SOS from Kyrgyzstan: genocide against local uzbeks and kyrgyz people in OSH

[Franklin]

Assalamu alaykum Brothers and Sisters,

I do apologize if i am opening this thread in the wrong section.

Probably most of you already are aware of what is happening in Kyrgyzstan, Osh and Jalalabad regions. Although different news agencies reported that there were more than 100 people registered as dead, in reality the numbers are reduced many many times. According to the sufferers (we talked over the phone) who currently are in Kyrgyzstan the number of dead people is more than 2000!!! and the worst thing is, there still no military help has been sent to the local people to protect them; they are completely unarmed and helpless. Women and children are being tortured and killed violently, the houses and markets are burning. All the surrounding countries refused to help, ie they said that it's an internal problem and thus they were unable to send an army. Uzbekistan is hosting about 75000 refugees (more than 200 000 unofficially-reported by a local NGO to Economist)

In a word, we need ATTENTION and HELP in any kind. Please spread the word as far as you can. May Allah bless you for your attention and help.

Help the victims of war: make a donation to the ICRC today (Since i am not allowed to post any links please go to the website of FROM RED CROSS and select Tashkent (Regional) Kyrgyzstan program in the pull-down menu. )

A SOS letter from my friend who is in Kyrgyzstan:

SOS from Uzbek people!

The current situation in Kyrgyzstan is getting worse and worse, especially for Uzbek people. Because we are helpless, we have no guns to fight with soldiers and cruel people who are cruelly shooting local Uzbeks! Uzbek people are being beastly shot, sometimes even soldiers, militiamen are shooting only Uzbeks. May be there are some people who are hired from aside for this purpose. The army is Kyrgyz, authority is Kyrgyz, and people who are roaming in the streets and burning only Uzbek people’s houses are also Kyrgyz .We don’t say that all Kyrgyz people are cruel and bad, but we can see only them who are doing these things. Uzbeks have never said this word “Kyrgyz», but today we have to. People say that the Kyrgyz people who are killing Uzbeks aren’t local. Local people are friendly enough with each other. They work, live and have deal with each other every day. There isn’t any conflict between them. Both nationalities have neighbors, friends, and even any some relatives with each other.
There is hardly left any houses in the city which weren’t burnt. Supermarkets, shops, restaurants, cafes, mansions, houses whose owners are Uzbeks all were burnt. Even MOSQUES were burnt!
The Kyrgyzstan’s Mass Media is giving wrong information. They say that the amount of people who were died only one hundred and fourteen, but it isn’t true. Thousands of people at homes, in the mosques were shooted and killed; even they were burnt alive, were poured with petrol and were burnt. They are breaking the doors, killing the people with knives, or just locking them in their houses and burning them alive. The hospitals are overcrowded with injured people.
It is awfully cruel! The world has never seen such a scene. The town is in the ruins. The women and children who have survived or in order to survive are going to the Uzbekistan border. People say that those people who are shooting Uzbek people are under the influence of drug, alcohol or some special medicine, they are drunk. Uzbek people have sticks in the hands which are of no use when other side come in the tanks, cars or horses and begin to shoot everybody one by one. What kind of heart should people have to shoot people in such way!!!The government is saying that they are doing all possible things to stop the war, but they haven’t done anything. Because there are some people in the temporary authority, perhaps, who hates Uzbeks. And they let soldiers do everything just in order to kill all Uzbeks and have the city for them! The Kyrgyz people are crying in the streets: “Now Osh city is our!” At the walls of the streets you can see these words: “Death to Uzbeks!” The strangest fact is that, some Russian boys were told: “Go aside! We don’t shoot you!”
Believe us, most part of humanitarian aids are being given only to Kyrgyz, Uzbek people are crying “SOS” to the world. In the street roads, houses, cars, everywhere “SOS” is written, but there is nobody to help us, to give the helping hand. Only the regions, where Uzbeks live are ruined, and were killed! Isn’t there anybody, any living soul who can say “Stop! Stop killing Uzbeks!” Uzbek people are dying helpless! It is not home affair; it should be affair of the whole world. Blood calls blood. It is impossible to stop this war if you don’t help dear people, organizations, and all the Uzbek people in the world! Don’t believe Mass Media, they are all lies! Please, be honest, don’t be cruel, and don’t say: “We don’t care!” We Uzbeks also have our human rights, rights to live, to live peacefully, and at the place where we were born, i.e. in Osh. You can’t imagine how it is horrible, terrible and cruel! We need peace! We can’t understand why we are running, where we are running! It is so dreadful to live in this city, nevertheless, it is our cradle, and it is our motherland where we were born! Please, help us, help us to have peace, help us to live without horror-panic! Please, don’t let us dye helpless. We are waiting for good news, we are waiting for help from aside, and we are waiting for kind people! We are waiting for Uzbekistan, Russia, and UNO! Please, come, see, and be sure, and of course help!
Thousands of SOS Uzbek people in Osh, in Kyrgyzstan.

