[Joint House and Senate Hearing, 111 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
KAZAKHSTAN'S LEADERSHIP OF THE OSCE
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE
ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
FEBRUARY 2, 2010
__________
Printed for the use of the
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
[CSCE 112-2-2]
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COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS
HOUSE
SENATE
ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida, BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland,
Co-Chairman Chairman
EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut
LOUISE McINTOSH SLAUGHTER, SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island
New York TOM UDALL, New Mexico
MIKE McINTYRE, North Carolina JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire
G.K. BUTTERFIELD, North Carolina SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey SAXBY CHAMBLISS, Georgia
ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama RICHARD BURR, North Carolina
JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi
DARRELL E. ISSA, California
EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS
Michael H. Posner, Department of State
Alexander Vershbow, Department of Defense
Vacant, Department of Commerce
(ii)
KAZAKHSTAN'S LEADERSHIP OF THE OSCE
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February 2, 2010
COMMISSIONERS
Page
Hon. Alcee L. Hastings, Co-Chairman, Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe.......................................... 1
Hon. Darrell E. Issa, Commissioner, Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe.......................................... 6
MEMBERS
Hon. Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, a Delegate in Congress from the
American Samoa................................................. 3
WITNESSES
H.E. Kanat Saudabayev, Foreign Minister, Republic of Kazakhstan.. 7
APPENDIX
Prepared statement of Hon. Benjamin L. Cardin, Chariman,
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe............... 19
Prepared statement of Hon. Darrell E. Issa....................... 21
Prepared statement of H.E. Kanat Saudabayev...................... 22
(iii)
KAZAKHSTAN'S LEADERSHIP OF THE OSCE
----------
February 2, 2010
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
Washington, DC
The hearing was held at 10:02 a.m., in room 1100 Longworth
House Office Building, Washington, DC, Hon. Alcee L. Hastings,
Co-Chairman, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe,
presiding.
Commissioners present: Hon. Alcee L. Hastings, Co-Chairman,
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; and Hon.
Darrell E. Issa, Commissioner, Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe.
Member present: Hon. Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, a Delegate in
Congress from the American Samoa.
Witness present: H.E. Kanat Saudabayev, Foreign Minister,
Republic of Kazakhstan.
HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS, CO-CHAIRMAN, COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND
COOPERATION IN EUROPE
Mr. Hastings. Our hearing will now come to order of the
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe and this
hearing is entitled, ``The Kazakhstan Leadership of the OSCE.''
For those that are in our audience on channel 2 on these
headsets is in English and channel 10 is in Russian. I'll wait
for the minister to get mic'ed up; is he OK for the moment? All
right. Mr. Minister, I'd like first to------
Mr. Redfield. No, he's not ready yet. He's not ready.
[Off-side conversation.]
Mr. Hastings. OK, you have the mic now?
First, it's an honor and a privilege for me to welcome my
good friend, Foreign Minister Saudabayev back to Washington in
his new role as chairman in office of the OSCE.
Mr. Chairman, before I go further with my statements, I'd
like to acknowledge the fact that Senator Cardin, the Co-Chair
of the Commission is in attendance at a funeral this morning of
former Maryland Senator, Charles Mathias. And it's for that
reason that the Senator is unable to be with us here this
morning.
Foreign Minister Saudabayev and I have known each other for
many years, going back to when the minister was Ambassador here
in Washington. As most of you know, I long supported
Kazakhstan's chair to the OSCE. I urged the U.S. Government to
back the proposal and was pleased when the United States joined
consensus at the 2007 Madrid ministerial based on certain
assurances.
Some thought that there were problems with Kazakhstan's
record on democratization and human rights, but I believed then
as I do today that inclusiveness was and is the best way to
proceed. I was in Madrid and heard, Mr. Minister, your
predecessor make specific pledges of reforms on behalf of your
government. I believe that promises are meant to be kept and I
have every expectation, Mr. Minister, that your government will
continue working to translate its Madrid promises into actions
consistent with OSCE commitments.
I look forward to hearing more about Kazakhstan's plans to
organize an OSCE summit this year, which I might add, I
certainly encourage. I hope that a summit would be not only
substantive but also conducted in line with past practice,
including being fully open to NGOs and civil society.
In that vein, the now-celebrated case of Yevgeny Zhovtis
has received a great deal of attention here in this country and
elsewhere. He's the best-known human rights activist in
Kazakhstan and has testified before this Commission on several
occasions, two of which I was in attendance. I understand that
he has submitted an appeal to the Kazakhstan supreme court and
I am sure that this matter will move forward accordingly.
As the former President of the OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly--I'd like to take this moment to acknowledge the
presence of the Secretary-General of the Parliamentary Assembly
of OSCE, Spencer Oliver, who is in attendance with us here this
morning--and I'd also ask you, Mr. Minister, to look at ways to
strengthen the relationship between the Parliamentary Assembly
and the governmental side of the OSCE. I strongly believe that
the Parliamentary Assembly has an abundant of expertise to
offer on a wide range of issues, including, of course, election
observation.
As you may know, over the past several years, some have
suggested--and I have been among them--that the OSCE work more
closely with the CIS in the field of election observation. I
believe it to be an interesting idea and one that should be
explored in cooperation with other election observation
partners for future election observation missions.
I also ask that you continue to make a priority the whole
range of issues covered under the OSCE tolerance rubric:
racism, anti-Semitism, racial profiling and blatant
discrimination continue across the OSCE region as evidenced by
recent violent attacks on African populations in Italy. An
increased focus on racism, in addition to efforts focused on
migrants, must continue to be at the top of the OSCE's agenda
and I hope this will be a topic at this year's high-level
tolerance meeting, which I'm hopeful that I, as well as other
Members, will be able to attend.
The desecration of a Jewish cemetery in France on the 65th
anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz further demonstrates
the need to maintain a focus on combating anti-Semitism. The
increased political focus on Muslim populations in many
countries, including banning minarets and face-veils, also
requires attention. Efforts of the ODIHR tolerance unit, the
Chairman-in-Office personal representatives on tolerance and
the OSCE high commission on national minorities are critical to
addressing these issues.
Mr. Minister, your leadership is going to be very important
to the OSCE this year. We all support you and hope that
Kazakhstan's chairmanship will be a tremendous success. We
appreciate the good working relationship that has developed
between your embassies--and I'm pleased to note your Ambassador
here to the United States is with us this morning--and the
cooperation developed in Vienna with the Helsinki Commission.
And I look forward to continuing that throughout this year and
beyond.
At this time I would like to acknowledge my good friend
from American Samoa who is in attendance with us this morning,
Eni Faleomavaega, for any comments he may wish to make.
HON. ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, A DELEGATE IN CONGRESS FROM THE
AMERICAN SAMOA
Mr. Faleomavaega. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I do want to
offer my personal condolences and sympathies of the late
Senator Charles Mathias, certainly one of the stalwarts and
leading Senators of our Nation and I can fully understand and
appreciate why our Co-Chairman Senator Cardin could not join us
this morning.
This is a very special occasion for me, Mr. Chairman, to
the extent that I've decided to wear a cultural tie that was
given to me by one of my brothers from the Indian Oneida Nation
which is symbolic of the bear clan. As you can see, it is
made--I have a claw of a bear, as well as it was from the part
of the bear where it was carved--hopefully that I might receive
some extra munna (ph), if you will, because sometimes, Mr.
Chairman, some of our friends here in Washington, when you say,
``tribe''--it kind of gives a connotation like the lesser
civilized people coming from various tribes don't seem to have
any sense of modernity or to the extent that they don't have
culture.
Very interestingly enough for the tremendous problems that
we're faced with not only in Central Asia that there was a
number of tribes in Afghanistan that finally gave the demise to
the former Soviet Union after 10 years of occupation. I think
it was also the Nation of Israel are still in formal of tribal
recognitions--whether you're from Judah or Manasseh or from
Ephraim or whatever. So I think it's good to understand that
even great nations like Kazakhstan--they still have their
little tribal organizations; they're very proud of it.
