Rights Group Urges Protection for Uzbeks

Uzbeks who fled to neighboring Kyrgyzstan following a violent crackdown on protesters could be killed or tortured if forced to return home, a U.S.-based rights group said Friday, demanding stronger protection for the asylum- seekers.

About 500 people crossed into southern Kyrgyzstan and settled in a tent camp after government troops fired on protesters in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijan on May 13.

Human Rights Watch urged Kyrgyz authorities to move the asylum seekers to a safer location, improve their conditions and ensure that they are not sent home against their will.

"Kyrgyzstan did the right thing by allowing the first wave of Uzbek citizens to enter its territory," said Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "But it must ensure respect for the right to seek asylum. If people are pushed back at the border or forcibly returned to Uzbekistan, they could be killed or tortured."

The Uzbek government said last week that 169 people, mostly militants and 32 law enforcement workers, had been killed in Andijan. It rejected rights activists' claims that up to 750 people had died.

Prosecutor General's office spokeswoman Svetlana Artikova said Friday that four other law enforcement workers had since died of their wounds in hospitals, bringing the death toll to 173. She said the casualties included 14 civilian hostages shot by militants, while 40 more hostages had been freed by authorities.

She said that 98 people had been detained by the authorities following the Andijan violence, and 52 of them were placed under arrest. Of those arrested, six were let go because they repented and hadn't killed anyone, she said.

Of 527 jail inmates freed by militants, 470 had returned voluntarily and 15 others were forcibly brought back, Artikova said. The search for others is under way.

Some Kyrgyz officials said they don't consider Uzbek residents of the camp to be refugees and would send them back. A security officer at the camp said earlier this week that authorities already had handed over 85 Uzbeks who had tried to reach the camp.

A Kyrgyz police official said Friday that Kyrgyz authorities had arrested 24 Uzbek residents who tried to cross the border.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of being fired, said their names had been given to Uzbek authorities, who accused one of those arrested of staging riots in Andijan. He and other suspects will be handed over to Uzbek authorities if they provide evidence of their criminal activities, the official said.

Kyrgyzstan has come under strong pressure from Uzbekistan, which already has admonished Kyrgyz officials for letting refugees cross the border. Uzbek President Islam Karimov blamed the Andijan violence on Islamic militants and denied that troops had fired on unarmed civilians.

Kalman Mizsei, the U.N. assistant secretary-general, said Thursday that he had received a pledge from Kyrgyz leaders that Uzbek asylum seekers won't be expelled.

Cartner also expressed concern about allegations that Kyrgyz authorities were handing over names and addresses of asylum seekers to Uzbek authorities, saying they could use the information to retaliate against their relatives back home.

Russia, meanwhile, backed Karimov, who stonewalled U.N. and Western calls for an international investigation into the Andijan violence. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov declined to endorse an international inquiry. He said an Uzbek parliamentary probe must focus on the role of "outside forces" in the riots.