Thanks beforehand!

May God bless all of us!

 

[Franklin]

Organizers of violence in Southern Kyrgyzstan succeeded to certain degree in their goal to pitch Uzbeks and Kyrgyzs against each other.

We want to heal wounds. We want to restore peace and friendly relationships between ethnic Kyrgyzs and Uzbeks.

Join us in our effort.

Website: www (dot) kyrgyz-uzbek (dot) org

We are organizing fundraising events together to donate proceeds to Red Cross.

 

[Ramadhan]

Are both kygiz and uzbeks muslims?

How and why did the violence happen in the first place?

 

[Ummu Sufyaan]

How and why did the violence happen in the first place?

do inform us clueless ones.

 

[Franklin]

do inform us clueless ones.

Are both kygiz and uzbeks muslims?

How and why did the violence happen in the first place?

Thank you for your attention.

Yes, we are Muslims and have been living as neighbors in peace for a long time. Although Uzbeks make up only 15% of Kyrgyzstan’s population of 5.4m, most of them live in the southern part of the country, where they make up the majority. The Fergana Valley, where most of the killing happened, was divided arbitrarily by Stalin in the 1920s among Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. As a result, the Kyrgyz Soviet republic was left with a sizeable Uzbek population, the Uzbek Soviet republic with a Tajik population, and so on. While the Soviet Union existed and the republics were part of the same country, this made little practical difference. But when the Soviet Union fell apart, these artificially created borders became final, separating newly independent states and fomenting ethnic tensions.

The cause of the rampage involving Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks, which began in Osh, Kyrgyzstan’s second-largest city, remains unclear. Observers believe that the events were orchestrated by individuals taking advantage of long-standing tensions between the two ethnic groups. The interim government has blamed ex-president Kurmanbek Bakiyev and his supporters. It says they instigated the unrest to prevent a national referendum on its proposal for a new constitution, which was scheduled to be held on June 27th. Mr Bakiyev, who was ousted in a popular uprising in April and now lives in exile, has rejected the charge.

This wave of violence has been shaped by politics. Whatever the cause, the fighting between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks has been ferocious. Some eye witnesses say that the army, which consists mainly of ethnic Kyrgyz, has sided with its kin. Violence spread to Jalal-Abad over the weekend. Although atrocities appear to have been committed by both sides, the Kyrgyz quickly gained the upper hand. Uzbek houses have been looted and set on fire—plumes of smoke are visible for many miles around—women have reportedly been raped, and armed Kyrgyz gangs have been harassing and shooting at Uzbeks. Gas was shut off in much of Osh, as was electricity in some quarters. Shops have been ransacked and food has become scarce.

Now, the videos uploaded into youtube is being deleted for some reason, and we believe it's because the people who started it don't want to leave any evidence for their crimes. Believe me brothers and sisters, when i saw the videos and the pictures taken by eyewitnesses and sufferers i cried...still my heart is burning because still people are dying there and nobody's helping...


It is a human-rights disaster in every respect. It is a genocide against Uzbeks.

 

[جوري]

Please tell us what we can do to help.. also have you taken this case to the U.N.. it needs to be brought to world attention..

 

[Franklin]

Here is an article which might help you to get a clearer view:

Danish journalist Michael Andersen: I am ashamed that European media and politicians do not understand the tragedy in Kyrgyzstan

[Danish journalist Michael Andersen lived for many years in Central Asia and knows the situation in South Kyrgyzstan]

European media pay little attention to the tragedy in South Kyrgyzstan. They view it as an interethnic clash between nations which they know very little about. Current media interest is motivated by either national interests – European interests do not include small and poor Kyrgyzstan – or having by vivid pictures which are not widely available since Southern Kyrgyzstan cannot be easily reached by foreign correspondents. This means that in Western media, the pain and blood of Osh cannot compete with this week’s main story – the football World Cup. Danish journalist Michael Andersen informed Ferghana.Ru about the reaction of European media and politicians.