As I'm very sure that our distinguished guest who's our key
witness this morning happens to be my very dear friend whom
I've had the privilege and honor of knowing for all these
years, formerly as the Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan
to our country for some 7 years and then before that an
outstanding diplomatic career in his own right, Dr. Kanat
Saudabayev, now both as Secretary of State and as appointed
recently as Foreign Minister by President Nazarbayev. I'm very,
very privileged and honored that he has joined us this morning,
hearing from him for the issues that are now before us
concerning the Helsinki Commission.
Mr. Chairman, I thank you for the opportunity to testify
before the Helsinki Commission regarding Kazakhstan's
leadership of the 56-nation Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe. This is undoubtedly a historical event
for both the OSCE and Kazakhstan, given that Kazakhstan is the
first former Soviet Republic to serve in the top leadership
role of an organization best known for promoting democracy,
human rights and the rule of law.
As early as 20 years ago, the idea of any post-Soviet
states' active participation in the OSCE was inconceivable. And
for one of those states to assume the chairmanship of the
organization was unimaginable. Yet Kazakhstan's bid to chair
the OSCE was unanimously supported by all 56 Member nations in
recognition of the bold steps that President Nazarbayev has
taken to bring Kazakhstan out from under the yoke of communism
or, for that matter, colonialism for some 80 or 90 years before
they became independent some 18 or 19 years ago.
As chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Asia,
the Pacific and the Global Environment, which also has broad
jurisdiction on U.S. foreign policy affecting Central Asia, I
supported Kazakhstan's bid to chair the OSCE. And I have every
confidence that OSCE Chairman-in-Office Kanat Saudabayev will
fairly represent the interests of all Member States. Having
worked with His Excellency Kanat Saudabayev for some 7 years
during his tenure as Kazakhstan's former Ambassador to the
United States.
I can unequivocally state that he spared no efforts in
strengthening U.S.-Kazakh relations and because of his work in
Washington remains unsurpassed. I have every reason to believe
that this skilled and seasoned diplomat will spare no effort
also in making the OSCE more valid, more useful and more
effective.
This is why I also support President Nazarbayev's call for
the convening of a summit of OSCE leaders in Kazakhstan this
year. It has been 10 years since the OSCE held a security
summit and since then the world has changed drastically and
dramatically as a direct result of 9/11. Now more than ever it
is critical that we bring together all Member States to discuss
and come to solutions regarding the security of all nations.
While I have serious reservations about U.S. involvement in
Afghanistan--I have a very interesting observation, Mr.
Chairman, on this issue. We already have 68,000 soldiers in
Afghanistan. We're going to be sending another 30,000 soldiers,
numbering almost 100,000 soldiers who are going to be looking
for Taliban, which numbers about 27,000 and a couple of hundred
al-Qaida. And by the way, these 27,000 Taliban, I would venture
to say 99 percent are Pashtuns. Twelve million Pashtuns, I
believe, live in Afghanistan, but right on the border between
Pakistan and Afghanistan--27 million Pashtuns live there too.
Is it any wonder why it's been difficult for us even to
locate Osama bin Laden after all these years? Because of the
problems of tribal organizations that I think we have very
little understanding or appreciation of the cultures of these
areas. And I might say, very, very serious implications of the
role that Central Asian countries will play on what's going to
come out in Afghanistan in other areas of this very critical
region at this time.
Kazakhstan aims to use the OSCE to press for a resolution
to the conflict in Afghanistan. And for this reason, I believe
the United States would do well to support Kazakhstan in its
effort to hold a summit. For this reason my colleagues and I
have spearheaded an initiative which we have called upon the
Obama administration to support an OSCE summit for purposes of
bringing together all Member States to discuss and come to
solutions regarding the security of all nations, particularly
in this region of the world.
Mr. Chairman, I submit, I think we really need to look a
little more deeply at the fact that this is not just going to
cost us arms and body blood but a tremendous drain even in our
own national treasury when it comes to this issue of
Afghanistan. Without Central Asia's support, in my humble
opinion, Mr. Chairman, we have no hope in Afghanistan. Central
Asia is key to stabilizing Afghanistan and Kazakhstan is the
only Central Asian country to have an action plan to assist in
the reconstruction process.
As we noted in our letter to President Obama, ``In 2007/
2008, Kazakhstan provided $3 million for social and
infrastructure projects, humanitarian aid and training for
Afghan law enforcement and border patrol officers. Last year,
Kazakhstan committed an additional $5 million to improve the
water supply for the shipments of grain and other commodities.
And most recently, Kazakhstan has announced a major education
initiative for Afghan students, providing them opportunities to
study abroad.''
Because Kazakhstan is situated at the crossroads of Europe
and Asia, it is in a position to build bridges between the East
and the West and at a time when U.S. support is waning. I
firmly believe that as a Nation we must support Kazakhstan and
its chairmanship of the OSCE. No doubt there will always be
critics' intent on setting Kazakhstan back in its attempt to
move the OSCE forward, but again, all 56 Member States
unanimously voted in favor of Kazakhstan's chairmanship and it
is time for us to come together as a commission and an
organization to support Kazakhstan and its ambitious agenda.
About efforts to improve implementation of commitments
regarding fundamental human rights and freedoms, as David
Wilshire, head of the delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe noted, ``Building a democracy is a
long and hard task.'' And given the time it has taken America
to elect its first African-American President, Mr. Chairman, I
submit I tend to agree with Mr. Wilshire's assessment.
As a Pacific Islander whose people know first-hand the
horrors of nuclear testing, I also want to make a final comment
about human rights. While Kazakhstan, like many other nations
including our own, still has challenges ahead as it seeks to
provide food, shelter and political rights for its people, we
must not forget that when it mattered most, President
Nazarbayev changed the course of history, in my opinion Mr.
Chairman, and dismantled the world's fourth largest nuclear
arsenal which was larger than the combined nuclear arsenals of
Great Britain, France and China.
President Nazarbayev also made a tough choice to close and
seal off the world's second largest nuclear test site. While
the United States, Great Britain, France, China and Russia
continue to possess thousands and thousands of nuclear weapons,
while human rights groups continue to point fingers at
Kazakhstan, I submit Mr. Chairman, only Kazakhstan had the
moral courage to renounce nuclear weapons all together for the
sake of all mankind.
I also wish to point out that according to U.S. polling
data, more than 63 percent of the people of Kazakhstan have a
favorable opinion of the United States. And I believe this is a
direct result of President Nazarbayev's leadership and
commitment in the service of his people.
Since 9/11 in regards to the U.S. coalition operations in
Afghanistan, Kazakhstan allowed overflight and transshipment to
assist U.S. efforts. U.S.-Kazakh accords were signed in 2002 on
the emergency use of Kazakhstan's Almaty airport and on other
military-to-military relations. The Kazakh legislature also
approved sending military engineers to Iraq in May 2003. And I
think it was just recently in a week ago that we've also had an
agreement with Kazakhstan for shipment of allowing our shipment
of goods going through passes in our efforts in building up our
military capacity in Afghanistan.
On many of the other important issues, Mr. Chairman I
submit, Kazakhstan has also stood with the United States and I
hope the United States will now stand with Kazakhstan in
support of an OSCE summit. Again, I commend Kazakhstan for its
chairmanship of the OSCE. I sincerely thank you, Mr. Chairman,
for giving me this opportunity to share with you my thoughts
concerning this very important matter and I look forward to
hearing from our witnesses this morning. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
Mr. Hastings. Thank you very much, Mr. Faleomavaega. We've
also been joined, and I would have the minister to note, we
will get to his testimony, but I'd be terribly remiss if I did
not acknowledge and allow any statement that he may wish to
make at this time, by my colleague and good friend from
California, Mr. Issa.
HON. DARRELL E. ISSA, COMMISSIONER, COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND
COOPERATION IN EUROPE
Mr. Issa. Thank you, Chairman, and I would ask unanimous
consent that my entire statement be put in the record. And
since so much has been said, properly, by my colleagues here,
and since I really, more than anything else, want to welcome my
former Ambassador here, and my good friend, and often we call
each other our brothers, because we did form a bond since 2001
that was very close, just as our Nation continues to form a
tighter bond with an emerging democracy, and as Mr.
Faleomavaega said so well, the only country ever to dismantle
its nuclear capability.
It gives us an opportunity to look further. With the summit
coming up in 2010, certainly I want to join with my colleagues
to support that. It's a bold move, in a place that is both
beautiful and warm in the summer, and bitter cold in the
winter. So I commend you for finding the right season for a
summit, also. And with that, Mr. Chairman, I look forward to
hearing his entire testimony and yield back.
