Voice of Democracy
Published by Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation · Washington, D.C. Feb. 27, 2003

BEWITCHED, BEFUDDLED AND BEWILDERED -- The Soviet-style dictator of Kazakhstan admits he just doesn't get it. Why are all those people -- including his own daughter -- criticizing him for throwing a journalist in jail on phoney charges for printing stories that offended the maximum leader by being accurate?

Uncle Joe would've had him shot, nephew Nursultan only locked him up -- after a good thrashing [the government was also criticized for refusing to outlaw torture]-- for three and a half years. The Kazakh government "shrugged off" the growing worldwide "chorus of protests" of its handling of the Sergei Duvanov trial and told the rest of the world it's none of their business, Reuters reported. The Nazarbayev government expressed "bewilderment" and said the international response was " inappropriate" and founded on "biased" information.
http://www.reuters.com/news, http://www.kazakhstan-embassy us.org, http://www.interfax-news.com/

'ENLIGHTENED TYRANNY' -- Kazakhstan's best hope for freedom and democracy is for western journalists and government officials to keep shining the spotlight of work public opinion on the country's increasingly autocratic regime, a leading human rights activist told a Washington audience last week. Amirzhan Qosanov, chairman of the Republican National Party of Kazakhstan, urged Americans to keep focusing the repression and lack of democracy in his country because "every sentence written by the West, every U.S. government statement has weight in Kazakhstan," according to RFE/RL.

Qosanov, who said he expects his candid remarks will land him in jail when he returns home, said that under the "enlightened tyranny" of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, "Kazakhstan is headed in the wrong direction." But he said the "future prospects for democracy are bright" due to its multi-ethnic, multi-religious nature, Western orientation, and the growing solidarity of its democratic opposition, RFE/RL reported. http://www.rferl.orgPARSIMONIOUS PARTICIPATION -- Kazakhstan is thinking of slightly expanding its cooperation with the war against terror by making a second airfield available to the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, the government announced. It may open the facility in the southern city of Shymkent as a back-up for the Manas airport in Kyrgyzstan; so far only the Almaty airport is available, and that only for emergencies. http://www.kazakhstan-embassy-us.org

KAZAKHSTAN VIOLATES OSCE STANDARDS -- In the harshest condemnation yet of the Kazakh government, the European Union declared the Nazarbayev regime guilty of violating OSCE standards by failing to give Sergei Duvanov a fair trial. EU observers attended the independent journalist's trial and said it was flawed from the very start. "The principle of presumption of innocence was not respected," said the EU Council of Ministers, and that was followed by "numerous procedural violations and prejudice" [including} "willful interference and police manipulation of the judicial process." Evidence was tainted, witness testimonies inconsistent, defense lawyers were not given proper time to review the case, and the judge ignored improprieties. That raises doubts about the guilty verdict as well as about the rule of law in Kazakhstan, the EU leaders declared. http://europa.eu.int/

MAKING A U-TURN -- Growing concern over instability in Central Asia and disappointment over a deteriorating human rights record were behind resolutions by the European Parliament and European Union accusing Kazakhstan of extensive human rights violations, widespread torture by law enforcement officials, suppressing the political opposition and the media, and failing to reform its judicial system, said former Kazakh Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin. High expectations that Kazakhstan would continue on the course toward a market economy and democratic reform that was charted under Kazhegeldin were dashed when Nursultan Nazarbayev fired his PM and shifted to an authoritarian regime. http://www.rferl.org

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The Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation promotes democracy and human rights in Kazakhstan through public affairs and educational programs in the United States and Europe.
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