KYRGYZ-UZBEK BORDER KEEPS CREATING PROBLEMS

Among
the border problems that gained significance with the collapse of the USSR,
the situation on the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border stands out by remaining tense until
today. There are between 70 and 100 disputed areas that still have not been
delimitated.  The main problem is
that these territories are under strict control of the Uzbek side and that
most of the Uzbek border guards seem not to fully understand how the border
posts should be run.  They lack
professional training and special knowledge. 
Their main occupation seems to be to make as much profit as they can
from the travelers who try to cross the frontier. Recent incidents on the
Kyrgyz-Uzbek border show the attitude of Uzbek border guards to their job and
their treatment of Kyrgyz civilians.

A
tragic event happened on January 11th, 2002 when a resident of the
Kyrgyz-Kyshtak village of Kadamjai district in the southern Batken Province,
Kalmurza Erkinov, brought lunch for his son, who shepherded sheep near the
border.  But on the way he was
stopped by Uzbek guards and was asked to show his passport. He answered that
he was on Kyrgyz territory and he was just going to check cattle as he usually
did. Uzbek guards tried to demand money, but when their demand was rejected,
the angry guards brought him to Uzbek territory and beat him. 
Fortunately, women who saw this quickly brought some people from the
village that could help to release Kalmurza. When they came and saw the
situation, angry Kyrgyz people also started to treat guards in an unproper
way. Then an Uzbek border guard opened fire on orders of his sergeant,
resulting in the killing of 44-year-old Choiun Kimsanov and wounding of
Erkinov.  

This
incident is not an exception on the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border. As the correspondent
of the “Agym” newspaper reports, 10 days before this incident, Uzbek
guards stopped a truck with Kyrgyz license plates and shot down its wheels. 
Its drivers were forced to pay five thousand Uzbek sums to pass their
territory. Many cattle that cross the border have been confiscated Kyrgyz
owners of the cattle have been forced to pay bribes.

All
of these incident do not lead to deaths, in fact the events of January 11 were
the first such case. Just after this tragic event, the Kyrgyz side requested
the extradition of the Uzbek border guards, but there was no answer from
Uzbekistan. Deputy
Governor of Batken Province Abdymajit Abdrakmanov told an RFL/RL correspondent
that a criminal case has been opened and that an investigation had been
started. 

According
to the Piramida TV station, officials were extremely reserved towards this
problem at a press conference, and were asking the court to uphold the
principle of tolerance and good-neighborly relations between the two
countries.  It is strange that
Kyrgyz officials rejected the demand to ask the Uzbek border guards to stand
before a Kyrgyz court.  Also, Mr.
Mambetov, a Kyrgyz representative to the border commission, said that
Kyrgyzstan had no right to demand the extradition of the border guards to
Kyrgyzstan given that ‘the crime happened in their territory so they cannot
give us the guard and we don’t have the right to claim that.’

Mambetov
also added that Kyrgyz people themselves had assaulted the border guards ,
thrown stones at them, and offended them and that in such conditions, the
border guards were allowed to use their weapons. Does it means that guards
have the right to violate laws but civilians cannot protect their human
rights? Many Kyrgyz people wonder why Kyrgyz officials do not appear to pay
more attention to their citizens and to take this problem more seriously. It
is clear that many people don’t know how to protect their rights and are
very poorly informed. They trust the government, although the leaders of
Kyrgyzstan do not seem to be ready to care about their people. 
RFL/RL nevertheless reported that that Kyrgyzstan demanded compensation
in the amount of 1 million 245 thousand 200 som for the family of Kimsanov who
had 5 children, and 6 thousand 803 som for the family of Erkinov. A major
problem is that Kyrgyzstan does not have border posts in many areas, leaving
it to Uzbekistan to determine and patrol the border. If Kyrgyzstan patrolled
its own border, that would help its citizens.

Kunduz
Tashtanalieva