Mr. Hastings. Thank you very much, Mr. Issa. If you will
give your statement to staff, then we will make sure that it's
included in the record.
Before proceeding further, I'd like to note the presence at
today's hearing of our two fellow parliamentarians from another
OSCE-Participating state, namely Macedonia. My understanding is
that Mr. Eliodemoshi (ph) and Mr. Stankovi (ph) are visiting
the United States under the auspices of the Department of
State's International Visitor Leadership Program. Gentlemen,
where are you? I think you're out there somewhere. I'd like to
welcome you here to the hearing, in order to see the Helsinki
Commission in action.
I'd also like to acknowledge my good friend, the United
States Ambassador to Kazakhstan. Ambassador Hoagland--where are
you, Ambassador--is here with us today as well. Thank you so
very much.
With all of those amenities and courtesies out of the way,
now we hear from my good friend, the Foreign Minister,
Secretary of State, of Kazakhstan, Mr. Saudabayev. The floor is
yours, sir.
And let me remind you all again that channel two is in
English on the headsets, and channel 10 is in Russian.
Yes, sir.
H.E. KANAT SAUDABAYEV, FOREIGN MINISTER, REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN
[Note: The English translation of the beginning of Mr.
Saudabayev's remarks was not captured in the recording. His
translated remarks begin in progress below.]
Mr. Saudabayev. The fundamental human values--the cultural
and human diversity of our reality should serve as the basis
for this kind of work and in this regard, I'd like to emphasize
this, to acknowledge this new spirit that has emerged in
Washington--this aspiration to set the bridges connecting the
East and the West.
The preparedness of the United States to listen to the
world, to listen to other countries' opinions, which I think
was quite brilliantly demonstrated by my friends, a Congressman
who spoke this morning. I think that we can feel quite
optimistic that we are here sharing our goals, sharing this
path and we can continue serving, expanding the mutual
understanding and connections between different civilizations.
Exactly in this human dimension, we would like to have the
joint session in a conference in Copenhagen, which will also
mark the 20th anniversary of the Copenhagen document adoption
in 1990, one of the founding documents for the human dimensions
in OSCE, as you probably know. So we hope that this conference
will be devoted to the review of compliance with the founding
principles and freedoms by the countries who are Members of the
OSCE.
We think that the annual review conferences on human rights
in Warsaw is also very important events--very important efforts
conducted by the OSCE and we will take it--the preparation for
this event very seriously. As you know, Kazakhstan is the
country that encompasses the representatives of 140
nationalities and representatives of all kinds of different
confessions (sic), which is one of the greatest
accomplishments, I think, of the President of our country,
Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Contrary to many forecasts and contrary to many
apprehensions, he succeeded in maintaining stable peace in the
country that's as diverse and as expansive as Kazakhstan. And
actually, we think that preservation of this multiculturalism
is the founding principle for our development today and
tomorrow. And I think that this can be transposed--this
experience that we have accumulated can be attributed to our
international experience.
For example, we already have conducted the meeting of the
highest representatives of three major religions of the world
in Kazakhstan and we actually plan to incorporate the issues of
tolerance as one of the top--religious tolerance as one of the
top priorities of OSCE. This is why on June 29th and 30th, we
are planning to conduct a conference on tolerance and
nondiscrimination.
We have already started preparing for this important event.
It involves the active engagement of three representatives on
tolerance. One of them is from the United States, Andrew Baker,
the rabbi who is now the high representative of the United
States on religious tolerance and fighting anti-Semitism.
We do hope that the United States will contribute to a
significant degree to the preparation of this event. We are
very happy to see that Secretary of State Clinton is paying so
much attention to the advancement of the issue of gender
balance and we think it's very important direction for our
work. And this is why we're proposing to conduct a joint
session that will be devoted to the issues of equal
opportunities for women's participation in political processes.
We also attribute a great importance to fighting human
trafficking, especially trafficking in children, which seems
unfortunate to have acquired a transnational character.
Unquestionably, as a chairman, Kazakhstan will pay very
significant attention to the rule of law, religious tolerance,
the enforcement of equal access to equal justice, equal law and
the efficient work of the penitentiary system.
We would like to say that we're planning to advance those
freedoms, advance those principles in Kazakhstan. And actually,
the 18 years of our independence is a clear testimony to the
fact that we have been adhering to this path for all of this
time. For example, just a few years ago, we incorporated very
significant amendments in our legislation on elections on the
freedom of mass media.
We have adopted the national plan on human rights and their
implementation for the years 2009, 2012, as well as we have the
national plan that is scheduled for implementation through 2020
in the area of the reinforcement of human rights and their
protection.
The law on equal rights and equal opportunities for women,
protection from domestic violence and improvement of the
forensic system work, social protections from various
categories of citizens, various means and methods that exist
for carrying out sentences in the criminal court system.
The head of our state announced that he is going to start
the implementation of the new legal reform which will be
targeted at the humanization of our legislation. So this is why
in the near future the parliament of our country is going to
consider the draft of legislation that will provide for very
stringent controls and monitoring for all of the activities in
the area of human rights.
So here is an example of the few goals that we have
declared as our main principal goals in the role of the
chairman of OSCE. Elections monitoring. In the year of our
chairmanship, we are planning to monitor 15 elections in
various countries of the world. And we are, of course, planning
to pay due attention to this process.
I'm happy to declare that our monitoring of the first
elections round in Ukraine was very successful. They complied
with OSCE requirements and we hope that the next round is going
to be just as good. And we would like to call upon ODIHR, the
inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE, to continue
contributing efficiently and constructively to this process of
monitoring the elections in different countries.
Now, with respect to the second basket that has to do with
economic reforms, I'd like to point out that we are planning to
continue our efficient work in improving the efficiency of
border control and the land transportation. There's quite a few
acute issues in this regard and we are planning to tackle them
this year.
The other aspect is the environmental security. As you
know, we have inherited two manmade environmental disasters.
One is the Semipalatinsk test range and the Aral Sea. The Aral
Sea is a problem that actually is acute for all countries in
the region. It has been proven beyond doubt that this sea also
has a negative impact on the European countries who currently
do get reached by the salts originating from the Aral Sea.
And I'd like to emphasize here that in the year of our
chairmanship, Kazakhstan would like to intensify our activities
that have to do with the stability in Afghanistan. As it was
correctly pointed out by Congressman Eni Faleomavaega, we have
been providing steady support to the United States and the
international coalition on stabilizing the situation in
Afghanistan.
However, today, we are convinced that the military efforts,
by themselves, are not sufficient enough to stabilize this
country. Now is the time to expand the humanitarian constituent
part of the international efforts. On our part, in the course
of a number of years, we have been providing significant
support in the construction of hospitals, schools, providing
various humanitarian aid efforts.
And in fact, in the course of the Afghani--as a consequence
of the Afghani-Kazakh agreement, intergovernmental agreement,
we will provide the training for 1,000 officers from
Afghanistan. Despite the difficult economic situation in the
world, we have found the time and we have found the means to
allocate $50 million for the training of those officers. And we
hope that we will be able to become major contributors to the
efforts of the OSCE in this regard and that our efforts will go
along with the efforts announced by the President of the United
States, Barack Obama.
Insofar, however, there is a drastic need to provide
international support to the humanitarian aspects of life in
Afghanistan, as well as the various social support programs
that are required. This is what was discovered--this is what
was discussed on the 27th, 28th of January in London, the
conference that was devoted to the issue of Afghanistan and
this is what I expressed at this conference.
Since the issues of Afghanistan are especially acute for
those countries that are present in the region, we intend to
continue intensive and efficient work on reinforcement of
borders, the national borders of various countries that are
bordering on Afghanistan, as well as strengthening the capacity
of the border control troops that serve on the border with
Afghanistan as well as continue contributing to the training of
the officers in the Border Control College as well as customs.
Our country, as an acknowledged leader of the world in
nonproliferation process, supports the initiatives of President
Obama in terms of nuclear disarmament, his commitment, he
confirmed in his State of the Union Address to Congress. As
chairman in office of the OSCE, we highly appreciate the
American-Russian negotiations to develop a new START treaty.
