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

KAZAKHSTAN IN COALITION OF UN-WILLING -- Put Kazakhstan on the list of UN-willing; it was not one of the 30 nations listed by the U.S. State Department as part of the American-led Coalition of the Willing. Instead, President Nazarbayev appeared to line up with France, Germany and other opponents of the Bush Administration's Iraq policy when his government declared Iraq should be dealt with "only within the framework" of the UN. The Kazakh Foreign Ministry expressed "deep regret and concern with the absence of unity at the United Nations Security Council" -- a condition the White House blamed primarily on France. Although Kazakhstan conceded Saddam had failed to provide "convincing evidence of disarmament," that apparently was not enough to bring the Nazarbayev regime over to the American-led alliance. The Kazakh statement conceded the US-led anti-terrorist coalition was instrumental in "preventing the serious threat to the security" of Kazakhstan and its neighbors, but that was not good enough to persuade Nazarbayev to join such neighbors as Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. http://www.kazakhstan-embassy-us.org

US ACTION CONDEMNED -- Kazakhstan joined five other former Soviet Republics in condemning American military action in Iraq as "counter to the principles and norms of international law," reported ITAR-TASS. Operation Iraqi Freedom will create "a large-scale humanitarian and environmental disaster," warned the statement by the secretaries of the security councils of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. It called for solving the Iraq issue "under the UN auspices." http://www.itar-tass.com

KAZAKH ARMS FOR N. KOREA -- Kazakhstan has played a critical role in arming North Korea, sending the Pyongyang regime at least 34 MiG-21 fighters and 24 KS-19 antiaircraft guns, reports a Swedish think tank. The Stockholm International peace Research Institute posted a list of 308 weapons delivered to North Korea between 1993 and 2002, and more than half came from Kazakhstan, reports South Korea's Yonhap news agency. The U.S. Government strongly condemned the jet sale to the Stalinist regime. http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/, http://www.sipri.se

OSCE BRANDS KAZAKH OFFICIAL 'LIAR' -- The Kazakh prosecutor general's statement was not telling the truth when he claimed the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had agreed that independent journalist and human rights activist Sergei Duvanov was "guilty of rape," OSCE declared. The Kazakh official's contention "misrepresents the facts," and falsely reported that international observers, including OSCE's representative, left the courtroom before the verdict was announced because they were convinced he was guilty. The observers were present for the reading of the verdict non "have ever made any statements on the evidence of Mr. Duvanov's guilt." On the contrary, most observers have said the charges against Duvanov were politically motivated and trumped up; as evidence they note that President Nazarbayev announced the verdict well before the trial even began. The United States expressed "disappointment" over the banning of international observers from Duvanov's appeal hearing. Douglas A. Davidson, charge d'affaires of the U.S. Mission to the OSCE, said, "The short substantive discussion, the limited review of the defense team's briefs, the swift decision, and the barring of international observers, offer little confidence that the appeal was conducted with any greater thoroughness, fairness or regard for the rule of law than the initial trial." http://www.osce.org, http://www.state.gov/

For the full stories, see the web citations above or contact us at News@Kazakhstan21.org, or VOD Archives. 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.

“Voice of Democracy”, March 21, 2003