Would Transitional Justice Work in Kyrgyzstan?

In the face of an increasingly corrupt, repressive, and authoritarian government, Kyrgyzstan experienced a popular uprising in April 2010 that led to the overthrow of the government and the deepening of political and social divisions in the country.

In June 2010, the International Center for Transitional Justice conducted an expert mission to Kyrgyzstan to assess whether a transitional justice approach might address the human rights abuses that occurred over the 15 years leading up to the April events. The mission explored how transitional justice methods could help achieve accountability for past crimes, move towards national reconciliation, and build an accountable system of democratic governance. Following the mission, the center published the assessment findings in the report Assessing a Transitional Justice Approach for Kyrgyzstan.

At a recent forum, two of the mission experts—Marcie Mersky and Eugene Huskey—presented these findings and their recommendations. Huskey also discussed the impact of the ethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan in June and the political developments in the country since. Hanny Megally, vice president for programs at the center, presented an overview of the transitional justice approach.

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