Kyrgyzstan Killings are ‘Attempted Genocide,’ Say Ethnic Uzbeks

The death toll in Kyrgyzstan still mounts with more than 100,000 ethnic Uzbeks’ fate in Kyrgyzstan still uncertain as they live in tent camps near the border with Uzbekistan.

The violence erupted in Osh last Thursday evening, possibly ignited by a row in a casino. But much of it appeared co-ordinated and planned, Uzbeks said. The attacks took the prosperous outlying Uzbek areas of town unawares.

According to local British daily Guardian, witnesses said the attacks by the Kyrgyz population on the Uzbek minority were ‘attempted genocide.’

Guardian cites an ethnic Uzbek lawyer named Rustam who says that the official toll from the riots – 178 dead and 1,800 injured – is a woeful underestimate.

In reality, around 2,000 Uzbeks were slaughtered, he said, as the pogroms quickly spread from Osh to Jalal-Abad, 25 miles away, and other Uzbek villages in the south.

"I carried 27 bodies myself. They were just bones. We are talking here about genocide," said Rustam.

"It started on Friday lunchtime," said Rustam, an Uzbek lawyer. "It came in three distinct waves. The Kyrgyz entered Cheremushki district driving an armoured personnel carrier. This paved the way. Several of them were wearing army uniforms. At first we felt relieved. Someone had come to rescue us, we thought! Then the BKR opened fire and started shooting people randomly.

"Behind them was the second wave. This was a mob of about 300 Kyrgyz youths armed with automatic weapons. Most were very young – between 15 and 20 years old. The third wave was made up of looters and included women and young boys. They stole everything of value, piling it into cars. Then they set our houses on fire."

With the violence largely now spent, and only the occasional gunshot disturbing Osh's evening curfew, survivors debated who was to blame. Some suggested Kyrgyzstan's ousted president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, was behind them – describing the violence as a premeditated attempt by him to take revenge on the new leadership. Bakiyev fled the country in April after bloody protests in the capital, Bishkek. His supporters remain in control in much of the south. They dominate Osh's mono-ethnic Kyrgyz police and power structures, and also control the local mayor's office.