UNITED NATIONS, June 29 -- With the UN slavishly supporting a Kyrgyz Constitutional referendum from which the Uzbek minority was disproportionately excluded due to ethnic cleansing, it has chosen to hide behind Russian. Not the Russian government, which like the US backed the flawed referendum to defend its Kyrgyz base, but the Russian language.
Last week, Inner City Press twice asked the UN to confirm that the constitution would outlaw the formation of ethnicity based parties: that is, any Uzbek party. Only after a third request on June 28 did the UN respond, with this:
Further to your exchange with Martin at the Noon Briefing, just wanted to help point you to the relevant part of what you'd asked about...
The reference you seek is under Article 4., point 4.3:
4. В Кыргызской Республике запрещается:
.............
3) создание политических партий на религиозной, этнической основе, преследование религиозными объединениями политических целей;
I realize this is in Russian but am sending in case it's of any help to you.
Now it seems strange that the UN, sometimes called translation central, could or would not provide an English version of this single line of Russian, requested three times in a week. In fact, the UN provided Inner City Press with a translation of other material it had not requested. But when Inner City Press sought among its network a translation of what the UN provided only in Russian, this was the result:
4. In the Kyrgyz Republic it is forbidden:
3) to create political parties on the basis of religion or ethnicity, or on any attempt to, by religious gatherings or parties, achieve political goals.
So the answer was and is yes, the UN backed a referendum from which the Uzbek minority was disproportionately excluded on a constitution which will now bar the Uzbeks from organizing to defend themselves.
On June 28 Inner City Press also asked:
Inner City Press: I heard the statement both by Mr. [Miroslav] Jenca and then reiterated by the Secretary-General this morning about the referendum in Kyrgyzstan. I was wanting to ask: what is the UN’s estimate of the turnout of ethnic Uzbeks? There are some reports that, for example in the border town of Suretash, only a hundred to 4,000 people were able to vote. So, I’m just wondering, what does the UN statement mean when compared to such low turnout numbers reported for ethnic Uzbeks?
Spokesperson Nesirky: Well, reported by whom?
Inner City Press: Associated Press.
Spokesperson: Right. Well, there are a number of things here. First of all, the UN is not observing, and the UN is not counting votes or voters.
Inner City Press: Then why are they praising?
Spokesperson: Let me finish, first of all, to try to answer your question. First of all, there is the Central Election Commission. That’s the body which is compiling the figures. So, the figures on turnout will be coming from the Central Election Commission. And I checked their website before I came here; it’s in Kyrgyz and Russian, and there are very detailed figures by each province or district showing the turnout and absolute figures in each case. And of course, overall figures. And that’s the first thing. So I would encourage you to take a look at that. And the second thing is, perhaps more helpfully for you in English, as well as Kyrgyz and Russian; the OSCE’s [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s] office for democratic institutions and human rights has put out a fairly detailed overview in a statement of its preliminary findings and conclusions. This is, as I said, this is preliminary findings, as you might expect, given this is less than 24 hours after the vote itself. But they are quite detailed, and as Mr. Jenca and the Secretary-General have said, they have taken note, and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General has taken note of this preliminary assessment by the OSCE and others where it’s clear that there were some shortcomings. That’s clear. That’s obvious. But what they believe is, and this is the assessment that this was largely transparent. And the turnout; again, it’s for the Central Election Commission, firstly, to give those figures. The turnout that seems to be evident, not only from the Central Election Commission in concrete numbers, but also from the more anecdotal evidence, if you like, of the international observer, that there were long-term observers that would tend to suggest that this was a sizeable turnout. And most importantly, that it was peaceful. There weren’t any violent incidents.
Inner City Press: Just a quick follow-up. If these were the two bases for the UN’s praise of the election, does the Central Election Commission — apparently you’ve read them in Russian — are these turnout numbers done by ethnicity or simply by geography?
Spokesperson: Not by ethnicity. It’s done by geography; by the region. Yeah.
Inner City Press: Does the UN have a particular concern or, I don’t know, maybe “duty” is the wrong word, to the ethnic Uzbeks who were being targeted by violence, left the country, many of them had their ID cards ripped up — is that something, does this statement today mean that they feel, that the UN feels, that the turnout and the ability to vote of the ethnic Uzbeks of southern Kyrgyzstan was sufficient, from the UN’s point of view?
Spokesperson: What we’ve said is that it really does demonstrate the aspiration of the people of Kyrgyzstan for peace and stability and democracy. That’s what we’ve said. That’s the first thing. The second thing is that we’re not suggesting that this is the end of the story, and that somehow this is perfect. It was not. There is work to be done, and the United Nations will continue to provide the technical support that’s required, not least by the Central Election Commission, so that they can improve further and not least so that when we get to the parliamentary elections at the end of this year, they will be in better shape to ensure that it’s as inclusive as possible.
Inner City Press: One last one on this, and thanks a lot. I think I had asked last week whether you could confirm what a UN official had told me — which is that the Constitution that was voted on and approved over the weekend on Sunday outlaws political parties based on ethnicity. And if so, that’s why I guess I’d be concerned, I’m wondering if the UN sees any connection between a group being targeted by violence, probably if the Associated Press can be believed, having a lower turnout than other groups and, therefore, in the future being prohibited from organizing around, I guess to protect their rights on the basis of their minority status. Were you able to confirm that that is in the Constitution?
Spokesperson: Not personally. But I am sure that my colleagues in DPA [Department for Political Affairs] can help me with that, and also my colleagues in Bishkek.
And then they gave it only in Russian...
