International Women’s Day, 8 March 2024, the United Nations is celebrating under the theme Invest in women: Accelerate progress.  Here at Amnesty Warrington we would like to tell you about an amazing woman called Rita Karasartova who featured in the AI campaign Write for Rights.

Rita is a human rights defender and expert in civil governance and lives in Kyrgyzstan with her family. She works for the Institute of Civic Analysis, a human rights organisation and member of the United Democratic Movement of Kyrgyzstan, an opposition movement formed in March 2022. The aim of the movement is the restoration of democratic institutions and values, the creation of a fair legal system, the development of anti-crisis economic programmes and the fight against poverty.  Rita is one of the first women  human rights defenders, who started publicly covering issues within the law enforcement and judiciary system in the Kyrgyz Language.

On 23 October 2022, Rita was detained along with 23 other human rights activists who opposed a new border demarcation agreement with Uzbekistan that would cede the control of the Kempir-Abad freshwater reservoir to Uzbekistan. In April 2023 some protesters were released, 16 people including Rita who was the only women among them remained in detention. Later she was placed in house arrest on 23rd June.

Human rights defenders like Rita in Kyrgyzstan are subjected to attacks and harassment.  Currently, Rita is under house arrest until he trial continues and she could face 15 years in prison just for fighting for human rights nd raising her voice.

As part of the Write for Rights campaign, Amnesty are calling for her charges to be dropped and to demand her freedom.

International Women's Day celebrates all women who are achievers in their field, like Rita who has stood firm in peaceful protest for what she believes in.

Text taken from AIUK documents.