[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 141 (Monday, October 18, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2115-E2117]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




DEMOCRACY SUFFERS ANOTHER BLOW IN KAZAKHSTAN--PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION IS 
                            SERIOUSLY FLAWED

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 18, 1999

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, in Kazakhstan just over a week ago, on 
October 10, the first round of elections were held for the Mazhilis--
the lower house of the Parliament. There was little suspense or 
excitement about the results. In fact, there was little suspense or 
uncertainty even before the elections were held. These elections simply 
confirmed the nondemocratic nature of the Kazakh government, and they 
raise extremely serious questions about the future of United States 
relations with this country.
  The elections were far from democratic in substance, although there 
were some cosmetic efforts to make the elections appear to be free. 
Furthermore, the modest efforts to make the elections appear democratic 
were not voluntarily adopted by the government of Kazakhstan. They were 
taken reluctantly and only under international pressure including a 
Congressional Human Caucus briefing on the electoral process which was 
held a few months ago. The election fell far short of the standard of 
free and fair elections.
  Mr. Speaker, in a blatant affront to democracy, the President of 
Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, presented to the out-going parliament 
his choice for the new Prime Minister of Kazakhstan last Tuesday--the 
second day after the election and the day before the results of the 
first round of elections were announced. Standard procedure in any 
democratic country would be for the newly elected

[[Page E2116]]

parliament to approve a new Prime Minister. This affront to democratic 
procedure is truly mind-boggling!
  Mr. Speaker, not only was the Prime Minister approved by the lame-
duck parliament, the elections themselves were seriously flawed. The 
Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) sent an 
official international observer group which monitored the elections. 
Their report on the parliamentary contest highlighted the gravity of 
the problems. According to the observer group, ``the OSCE said there 
was widespread official interference in the run-up to the campaign 
against opposition candidates and the independent media'' (Agence 
France Presse report from Kazakhstan, October 11, 1999).
  International observers reported ``widespread abuses in the runup to 
Sunday's parliamentary and local elections in the Central Asian 
republic of Kazakhstan.'' These reports also quoted the OSCE that ``the 
government interfered, opposition parties faced discrimination from 
local authorities, and individual candidates were intimidated.'' At one 
polling place in Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city, election observers 
uncovered duplicate tally sheets with falsified results. The majority 
of the electoral commissions, which are charged with monitoring and 
assuring the fairness of the election process, were dominated by 
supporters of the pro-presidential party (Deutsche Presse-Agentur, the 
independent German news agency, and the independent Russian news 
agency, ITAR-TASS both on October 11, 1999).
  The official statement of the OSCE stated that several steps 
``seriously undermined'' these polls. Executive officials' ``illegal 
interference'' and ``bias of local electoral commissions against 
opposition representatives and candidates'' placed parties in unequal 
conditions, the statement said. Opposition parties were ``intimidated 
and obstructed.''
  The most blatant example of this outrageously flawed election is the 
concerted action of the government against former Kazakh Prime Minister 
Akezan Kazhegeldin, who established the Republican People's Party and 
attempted to contest the parliamentary elections. Mr. Kazhegeldin has 
faced government-created obstacles to every attempt he has made to 
participate in Kazakhstan's political life since he left office as 
Prime Minister in 1997 after serving three years in that post. He was 
disqualified from participating in the last presidential race on a 
technicality. Shortly after he declared his intention to run for the 
presidency in 1998, the government announced that he was under 
investigation for tax evasion. The allegations were that he owned 
property abroad that he had not declared on his tax forms. But as soon 
as a court ruled that Kazhegeldin could not run for president due to 
the minor offense of attending a nonsanctioned meeting, the 
investigation into his foreign holdings stopped.
  Mr. Speaker, the campaign against Mr. Kazhegeldin started up again 
this past spring, at the same time that he announced his new political 
party, the Republican People's Party, would participate in the 
parliamentary elections. Mr. Kazhegeldin left Kazakhstan to acquaint 
leaders in other countries, notably the United States, about his 
party's existence. During this trip, he appeared at a briefing of the 
Congressional Human Rights Caucus here in Washington. Once he left the 
country, however, it became obvious the prosecutor general's office was 
moving to arrest him on tax evasion charges, and he said he would not 
return home unless he received a guarantee that he would not be 
arrested. He stayed away from Kazakhstan until last month.
  The government's very public effort to brand Kazhegeldin as a tax 
cheat left his Republican People's Party at a serious disadvantage in 
contesting the election. Furthermore, party candidates complained that 
their campaign efforts were hampered by government forces. On September 
9, just a month before the date of the election, the Central Elections 
Commission announced that Kazhegeldin was ineligible to run in the 
elections because of the tax evasion charges, and the following day, 
the Republican People's Party announced it was withdrawing from the 
election race.
  Mr. Kazhegeldin, who was in Moscow for medical treatment, said the 
party should not boycott the elections. But he was detained that same 
day by Russian police because the Kazakh government had put out a 
warrant for his arrest. Russian authorities under great international 
pressure, including efforts by our own Secretary of State Madeleine 
Albright subsequently permitted Mr. Kazhegeldin to return to London. 
Meanwhile, back in Kazakhstan, the Central Elections Commission 
declared that it was too late for the party to withdraw from the 
elections, and the party's candidates were left on the ballots. The 
publicity surrounding Mr. Kazhegeldin's arrest in Moscow and the call 
for a boycott of the election insured that the Republican People's 
Party and its leader had minimal success at the polls last week.
  Mr. Speaker, at my request on July 15 of this year, our distinguished 
colleague Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, chaired a briefing 
of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus on the political situation in 
Kazakhstan at which Mr. Kazhegeldin testified. His testimony about the 
threats facing advocates of democracy and human rights proved 
prophetic, and foreshadowed his arrest in Moscow at the request of the 
Kazakhstan government on trumped up charges and the appalling results 
of the recent election.
  Mr. Speaker, I was extremely disappointed by the response of the 
Government of Kazakhstan to the hearings conducted by the Human Rights 
Caucus in July and by its subsequent actions leading up to the failed 
parliamentary elections. To my great dismay, the Government of 
President Nazarbayev has responded to neither the criticism leveled 
against his government by the Human Rights Caucus, nor to concerns 
voiced earlier this year by the Office for Democratic Institutions and 
Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation 
in Europe (OSCE).
  Mr. Speaker, the Congressional Human Rights Caucus is gravely 
concerned about the violations of human rights and political liberties 
in Kazakhstan, most clearly and convincingly demonstrated in the 
undemocratic elections that were held just two weeks ago. The fact that 
the Government of President Nazarbayev continues to ignore the concerns 
raised by the Human Rights Caucus, international organizations 
concerned with democratization and human rights, and a number of 
governments, including the United States, is a serious matter.
  The concerns with democratization in Kazakhstan are extremely serious 
in their own right, Mr. Speaker, but there are also security concerns 
involving this country. We recently learned about the sale of about 30 
MiG 21 fighter jets by Kazakhstan to North Korea, a prime sponsor of 
international terrorism. This irresponsible and reckless sale of 
advanced military equipment to North Korea calls into question the 
Kazakh government's commitment to building good relations with the West 
and its interest in international security and stability.
  It is my strong view, Mr. Speaker, that United States assistance to 
Kazakhstan and assistance of international financial institutions 
should be conditioned upon fundamental improvement in political 
liberties and fundamental freedoms in Kazakhstan. Further, Mr. Speaker, 
it is my view that any visit by Mr. Nazarbayev to Washington should be 
postponed until such an improvement takes place.

