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The Kyrgyz Constitutional Court yesterday overruled restrictions on freedom of assembly in response to petition by the Kylym Shamy (Torch of the Century) human rights centre. The court overruled a decision by Bishkek City Council to impose new regulations on meetings, rallies, marches, demonstrations and pickets in Bishkek.
Kylym Shamy, a NED grantee, is one of the country’s leading human rights groups. Its recent activities include monitoring the treatment and condition of Uzbek migrants, particularly victims of the Andijon massacre. “The sheltering of families of Uzbek journalists, rights activists, and average citizens who have fled across the border to Kyrgyzstan continues,” Kylym Shamy’s Aziza Abdurasulova recently told RFE/RL. “There are scores of these people seeking places of safety.”
The group also monitors human rights abuses within Kyrgyzstan which, despite the initial promise of the “Tulip Revolution” has recently witnessed a marked deterioration in democratic governance and human rights standards. Kylym Shamy has reported at least 10 cases of torture, including three deaths in custody.
