[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 69 (Friday, May 24, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E918]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     EROSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS IN KAZAKHSTAN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MARTIN T. MEEHAN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 23, 2002

  Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to voice my concern about continuing 
serious violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms in 
Kazakhstan, including substantial noncompliance with their Organization 
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) commitments on 
democratization and the holding of free and fair elections.
  Kazakhstan has been a participating state of the Organization for 
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) since 1992 and has freely 
accepted all OSCE commitments, including those concerning human rights, 
democracy, and the rule of law. Kazakhstan has affirmed that every 
individual has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or 
belief, expression, association, peaceful assembly and movement, 
freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention, torture, or other cruel, 
inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, and if charged with an 
offense the right to a fair and public trial. And, Kazakhstan has 
committed itself to build, consolidate, and strengthen democracy as the 
only system of government, and is obligated to hold free elections at 
reasonable intervals, to respect the right of citizens to seek 
political or public office without discrimination, to respect the right 
of individuals and groups to establish in full freedom their own 
political parties, and to allow parties and individuals wishing to 
participate in the electoral process access to the media on a 
nondiscriminatory basis.
  Nevertheless, President Nursultan Nazarbaev dissolved parliament in 
1993 and again in 1995, when he also annulled scheduled Presidential 
elections. He has also refused to register opposition parties, and has 
exited opposition figures and forced members of the media out of the 
country. On January 10, 1999, President Nazarbaev was reelected in snap 
Presidential elections from which a leading challenger was excluded for 
having addressed an unregistered organization, ``For Free Elections,'' 
and the OSCE assessed the election as falling far short of 
international standards. Finally, on June 22, 2000, the Kazakhstan 
parliament approved draft legislation designed to give President 
Nazarbaev various powers and privileges for the rest of his life.
  In March of this year, President Nazarbayev imprisoned two of his 
leading political rivals, Mssrs. Mukhtar Ablyazov and Mr. Alymzhan 
Zhakiyanov, and former Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin remains in 
exile. Additionally, the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan recently admitted 
that more than one billion dollars of Kazakh public monics had been 
transferred to off-shore bank accounts in President Nazarbayev's name.
  President Nazarbayev's family owns and controls all major media 
outlets in Kazakhstan including television, radio and newspapers. The 
independent media in Kazakhstan, which used to be fairly free, has been 
pressured, co-opted, or crushed, leaving few outlets for the expression 
of independent or opposition views, thus limiting the press's ability 
to criticize or comment on the President's campaign to remain in office 
indefinitely or on high-level corruption.
  I urge this Administration to make a more concerted and stronger 
effort to raise with President Nazarbayev at every opportunity, the 
concern about serious violations of human rights, including 
noncompliance with Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe 
(OSCE) commitments on democracy and rule of law. Kazakhstan needs to 
come into compliance with OSCE commitments on human rights, democracy, 
and the rule of law, specifically the holding of free and fair 
elections that do not exclude genuine challengers, to permit 
independent and opposition parties and candidates to participate on an 
equal basis with representation in election commissions at all levels, 
and to allow domestic nongovernmental and political party observers, as 
well as international observers.
  I also encourage the Administration to raise with the governments of 
other OSCE participating states the possible implications for OSCE 
participation of any participating state in the region that engages in 
clear, gross, and uncorrected violations of its OSCE commitments on 
human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. To that end, Voice of 
America and Radio Liberty should expand broadcasting to Central Asia 
especially into Kazakhstan, as needed, with a focus on assuring that 
the peoples of the region have access to unbiased news and programs 
that support respect for human rights and the establishment of 
democracy and the rule of law.

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