A real contribution of the OSCE to the transnational
threats and challenges including terrorism, religious
extremism, drug trafficking and organized crime must be the
conference for the prevention of terrorism in Astana. Here, we
support the--we appreciate the support of our American
colleagues.
Kazakhstan will also try to make a contribution to the
solution of so-called prolonged conflicts, three of which are
raging in post-Soviet space. Bearing in the mind the historical
commonality and mental closeness of Kazakhstan to all the
parties to the conflicts and also in view of the high authority
and trust enjoyed by President Nazarbayev, we hope to give an
impetus to this process.
This is what I'm planning to do in my forthcoming visit to
Southern Caucasus, starting February 15th. At the same time, we
believe it's important to prevent such conflicts which lead to
tragedies and humanitarian disasters. And to this end, to use
the potentiality of the OSCE in terms of monitoring and
prevention of such situations.
Mr. Chairman, as you know, the year 2010 is momentous for
OSCE by several anniversaries. It is the 35th anniversary of
the signing of the Helsinki Accords, the 65th anniversary of
the end of the Second World War and the 20th anniversary of the
Paris Charter for the New Europe and the 20th anniversary of
the Copenhagen Document. Beside, it will be 11 years since the
latest summit on the OSCE in Istanbul.
Unfortunately, the first decade of the new century has not
made our world safer or better. Thus, the 9/11 tragedy changed
the usual notions of enemy and war and the international
terrorism became an enemy without the address or nationality.
The architecture of security in Europe has changed.
In spite of the many years of international effort,
Afghanistan continues to be the source of international
terrorism and a major drug supplier. Not only have the
prolonged conflicts not been extinguished, but new conflicts
arose. Even in the most comfortable countries of Europe, they
are facing, now, acute issues of tolerances, international and
inter-religious tolerance.
And it's all within the zone of responsibility of OSCE. So
these are problems that demand consolidated attention and
discussion by the leaders of the OSCE. That's why President
Nazarbayev called to call a summit of the OSCE in 2010. These
concrete recommendations for the summit have already been built
into the Council of Foreign Ministers, a document in Athens,
and supported by the Permanent Council in Vienna. The leaders
of several countries among the OSCE--of OSCE not only support
this suggestion, but also make an important contribution to the
development of agenda.
Kazakhstan also wants to continue the good tradition laid
down by our predecessor, Greece, and invite the Foreign
Ministers of OSCE to the informal meeting in Almaty this coming
summer to exchange opinions on the pressing issues and
hopefully, achieve a consensus on the summit agenda.
I would like to note that as a result of a long absence of
the United States in OSCE meetings, it's much more difficult
today to find consensus. Today, OSCE demands proper attention
on the part of one of the key countries that laid the
foundation of this organization. Full-fledged, active
participation of the United States will impart the needed
impetus to our organization.
I'm quite sure that the idea of the summit is in full
accord with the noble goals and efforts of the United States to
promote security and improving the trust and cooperation over
the whole zone of responsibility of OSCE from Vancouver to
Vladivostok.
As the chairman in office of OSCE, I grasp this opportunity
to call upon your distinguished colleagues, not only to extend
our gratitude for your support, but also I call upon you to
show your strategic vision, political will and leadership and
support by the United States of the successful summit of our
unique organization in the name of security and welfare of the
peoples that created our organization.
Indeed, in the 35 years of its history, the OSCE created an
unprecedented system of collecting universal and indivisible
security. However, as noted by President Nazarbayev, the
positive historical resource of OSCE has its limits and today,
we should not continue the so-called redlines or zero-sum games
practice.
I'm quite sure that our common task is in the light of new
challenges and threats to make OSCE even more useful and more
effective. Winding up, Mr. Chairman, I would like, once again,
to thank, from the bottom of my heart, our chairman,
distinguished Congressman Hastings, my friend and brother, Enid
Faleomavaega and obviously, Darrell Issa.
He reminded me of 2001, when within these same walls, under
an entirely different atmosphere, a hearing on Kazakhstan was
held and that was the only voice raised by a U.S.
Representative who came out to support an emerging democracy in
our country. So it's been only 9 years, but my country has
changed beyond recognition.
The United States has changed and today, we feel how
reliable our strategic partnership is, looking forward into the
future. Thank you very much and let me take this opportunity
today to extend my gratitude to Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, which used to be an active Member of your
distinguished Commission.
As Chairman in Office of the OSCE, let me assure you that
myself, personally, and Kazakhstan will always continue close
and constructive cooperation with the Helsinki Commission, the
Congress, the government and nongovernmental organizations of
America with which Kazakhstan has formed a relationship of true
strategic partnership. Thank you very much.
Mr. Hastings. Thank you very much, Mr. Minister, for a very
comprehensive presentation. If you don't mind, we would turn to
a few questions. But I'd like to take the prerogative of the
chair initially to say that while I have a long list of
questions, and in the interests of time, I would not present
each of them, I would like, with your permission, to place in
writing to your good offices, as Chair-in-Office, many of the
questions that I would seek an answer to, and with your
permission, upon their being answered, to place them on our Web
site, so that all can see what the questions were, and what the
answers are to those questions. And I don't expect that to take
place in any 2- or 3-day period, but certainly, if you can,
within this month, answer the questions that I would submit.
Mr. Chairman, I was particularly interested in your
comments when you spoke about the invisible walls that are
residue or the remains of the cold war. One of the reasons that
I supported Kazakhstan as Chair-in-Office was to be able to
dramatize the fact that there are countries that are moving
forward, in a progressive manner, as is Kazakhstan, and it
would be my hope that that will show the way, not only in the
OSCE sphere, but indeed, the world.
I think you rightly point out our shortcomings with
reference to not having a formal Ambassador in Vienna. I do
know that you do know that an ambassador-to-be has been
nominated for this position. It would be my hope that he would
be confirmed, and I'll use the term ``fast,'' or
``expeditiously.'' I think it has been too long in the coming,
and it would be my hope that the U.S. Senate will exercise its
confirmation prerogatives most immediately with reference to
the nominee. There are two areas that I wish to highlight, then
I'll allow, if you wish to answer--those are two questions--and
then turn to my colleagues.
Mr. Minister, I think you know, that for 15 years, that I,
and I'll use that pronoun, have participated in the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
principally as a Member of the Parliamentary Assembly. During
that period of time, I don't think there is any other Member of
the U.S. House of Representatives, and I can think of at least
six Members of various parliaments of the OSCE sphere, that
have participated in as many election observations as I have.
As you know, I am just recently back from the observation
mission in Ukraine, which was my third election observation in
Ukraine. While I agree with you that ODIHR and the
Parliamentary Assembly are, indeed required to conduct
themselves efficiently and constructively. And in some
respects, Ukraine had some measures of success in that regard.
I won't bore you or those in attendance with just how important
I believe this cooperation, understanding to be.
But I would like for you to take away from this meeting the
fact that, here in the United States, particularly in the U.S.
State Department, the ODIHR who do extraordinary work on the
ground in election observation are referred to as the gold
standard. I'm going to say to you what I said to Christian
Strohal, who at one time was the head of ODIHR. Christian had
been there a considerable number of years. I was 12 years in as
an election observer. We were in Maastricht when I made the
statement to him that he hadn't been elected to anything, and I
had been elected, at that time, seven different times, and six
different times. And that I knew more about elections than he
would know if he was to start all over again as a bureaucrat.
And I'll say to this State Department, and anybody here,
and if I offend you, it's deliberate--not you, Mr. Minister,
but the others--that ODIHR is not a gold standard, they are one
of the standards that are necessary in the OSCE sphere. But
when it comes to election observation, elected officials have
no peers.
And I just wish that to be clearly understood, so as how as
we go forward, that those constructive and efficient
undertakings of the Parliamentary Assembly are taken into
account. Let me use yet another example. The OSCE governmental
side took credit for and implemented, rightly, the anti-
Semitism conferences that have been held under the aegis of
OSCE--three of them.
The idea for those conferences came from the Parliamentary
Assembly. They came from the Co-Chair of this Commission, Ben
Cardin, and myself; Steny Hoyer, who now is the Majority
Leader; Chris Smith, who was the Ranking Member of the Helsinki
Commission and at the time, at different times, chairman of
this same Helsinki Commission; Jerahmiel Grafstein, a Senator
from Canada; and Gert Weisskerchen, a member of the Bundestag.