- Michael, what is the reaction of Europe and European media to the events in Kyrgyzstan?


- Unfortunately, the response is very weak. However cynical it sounds, it is summer and time for the World Cup. There are many other stories, more ‘important’ than what is happening in Osh. This is very sad and tragic: unfortunately, it is the truth. The main reason is there are no "pictures", good photos or videos – since Osh, as you know, is blocked. Without good visuals, there is very little interest. Not many Western correspondents are based in Kyrgyzstan – therefore, western media do not have their own reliable information. They copy messages from Ferghana.Ru and other agencies.



- When Russia sent tanks to South Ossetia and Abkhazia there were no western correspondents there either but they arrived shortly…


- It is sad to admit but - compared with Georgia where there were ‘strong’ videos for television, and there was "our enemy" Putin and "our friend" Saakashvili… whereas Europeans simply do not understand what is going on in Osh right now. Who are these "Kyrgyz" and "Uzbeks"? 99 percent of western people are not even aware of the existence of these ethnic groups or Osh. There are no good shots, nobody knows who these Kyrgyz and Uzbeks are…Even if a western politician announces his position on the events in Osh, he will gain anything politically.
I know that European Union said it will send negotiations experts or a fact finding mission to Kyrgyzstan. I would not even pay attention to this; it sounded like a bad joke. This is just disrespectful.


- It is clear that tragedy in Osh is not the subject of headlines in European newspapers. If they still mention these events in what form they do it?


- Unfortunately, Western media fall back on stereotypes, describing events in Osh such as "interethnic violence" and "interethnic problems", although you and I know that that is not really what is happening. Often when I suggest writing about such topic, the first question they ask is "Michael, what is the Danish interest, the Danish angle?" If I write for British media, they would ask about British interests. If there is none, they prefer stories about Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Madonna. Because that is what sells newspapers.

- Obviously, there is no European interest in Osh. Is it true that even the question of NATO transit to Afghanistan cannot generate interest?


- Only for Americans. Europeans showed no real interest even after the April revolution. Bakiev was in power – ok. Roza takes over – ok. The revolution was in the headlines for a couple of days because there were ‘good’ images. But that does not mean that people are aware of what really happened or understood the background.
The Americans immediately sent an envoy to Bishkek. Not to talk about democracy, but to ensure continued access from to the Manas base from the interim government.
I am ashamed that western media pay so little attention and produce such poor coverage. This is bad. Another bad thing is the constant use of stereotypes - often wrong.

- Perhaps, western media do not want to raise this issue in order to avoid the analogies with Kosovo and ethnic cleansing in Europe?
- Yes, this is interesting parallel. I worked in Bosnia in that period. In the first 2-3 years of the war, the West just observed. People were killing each other, but on an officiallevel, Western Europe, did absolutely nothing… Events in Kyrgyzstan present little interest to the media in Germany, Great Britain, Spain and Eastern Europe… If and when we will start seeing videos of the atrocities, there might be more of a response.



- Kyrgyzstan is far from European readers and mass media pay no interest either. What about the expert community? Is there anyone monitoring the events in South Kyrgyzstan, you know?


- Certainly, there is interest amongst experts. There are groups of sociologists and political scientists. There is Scandinavian council for Central Asia – we meet on a regular basis… They publish reports dedicated to this topic, but this is an isolated community. Experts are interesting people but often they do not manage to get their view point across very efficiently.

 

[Franklin]

Please tell us what we can do to help.. also have you taken this case to the U.N.. it needs to be brought to world attention..

The only help we would like to receive is a bit of attention, please spread the word as far as you can...and, if you can afford please donate with anything helpful ie clothes/money for refugees who currently in Uzbekistan (as i said more than 200 000) through Red Cross. Basically, please do help with anything u can...it would be greatly appreciated, man Allah reward you for that.

We are gathering the data and evidence now, and yes, thinking about going to UN but how? is there are any lawyers around here who can guide us?

 

[جوري]

The only help we would like to receive is a bit of attention, please spread the word as far as you can...and, if you can afford please donate with anything helpful ie clothes/money for refugees who currently in Uzbekistan (as i said more than 200 000) through Red Cross. Basically, please do help with anything u can...it would be greatly appreciated, man Allah reward you for that.

Insha'Allah akhi

We are gathering the data and evidence now, and yes, thinking about going to UN but how? is there are any lawyers around here who can guide us?

