Human rights activists call actions of Tajik security officials war crime

Expert group of Bir Duino Kyrgyzstan human rights center drew up a conclusion on the victims of the armed conflict at the Kyrgyz-Tajik border on April 28-29. They visited Batken region to document the facts of a war crime against peaceful citizens of Kyrgyzstan.

Facts from three focus groups of victims have been collected. The first includes civilians, there are 10 of them, two of them are disabled for health reasons, forcibly captured and tortured at Gafurov District Department of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan. They were assisted in filling out the Istanbul Protocol. Legal support for torture victims is provided by the lawyers of Bir Duino Kyrgyzstan. The victims were transported to Bishkek for effective medical and psychological assistance.

The experts also collected materials on women and children who were injured during shelling and attacks by the Tajik military on the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic.

In total, 190 Kyrgyzstanis suffered in the border conflict, 36 people were killed, including children. More than 40,000 people have been evacuated from the conflict zone.