The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged German Chancellor Angela Merkel to raise "serious human rights concerns" during talks with Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev.
Atambaev is expected to meet with Merkel in Berlin on December 11.
HRW’s statement on December 10 condemned intimidation faced by human rights activists focusing on the situation in the country's south, where relations between local Uzbeks and Kyrgyz remain tense after ethnic violence in 2010.
Concerns were also raised over the decision by Kyrgyz authorities to ban a documentary about gay Muslims at a September film festival in Bishkek.
According to the statement, torture is still used in Kyrgyzstan's prisons.
HRW's Europe and Central Asia division director Hugh Williamson said that "Berlin should expect the government in Bishkek to uphold its international human rights commitments."
Atambaev is expected to meet with Merkel in Berlin on December 11.
HRW’s statement on December 10 condemned intimidation faced by human rights activists focusing on the situation in the country's south, where relations between local Uzbeks and Kyrgyz remain tense after ethnic violence in 2010.
Concerns were also raised over the decision by Kyrgyz authorities to ban a documentary about gay Muslims at a September film festival in Bishkek.
According to the statement, torture is still used in Kyrgyzstan's prisons.
HRW's Europe and Central Asia division director Hugh Williamson said that "Berlin should expect the government in Bishkek to uphold its international human rights commitments."
