women facing horrific abuse. Officials have ignored shocking cases of women being kicked in the head, burned, having their ears and nose cut off, or stabbed to death in police stations after being left alone with their kidnapper.

I remember hearing about these “bride kidnappings” when I first went to Kyrgyzstan 30 years ago. I expressed shock, but people told me it was “tradition.” I fear some still think this way.

The word “tradition” is so often used to try to defend human rights abuses – not just in Central Asia – and it unfortunately sounds convincing to some people.

To some brought up inside the culture, it enforces the idea things are timeless and can’t change. To many outside the culture, there’s a fear of appearing like you’re criticizing the customs of others and opening yourself to charges of xenophobia.

So, many keep silent, pretending to believe what’s clearly wrong is perfectly normal in the local context. And referring to “tradition” becomes the standard excuse for horrific abuses to continue.

But, as with many such issues, you start to understand things clearly when you listen to the victims. Ask the person who’s been tortured for their beliefs. Ask the person thrown in prison for being who they are. Ask the family and friends of the person abducted and murdered.

They’ll tell you it’s not their “tradition.” It’s a crime. And authorities should be taking it seriously.