Voice of Democracy
Published by Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation · Washington, D.C. June 25, 2003

'BRUTALLY REPRESSIVE' -- Canadian journalists have urged their prime minister to raise the issue of free expression in Kazakhstan with President Nazarbayev during his visit to their country this week. "Kazakhstan has been brutally repressive in its treatment of journalists and others who seek to report the truth," Joel Ruimy, executive director of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), wrote to Prime Minister Jean Chretien and Foreign Minister Bill Graham. He urged them to tell the Kazakh dictator that "Canadians want him to end his government's attacks on journalists…. (and) his rйgime's abuse of the free-expression rights of its citizens is odious to all Canadians." http://www.cjfe.org/releases/2003/kazak-jun24.html

MAYBE THEY'RE ASHAMED TO BE SEEN WITH HIM -- Canadian officials are downplaying President Nazarbayev’s visit because of his poor human rights record, reports the Ottawa Citizen. The government sent only a low-level official to meet his plane, a deputy chief of protocol at the Foreign Affairs Department. He will make no formal public appearances in Ottawa, the national capital, and his meeting with Prime Minister Chretien has been downgraded to "private," and there will be no media availability session when the dictator visits Parliament, the paper reported. It pointed out that Amnesty International " has reported torture of prisoners in Kazakhstan, forcible deportations and suppression of political opponents." http://www.ottawacitizen.com

PRESSING THE PRESS -- The editor of a leading Kazakh opposition newspaper, SolDat, resigned in what he called an effort to "pacify" those who have targeted him and his newspaper, the AP reported. "I believe my resignation will pacify the initiators of the prosecution and will save SolDat for the readers," Ermurat Bapi said. He told reporters he was forced out by intense government pressure that targeted the newspaper and him personally. "I have reliable information that my presence in the newspaper irritates the authorities," he said. As part of the government's wide-ranging and internationally-condemned press suppression policy, editors and reporters are routinely charged with various trumped-up criminal charges such as tax evasion and even rape. Other common practices include arson, vandalization of printing and broadcast equipment, physical assaults and harassment of relatives. A particular favorite of the thin-skinned dictator is the criminal charge of insulting the honor of the president. http://www.ap.org

'USEFUL STOOGES' -- "Canada's historic reputation as a champion of human rights has been completely undermined" by the Chretien government's invitation to the Kazakh dictator, charged a Member of Parliament. The invitation is a "stain" on the Canadaian Liberal Party's human rights record and "a startling betrayal of [the country's] democratic values," said Jason Kenney. Prime Minister Jean Chretien, and such actions "legitimize the dictators and inevitably mask their regimes' violations of human rights." Nazarbayev is "planning to use his trip for propaganda purposes, demonstrating to the folks back home that he is a legitimate figure on the world stage," said Kenney, and the Chretien government "now serve as useful stooges in [Nazarbayev's] campaign to achieve legitimacy." http://www.globeandmail.com/

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