HRW: Kyrgyz justice system 'flawed'

The justice system in Kyrgyzstan has "utterly failed" in investigating ethnic violence that followed the country's coup last year, Human Rights Watch said. The Supreme Court in Kyrgyzstan upheld guilty verdicts for eight ethnic Uzbeks accused of inciting ethnic hatred and murder in the wake of an April 2010 coup. Human Rights Watch said at least one of the defendants, human rights activist Azimjan Askarov, was tortured while in custody. "The Kyrgyz justice system has utterly failed these people," said Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, in a statement. "This case was riddled with blatant flaws from start to finish and it is astounding that the court didn't order a thorough investigation into the way it was conducted." Khusanbai Saliyev, a lawyer for a Kyrgyz human rights group representing about 80 Uzbeks accusing authorities of abuse, told The New York Times last month that ethnic friction remained prevalent more than a year after the violence. "Persecution against Uzbeks has become systemic," he said. Uzbeks make up about 15 percent of the Kyrgyz population but are the dominant group in the south of the country. An April 2010 coup led former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to flee to Belarus. Following the coup, at least 470 people were killed in ethnic conflicts near Osh and Jalal Abad.