UNITED NATIONS. UN HUMAN RIGHTS, REFUGEE CHIEFS URGE KYRGYZSTAN TO PROTECT UZBEKS

Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, urged Kyrgyzstan to grant protection to people who had fled unrest in neighbouring Uzbekistan. Arbour and Guterres also said that Uzbekistan should refrain from trying to ensure the forcible return of its citizens by Kyrgyz authorities.
"There are well-founded reasons to believe that asylum-seekers in Kyrgyzstan, in particular those currently in detention, may face an imminent risk of grave human rights violations, including torture and extra-judicial and summary executions, if returned to Uzbekistan," Arbour said in a statement.
Some 500 Uzbeks sought refuge in Kyrzygstan after Uzbek forces clashed with protesters in the city of Andijan.
Human rights groups said between 500 and 1,000 people died in the violence. The Uzbek government put the number at 173 and had refused all international inquiries into events.