Report published in La Cross, La Presse and La Tribune de Geneva June 17, 2010.
In Osh, the wounds will take time to heal. Epicenter of ethnic violence that ravaged southern Kyrgyzstan since last Friday, the second largest city is disfigured and robbed of thousands of its inhabitants fled. The Kirghiz, the majority, and Uzbeks, minority, accusing the responsible s policies have exploited their tensions to further their interests.
To get to the Sharq Village, just outside of Osh, change of car. The driver Kyrgyz dare venture into the villages populated by Uzbeks. And vice versa. At Chark, resentment is high. But nobody knows for sure to name the perpetrators of the attacks that devastated the village. "The army opened the crossing then other armored truck attacked us, some in uniform, others not. Difficult to say whether they were soldiers or not, "explains Darvan Badalov, 35, showing the remains of dozens of houses and shops burned. Women and children in the village have mostly fled. Without visible arms, men have set up barricades on the road, fearing further attacks. At the foot of the primary school half-burned down, Takhir Usmanov tells the story of his son, "killed by a sniper as he tried Sunday to extinguish the third school fire in three days. The geologist of 59 years does not mean, however Kyrgyz people, even if he thinks that some of its members are behind the unrest. "There is no bad nation, there are only bad people, "he said, adding receiving condolences from several colleagues and friends Kyrgyz.
According to villagers, the real culprits are the "politicians". And not only Kurmanbek Bakiev, the president toppled by violent demonstrations in April, the interim government of Roza Otunbayeva accused of having lit the fuse of a latent ethnic conflict to regain the reins of government. "The interim government needed to keep this chaos," says another villager. "Bakiyev and the government seek to share power on the back of the Uzbek people," adds a third.
Takhir is hopeful qu'Ouzbeks Kirghiz and can live together again. He is less optimistic about the chances of Kyrgyzstan regain the island of relative stability and democracy in Central Asia that the ex-Soviet republic was after the fall of the USSR. "I would say that I expect honest leaders, but I'm sure the next will be even bandits." few kilometers from Chark in downtown Osh, life began timidly to resume its course yesterday. On one of the main streets, merchants spread out onions, potatoes, cucumbers, bread, apricots and other products on blankets on the floor. Before them, shops burnt and others spared.
Numerous graffiti "Death to the Uzbeks" a little further, however, had nothing to reassure the minority. Neither the Kyrgyz militia allegiances fuzzy crisscrossing the city, Kalashnikovs slung over their shoulders. The usual mix of downtown and took a shot. Not a trader Uzbek dared to take the flag. The few clients from ethnic minority - more than 40% of the population - went quickly do their shopping, then left immediately.
Used of an agricultural cooperative, the Kyrgyz Bouroul Bourjebaïeva believes that both communities have nothing to gain from these disorders. "It's the elite who creates division, not the people." Just next door, the baker Bekbolot rather blame the Uzbeks, have recently become "too greedy" for his taste. "Why do they want autonomy, recognition of their language and senior positions in government? If it does not please them here, they can return to their historic homeland, Uzbekistan. Meanwhile, the flight of Uzbek traders has a consequence for all its inhabitants. For generations, they were butchers. The meat is now found in Osh.
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