The Chui Regional Court in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Tuesday reinstated the life sentence for human rights defender Azimjan Askarov. The court found Askarov guilty again [AP report] of stirring up ethnic hatred during deadly clashes between local Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in 2010 and of being involved in the murder of a policeman. The reinstatement of his sentence has raised international concern over the state of human rights in the area.

Human rights in Kyrgyzstan have been an issue [UN report] as ethnic conflict between the local Uzbeks and Kyrgyz has been bloody. In 2010 a court in Kyrgyzstan sentenced 19 ethnic Uzbeks for their involvement in the June 2010 ethnic violence [Guardian backgrounder] that resulted in more than 300 deaths and an additional 2,000 injuries. Seventeen of the Uzbeks received life sentences [JURIST report] and two received 25-year sentences for their participation in a riot that blocked a major highway and killed 16 people in the Suzak district. The defense lawyers, who work for a local human rights organization and were giving free legal representation to the men, were allegedly threatened [AI report] by relatives of the Kyrgyz victims and told to keep silent during the trial.