                  THE TRAGIC DEATH OF MATTHEW SHEPARD

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 18, 1999

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, with great sadness I rise to recall that 1 
year ago, Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, was murdered. We 
should all deplore his tragic death. He was a lovely young man and was 
courageously willing to be open about who he was. He suffered because 
of who he was. This is simply wrong. It is a tragedy when a young man 
has the courage to be open about who he is, and his life is taken for 
it.
  Unfortunately, Mathew is not alone. His tragic death and violence 
toward others point out the need for hate crimes legislation. According 
to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence programs, in 1998, 33 
Americans were murdered because they were gay or lesbian. In the United 
States last year, there were at least 2,552 reports of anti-gay or 
lesbian incidents. The number of serious assaults in which victims 
sustained major injuries grew by 12 percent. How many more deaths, how 
many assaults on the personal integrity of people, need to happen 
before this Congress will see the need for hate crimes legislation?
  The statistics and Matthew's individual personal story demonstrate 
that these incidents are not isolated. Harassment of gays, lesbians, 
and bisexuals is not isolated to one geographic area nor to any one 
factor. As our country knows all to well, hate crimes take many forms 
and affect many different kinds of victims. We all remember the 1996 
horrible murder of James Byrd, Jr., an African-American man in Texas. 
We all remember earlier this year, when a gunman opened fire at a 
Jewish Community Center and then singled out an Asian-American and shot 
him. These harsh stories are troubling and unfortunately, recent 
shootings are a constant reminder of the hate that still exists in our 
society.
  The Hate Crimes Prevention Act would provide law enforcement 
officials with needed tools, and would serve as a lasting tribute to 
the lives of Matthew Sheppard, James Byrd, Jr., and the others who have 
been victimimized by hate crimes. The Hate Crimes Prevention Act would 
not end all violence against people because they are gay, or African-
American, or Jewish, or come from another country. Nonetheless, this 
legislation

[[Page E2117]]

would allow the Federal Government to investigate and punish crimes 
motivated by hate.
  The murder of Matthew Shepard is the manifestation of the enduring 
bigotry that still prevails in our society. Our Nation should take 
action and pass this responsible legislation which would enable Federal 
law enforcement officials to fight these crimes and punish the 
perpetrators.

                          ____________________