Voice of Democracy
Published by Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation · Washington, D.C. Apr. 19, 2002

NEW LEVEL OF CHUTZPA -- After months of denial, President Nazarbayev now admits he hid $1 billion in a secret foreign bank account, and his foreign minister tried to gloss over the revelation by calling the disclosure evidence that Kazakhstan is becoming more transparent and democratic. They money, proceeds from the sale of a part of the Tenzig oil field, was secreted out of the country without parliament's knowledge, Reuters reported. Opposition newspapers, independent journalists, television stations and regime critics who have tried to report on the secret accounts have been the target of often violent repression by the regime. They have seen equipment destroyed, newspapers shutdown, press runs confiscated, phones tapped, homes and offices vandalized; there have been shootings, beatings and arrests on phony charges ranging from corruption to the dictator's favorite: insulting the president and his family. The greatest insult, it turns out, is reporting the truth about the corruption that permeates Kazakhstan's first family and its cronies. Prime Minister Imangali Tasmagambetov said the secret account was necessary to save the country from bankruptcy in 1998. Swiss and American banking and law enforcement authorities are investigating secret foreign Kazakh bank accounts for possible money laundering, corruption and other activities. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/top_stories/

'I AM NOT A CROOK' ­ Richard Milhaus Nazarbayev said all that money he sneaked out of the country to hid in his secret Swiss bank accounts was not for him but to help the country, and it was for the people's own good that he didn't tell them anything about it. In an interview with the Financial Times, the Kazakh dictator denied he misused the $1 billion in profits from the sale of part of the Tenzig oil field to an American company. He denied any wrong-doing, but the Financial Times said the incident "raised questions about Kazakhstan's ability to manage its oil wealth honestly." Nazarbayev insisted there was only one account, but Swiss authorities have said that at American request they have frozen several Kazakh bank accounts, all reportedly linked to the President. James Wolfensohn, the president of the World Bank, said he was surprised to learn of Nazarbayev's secret bank account and does not approve of "taking $1 billion," but he suggested that revelation might be a good sign if it means greater transparency in government accounting. http://news.ft.com/

YASSER, HE'S MY BOY -- President Nursultan Nazarbayev wants to play Middle East peacemaker, so he has invited PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat to Kazakhstan this summer to discuss the situation, according to Khabar TV, which is run by the Kazakh dictator's daughter. Arafat will be the main guest at a meeting of the Conference on Cooperation and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia [CCCBMA], which Nazarbayev set up 10 years ago for dealing with internal Asian conflicts. The president's "special letter" was personally given to Zaid Abu Al-Ula, Arafat's man in Kazakhstan, Khabar TV reported. There was no indication any Israelis had been invited. http://www.khabar.Kazakhstan/news_eng/

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS -- Washington's allies in the war against terrorism are an "eclectic" group that not only includes the leading democracies but also a number of "opportunistic hangers-on" who do not "share our national interests and our democratic values," writes Helle Dale in the Washington Times. She passes on a warning from Human Rights Watch not to reward the support from these countries by overlooking their poor human rights records or permitting them to wage internal crackdowns in the name of fighting terrorism. She singled out Kazakhstan dictator Nursultan Nazarbayev, who "received red carpet treatment at the White House ...despite his record of domestic repression." Other autocratic regimes getting undeserved favorable treatment from Bush are Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which Dale called "breeding grounds for terrorist operatives." Enlisting these countries as well as the likes of Syria, Uzbekistan and China "is a bit like smokers joining an anti-smoking crusade." Promoting human rights undermines support for terrorism, not reinforcing the regimes of human rights abusers. http://www.Washtimes.com

For the full stories, see the web citations above or contact us at News@Kazakhstan21.org. The Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation promotes democracy and human rights in Kazakhstan through public affairs and educational programs in the United States and Europe. This material is distributed by Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.