Human rights organization Amnesty International has launched a petition in support of Kyrgyz rights activist Rita Karasartova, who is on house arrest for taking part in a protest against an agreement under which Kyrgyzstan ceded some water resources to Uzbekistan in November.
Kyrgyz authorities arrested dozens of members of the so-called Kempir-Abad Defense Committee in October 2022 after the group organized actions against a Kyrgyz-Uzbek border-demarcation deal.
Under the deal, Kyrgyzstan in November handed over to Uzbekistan the Kempir-Abad water reservoir, which has a surface area of almost 45 square kilometers, in exchange for more than 190 square kilometers of mountainous terrain without water resources.
The Kempir-Abad reservoir, known in Uzbekistan as the Andijon reservoir, was built in 1983. It is located in the fertile Ferghana Valley and represents a vital regional water source. Uzbekistan, whose population of 35 million is five times larger than that of Kyrgyzstan, uses most of the water from the area.
Those arrested for protesting the deal were charged with planning riots over the agreement, which had been in the making for more than three decades.
Karasartova, 48, a prominent human rights activist and expert in civic governance, was among those arrested and was held in pretrial detention for eight months before being transferred to house arrest on June 23.
Fourteen of the 27 activists arrested remain in pretrial detention.
In its petition on Facebook, Amnesty International urged the Kyrgyz authorities to release Karasartova from house arrest, describing her as someone who "believes that change for the better starts with each of us."
"Her goal is to change Kyrgyzstan for the better by helping those in need, fighting for human rights and protecting environment. Rita should be able to freely and unhindered do her job," Amnesty said, calling for the public to sign the petition for her release.
Several international human rights organizations have also demanded that the Kyrgyz government release those jailed and drop all charges against them, saying they were imprisoned for expressing their thoughts and opinions.
In November, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov signed the disputed agreement with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev, and the deal was then ratified by both Central Asian countries' parliaments.