Killing of Kyrgyzstani civilian at Ganci
According to www.akipress.kg, at about 15:00 on December 06, 2006, an American soldier shot with pistol a civilian of Kyrgyzstan citizenship at checkpoint at Ganci aviabase, “Manas” airport, Kyrgyzstan. “The civilian was given an emergency treatment by the doctors of US Air Force at the place where incident occurred and on the way to the medical center, where doctors certified his death.” Airport administration gave information about the dead. He was Alexander Ivanov, ethnic Russian, a 42 years old driver of a vendor organization Aircraft Petrolium Company that supplied fuel for jets. The reason why he was shot is under clarification. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave an official note to the ambassador of United States of America in Kyrgyzstan, Maria Iovanovich. MFA inquired official explanation of the incident from American party.
This incident may cause big anti-american debates on both local and international level, as it is not the first time when US Air Force is on headlines for flawed actions. I guess that Russia could press on United States too, as the victim is an ethnic Russian. Another reason for debates may also be the fact that US Air Force soldiers have diplomatic immune, and even cant be judged at the International Criminal Court at the Hague, Netherlands. So even if the soldier is guilty, no specific actions could be done. I guess it is a little early to make conclusions. Lets keep track of updates.
on December 7th, 2006 at 3:55 am
The AP mentions AKIpress and a US military official in Washington as saying that the man brandished a knife while his vehicle was being inspected. If the soldier did something wrong, he or she will almost certainly face a hearing in the US military court system.
You’re right though, even if everything was on the up-and-up, this looks bad for the troops at the base, and by extension, the US.
on December 18th, 2006 at 3:10 am
Soldiers don’t just shoot people because they want to. clearly the driver caused some kind of suspicious action towards the soldier.
Please! Maybe the driver acted in an agressive manner. If it was me, and my life was in jeapordy, well, just think about it. Today the world is full of people that look like they are on the up and up and turn out to be bad people once you look a little futher.
Not to say the driver deserved what he got but sometimes we have to defend ourselves and our country.
I feel bad for his family but i also feel for the soldier. HE was doing his job.
on December 18th, 2006 at 3:35 pm
Well Tomi, who what where… In the end what counts is, that the incident will be politically inflated and manipulated by opportunistic Kyrgyz MPs and by the Muscovite military-industrial complex against the background of existing frustrations among the wider population.
on September 4th, 2007 at 9:24 pm
Injustice…