The six of us--[inaudible]--the resolution that ultimately
became the manifestation of the anti-Semitism conferences.
Those ideas generated transparency in that arena, and we
have made other suggestions along those lines, particularly
fiscal accounting. Perhaps mine is not a question: It is, as
you are my friend and brother, a suggestion about how we go
about viewing the work of the various institutions of OSCE as
they proceed in their critical missions.
The one question that I would ask you to respond to is,
Turkey hosted the last OSCE summit in Istanbul in 1999, and was
prepared to hose the entire review conference that precedes a
summit. Mr. Minister, a year is going to go by a lot more
rapidly than most of us think. A month is gone already in the
year 2010, and you point out the significant anniversaries that
come about in this year. But would your government be willing
to hold an OSCE review conference in Kazakhstan, in connection
with the decision to convene a summit under your chair?
And I suggest that that would be a very wise thing to do. I
also would allow that wisely, you are proceeding to arrange for
an informal conference. It would be my view that that should
take place sooner than you are suggesting in an effort to give
vent to the remaining undertakings that are going to be
necessary to achieve a summit. You've heard the three of us
suggest that we favor a summit. But I certainly favor the kind
of review that the informal conference can proceed with, and
with the participation of NGOs and others, in a more rapid-fire
manner, to develop a substantive agenda. I hope out of that is
a question, and if so, then I invite you to respond.
Mr. Saudabayev. Mr. Chairman, as I have already pointed
out, we already have started the substantive preparations for
the summit. And after the formal agreement on the dates, we
definitely will take into consideration proposals that were
made here in favor of the summit and if necessary, if in
addition to the informal council of ministers of foreign
affairs, we should also hold the review conference. We will do
that and we will be able to support its effective and efficient
implementation.
Mr. Hastings. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Mr.
Faleomavaega?
Mr. Faleomavaega. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would be
remiss if I did not also recognize the presence of our good
Ambassador from Kazakhstan, my good friend, Ambassador Erlan
Idrissov, who is also with us here. I do want to say, for the
record, that in my humble judgment, I don't know of anybody
that has spent so much of his precious time and his dedication
and commitment to the operations and the--all aspects of how
OSCE has taken its course, and especially with the active
participation of those of us representing our government before
this organization that is comprised of 56 countries, and I take
this special tribute to you, Mr. Chairman, and also to Senator
Cardin, and our other colleagues that you had indicated
earlier.
I also have a list of questions, and for the sake of time,
I'm just going to submit it for the record and also for the
Foreign Minister, Saudabayev, to respond. But I do have some--I
think, to followup on your question, Mr. Chairman, that I think
it's important, and always has been, the question is to justify
having a summit that has been requested by the chairman. That
not only will it require substance, but something that will be
making, that will be important to the extent that not only does
it have a direct bearing on the national interests of each
country making up the OSCE, but certainly on issues that are
now before us, that has tremendous impact on these countries
that are Members of the OSCE.
I noted with interest, Mr. Foreign Minister, you have
indicated several aspects of several issues that could be part
of the overall process of planning for the summit: issues
related to religious freedom, elections, human trafficking,
human rights, economic reforms, transportation, environmental--
all of this, put together, I think they are important. But one
issue that I'd like to share with Foreign Minister Saudabayev,
and that is: We are right at the center of an issue that has
very, very serious and broad implications, not only for the
recent decisions that were made by my own government, or our
own government--and I make reference again to the crisis, the
problems in Afghanistan.
I think no other issue will bear more attention, Mr.
Foreign Minister, on how this might relate to the interests
that may be expressed by the 56-Member country, and the serious
implications of how, what role, how important, this is to the
Member countries that make up Central Asia. I have said over
the years--and now, most recently, because of the crisis that
we're faced with: the war in Afghanistan--I have always said,
what are the serious implications will this be, for the Central
Asian countries?
I note with interest that when you say ``Afghanistans'' or
``Afghans,'' you don't really mean that they are all a
homogeneous people living in Afghanistan. You're talking
about--and I've got a little listing here--of a country that is
made up of 42 percent Pashtuns, 11.9 million Pashtuns; 7.9
million Tajiks, who are from Tajikistan in Central Asia; 2.5
million Hazaras; 2.5 million Uzbeks--and by the way, Uzbekistan
borders Afghanistan, their population is about 28 million
Uzbeks that live there.
My point here, Mr. Chairman, and I want to note this: Will
the issue of Afghanistan be considered as a primary, and a very
substantial issue that OSCE should seriously undertake and
consider in its deliberations, if a summit is to be held? And
the reason I suggest this, Mr. Chairman, and I wanted to note
with interest if Foreign Minister Saudabayev will share with us
some insight.
We're about to expend well over $30 to $40 billion in
sending another 30,000 soldiers in Afghanistan. You're talking
about another expenditure of probably $100 billion a year if
we're going to stay there for another 18 months, as has been
proposed by the administration. Now, while this may be just on
a unilateral basis, where my country or our country is involved
in this, but it does have serious implications throughout
Central Asia, and I suspect that every Member of the OSCE
country will be affected by what will be happening in the
coming weeks and months in Afghanistan.
And I wanted to ask the good minister if the question of
Afghanistan is being seriously considered as an issue that
should be discussed openly and actively among Members of the
OSCE, and if there's a possibility that this issue could also
be taken up as part of the agenda and the program on the
summit, if there will be a summit, this year.
Mr. Chairman?
Mr. Hastings. Thank you very much. Mr. Minister?
Mr. Saudabayev. It's a very, very accurate comment. I think
you have been quite correct in pointing out the importance of,
I think, the consultations that we have so far attested to the
fact that the issue of Afghanistan's stabilization is going to
be one of the primary items on the agenda of the summit.
And it's actually the issue with which we have the most
consensus since 43 countries of the overall number of OSCE
Members have displayed their serious interest in the
stabilization of the environment in Afghanistan. And I think if
we do not consolidate our efforts in the absence of
stabilization in Afghanistan, we cannot speak about the
sustainable development of our region as well as the overall
OSCE space.
Mr. Faleomavaega. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I note with
interest, also, Mr. Foreign Minister, that over the years, OSCE
has had this little push-and-pull relationship, kind of like a
mini-cold war effort, where we see Russia, again, playing a
very critical role, and being critical also of some of the
programs and the suggestions in terms of its proposal to have a
security umbrella that is to be composed of European countries.
And I'm just curious, Mr. Foreign Minister, in terms of
what is Kazakhstan's role in trying to be a referee, I suppose?
Because we see this: the crisis in Georgia, the problem of
missile test--I mean, missile bases in the Czech Republic, or
in Poland--all these things. And I think in view of the current
administration's latest proposals and policies, and I've just
wondered, from you, Mr. Minister: How do you view Russia's role
in the OSCE in terms of how we can develop a more, a friendly
atmosphere, so that we will have a tendency to say, let's be
uniform?
I like the idea of consensus-building in terms of how
agreements or decisions are made within the OSCE, but I'm just
curious: From our Foreign Minister, what exactly do you see the
Central Asian countries' role toward Afghanistan, when we view
this? And how does this imply, for the activities that we hope
that the OSCE Members will play in that respect?
Now, in my discussion with some of the leaders of the
Asian, Central Asian countries, we don't need to send more
bullets and guns to kill other Talibans who are actually
Pashtuns. We need to provide more humanitarian assistance and
education and health, agriculture development, so these people
can be more self-sustaining. And I was just wondering if there
was a feeling among Central Asian countries. What is the sense
among Central Asian countries toward the crisis that we're
faced with right now in Afghanistan, may I ask?
Mr. Saudabayev. First of all, with respect to Russia,
Russia is one of the OSCE Members and it's a very substantive--
Russia is a very substantive and weighty player in the
international space and in this organization as well. And all
countries who are Members of OSCE have equal rights, we know
that, which is why the proposal that Russia made vis-a-vis the
European Security Treaty that was advanced by President
Medvedev, I think, is a valid proposal that deserves attention
and consideration by the countries who are Members of the OSCE.
Second, with respect to the situation around Afghanistan, I
think the recent strategy announced by President Obama is
correct. It's a good decision and as a country, we support it.
