League Testifies in European Parliament

On June 12, 2002, League's representative Peter Zalmayev testified about the situation in Kazakhstan to members of the European Parliament's Delegation to the EU-Kazakhstan, EU-Kyrgyzstan und EU-Uzbekistan Parliamentary Cooperation Committees. Below is the full text of the testimony.

Dear Mr. Chairman, member of the Committee,

My name is Peter Zalmayev and I represent the International League for Human Rights, a U.S.-based international organization in its 60th year in consultative status at the United Nations and the International Labor Organization, also contributing to the Council of Europe, the Africa Commission and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The League has representation in Geneva and dozens of affiliates and partners around the world, and works to promote and protect human rights and strengthen mechanisms for protection through international institutions.

For many decades, together with local colleagues, the League has been actively involved in monitoring the human rights situation in the countries of the former Soviet Union and, specifically, Kazakhstan. Despite the initial promise of democracy and respect for human rights shortly after Kazakhstan declared its independence in 1991, the country's human rights record has been in steady decline in the past few years, when President Nursultan Nazarbayev began consolidating his power and unleashing a campaign of persecution against the opposition, independent media, and, generally, all voices of dissent in the country.

The Constitution of Kazakhstan concentrates all power in the presidency; indicative of this power is the president's own closure of the Constitutional Court some years ago. President Nazarbayev, his family and close associates have maintained a strong grip on the country's political, social and economic lives. All of the recently held elections, including the presidential elections in 1999 which gave Nazarbayev another seven years in office, as well as parliamentary and local administration elections of the same year were criticized by the OSCE and other international observers as falling far short of international standards and commitments under the Helsinki and subsequently the Copenhagen agreements.

A major crackdown against independent and opposition media began in 1996-1997 and has continued unabated ever since. In April 2001, the Parliament approved the highly restrictive amendments to the media law, which expanded the liability of media outlets and began treating web sites as media outlets. Scores of media outlets have been shut down in criminal libel suits using the infamous formula of "insulting the honor and dignity" of various governmental officials, including the President. In April 2000, an Almaty Court found Yermurat Bapi, editor-in-chief of the SolDat newspaper and a member of the executive committee of the opposition Republican Peoples' Party of Kazakhstan (RNPK) guilty of libel for two articles on corruption and the role of President Nazarbayev in the December 1986 student uprisings in Almaty. Bapi was sentenced to one year in prison but did not have to serve the term due to the general amnesty. Most recently, in May 2002, the League joined the international community in expressing outrage over a brutal attack on the office of the SolDat newspaper, during which two of its journalists were severely beaten and its equipment stolen. The next day after this attack, arsonists set fire to the office of Business Review, an independent business weekly.

Currently, the majority of media outlets in Kazakhstan are controlled by the president's family, including his daughter, Dariga, and president's son-in-law, Timur Kulibayev.

The government has also been relentless in its persecution of opposition figures. On December 9, 1999, Petr Afanasenko and Satzhan Ibrayev, former officers of the National Security Committee, who both served as bodyguards for former Prime Minister and currently an opposition leader living in exile Akezhan Kazhegeldin, were arrested, charged with illegal possession of firearms, and subsequently sentenced to three and a half years in prison. The OSCE and other international organizations viewed their conviction as politically motivated and designed as a retaliatory measure against Mr. Kazhegeldin, who attempted to run in the presidential elections in 1999, but was barred from registration for specious reasons. Both men were recently released, after serving a major portion of their terms.

On September 6, 2001, Akezhan Kazhegeldin was tried, convicted, and sentenced in absentia on corruption charges. International human rights organizations, including the League, roundly condemned the trial, while noting that the case contained many procedural violations under international standards of justice. The OSCE, in particular, noted in its press-release that "the principle of equal rights of both sides involved may have been jeopardized because the trial was held in absentia…It was questionable whether the presumption of innocence was fully observed by mass media and government structures throughout the process."

On October 4, 2001, Nurbulat Masanov, a prominent political analyst, was convicted of insulting the honor and dignity of a member of the Azat Party, based on an audio recording of unknown origin, containing an alleged interview with a journalist. The conviction was upheld despite the journalist's denial that such an interview ever took place.

On November 18, 2001, six senior government leaders, six members of parliament and several businessmen founded a major political movement, the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK). Shortly afterwards, the six government officials were fired, while parliamentarian Bulat Abilov was expelled from his party seat. Two of DVK's leaders, Ghalymzhan Zhakiyanov and Mukhtar Ablyazov have been arrested and are awaiting trial on criminal charges.

As is evident from the facts I have just outlined, the judiciary is dependent on the executive branch, faithfully carrying out orders from above. Not only opposition figures and media are affected; the rights of ordinary citizens are violated frequently as well under this oppressive system dependent on arbitrary executive rule. Unlawful and arbitrary arrest and detention, unlawfully prolonged detention, as well as torture of suspects in custody are widespread phenomena in Kazakhstan. In May 2001, the United Nations Committee Against Torture considered Kazakhstan's initial report, which was attended by representatives of the League and a lawyer from Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law. In its concluding observations, the Committee Against Torture noted the "allegations of acts of torture and other cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment or punishment committed by law-enforcement officials of the State party or with their acquiescence", "the insufficient level of independence of the judiciary, with judges whose tenure lacks certain necessary safeguards" and "the insufficient level of guarantees for the independence of defense counsel."

The International League for Human Rights will continue to monitor the situation in Kazakhstan, calling on the European Parliament to continue their scrutiny of the deteriorating situation regarding democracy and human rights in Kazakhstan, and to take a stand on behalf of those who risk their freedom and livelihoods to promote them. The European Parliament should urge President Nazarbayev to bring Kazakhstan into compliance with OSCE commitments on human rights, democracy, and the rule of law, to hold free and fair elections at all levels that do not exclude genuine challengers, to permit independent and opposition parties and candidates to participate on an equal basis with representation in election commissions at all levels, and to allow domestic non-governmental and political party observers, as well as international observers to monitor these elections.

The European Parliament should call on Kazakhstan to take every necessary step to facilitate the return of exiled political leaders, including Mr. Kazhegeldin, as well as other activists and journalists. A commitment by Kazakhstan to OSCE standards should be confirmed by the safe return of exiled Kazakhstani citizens from Europe, the USA and Canada, and their direct involvement in the political life of the country.

The European Parliament should give its support to independent organizations reviewing the current Kazakhstani Constitution leading to changes that protect individual rights and democratic processes. One review should be furthered by the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the "Venice Commission"), of which both Kazakhstan and the United States serve as observers.

The European Parliament should make calls on President Nazarbayev to establish conditions for independent and opposition media to function without constraint, limitation, or fear of harassment, to repeal criminal laws which impose prison sentences for alleged defamation of state or public officials, and establish a credible public supervisory body over state-owned media outlets supported by Kazakh taxpayers.

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