Qodirjon Botirov

Who is Qodirjon Botirov?

Kadyrzhan Batyrov is an Uzbek businessman and politician from Kyrgyztan. He was also head of the University of People's Friendship and a parliamentary deputy. Currently he is now living in Sweden. He fled from Kyrgyzstan to Ukraine in 2010 before the fateful riots and massacres that happened in June 2011. Batyrov received a life sentence in absentia for his alleged role in ethnic conflicts in southern Kyrgyzstan in summer 2010. In September 2011 he applied for political asylum in Ukraine and his application remained pending. Kyrgyz authorities issued an Interpol arrest warrant and expected the Ukrainian prosecutors to arrest and extradite him to Kyrgyzstan. This is yet another example of a State that in order to persecute an opponent abuses an international Interpol arrest warrant by trumping up charges. In many cases law enforcement authorities act on such warrants in good faith and thus apprehend and expose them to refoulement. This case also confirms that Ukraine does not comply with its international obligations and does not provide asylum as is to be expected if it were to honour its commitments under the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention Related to Refugees. As he was threatened by arrest in Ukraine, Batyrov remained in hiding for several weeks until Sweden granted him international protection in response to UNHCR's urgent resettlement request submitted on security grounds. Sweden's approval of the asylum request finally convinced the Prosecutor's Office to deny the extradition request and Batyrov was free to travel to Sweden on a document issued to him for that purpose. Ukraine so far continues to refuse to grant protection and his application for asylum remains pending for the second month. This is another in a long list of individuals resettled to safety from Ukraine because they faced an imminent threat of arrest in spite of being granted mandate protection by the United Nations Refugee Agency. Sweden has thus joined a list of countries that offer of asylum to those threatened in Ukraine. Batyrov is starting a new life and hopes he can be reunited with his family. He is to start learning Swedish but remains committed to return to his homeland and to continue working for reconciliation of Uzbeks and Kyrghyz in a State governed by the rule of law and respecting human rights standards.