As United States Secretary of State Hilary Clinton continued her tour of Central Asia with a visit to Kyrgyzstan (today Thursday 02 December) Front Line has published an open letter to the Secretary of State in which the organisation renewed its call for the release of imprisoned human rights defender Azimjan Askarov and raised the issues of denial of due process and use of torture during his trial.
Further Information
During her visit Ms Clinton had a meeting with President Otunbeyeva during which she "expressed to the President the admiration the United States feels for the difficult road that Kyrgyzstan has decided to walk,”.
“This is a bold endeavor that the people of this country have undertaken - reinventing its democratic governance with a strong parliament designed to represent the full diversity of the people and regions in Kyrgyzstan", she added
Front Line is calling on Secretary of State Clinton to take the opportunity of this visit to raise the situation of human rights defenders in Kyrgyzstan with President Otunbeyeva and in particular the serious issues relating to the trial and conviction of Azimjan Askarov.