We think that in the absence of adequate conditions that would
make it possible for the Government of Afghanistan to take upon
itself the responsibility for the security in the country, for
the social and political evolvement of the country itself, we
cannot talk about the postwar development of this country.
And alongside the military efforts, we need to enhance what
you have just pointed out, our common efforts in the social and
economic initiatives of the development of this country,
investments in the humanitarian infrastructure of this country,
which is why it's so important to engage the capacities that
are available in the bordering countries such as Tajikistan,
Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan.
Those are the countries who are strategically close.
They're in the proximity of Afghanistan and of course, they
have the religious and ethnic affinity with Afghanistan.
Therefore, of course, we have experience in working with those
countries. For example, Kazakhstan can present alongside the
educational programs, we can also present the following
proposals, that we can invite the international donors to use
the agricultural opportunities that exist in Kazakhstan.
We can provide seeds, for example, the seed bank to
Afghanistan. We can also help with the transportation
infrastructure, i.e., for example, can help with the
construction of railroads and restoration of railroads. So of
course, we're facing the schedule on the removal of troops from
Afghanistan. But that should be done in parallel with the other
processes of a gradual--it should be a gradual process.
The reduction in the number of troops should be very
gradual and it should be accompanied by the parallel process
and I think the goal of having the 300,000-strong police and
military force, there's going to become a very strong factor in
bringing Afghanistan to normalcy and creating opportunities for
its development.
Mr. Faleomavaega. Thank you, Mr. Minister. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
Mr. Hastings. Thank you very much. Mr. Issa?
Mr. Issa. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Foreign Minister, I
have a series of questions which I thought my staff was very
wise to say, why don't you just ask to have your friend answer
them in writing later? It seemed like an original idea before
the other two asked for the same thing. So with your
indulgence, I will abbreviate my questions, and with your
kindness, perhaps you can answer them at your leisure.
But there are a couple of items that I think bear
discussion here today. One of them is, throughout the region,
not just in Kazakhstan, not just in Afghanistan, there has been
a difficult time in the democratization of producing competing
parties, although in your country--and I've had the honor of
visiting, and I have a former staff member who works on
democracy in Kazakhstan--there are competing movements. They
seldom--the seeds don't sprout, and so you don't have a two-,
three-, four-party system in which they have representation in
your parliament.
I want to share with you something here today. Washington,
DC, is exactly the same. This is a one-party town, even though
there are people who are not Democrats. And this town has
decided to have representation, at least one member of the
council, who is chosen simply to represent minorities.
And I might plant that seed, that throughout the emerging
democracies, even though it would not usually fit in the U.S.
democracy system, we all have to struggle to find a way to
ensure that those who cannot get enough votes, but who
represent other forms of diversity, find a way to actually get
representation within parliaments, city councils, and other
bodies. I plant that not as a question for you, but as a
thought, because I know that your country has worked--you are
not by any means the greatest democracy, nor are you least
democracy (sic), but a struggling democracy trying to find the
right way to lead your country in a post-cold war period. So
that's not as much of a question as food for thought.
My question, though, has to go to the summit. And I'm not
asking you for a question that you answer yes or no, but more
as what is your vision or your view of what can be accomplished
at a summit. And my question is this: Since I've been only less
than 2 years on the Commission, I've observed one thing, which
is, our problems that we discuss most of the time are problems
that are never solved: the problems of the Roma, the problems
of anti-Semitism, the problems of universal rights of women,
certainly that related to freedom of religion throughout the
world. Those did not start during my tenure or even during our
chairman's tenure, and they will not finish, because those are
ones we always must improve on.
But there seems to be in Afghanistan, as the others
mention, there seems to be Member States, and non-Member States
around the world who are struggling to reach the baseline, the
lowest level of acceptance in the world. I spent a week in
Afghanistan over our Christmas holiday, and it was the longest
time I'd ever been in the region. And I was there long enough
to realize that with less than 18 percent literacy among men,
and almost zero among women, this is a country where for you to
find those thousand officers to train, must be very hard,
because to find people with enough education that you can help
them become leaders is difficult.
I flew over poppy fields for hours each day, and discovered
that we had no eradication program because we cannot take on
the very--these people, at this point, because there is no
substitution. Afghanistan is somewhat unique, and I know that
if there's a summit, it will dominate a great many of the
forum, but what is your vision for raising the question of what
is the base level for every nation of the world? And how do we
rise to those base levels?
So this may not be the only thing the summit is about, but
my question to you really has to be, do we have a summit in
which we talk about the progress on those areas where the whole
world continues to move, or can your summit be about the world
rising, the least among us, in a way that we all work together
on? Because for me, if there's a summit, and I support a
summit, that would be the greatest goal, is for what we call it
often in the United States, the weakest links to be stronger,
rather than talking about making all the links stronger. So I
would appreciate your vision on that, as my only question.
Mr. Saudabayev. Thank you for a very interesting vision
of--(in Russian). I think the chief result of the summit--this
is my personal opinion--should be development of united
political will of the leaders of the OSCE countries to
concentrate their efforts on the social and economic
rehabilitation, to lay down the foundation or create
conditions, therefore a transition to peaceful life because the
military aspects are taken care of by NATO and there is an
established international coalition.
But now, to mobilize the OSCE countries in order to solve
the socio-economic aspects, to train personnel, you have noted,
very assuredly, that without an availability of--a cadre of
educated people, it's very difficult to talk about adaptation
of the people to a peaceful life, particularly considering the
history of 30 years of incessant warfare.
So the helpful point of the agenda should be to marshal the
resources and the efforts and everybody understands that such a
summit must be held and the Afghan issue is the most pressing
issue.
Mr. Hastings. Mr. Minister, you've been very generous of,
with your time, and forthcoming with your answers. It's deeply
appreciated by all of us. I'm sure that we look forward to
seeing you in Vienna.
We wish the Chair-in-Office a tremendous success during the
next 11 months, and again, I would urge that as we are
establishing the schedule, that we be mindful that a year is
swift. But during that swift year, it is our great hope that
there will be such a dynamic force coming from the Chair-in-
Office, and I know, as my friend and little brother, that you
will do a good job with those in your entourage.
If you have time, Mr. Minister, after greeting those who
may wish to say hello to you, we've arranged--and I believe
your staff will know--a brief, or intermittent visit, in the
rear of the room. Our staff will point you in that direction.
If you have the time, at the very least, do stop in and say
hello and goodbye to us. And we'll see you later this evening,
I hope, too, at 6:30 in the CVC. All right, with that, the
hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:26 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I C E S
PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, CHAIRMAN,
COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE
I am pleased to welcome Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister to
the Helsinki Commission today in his capacity as Chairman-in-
Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe for 2010. At the outset, let me congratulate the
Government of Kazakhstan for the outstanding organization of
your chairmanship. You and your colleagues in Astana, Vienna,
and Washington have done a superb job. Kazakhstan has the
distinction of being the first Central Asian country to chair
the OSCE. This is a great honor for Kazakhstan. I hope
Kazakhstan's leadership of the organization will enrich both
Kazakhstan and the OSCE. I especially hope that the Kazakhstani
chairmanship will promote democratization and human rights
observance in Central Asia, a region that has sadly lagged
behind in the critical human dimension.
Today's hearing is vitally important in maintaining the
Commission's engagement with the political leadership of the
OSCE, a tradition spanning nearly a decade. Your appearance
here today, early in the Kazakh chairmanship, as well as your
consultations with senior administration officials allows us to
hear about your priorities and plans and to raise issues of
mutual concern. We welcome this opportunity.
The Helsinki Commission likewise has closely followed
developments in Kazakhstan since independence, and especially
since your government announced its interest in securing the
OSCE chairmanship in late 2003. It is fair to say that no
prospective chair has undergone as much scrutiny. In this
regard, we have been mindful that President Nazarbayev
personally signed the Helsinki Final Act in 1992 when
Kazakhstan joined the OSCE and the specific commitments made by
your government at Madrid.
There are many `firsts' associated with the Kazakh
chairmanship, points of distinction for which you can rightly
take pride. Given the distinctive focus of the Helsinki
Commission on democracy, human rights and the rule of law, I
would be remiss not to note that Kazakhstan is the first
country assessed as ``not free'' by Freedom House to assume the
OSCE chairmanship. This reality presents unique challenges and
opportunities for Kazakhstan, for the United States, and for
those of us committed to advancing the principles enshrined in
the Final Act.
