Burning of scores of houses and reported use of explosive weapons with wide area effects should prompt Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to immediately investigate civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian property, with a view to holding those responsible for serious laws-of-war violations to account, and provide appropriate remedies to civilians. International Human Rights Organization Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
At least 31 people, including civilians and children, were killed and hundreds were injured in border clashes between the armed forces of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
The border incident began on April 28 near Golovnoy water distribution point in Kok-Tash village of Batken region.
Media reports indicate that all 17 houses in Kok-Terek village in Kyrgyzstan’s Batken district were burned and that other dwellings were set on fire or destroyed in several villages in Leilek district. Kyrgyz authorities said a school had been burned and that six are now being used as temporary shelters for internally displaced people.
«Both countries’ forces should avoid the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas. The laws of war, which apply to border skirmishes, require parties to the conflict to distinguish between military targets and civilian objects, including houses, schools and medical facilities that are not used for military purposes, with a view to protecting civilian lives. Indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks are prohibited,» HRW says.
Security forces from both countries should also actively prevent citizens from committing cross-border crimes against individuals and property.
May 1-2, 2021 were declared the Days of National Mourning in the Kyrgyz Republic.
