Watchdog

A UN rights envoy, international rights groups, and Western governments have condemned a Kyrgyz court's decision to deport anti-corruption journalist Bolot Temirov to Russia after convicting him of illegally obtaining a Kyrgyz passport.

Temirov then spoke to RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service by telephone from Moscow on November 24, after he was handed over and transported within hours of the ruling.

He described being hurriedly flown to Moscow and being allowed to see his mother and said he needed time to rest and familiarize himself with Russian law following his arrival in a country he hadn't been in for seven years.

"I can't say anything about security yet," he said. "I will look at everything one by one and then evaluate."

The U.S. and British embassies joined a chorus of outrage led by UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Mary Lawlor urging Kyrgyz authorities to halt efforts to expel Temirov.

"Expulsion puts him at risk which I'm concerned is retaliation for his #anticorruption work," Lawlor said.

After the Bishkek City Court's decision was pronounced on November 23, Temirov was immediately detained by men in civilian clothes and forcibly escorted from the courtroom.

His lawyer has said he doesn't know where Temirov was taken.

The U.S. Embassy in Bishkek tweeted that the ruling "disregards democratic principles."

"Journalists should be allowed to work without fear of retaliation," it said. "Freedom of expression is protected under the Kyrgyz Constitution -- these rights must be upheld."

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said he was "dismayed" by the decision and urged Kyrgyzstan to maintain its "vibrant civil society" and avoid "staining" its reputation with "attempts to stifle freedom of expression."

The British Embassy in Bishkek expressed disappointment and said "journalism might sometimes be uncomfortable but media freedom must be protected."

The EU's office said it was "deeply concerned" by the verdict and Temirov's "harsh immediate detention."

"This action goes counter to Kyrgyzstan’s international commitments on independent media, freedom of speech and guaranteeing the personal safety of investigative journalists," it said.

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Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee To Protect Journalists also both condemned the expulsion order.

Temirov and traditional bard singer Bolot Nazarov, who performed his anticorruption songs on the YouTube channel Temirov LIVE, were arrested in January for allegedly possessing illegal drugs, which the two men say were planted by police.

In April, Bishkek city police filed additional charges against Temirov, accusing him of forgery and illegally crossing the border with Russia.

In late September, the court of first instance in Bishkek found the 43-year-old investigative journalist not guilty on charges of illegal drugs possession and illegal border crossing. But it concluded that his Kyrgyz passport was obtained with legal violations that would not lead to criminal prosecution due to the statute of limitations.

Prosecutors then appealed the court's ruling, questioning the statute of limitations and demanding that the investigative journalist, who also holds a Russian passport, be deported.

Police said Temirov, who was born in Kyrgyzstan but raised in Russia, used forged documents to obtain a Kyrgyz passport in 2008, which he then used to illegally exit and enter Kyrgyzstan.

Temirov rejected all of the charges, saying they were brought against him after he published the results of his investigation suggesting corruption among top officials of the Central Asian nation.

Temirov was recently shortlisted for the RSF Press Freedom Awards 2022.

Temirov was among 12 people recognized by the U.S. State Department last year as anti-corruption champions.

Temirov's parents are naturalized Russian citizens and reside in Moscow.

Committing war crimes has become an integral part of how Moscow wages war and Kyiv shouldn't wait to bring alleged Russian perpetrators to justice, argues Oleksandra Matviychuk, head of the organization that jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize this year.

"For decades, Russia has used war as a method of achieving its geopolitical interests and war crimes as a way to win these wars," Matviychuk, who heads the Center for Civil Liberties, told RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service in an expansive interview. "They learned that they can do whatever they want because they weren't punished for war crimes in Chechnya, Moldova, Georgia, Mali, or in Syria. Therefore, until we can bring justice, there will be no sustainable peace in our region."

Matviychuk, a lawyer by trade, says she wants to use the organization’s elevated stature to call for international action against human rights violations and the growing list of evidence pointing toward war crimes committed by Russian forces since the Kremlin’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine.

"We see that all these crimes have a systemic nature," she said. "It's clear that this is not done by any specific unit of the Russian armed forces but that it is part of the culture of how Russia conducts war."

Founded in 2007, the Center for Civil Liberties was established with the goal of pressuring Ukrainian authorities to turn the country into a full-fledged democracy and ensure that it was governed by the rule of law. But that mission shifted in 2014 when Moscow forcibly annexed the Crimean Peninsula and fighting with Russian-backed forces broke out in eastern Ukraine, which saw the group begin documenting abuses from the conflict, as well as the disappearances of Kremlin critics, journalists, and activists.

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Since Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, the organization has worked closely with national and international partners to document potential Russian war crimes against Ukrainian civilians. So far, they've documented more than 21,000 examples of war crimes committed by Russian forces since 2014, many of which have taken place since Moscow’s February invasion.

"For eight years we have been talking about the fact that Russia is committing war crimes…and for eight years the world has not paid attention to this criminal practice," Matviychuk said. "The Nobel Peace Prize gives us a platform to make our voices heard."

The Search For Accountability

Matviychuk says her growing focus is to gain momentum for efforts to bring perpetrators of alleged war crimes to court.

She points to the Nuremberg Tribunal as an example often brought up as a template. However, unlike those trials that only began to hold Nazi war criminals accountable following Germany’s loss in World War II, Matviychuk argues a similar effort for accountability toward Russia could begin immediately.

"We don't have to wait for Russia to lose. Why do we make people's demands for justice dependent on this?" Matviychuk asks. “We must create an international tribunal now and begin all necessary procedures to bring Russian war criminals to justice.”

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Ukrainian Nobel Peace Prize Winner: War Crimes Are Part Of Russia’s War Culture

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Doing so will be no small task.

The Center for Civil Liberties had long campaigned for Ukraine to become affiliated with the International Criminal Court. It is currently a full member, but Kyiv has accepted the court’s jurisdiction over crimes committed on its territory since 2013.

Ukraine also needs to navigate the complicated politics at international organizations like the United Nations, where Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council and can veto resolutions brought to the body.

Matviychuk is critical of the UN, which she says is “not fulfilling its functions” and is currently hijacked by militarily powerful states. Still, she acknowledges that it remains the best instrument available for an international tribunal that can deliver accountability.

With the Security Council blocked, Matviychuk says Kyiv should concentrate its diplomatic efforts on winning votes at the UN General Assembly, where support from two-thirds of the countries would be needed to pass such a measure. This means Ukraine will need to win over countries like Brazil, India, and many in Africa that have complex and historic relationships with Moscow.

"We need to build support with countries for this idea because this tribunal shouldn’t be created only [because] we gathered five states together and then set up a tribunal," Matviychuk said. "We need legitimacy for this tool…and the best [way to do that] is within the framework of the UN."

Written by Reid Standish in Prague based on reporting by Sofia Sereda for RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service.