Izzatilla Rahmatullaev
Izzatilla Rahmatullaеv is an ethnic Uzbek and a human rights defender in Osh, Kyrgyzstan. He is one of the leaders of a human rights organisation called Law and Order, which was founded in 2002 with the purpose of monitoring and documenting violations of civil, political, social and economic rights, as well as defending the rights of ethnic, and religious minorities and refugee rights. The organisation is active in the observation and monitoring of judicial trials related to inter-ethnic conflicts.
Human rights defenders in Kyrgyzstan continue to be subjected to harassment, and face restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly and association. Family members of human rights defenders also face threats, harassment and persecution. The authorities systematically fail to investigate these incidents and to bring those responsible to justice. In several cases, perpetrators operate with the complicity of law enforcement agents.
The judiciary is not independent. The malfunctioning of the judicial system is aggravated by high level of corruption. Serious and systematic violations of fair trial guarantees persist, and affect HRDs facing charges. The use of torture in prison and especially in pre-trial detention facilities remains widespread.
