Yearbook 2008
Kyrgyzstan. After the big victory in the parliamentary
elections before the New Year, the power party Ak Zjol in
January decided to limit the right of expression in
parliament. Only group leaders, committee chairs, presidents
and proposers would debate, which was condemned by the
opposition.
In February, an investigation report found that the Uzbek
security service was probably behind the assassination of
regime-critical journalist Alizier Saipov in Kyrgyzstan the
year before. According to the International Crisis Group (ICG),
there were "strong indications" that Saipov was murdered by
Uzbekistan's security service.
The year 2008 was announced as Ajtmatov's year to honor
the country's most famous author, Chingiz Ajtmatov. But he
died during the summer just before he was 80 years old. In
Soviet times, Ajtmatov was mentioned as a candidate for the
Nobel Peace Prize, and at independence in 1991, Kyrgyzstan
wanted to make him president but he declined.
In August, a group of doctors and nurses were sentenced
to multi-year prison sentences accused of having infected
children with HIV at a hospital in southern Kyrgyzstan. The
convicted, who would also pay large damages to the children
and their families, claimed that the tragedy was due to the
hospital's poor conditions. According to the prosecutor,
over 40 children and some mothers had been infected through
neglect in connection with injections and blood
transfusions. According to foreign aid workers, similar
scandals are common but are rarely discovered because HIV
infection is a taboo topic in the strongly Muslim
Kyrgyzstan.
According to
Countryaah reports, many deaths were required in a couple of disasters during
the year. In August, about 70 people died when a passenger
plane crashed after taking off from the airport outside
Bishkek. It was the worst air crash in the country since
independence. In October, at least 72 people were killed in
an earthquake, which had its center in southern Kyrgyzstan
but was known across much of Central Asia.
In November, Parliament passed a law that, according to
critics, meant a number of restrictions on religious
freedom. The law was portrayed as a measure against
terrorism, but according to Christian leaders, it was aimed,
among other things, at people who shift beliefs, especially
from Islam to Christianity.
In November, about 1,500 people gathered for a
government-critical demonstration in the city of Talas,
where opposition supporters demanded the resignation of
President Kurmanbek Bakijev. According to the organizers,
opposition activists had been subjected to threats and
violence before the protest.
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