Kyrgyzstan: Country Profile

Country Map and Statistics

Kyrgyzstan was a republic of the former USSR from 1936 to August 1991. Kyrgyzstan was first to declare independence among its neighboring Central Asian states. The Kyrgyz government, led by President Askar Akayev, has displayed a strong commitment to democratic and economic reform. The international community, which has continued to provide aid, has recognized this commitment. Unfortunately, Kyrgyzstan's landlocked position, its limited domestic market, neighbors with economically undeveloped markets, and a lack of foreign investor interest hamper its economy.

The Kyrgyz Republic ranks 109th out of 177 in the 2005 UN Human Development Index, improving from its 1997 ranking of 107th. The GDP grew 4.3 per cent for the first ten months of 2000 when compared to the corresponding period in 1999. In a sign of growing economic stability, the national currency was devalued 6.7 per cent during 2000 compared to over 46 per cent in 1999. Nevertheless, Premier Kurmanbek Bakiyev and the newly appointed government have to deal with a number of economic and social problems. For example, external debt payments are due starting 2001. According to various estimates, the debt composes 40 to 60 per cent of Kyrgyzstan's GDP (IMF's estimation is USD 1.72 billion).

Drug Control Situation

Illicit Cultivation, Production and Manufacturing

Kyrgyzstan was once one of the world's largest suppliers of licit opium poppy. After the Soviet ban on opium poppy cultivation in 1973, illicit cultivation continued in small areas. Large cannabis tracts exist in the Chu Valley and in the area around Issyk-Kul Lake. The illicit harvest of the Ephedra plant has declined due to increased availability of imported drugs.

Opium Poppy Cultivation

According to the information gathered by a UNDCP survey in 1999, 818 square meters of poppy were found. The plots found were located in house gardens. Law enforcement sources and key informants reported that poppy cultivation was taking place in remote mountainous regions of the Aksu, Jety-Oguz and Isskata districts.

Cannabis

Cannabis and ephedra plants grow wild in Kyrgyzstan. Wild cannabis has an unusually high THC content, with up to over 4 per cent, and thus attracts interest from illicit harvesters. Much of the marijuana and hashish produced is used locally with the extra trafficked to other parts of Central Asia. In the districts surveyed, approximately 3,005 hectares of Cannabis was identified, mostly in the Jalalabad province and in four districts within the Issyk-Kul province. More than 70 per cent of the cannabis found was either on abandoned farmland or on land being used for agricultural purposes.

Drug Abuse - Current Situation

According to official data, the number of drug addicts in Kyrgyzstan rose by 350 per cent over the last five years. The average increment of drug addicts is 25 per cent annually. The highest rate of addiction, 50.6 per 100,000, is in Bishkek City. In 1999, there were 7,270 registered drug addicts in Kyrgyzstan, 5 per cent of who were women. A Rapid Situation Assessment by UNDCP in 2001 is expected to provide more comprehensive statistics by the end of the year.

Drug abuse patterns have changed in the last decade. The drugs of choice have shifted from cannabis products to opium and heroin. In 1991, 65 per cent of registered addicts were using cannabis products. This situation changed dramatically in 1999 when 60 per cent of registered addicts were using opiates. Local experts believe that the number of opium and heroin addicts has increased by over 15 times in Osh City and 9 times in Bishkek. Amphetamines are also commonly abused.

Illicit Trafficking

Due to its geographical location, the Kyrgyz Republic is a popular transit route for drug shipments moving from Afghanistan and Pakistan into Russia and Western Europe. The flow of heroin and opium into Kyrgyzstan from Afghanistan (via Tajikistan) is increasing. Kyrgyz law enforcement officers report that in 1992 Tajik refugees discovered more than 30 mountain paths along 800 kilometers of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border. These paths became illicit drugs and weapon smuggling routes.

Drugs are currently being smuggled from Tajikistan to Kyrgyztstan by the following routes:

1. Kyzyl-Art route - covers Khorog-Osh Road and adjacent areas close to the border in the Murghab district of the Gorno-Badakhshan Province.
2. Altyn-Mazar route - starts from the Raushan plateau, continues through the ravines of the Zaalay range, and into the Chon-Alay valley.
3. Batken route - starts in the Jergatal and Garm districts of Tajikistan and continues into the Batken and Kadamjay districts of Osh and the Batken Provinces of Kyrgyzstan.
4. Leninabad route - includes all highways from the Lyailyak district and adjacent areas to the Uzbekistan province center.

Each of the above routes comprises a number of various smuggling channels, mountain paths and roads.

Bishkek city and the Chui Province continue to be large transit and distribution junctions through which growing volumes of drugs are smuggled. Drug trafficking is increasing from the south, along the Bishkek-Osh highway. The Batken route is becoming the most beneficial for the drug-traffickers. Traffickers are increasingly using a new road connecting the Talas province with the city of Taraz in Kazakhstan. Recent investigations by drug enforcement agencies has found that illicit drug trafficking in Kyrgyzstan is gradually becoming inter-regional with well-established contacts between local drug-dealers as well as dealers from Central Asia and other foreign states.

Country Actions Against Drugs

Kyrgyzstan is part of the UN Anti-Narcotics Conventions. Kyrgyzstan has signed bilateral and multilateral agreements in the area of drug control with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Russia, Pakistan, Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. Similar agreements with India, China, France and Iran are currently being developed. The concerned ministries and agencies of Kyrgyzstan have developed their own inter-agency agreements on drug control cooperation with their Central Asia counterparts. Kyrgyzstan is a member state of the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in drug control along with its neighboring Central Asian states, Russian Federation, UNDCP and the Aga Khan Development Network. In September 1999, the Kyrgyz Republic took the initiative of holding the first session of the Inter-governmental Drug Control Commission of the Central Asian Economic Community (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan). The document adopted during this session aims at the further expansion of regional cooperation. At the Bishkek Summits of the Shanghai Five in 1999 and the CIS Collective Security Treaty, the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Belarus, Armenia and China adopted the Bishkek documents. These documents emphasize the importance of cooperation in the struggle against international terrorism, illicit drug trafficking, weapon smuggling, illegal migration and other trans-border crimes.

In April 1998, Kyrgyzstan was the first country in Central Asia to pass a law regulating the licit and illicit turnover of narcotic drugs and precursors and establishing relevant rules and regulations. The new Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic includes the death penalty for large-scale drug trafficking. The State Drug Control Commission developed a national policy on drug control for the period of 1998 to 2000 that included regulations on the confiscation, storage and disposal of illicit narcotics. A special governmental program focusing on demand reduction and illegal drug trafficking for the years 2001-2003 is currently being developed.

The following agencies have the principal responsibility in the area of drug control in Kyrgyzstan:

• The Kyrgyz State Commission for Drug Control, established as a coordinating governmental body;
• The National Security Service, which deals with most transnational organized drug related crimes;
• The Ministry of Interior;
• The State Customs Committee; and,
• The State Border Protection Committee.