(HRW/IFEX) – The following is a 5 January 1999 HRW report on irregularities during the Kazakhstan presidential election, including including harassment, intimidation and threats against journalists and independent media: **Updates IFEX alert of 11 November 1998** Kazakhstan’s presidential campaign found grossly unfair (January 5, 1999) — Coercion, threats and the repression of opposition activists have […]
(HRW/IFEX) – The following is a 5 January 1999 HRW report on irregularities
during the Kazakhstan presidential election, including including harassment,
intimidation and threats against journalists and independent media:
**Updates IFEX alert of 11 November 1998**
Kazakhstan’s presidential campaign found grossly unfair
(January 5, 1999) — Coercion, threats and the repression of opposition
activists have characterized the presidential election campaign in
Kazakhstan, Human Rights Watch charged today.
Journalists and ordinary citizens have also been harassed during the
three-month campaign for the ballot, scheduled for Sunday, January 10.
“These presidential elections have been blatantly unfair,” said Holly
Cartner, executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia
division. “President Nazarbaev likes to present himself as a dignified
partner for Western leaders and investors. But the way his government has
twisted arms in this campaign should leave no illusions about what kind of
leader Nazarbaev really is.”
In a letter to the new chairman of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, Human Rights Watch urged the OSCE to postpone opening
its Kazakhstan office until the government repeals legislation penalizing
participants in unregistered public organizations, which has been used to
prevent opposition figures from standing for election.
The government of Kazakhstan barred opposition candidates on spurious
grounds, disbanded public associations formed to monitor the vote, and used
legal and extra-legal means to effectively close most newspapers with links
to the opposition. Several journalists with state-run news agencies
reported to Human Rights Watch that they were explicitly warned against
submitting stories even obliquely critical of President Nursultan Nazarbaev.
Kazakhstan’s parliament moved up the elections, originally scheduled for
2000, in an October 8 vote, which some have maintained violated the
constitution. Legislation passed in May banning individuals with
administrative sentences from standing for office blocked the candidacies of
at least three opposition activists– including former Prime Minister
Akezhan Kazhegeldin–all of whom had participated in unsanctioned political
meetings. In the end, four candidates, including President Nazarbaev,
gained access to the ballot before the November 26 deadline; only one of the
remaining three openly criticizes Nazarbaev’s policies.
Registration requirements were onerous and included collecting the
signatures of 170,000 voters. Human Rights Watch found that public officials
and heads of publicly-funded institutions such as schools, hospitals and
other workplaces forced employees and students to sign petitions in support
of President Nazarbaev. Some officials obtained signatures of pensioners and
apartment-dwellers by means of fraud. A high school principal in Almaty
reportedly begged schoolteachers to gather signatures, fearing the
consequences for not meeting the government’s expectations. Merchants at a
central Almaty market told Human Rights Watch about clear pressure from
market administrators to sign nomination petitions. And one doctor reported
her department chief yelling, when proffering sheets to be signed, “I warn
you, this is voluntary!”
A copy of the letter is attached.
350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10118-3299
Telephone: (212) 290-4700
Facsimile: (212) 736-1300
December 8, 1998
Mr. Knut Vollebek
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Norway
Dear Mr. Vollebek,
On behalf of Human Rights Watch, I extend my respects.
Human Rights Watch strongly supports OSCE efforts to monitor human rights
observance in Kazakstan, and welcomes the strong statement of concern issued
as a result of the November 16-20 ODIHR assessment mission to that country.
We write to you today to share a summary of findings of an ongoing field
investigation which strongly suggests that the presidential elections in
Kazakstan scheduled for January 10, 1999 represent a perversion of the
democratic process. This vote, and the manipulation of candidate
registration and campaigning which have preceded it, are not a sudden
departure from a record of democratic reforms, as some have maintained, but
are fully in keeping with the government of Kazakstan’s seven-year record of
subverting, canceling or postponing elections, dissolving parliament, and
ruling by presidential decree. We wish to share here fresh documentation of
Kazakstan’s violations of its citizens’ civil and political rights, and to
suggest specific benchmarks for measurable, minimum progress in achieving
urgently needed reform as the cooperation between the OSCE and Kazakstan,
codified in the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding, develops.
The evidence summarized here points alarmingly to the government’s blatant
bad faith in its work with the OSCE and other bodies engaged in assisting it
to enhance compliance with its international human rights commitments.
Human Rights Watch is particularly distressed by the adoption of new laws
and decrees intended to stifle the legal exercise of electoral rights, the
continued intimidation of the print media and the unjustifiable restrictions
on broadcast media, and violations of freedom of association, speech and
political participation that hinder the development of civil society.
Restrictions on Freedom of the Press
Kazakstan violates its citizens’ right to freely disseminate and receive
information through the media in several ways, all of which have in common
the hypocritical veil of legality obscuring what amounts to
politically-inspired censorship. Direct and indirect censorship have
intensified as elections have neared.
– In early 1997, the government of Kazakstan stripped the independent,
privately owned broadcast media of their broadcasting rights, with the
government directed re-sale of frequencies held by these firms. These sales
violated a myriad of Kazakstan’s laws, including the terms of the licenses
granted to the thirty-seven companies in September, 1996, which provided
rights to use those frequencies until April, 1998. In addition, the owners
of the frequencies were not informed of the conditions or rules of sale,
with the result that although many proffered the selling price named by the
government, none were able to retain their channels. Interviews with
participants and their counsel revealed that the Kazakstan courts repeatedly
refused to consider the substance of the appeals they have lodged. The new
owners of these frequencies, several of whom are related to, or have close
ties to, President Nazarbayev, have considerably changed the content of the
programs aired, replacing news and information with music and entertainment.
