U.S. presses Bishkek on torture

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- The government in Kyrgyzstan is obligated to prevent any acts of torture, the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek said in a statement of concern.

"The U.S. Embassy is deeply concerned about increasing reports from human rights defenders of torture of detainees by law enforcement officials in Kyrgyzstan," the statement read.

The embassy reminded Bishkek that it was obligated to take effective measures to prevent torture as a signatory to U.N. conventions signed in 1997.

The government has struggled to maintain control over security operations since an April coup forced the country's leadership to flee strongholds in the south of the country for Belarus.

Ethnic conflict erupted between the Uzbek and Kyrgyz ethnic communities in the southern cities of Osh and Jalal Abad in the aftermath of the coup.

The aid group Doctors Without Borders said it found evidence of torture among the Uzbek patients it treated during the ethnic conflict.

Human Rights Watch in a 91-page report on the June clashes said that while Kyrgyz forces undoubtedly faced "colossal challenges" in responding to the events, "some" law enforcement forces had a hand in the violence that targeted ethnic Uzbeks.