This is a translation of the article that Alieva published in Russian about the scandal that was triggered after Kyrgyzstan chose to extradite 5 Uzbek refugees, claiming their criminal ties with extremist movements.

According to “Uzreport” local prosecutors in Andijan distict of Uzbekistan are now questioning 5 Uzbek citizens who got extradited from Kyrgyzstan.

According to the sources in the office of the state prosecutor of Uzbekistan these 5 are now facing a number of charges: including terrorism, attempts to overthrow constitutional order in Uzbekistan as well as establishing an armed gang.
Officials in Uzbekistan announced that after the conducted investigation it was confirmed that Rasulgon Pirmatov, one of those under trial, was linked to the extremist movement “Akromiya”. He allegedly was one of the most active participant of the raid against police in May 2005 in Andijan that followed by the prison break with 500 inmates being released and armed by the group.

Two other refugees Djangair Maksudov and Odiljon Rahimov who were also handed to Uzbek authorities are now accused in assisting the prison break and producing explosives for the attack.

According to official Bishkek one of the extradited who pretended to be a refugee was also a criminal with record. Yakub Tashbaev who was released from Andijan prison on May 12 was serving his term on a whole bunch of charges including selling drugs and homicide attempts.

Though the personal records of extradited collected by Kyrgyz authorities as evidence and, for that mater, as an excuse for expelling refugees apparently didn’t have enough appeal for international community. Kyrgyzstan got fiercely criticized by EU, OSCE and UN. UN Refugees Committee announced that

“the decision to extradite refugees was a shocking one” since it will seriously endanger the lives of those expelled by Kyrgyzstan. In the statement released by the UNHCR it’s emphasized:
“We think that the lives of the refugees handed to Uzbek authorities are now under serious threat. The act of extradition in this case seriously violates the Convention on the refugees that was ratifies by Kyrgyzstan. We were extremely disappointed by the decision of Kyrgyz authorities who failed to harbor the people who were in need of support and help. Considering the previous record of Kyrgyzstan in handling Uzbek refugees we can say that it creates a very bad precedent in the international humanitarian practice. We are now trying to push official Tashkent to provide us an access to the 5 people being under trial to ensure that their basic human rights are being violated.”

Human rights advocates in Kyrgyzstan also spoke up against the decision of the Kyrgyz White House. Human Rights Watch recently forced out from Uzbekistan and now based in Osh, Kyrgyzstan expressed its deep dissatisfaction with the manner Kyrgyz side chose to handle the situation. According to Rachel Denber, Uzbekistan is a country where torture is widely spread and now with the precedent created by Kyrgyzstan such countries as Kazakhstan and Russian may start considering diverting refugees and sending them back to Uzbekistan.

International analysts in this situation tend to think that official Bishkek while extraditing refugees was desperately trying to win over Uzbek authorities. The matter is that now official Bishkek is strongly dependent from Uzbekistan in terms of water and energy security.

Though the office of the State Prosecutor in Bishkek rejects any allegations stating: “no politics is involved”. It was also announced that actions undertaken has been in accordance with state legislation of Kyrgyzstan.

It’s obvious, that Kyrgyzstan in this situation is balancing on a very fine line. As the aid of the US State Secretary Richard Boucher emphasized during his recent visit to Central Asia, recent extradition is not just purely a domestic issue of Kyrgyzstan especially considering the dynamic of events in Uzbekistan in the aftermath of Andijan events.

At the same time Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan Alykbek Djekshenkulov is preparing to go to Uzbekistan at the end of August to launch a preparation for an official visit of Kurmanbek Bakiev to Tashkent later this fall. As Djekshenkulov emphasizes this visit can become a turning point in Uzbek- Kyrgyz relations that has been going through its tense and unfriendly stage during the past 8-9 years.