Moreover, speaking to an Amnesty International delegation to Kyrgyzstan in April 1992, the Procurator General noted that in current practice death sentences are passed only for murder under aggravating circumstances. Justice Ministry officials made available to Amnesty International in April 1992 statistics for the number of death sentences passed and carried out between 1987 and 1991. These showed that on average eight death sentences had been passed annually between 1987 and 1990, and that all of these had been carried out. In 1991 the number of death sentences rose sharply to 21, seven of which have already been carried out. One execution was reported in 1992.
Execution is by shooting.
In February 1993 the head of the Department for Citizenship and Clemency Questions at the President's Office informed Amnesty International that three death sentences passed in 1991 had recently been commuted to 20 years' imprisonment. A fourth death sentence was commuted in October 1993. Amnesty International had taken up these cases, and unofficial sources in Kyrgyzstan reported that Amnesty International's campaign had made a decisive contribution to their positive resolution. Currently, Amnesty International knows of three other pending death sentences in Kyrgyzstan besides those passed on Rustam Abdullin and Aleksandr Shirokov. Cases where the defendants are charged with offences carrying a possible death sentence are heard at first instance in regional courts, the Bishkek City Court or the Supreme Court.