All events · The Long Emergencies

June 2010 Ethnic Violence in Southern Kyrgyzstan

2010 · South & Central Asia

Displacement Mass Killing Sexual Violence

Displaced

400,000

More than 400,000 displaced according to the Kyrgyzstan Inquiry Commission, of whom roughly 75,000-100,000 crossed briefly into Uzbekistan before returning within weeks; over 1,800 houses destroyed according to official data cited by Human Rights Watch, with satellite imagery indicating several thousand buildings destroyed in total.

Share of the population affected

17%

of the population of Osh and Jalal-Abad provinces including Osh city, 2010

Killed

426–470

direct killing

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What happened

In the political vacuum that followed the April 2010 overthrow of President Bakiyev, violence erupted in Osh on 11 June 2010 and spread to Jalal-Abad, lasting about four days. The independent Kyrgyzstan Inquiry Commission, chaired by Kimmo Kiljunen, recorded at least 470 deaths, around three-quarters of them ethnic Uzbeks, some 1,900 injured and more than 400,000 people displaced; Human Rights Watch cites official data of 426 deaths, 276 of them Uzbek. Whole Uzbek mahallas were burned. The Commission concluded that if proven in court, certain acts, including murder, rape and other sexual violence and persecution directed against the Uzbek minority, would amount to crimes against humanity, and found that the authorities had failed in their duty to prevent the violence and protect citizens. Human Rights Watch subsequently documented torture, arbitrary arrest and unfair trials in an investigation and prosecution process that fell disproportionately on ethnic Uzbeks. A Kyrgyz national commission reached a different conclusion in January 2011, attributing provocation to the Uzbek minority. Similar interethnic violence in Osh in 1990 forms the background to the events.

Parties

Kyrgyz crowds and armed groups, with elements of the security forces implicated, attacked ethnic Uzbek neighbourhoods in Osh and Jalal-Abad following the collapse of central authority

Disputed

Responsibility is directly disputed: the international Kyrgyzstan Inquiry Commission found the violence disproportionately targeted ethnic Uzbeks and may constitute crimes against humanity, while the Kyrgyz national commission attributed provocation to Uzbek leaders; the role of army and police units in the attacks is also contested.

The denominator

Kyrgyz national statistics for 2010 give roughly 1.35 million in Osh province and Osh city combined and about 1.0 million in Jalal-Abad. Ethnic Uzbeks, the principal victims, numbered around 700,000-750,000 across southern Kyrgyzstan.

The 400,000 counts everyone displaced at the height of the violence, including short-distance and short-duration flight; about 75,000 crossed into Uzbekistan and most had returned within weeks.

Where the baseline comes from

2010 South Kyrgyzstan ethnic clashesopen-edited
Osh Regionopen-edited

On the death toll

The lower figure is the official Kyrgyz death count cited by Human Rights Watch (276 Uzbeks, 105 Kyrgyz, 45 unidentified); the higher figure is the Kyrgyzstan Inquiry Commission's, which found about 74 per cent of the dead were ethnic Uzbeks. The gap reflects unidentified bodies and deaths not registered with the authorities.

Documented forms of violence

Mass KillingSexual ViolenceTortureArbitrary DetentionDestruction of Property

The Kyrgyzstan Inquiry Commission documented murder, rape and other sexual violence and destruction of Uzbek property, and Human Rights Watch documented torture and arbitrary detention in the investigations that followed.

Formal findings

Kyrgyzstan Inquiry Commission (independent international commission) (2011) — Found that acts including murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, physical violence and persecution directed at ethnic Uzbeks would, if proven in court, constitute crimes against humanity, and that the authorities failed to prevent the violence — source