Human Rights Watch (HRW) calls for immediate release of the detained human rights defender Rita Karasartova in Kyrgyzstan.
A search was conducted in Rita Karasartova’s house on April 14 at 9 p.m., after which she was placed in the temporary detention center of the Department of Internal Affairs of Issyk-Ata district for 48 hours. A few hours before this, Rita Karasartova published a letter from an activist Tilekmat Kurenov on her Facebook account.
On April 14, the police detained suspects in complicity in organizing mass riots. The Department of Internal Affairs of Chui region noted that among those arrested was a cameraman-editor who, for a certain amount, edited provocative video messages with the participation of Tilekmat Kurenov and other persons, which were subsequently distributed through fake accounts on social media.
«It seems that authorities detained Karasartova not based on evidence of criminal wrongdoing, but because she published a letter and is allegedly close to other suspects,» said Syinat Sultanalieva, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. «She should be freed immediately and no charges should be pursued against her.»
HRW also appealed to Kyrgyzstan’s international partners to urge the country’s authorities to release Karasartova and not to pursue any charges against her, as well as urge the authorities to provide information on Kurenov’s whereabouts and to ensure that he is immediately brought before an independent judge and accorded his full due process rights, including access to a lawyer of his choosing and an independent medical exam.
«Kyrgyz authorities should uphold their international human rights obligations and release Karasartova immediately. Criticizing the authorities is not a call for mass disorder, but the exercise of a fundamental human right that Kyrgyz authorities need to respect and protect,» Syinat Sultanalieva said.