Kazakhstan's chairmanship comes at a time when the
participating States collectively face myriad challenges from
Afghanistan, the impasse over the CFE Treaty and prolonged
frozen conflicts to corruption, persecution of human rights
defenders and violations of fundamental freedoms, including
freedom of expression and media as well as the right to freely
profess and practice one's religion. Your president's proposal
to convene an OSCE summit in Kazakhstan in 2010 deserves
serious and thoughtful consideration. I look forward to
discussing this initiative with you further as we consider
those steps that would be necessary to make such a summit not
only a reality, but a success.
Mr. Minister, I look forward to our sustained engagement
with you and your colleagues during Kazakhstan's chairmanship
and beyond.
PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. DARRELL E. ISSA, COMMISSIONER,
COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE
Chairman Hastings,
This past month, the Chairmanship of the 56 member
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the
world's largest security-oriented intergovernmental
organization, was assumed by Kazakhstan for the year of 2010.
The responsibilities of the Chairmanship include, but are not
limited to: Representing the Organization, managing the
activities related to conflict prevention, crises, and post-
conflict recovery, and coordinating the duties of the OSCE
worldwide. The selection of Kazakhstan for the Chair is
especially significant for several important reasons.
As an ex-Soviet republic, Kazakhstan has made great inroads
from the transition of communist state to full-fledged
democracy. While not yet a full-fledged democracy, Kazakhstan
has for years been moving in the right direction. As the last
of the Soviet republics to declare independence, which occurred
on December 16th, 1991, Kazakhstan has made many strides
towards becoming an open, more western-leaning democracy, yet
they still have much work to do.
I want to acknowledge, however, the progress that
Kazakhstan has made, especially in relation to its neighbors.
President Nazerbayev's government continues to push for
initiatives instilling confidence in the rule of law and create
the infrastructures needed to strengthen the democratic values
in the country. While this process has not been
straightforward, or without controversy, and understanding that
the government has made some questionable decisions recently,
Kazakhstan is moving in the right direction. By ensuring
further transparency, integrity of elections, the ability of
public access to information and media, furthering press and
human rights, establishing the freedom of religion Kazakhstan
will solidify its place as a leader in the region.
By joining the OSCE, and assuming the chairmanship this
year; Kazakhstan's leadership has proved that their desire to
positively contribute to the region. With Chairmanship
priorities in the present including such issues as Afghanistan
and terrorism, human rights issues, election monitoring, and
potential summits, Kazakhstan has a very busy year ahead.
Thus, I would like to welcome my dear friend Foreign
Minister and Secretary of State Kanat Saudebayev, who prior to
his current roles, was the Kazakhstani Ambassador to the United
States for seven years. I look forward to hearing him outline
Kazakhstan's agenda for 2010.
Thank you.
PREPARED STATEMENT OF H.E. KANAT SAUDABAYEV, FOREIGN MINISTER,
REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN
Distinguished Co-Chairman Cardin, Co-Chairman Hastings,
members of the Commission, and members of Congress, today I am
very happy to see, in this room, dignitaries, prominent
politicians, and real patriots of America with whom I happened
to work during my seven-year tenure as the Republic of
Kazakhstan's Ambassador to the United States.
I would like to express my gratitude for this opportunity
to address this esteemed Commission, which played a key role in
the decision of the United States to support Kazakhstan's
chairmanship in the Organization of Security and Co-operation
in Europe (OSCE). Therefore, I decided to deliver my first
statement as the OSCE Chairman-in-Office here, at the Helsinki
Commission, as I believe in your sincere interest in the
success of Kazakhstan's OSCE Chairmanship. The goal of our
chairmanship is to strengthen our common organization to
provide greater security and broader cooperation in the vast
territory from Vancouver to Vladivostok.
In his video address to the OSCE's Permanent Council in
Vienna on January 14, President Nazarbayev presented the
strategy and priorities of Kazakhstan's OSCE chairmanship.
First of all, we will strictly adhere to OSCE core principles
and values. We will work in the interests of all OSCE member
states. Kazakhstan views the OSCE support for Kazakhstan's
chairmanship as explicit recognition by the international
community of our achievements in the political, social, and
economic development of our relatively young country as well as
our contribution to regional and global security. At the same
time, this decision demonstrates the desire of the OSCE to
enhance trust and mutual understanding among countries from
west and east of Vienna.
Our paramount objective is to fully strengthen the OSCE, to
be instrumental in boosting its effectiveness and ability to
appropriately respond to current challenges and threats.
Whether our priorities will be achieved will largely depend
on our ability to overcome the crisis of confidence, engendered
by divisive lines and vestiges of the Cold War, which remains.
In this regard, we hope for the ``Corfu Process'' to continue,
as it has brought to light the common dissatisfaction of all
OSCE member states with current state of affairs that exists in
the various areas of the organization's responsibility.
We deem it imperative that the ``Corfu Process'' includes
the humanitarian basket. Kazakhstan considers the OSCE's human
dimension an integral and key part of its operations in 2010.
We will firmly support the important work of all three OSCE
institutions i.e., the Office for Democratic Institutions and
Human Rights (ODIHR), the High Commissioner for National
Minorities, and the Representative on Freedom of the Media.
In discussing human rights, it is important to note that
such rights are based on fundamental human values, on diversity
of cultures and civilizations, which must, no doubt, be
respected. We are grateful to our American partners because, in
supporting the Kazakh chairmanship, they reconfirmed their
resolute commitment to the OSCE's ideals as an organization
meant for all of its members, including countries with
different and often more complicated cultural and historic
experiences. Together with Denmark and ODIHR, we intend to hold
a conference in Copenhagen next June that will be devoted to
the 20th anniversary of the 1990 Copenhagen Document as the
fundamental instrument of the human dimension. The event's
agenda will include a review of compliance with the obligation
to observe fundamental human rights and freedoms within the
OSCE region.
One of the most important events of our chairmanship will
be the successful arrangement of the Review of Human Rights
Conference in Warsaw to which we are paying special attention.
Given a rather positive experience of achieving inter-
ethnic and inter-faith accord in our own country, we intend to
make the issues of tolerance and intercultural dialogue within
the OSCE space an important priority of our chairmanship.
Indeed, this will be the underlying theme of a high-level
OSCE conference on tolerance and non-discrimination to be held
in Astana June 29-30. We will work on the event's agenda and
the OSCE's preparations for the event in close coordination
with the three personal representatives on tolerance, including
the esteemed Rabbi Andrew Baker and representative on combating
anti-semitism. We expect the United States to support that
event.
Further promotion of gender balance is a matter of urgency.
In this regard, we intend to hold a meeting on promoting
women's participation in public and political life and to co-
sponsor an ODIHR program on boosting women's involvement in
government.
We will focus on the troubling problem of human
trafficking, particularly that of children, which has become a
global tragedy and an increasing transnational crime.
Kazakhstan intends to pay special attention to such
fundamental freedoms as the freedom of conscience, freedom of
media, rule of law, greater independence of the judicial
system, and better public access to justice. Given this
occasion, I would like to assure you that Kazakhstan, a young
democracy with an 18-year history, continues to pursue
political modernization at home. Building a strong and
democratic society is a conscious choice, and I am in a
position to say that we have achieved some impressive successes
along this difficult path.
In 2008 and 2009, in line with OSCE recommendations,
significant legislative reforms were achieved on the areas of
of the media, elections, political parties, and local
government. We have adopted and have been successfully
implementing a 2009-2012 National Human Rights Action Plan and
a 2010-2020 Concept as to the Policy of Law, intended to
further liberalize the law of the Republic of Kazakhstan and
bring it in line with international standards.
To strengthen the national system for protecting human
rights, Kazakhstan adopted laws to ensure equal rights and
equal opportunities for women and men, prevent domestic
violence, improve the judicial system and forensic operations,
take a tougher stand on corruption, provide a social safety net
for select individuals and refugees, and address such issues as
further improvement of the criminal penitentiary and
correctional systems.
In his address to the nation on January 29, President
Nazarbayev declared the importance of further reforms to the
criminal justice system laws in keeping with high international
standards. Therefore, this year the Parliament will introduce a
bill to provide strict public and parliament control over the
operations and accountability of each and every law enforcement
authority.
