Kyrgyz Opposition Protesters Detained

By Juliana Chan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan - Police arrested and detained about 40 protesters Friday. The protests were staged by the opposition party, protesting an election that they call unfair, and is said to have strengthened Kyrgyzstan's current president and opened the door for further turnoil.

President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's Ak Zhol party won the most seats in the parliamentary election on Sunday. The opposition party, Ata Kenen, won no seats because it had failed to win a minimum percentage in certain regions of the country.

At one of the protests, Omurbek Tekebayev, the Ata Maken leader, said the "[o]pposition parties were supported by the majority of the population, but the authorities have rigged the results."

The election has also drawn international criticism. Observers from Europe's largest rights body, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said the vote failed to meet its standards.

The United States has voiced its concerns and doubts about the election. Sean McCormack, the U.S. State Department spokesman said "the polls were marred by obstacles for opposition parties and the use of government resources to benefit specific political interests."

Mr. Bakiyev has dismissed all the ellegations of vote-rigging.

For more information, please see:

Reuters - Kyrgyz opposition protests flawed poll - 21 December 2007

BBC News - Kyrgyz MPs meet amid controversy  - 21 December 2007

AP - Protesters Detained in Kyrgyzstan - 21 December 2007