BISHKEK/OSH. July 19 (Interfax) - A rally was held on Monday on the central square of Osh in southern Kyrgyzstan against the deployment of an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) 52-member police force.
Protesters at the rally also demanded that certain officials and human rights defenders be punished for triggering last month's deadly ethnic violence.
Police units were sent to the square to maintain order, an Interfax correspondent reported from the scene.
Reinforced police posts remain on the city perimeter, a source at the Osh commandant's office told Interfax.
The protesters called on Kyrgyz Human Rights Ombudsman Tursunbek Akun to apologize for his comments on the ethnic clashes.
They also demanded that human rights defenders investigating the violence stop their activities and said that certain leaders of the Uzbek community and heads of two local Uzbek channels, Osh-TV and Mezon-TV, should be prosecuted.
Police last weekend received only 26 reports of crimes and incidents, with the average daily figure between 50-60, a source at the city commandant's office said.