Thus, Kazakhstan has taken specific steps to implement
international standards in its national legislation, in line
with the goals and objectives we have identified in the context
of our OSCE chairmanship.
Considering that this year elections will occur in 15
participating nations, the Kazakh chairmanship considers it
important that the OSCE member states comply with their
election monitoring obligations.
With great satisfaction, I would like to note the
monitoring process that took place in the first round of
elections in Ukraine; we hope that the second round also occurs
in accordance with OSCE commitments. In this regard, we
highlight the work of ODIHR and the OSCE Parlimentary Assembly,
which has been conducted in the spirit of partnership,
impartiality, and constructiveness.
Our priority in the economic and environmental dimension
will be to promote good governance at border crossings and
develop safe and efficient land transportation. We believe this
topic is highly important as we emerge from the global
recession.
Environmental security is yet another crucial focus in the
OSCE's second dimension. We deem it important to focus on the
Aral Sea problem, a Central Asian environmental catastrophe
that has proven to adversely affect the European states.
Addressing the Aral region's problems could serve as a model
for solving similar environmental problems within the OSCE's
area of responsibility.
Ladies and gentlemen, Afghanistan occupies a special place
on our chairmanship's agenda. Since the beginning of the war in
Afghanistan, Kazakhstan has provided support to U.S. and
international coalition efforts in the country. However, we
strongly believe that achieving the long-term objective of
establishing peace and democracy in that country solely through
military means would make it difficult, if not impossible.
Therefore, it is time to significantly expand humanitarian
efforts in Afghanistan.
For many years, Kazakhstan has provided financial support
to Afghanistan to build schools, a hospital, and roads and to
provide food aid.
As of this year, under an agreement with the Afghan
government, Kazakhstan has been implementing a special program
that offers the opportunity for 1,000 Afghanis to attend our
universities and earn civilian degrees. Despite the fallout
from the financial crisis, Astana has allocated US $50 million
for this educational program. Kazakhstan as the Chairman-in-
Office is going to use social, economic, and humanitarian
capabilities of the OSCE that will absolutely correspond with
President Obama's new strategy in Afghanistan.
It is obvious that the Afghan government should start
solving the problems of its country. However, their efforts in
social and economic rehabilitation and democratic development
should be strongly supported by the international community
and, first of all, by the member states of the OSCE. This
understanding was demonstrated during discussions at the
January 28 London Conference on Afghanistan, where I also
delivered the vision of Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan will continue the OSCE's active endeavors to
improve the standard of governance at the borders between the
Central Asian countries and Afghanistan, to develop cross-
border cooperation, and strengthen the capabilities of
Afghanistan's national border and police forces. The OSCE has
already achieved some concrete results in this area: an OSCE
border college has opened in Dushanbe and a customs training
center has become operational in Kyrgyzstan. Training Afghani
customs, police, and border personnel translates into
significant support for the Afghan government. In addition, the
OSCE plans to develop new projects to stabilize the situation
in the country.
Our country, as a recognized leader of the global
nonproliferation process, supports President Obama's
initiatives on nuclear disarmament, adherence to which he
reconfirmed in his first State of the Union Address to
Congress. As the OSCE Chairman-in-Office we appreciate the
U.S.-Russian negotiations on a new strategic arms reduction
treaty (START-2).
The real OSCE contribution to the fight against
transnational threats and challenges--including terrorism,
religious extremism, drug trafficking, and organized crime--
will be the Conference on Preventing Terrorism in Astana.
Kazakhstan will try, to the best of its ability, to
contribute to the difficult process of resolving the
``protracted conflicts,'' three of which are raging in the
post-Soviet space. Bearing in the mind the historical
commonality and closeness of Kazakhstan to all the parties of
the conflict, as well as the trust and authority enjoyed by
President Nazarbayev, we hope to give an imputus to all efforts
of our partners involved in this challenging process.
Therefore, I am planning to devote attention to this subject
during my first trip to South Caucus on February 15.
At the same time, we believe it is crucial to seek ways to
prevent the emergence of such conflicts, which eventually lead
to human tragedies and humanitarian catastrophes. Therefore, we
are going to actively engage the OSCE's capacity to monitor and
identify any possible conflicts.
Ladies and gentlemen, 2010 represents a milestone for the
OSCE. This year, it celebrates several anniversaries of great
significance to the establishment of the security architecture
in Europe. I am referring to the 35th anniversary of the
Helsinki Final Act, the 65th anniversary of the end to the
Second World War, the 20th anniversary of the Paris Charter for
a New Europe, and the 20th anniversary of the Copenhagen
Document. Furthermore, it is the 11th year since the last OSCE
summit was held in Istanbul.
Unfortunately, the first decade of the new century has not
made our world safer or better. The 9/11 tragedy changed the
traditional notion of ``enemy'' and ``war.'' International
terrorism has become an enemy without an address or
nationality. The architecture of the European security has
changed. In spite of the many years of international efforts,
Afghanistan continues to be the source of international
terrorism and a major drug supplier. Not only have the
protracted conflicts not been resolved but new conflicts have
arisen. We have witnessed and been experiencing circumstances
arising from the international financing crisis. Even the most
comfortable countries of Europe are facing challenges in
promoting tolerance, interethnic, and interreligious accord.
All these problems exist in the OSCE area of responsibility--
they need collective attention and consideration by the 56
leaders of OSCE member states.
That is why President Nazarbayev called for an OSCE summit
in 2010. A specific recommendation concerning the summit is
already incorporated into documents of the Athens Ministerial
Council and is now supported by the Permanent Council in
Vienna. Leaders of France, Italy, Vatican, Turkey, Spain, as
well as Russia and other CIS countries, and the current EU
President have not only supported the summit but have begun
working on its agenda.
Kazakhstan also intends to continue a good tradition
established by our predecessor, Greece, and invite the foreign
ministers of the OSCE member states to an informal meeting in
Almaty next summer. There, they could continue a free exchange
of opinions on urgent problems and, ideally, achieve consensus
as to approval of the summit's agenda and timeline.
I would like to note that, as a result of the United
States' long absence from high-level OSCE meetings, a certain
imbalance has emerged within the organization. Numerous OSCE
processes have slowed, and consensus building is becoming an
increasingly more challenging task. The OSCE needs proper
attention on the part of a key nation that helped lay the
organization's foundation. The full engagement of the United
States with the OSCE will give the organization a new impetus
and set a new tone for talks within its ambit.
I am absolutely certain that the idea of the Summit is in
full accord with the noble goals and efforts of the United
States to promote comprehensive, indivisible, and strong
security and to strengthen trust and cooperation in the OSCE
region--from Vancouver to Vladivostok. As the Chairman-in-
Office I grasp this opportunity to call upon you, distinguished
colleagues, to demonstrate the strategic vision, political
will, leadership, and support needed to make the summit of our
unique and unparalleled organization a reality in the name of
security and prosperity of the people who established the OSCE.
Dear friends, during its 35-year history, the OSCE has
created an unparalleled system of collective, comprehensive,
and integral security. However, as President Nursultan
Nazarbayev has noted, ``. . . the positive historical resources
of the OSCE are limited'' and ``today, it is not permissible to
carry on endlessly a practice that involves drawing so-called
`red lines' and playing `zero-sum games.' '' I am quite sure
that it is our common task to make the OSCE more effective and
stronger in light of new challenges and threats.
In conclusion, I would like, once again, to thank you,
distinguished Co-chairman Hastings and all esteemed members of
Congress in this room, as well as members and the staff of the
U.S. Helsinki Commission for your efforts and support of
Kazakhstan's OSCE chairmanship. I would like to offer my
profound appreciation for the great interest in the OSCE and
its activities as expressed by my counterpart Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton, who was a member of your esteemed
Commission.
For my part, I assure you of our complete willingness to
continue a close constructive engagement with the Helsinki
Commission, the Congress, the administration, as well as other
non-governmental entities of the United States with which
Kazakhstan has established relations of a true strategic
partnership.
Thank you for this opportunity to present Kazakhstan's
vision for and priorities during its OSCE chairmanship. I am
pleased to respond to your questions and welcome your comments
and suggestions.
[all]
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