Voice of Democracy
Published by Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation · Washington, D.C. ·Nov. 27, 2002

FRANKLY MY DEAR, I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ­ Shell Oil execs said they're not interested in the human rights and corruption crises in Kazakhstan, only doing business with the man responsible for those problems. Officials of Royal Dutch/Shell Group said they plan to hold private meetings with Kazakh dictator Nursultan Nazarbayev this week in the Netherlands to cement a new oil acquisition deal, according to AFX European Focus. Shell doesn't want to be "perceived as involving itself in political issues," Herman Kievits, a spokesman, told the German-based Central Asian democracy support group GFDZ, and do "not wish to meet" with a delegation of human rights activists, independent journalists, opposition politicians and economic experts. http://www.afxpress.com/afxpress2/html/

TRUTH AND TERROR ­ "The tension between America's support of free speech and its preoccupation with fighting terror" is on display at this week's press freedom awards presentation by the Committee to Protect Journalists. One of the recipients is Irina Petrushova. She's had to flee to Russia and live apart from her family to protect them since she "showed the bad taste to report on the $1 billion of oil revenue that Nazarbayev had stashed in a Swiss bank account...[and reported] numerous other tales of cronyism, nepotism and corruption," columnist Fred Hiatt wrote in the Washington Post. "As a consequence, she found a decapitated dog hanging by the newspaper window; a screwdriver plunged into the body pinned the message, 'There will be no next time.' The dog's head was waiting for her at home." She's not Nazarbayev's only victim. The Kazakh "potentate," Hiatt wrote, "has had newspapers shut and reporters threatened, beaten, jailed, tortured, expelled and disappeared. Often their crime is 'insulting the honor and dignity of the president.'" His latest target was Sergei Duvanov, who was supposed to attend the CPJ meeting but just before leaving was thrown into prison on rape charges after a severe beating last summer did not deter him from reporting on official corruption. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp dyn/articles/A34769-2002Nov24.html

OOOPS! -- The man who once secretly sold MiG fighters to North Korea was forced by U.S. F-16's to land before his plane could reach Prague and the NATO summit last week. Kazakh Defense Minister Mukhtar Altynbayev was ordered to land because his plane lacked necessary permission to enter Czech air space, Reuters reported. Altynbayev, who was sacked for the 1999 MiG deal and later reinstated after the heat from an angry American government dissipated, was later allowed to proceed to a meeting of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council with NATO countries; Kazakhstan is not a NATO member. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/top_stories/

THIN SKIN IS TRANSPARENT -- Kazakh dictator Nursultan Nazarbayev rejected criticism that he is anti-democratic and declared no one is going to tell him how to run his country. Presumably that includes the voters because he has been globally condemned for failing to hold free and fair elections, trying to create a one-party state and attacking and jailing opponents. "Kazakhstan 's leadership categorically rejects recommendations and advice aimed at unnaturally speeding up democratic processes," he told foreign diplomats, according to the AP. Criticism by the United States and others is based on "illusory notions," said the increasingly authoritarian leader who bristles at all criticism and prosecutes ­ or worse -- those he feels have offended his "honor and dignity." http://www.ap.org

INHOSPITABLE BUSINESS CLIMATE -- Kazakhstan is one of "the world's most risky and corrupt places to invest," according to business analysts and watchdog groups, reports AFX European Focus. Two influential U.S. Senators, Patrick Leahy of Vermont and John McCain of Arizona, have called on the U.S. Justice Department to provide information about its ongoing corruption investigation involving President Nazarbayev and some of his top officials. In its latest move, the Nazarbayev government has been pressuring foreign oil and gas companies to revise their agreements to give greater advantages to Kazakh firms. The U.S. Commerce Department has urged the Kazakh government to drop that demand, AFX noted. Some companies have suspended further investments there as a result. http://www.afxpress.com/afxpress2/html/

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.