Kyrgyz reform troubles Pillay

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BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, July 10 (UPI) -- Kyrgyzstan deserves credit for enacting serious reforms, though any development is overshadowed by human rights concerns, a top U.N. official said.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said, at the conclusion of her visit to Kyrgyzstan, that legal and administrative frameworks have been established in the country since the first human rights office was established there in 2008.

She said there was "clearly a great deal" of work needed to ensure there are lasting improvements for the country's citizens, however.

Kyrgyzstan elected its first new government last year after an April 2010 coup led former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to flee to Belarus. Following the coup, at least 470 people were killed in ethnic conflicts near Osh and Jalal Abad.

Few skirmishes were reported last year, though ethnic tensions between Uzbeks and Kyrgyzs continued and human rights officials said torture in the country was systemic.

Pillay said she was concerned that some authorities had turned a blind eye to reports of torture in the country, which she said undermined the integrity of the state.

"The most serious problem lies in the failure to implement laws and reforms in line with international standards, as well as to act in accordance with Kyrgyzstan's new constitution," she said in a statement.