Ahead of Kyrgyz elections, Ban stresses importance of national reconciliation

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on the leader of Kyrgyzstan to carry out the key recommendations of an independent inquiry into last year’s deadly ethnic violence in the country’s south as the Central Asian nation prepares to hold presidential elections next month.

In a meeting yesterday with President Roza Otunbaeva, Mr. Ban discussed reconciliation and human rights in Kyrgyzstan, where hundreds of people were killed and an estimated 375,000 others were displaced in clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks that began in June 2010.

“The Secretary-General encouraged Kyrgyzstan to implement the recommendations contained in the report of the Kyrgyzstan Inquiry Commission” and offered the assistance of the United Nations to carry this out, according to a read-out of the meeting issued by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson.

Mr. Ban pledged the UN’s continued wider support for peacebuilding and stabilization efforts in Kyrgyzstan, where voters are slated to go to the polls next month to select a president.

The Secretary-General confirmed the commitment of the UN to provide technical assistance for the ballots, and he also noted the personal efforts of Ms. Otunbaeva to ensure that the elections are transparent and credible.