RtoP in Kyrgyzstan

ICRtoP Crisis Alert
18 June 2010

Join our call to the Security Council to invoke RtoP in Kyrgyzstan
Civil society is mobilizing to ask the international community to act NOW in Kyrgyzstan . The Global Centre for R2P, Human Rights Watch and International Crisis Group, among others, have called on the UN to act immediately to address the situation (see links below). We will be sending an open letter to the Security Council on Monday 21 June and seek your organization's support. Please see this attached letter and provide us with your endorsement or your comments by Monday 21 June 12pm ( New York time) to arnaud@wfm-igp.org.

Why we think the crisis in Kyrgyzstan is an RtoP situation
We believe that the situation in Kyrgyzstan is a clear case of the Responsibility to Protect, a norm endorsed unanimously by all Member States to ensure the protection of populations from the worst crimes known to humankind, namely genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. In recent statements, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed shock at the “scale of inter-ethnic violence”, making special mention of “indiscriminate killings, including of children, and rapes” occurring on the basis of e thnicity. Moreover, the Special Advisers of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide and on the Responsibility to Protect issued a statement which characterized the violence as “targeted” and resulting in “the mass displacement of Uzbeks from South Kyrgyzstan ”, which “could amount to ethnic cleansing”. For the first time, they have made a call on the “international community to operationalize its ‘responsibility to protect’ by providing coordinated and timely assistance to stop the violence and its incitement.”

It is the first time that UN experts invoke RtoP publicly in a crisis situation, calling on the government, neighboring states, and the international community to take a range of measures to reduce the risk of violence along ethnic lines.

See the following calls and recommendations for action:
- Joint letter to the Security Council by Human Right Watch and the International Crisis Group: link here
- Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect: link here.
- Special Advisors joint statement: li nk here

Sincerely,
The ICRtoP Secretariat

***this letter is only open for NGO sign-on***

International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect

708 Third Avenue, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10017

tel: 212.599.1320, fax: 212.599.1332, email: info@responsibilitytoprotect.org www.responsibilitytoprotect.org