I am not sure, I was able to google these:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Court_of_Justice

and

http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?xid=yqkv5w4eta1el3

I think you need someone to represent you and then go through proper proceedings.. but that is the only way to receive international and immediate attention..

and Allah swt knows best

 

[Franklin]

Thank you.

Here i would like to post a statement made by Uzbeks living abroad about the events in Kyrgyzstan:

The Uzbek compatriots abroad urge the world community to immediately interfere in the events in South Kyrgyzstan


On tragic events in the south of Kyrgyzstan:
Statement of Uzbek compatriots
14 June 2010
On the night of 9 June 2010 mass killings, pogroms and ethnic cleansing started in Southern Kyrgyzstan, with mostly local Uzbek population falling victims. Bands of pogromists attacking Uzbek communities, use automatic weapons, armors, and all this is happening with connivance and sometimes even complicity of the police and armed forces of Kyrgyzstan. There are hundreds of those killed, thousands wounded, dozens of thousands of refugees. Murders of civilians are especially intricate and unprecedented in cruelty. The data at our disposal lets us speak of mass genocide of Uzbek population in the south of Kyrgyzstan.
We express our deepest condolences to the families of the deceased. We are also urging the international community, first of all the UN Security Council, to immediately interfere and put an end to killings and violence. Lingering with intervention the Security Council might share repsonsibility for new victims of the violence.
The information provided by the monitors from the south of Kyrgyzstan testifies to the fact tat the central power has no control whatsoever over the situation. Taking advantage of this aggressive and armed crowds commit mass murders of civilians, at that as a rule victims are chosen on ethnic grounds. Small arms and armors are widely used, the crowd is looting and settign on fire whole villages and suburban districts of the cities of Osh and Djalalabad, where Ubek population is concentrated. According to official data as of 14 June the number of corpses received at mortuaries has reached 138. However, taking into account bodies not taken away from the streets, as well as burials by-passing mortuaries, the number of the killed amounts ot hundreds, and of those wounded — to thousands. Armed extremists do not let take the bodies away, attack emergency ambulance staff rendering assistance to the victims and firemen who are trying to put out fires. The authorities manage to maintain relative order only in the central quarters of the central cities of the regions. The military and police can't defend even their own objects to prevent plundering of guns, ammunition and military machines. There are cases of complicity of police officers, security structures and army in pogroms and killings of civilians, as well as in instigation of youth to pogroms.
At the moment it is impossible to objectively ascertain who exactly started the massacre and why. The facts at our disposal testify to a well-thought of provocation aimed at playing off some ethnic groups against others, at instigating hatred of the titular ethnic group towards ethnic minorities. We will still need to find it all out. But the main thing now is to promptly stop the killings and violence, restore law and order, guarantee the safety for citizens, improve people's living conditions and supplies.
We are urging the UN Security Council to call an emergency session and suggest one of the permanent members, probably Russia, with the participation of other countries, sending peace-keeping forces under the auspices of the UN to the region to stop the genocide and ethnic cleansing. We understand that the government of Kyrgyzstan, the leading Kyrgyz politicians, and the local population itself are expecting this sort of intervention from the UN, OSCE and Russia with humanitarian purposes and to stop the massacre. The peace-keeping mission should be accountable to the UN Security Council and OSCE, which should formulate the conditions under which the peace-keeping mission will be implemented, and provide for the mechanism for its control.
We are welcoming the decision of Uzbekistan to open the borders for refugees, but we are appealing to the government of Uzbekistan with a request to restrain from armed intervention, which might only aggravate the situation. We are urging the government of uzbekistan to act in tight interaction with the UN, OSCE, International Red Cross and other international structures.
We are urging the UN, OSCE and European Union to set up a an investigation commission and immediately send its respresentatives to the region to collect and register the data on the massacre. This is necessary to counteract deliberate distortion of the facts and maniluation of information around the events in the name of propaganda. Those guilty of the villainy, both organisers and executors, should be detected and brought to justice. Conditions should also be created both in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan for the work of humanitarian missions, to obtain and distribute assistance.


Signatures (129).

 

[Al-Indunisiy]

Kyrgyz conflict an 'immense crisis'


International Committee of the Red Cross has described the humanitarian situation in southern Kyrgyzstan as an "immense crisis".

The warning by Severine Chappaz, deputy head of the ICRC, came as humanitarian agencies began delivering medical aid, food and shelter to people who have fled the ethnic unrest in Kyrgyzstan.

