Merkel urged to raise rights with Kyrgyz president
The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged German
Chancellor Angela Merkel to raise "serious human rights concerns"
during talks with Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev,Radio Liberty
reported.
Atambaev is expected to meet with Merkel in Berlin on December
11.
HRW's statement on December 10 condemned intimidation faced by
human rights activists focusing on the situation in the country's
south, where relations between local Uzbeks and Kyrgyz remain tense
after ethnic violence in 2010.
Concerns were also raised over the decision by Kyrgyz authorities
to ban a documentary about gay Muslims at a September cinema
festival in Bishkek.
According to the statement, torture is still used in Kyrgyzstan's
prisons.
HRW's Europe and Central Asia division director Hugh Williamson
said that "Berlin should expect the government in Bishkek to uphold
its international human rights commitments."