The official figure of 191 killed during the deadly clashes, which broke out on Friday in the Central Asian nation, is expected to be as much as several hundred.

The Kyrgyz army has tried to regain control of Osh, the epicentre of the violence that drove much of the Uzbek population from the country's poor, rural south.

Al Jazeera's Robin Forestier-Walker, reporting from Osh on Thursday, said that the situation in thte city was still very tense.

"The ethnic Uzbek people are terrified of anyone in uniform. Therefore if there is any aid, it is difficult to get it to them," he said.

'Little security'

Anna Neistat, spokeswoman for the emergency unit of Human Rights Watch, said that there was no ethnic fighting anymore, "but there is very little security despite what the authorities claim.

"Tensions in neighbourhoods are rising because people are without food and water".

IN DEPTH


Q&A: Kyrgyzstan's ethnic violence
In pictures: Kyrgyzstan's ethnic clashes
Focus: Kyrgyzstan's hollow revolution
Profile: Roza Otunbayeva
Interview: Kurmanbek Bakiyev
Inside Story:
Russia's growing influence
Behind Kyrgyzstan's unrest


She was in Osh to investigate allegations of human-right abuses and said that most of those killed were men.

Responding to claims by UN agencies of "an alarming rate" of rapes and killings against children and civilians, Neistat said: "There definitely have been cases of rape, but there is not enough information yet to confirm the reports."

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that 200,000 people have been displaced within the country and an additional 75,000 have fled to neighbouring Uzbekistan.

Two aircraft carrying hundreds of tents supplied by the UNHCR arrived in Uzbekistan on Wednesday and four more were due to arrive by the end of the week.

Another aircraft carrying relief supplies from the ICRC including blankets, tarpaulins, cooking utensils and soap has arrived in southern Kyrgyzstan.

Thousands stranded

Thousands of displaced people were stranded on the Kyrgyz side of the Uzbek border, unable to cross after Uzbekistan closed the border.

"We are not receiving aid. We are sleeping in the street with the children, even in the rain," Mohidil, a woman in her 40s, said near the border.


Al Jazeera's Clayton Swisher reports on the Kyrgyzstan unrest from Bishkek


Authorities in Osh began cleaning up the streets as basic foodstuffs were being sold from lorries around the city amid a massive military presence.

But in the Uzbek village of Shark, at the entrance to Osh, the few remaining inhabitants, all men, accused authorities of giving food only to ethnic Kyrgyz.

The US has promised Kyrgystan's interim government $800,000 in emergency aid funds and has dispatched Robert Blake, its special envoy, to the country.

Blake was due in the capital Bishkek on Friday and Saturday for talks with the Kyrgyz government.

"There is in fact an emerging humanitarian crisis in Kyrgyzstan and we are prepared to respond further to that," Philip Crowley, a US state department spokesman, said.

Government ill-equipped

The Kyrgyz interim government that replaced Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the toppled president earlier this year, appears to be ill-equipped to deal with the turmoil and unable to control the south.


Kyrgyzstan's 5.3 million population is mainly made up of Kyrgyz (70%) ethnic Uzbeks (15%) and Russians (8%).

About 50% of the Osh region's 1.2 million inhabitants are ethnic Uzbeks.

About 40% of a population of one million in Jalal-abad region are ethnic Uzbeks.


It blamed Bakiyev for hiring "provocateurs" to instigate the deadly riots and bemoaned a lack of international support, saying: "We were left alone with the enemy in the most difficult days."

Roza Otunbayeva, Kyrgyzstan's interim president, said she had "no doubt" Bakiyev was to blame.

"His sons have been discussing that they want to organise such a crisis and we thought not of such a scale and not of such a deepness," she told Al Jazeera in an interview on Tuesday.

The country's health ministry said the number of deaths from the clashes could be higher as many families were choosing to bury their dead bypassing official morgues.

The riots were the worst inter-ethnic clashes to hit Kyrgyzstan since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Ethnic Uzbeks make up 14 per cent of the country's population of 5.3 million.

 

[Supreme]

What is happening in Kyrgystan is indeed a tragedy... you guys are in my prayers. I heard you guys wanted the Russians to come in and restore order... is that true?

 

[Ummu Sufyaan]

^if it is, nothing surprising or new to us. its not like ignorance isn't motivation for heartlessness. it isnt a ground breaking discovery *snore*