– In September, 1998, the government of Kazakstan began to exert various
forms of pressure against an array of privately-owned newspapers with ties
to former prime minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin. The most shocking instance
concerned the paper XXI Vek, whose editorial offices were extensively
damaged by a firebomb on September 26. Interviews with editors of several
of these papers reveal striking similarities in all cases. First, printing
presses broke contracts and unilaterally refused to continue printing
several of the papers. Secondly, the state tax police began investigations
against several papers, seizing their property and arresting bank accounts.
Thirdly, Kazakstani customs agents began to seize print runs of several of
the papers forced to print outside Kazakstan. A court-awarded libel
settlement has halted publication of one of the papers (a higher court
refused to address the substance of an appeal), while a frivolous suit
against another for supposed infractions of the 1991 Law on the Press have
temporarily halted its publication. According to several sources, state
security personnel in civilian dress continue to harass distributors of one
Almaty newspaper, 451 Gradusa po Farengeitu (Farenheit 451).
– Testimony from journalists confirms that editors of state-owned media
outlets impose direct censorship, in particular to enforce the taboo on any
criticism of the President or his policies. The politically-motivated
dismissal of a popular provincial radio journalist followed on the heels of
several of his programs being rejected by the station director, and warnings
to alter critical programming.
In addition, the government of Kazakstan has seriously encroached on
individuals’ right to free speech, by subjecting political activist Petr
Svoik to criminal charges for allegedly “inciting ethnic conflict.” Svoik
unequivocally denies the offense; a group of Kazakstan’s leading
intellectuals have written an open letter in his support. This charge,
lodged against Svoik as he served a three-day administrative sentence for
participation in an unregistered public association (see below), carries a
possible sentence of seven years imprisonment, and has, as intended, thrown
a pall over opposition efforts to criticize the conduct of elections.
Freedom of Association Violations
Though Kazakstan can boast a wealth of non-governmental organizations,
evidence gathered from sources in several cities suggests that the
government of Kazakstan has begun to limit its citizens’ right to form
public associations in connection with the upcoming elections.
– The government of Kazakstan has systematically denied official
registration to several groups which formed for the express purpose of
participating in election and campaign monitoring. On October 15 the
leaders of one stillborn group, Za Chestnye Vybory (For Honest Elections)
were fined and given administrative jail sentences for their roles in
organizing the movement. In contrast, the Ministry of Justice registered
within days an association with a similar mandate, but organized by figures
within the government and those from groups which openly support Nazarbayev
(“Public Committee for Monitoring of Presidential Elections in the Republic
of Kazakstan”).
– Authorities from several municipalities repeatedly denied permission for
members of the group Pokolenie (Generation) to hold public demonstrations in
September and October. Authorities arrested and fined participants of the
group’s unsanctioned meetings; participants testified to the use of
excessive force and humiliation by the police.
Violations of the Right to Participate in Public Affairs
Human Rights Watch considers that the calling of presidential elections for
January 10, 1999 violates Kazakstani law by altering the results of the 1995
referendum extending the president’s term in office and setting elections
for October, 2000. According to the Constitution of Kazakstan, only another
referendum can overturn provisions adopted by referendum. The October 8
decision of parliament left only a limited time for potential candidates to
surmount the considerable barriers to registration (including a fee equaling
1,000 times the minimum monthly wage, and the collection of signatures from
2% of the voting population), which in and of themselves constitute a
serious limit on the right to stand for elections.
The government of Kazakstan engaged in a concerted effort to control the
outcome of the vote, in the first place by eliminating certain potential
candidates. Even more disturbingly, the machinery of the state has been
deployed in support of the sitting president’s candidacy. When viewed in
light of the overwhelming concentration of power in the hands of the
president (who controls appointments of local governors, judges and members
of the Central Electoral Commission), these facts mitigate against any
possibility of a truly contested election, and against the government’s
claims of compliance with its OSCE commitments.
– In May, 1998, parliament adopted amendments to the Law on Elections which
disqualify any person with a standing conviction from the year prior to the
vote from running for any public office. Courts cited this law as the
grounds for denying former prime minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin, activists
Mels Eleusizov and Asylbek Amantai, all of whom were convicted of
administrative offenses (Kazhegeldin and Eleusizov for participating in the
meeting of “For Honest Elections,” see above), registration as candidates.
Kazhegeldin has continued to organize political support among the
opposition, for which several of his supporters have been harassed or
assaulted.
– First-hand testimony from employees of state-run enterprises, schools,
universities, and hospitals, and from students and traders in public
markets, informs that the directors of these institutions participated in
gathering signatures in support of President Nazarbayev’s candidacy by
instructing their subordinates to sign, often using explicit or implicit
threats to coerce compliance. Sources also report conversations with public
officials confirming explicit instructions from the central government,
complete with target figures, on conducting the signature-gathering
campaign. According to Kazakstani law, only registered members of a
candidate’s campaign staff may gather signatures.
– Though election officials are forbidden from officially supporting one or
another candidate, the chairwoman of one local electoral commission
announced publicly her intention of campaigning for Nazarbayev.
– Supporters of Communist Party candidate Serikbolsyn Abdildin relate that
party members sitting on local election commissions have been dismissed, and
that municipal authorities have denied permission to use local meeting
halls. First-hand accounts suggest harassment of Communist Party activists
by local police.
Recommendations
The complex of intimidation, prejudicial laws and administrative practice
excludes any possibility of free and fair elections. Recognizing this, the
OSCE has called for the postponement of elections so that conditions for a
truly participatory process can be met. With the understanding that the
government of Kazakstan has no intention of postponing the vote, the OSCE
has decided to send only a limited assessment mission. However, the Kazak
press has distorted this fact, reporting that the OSCE will send a limited
quantity of election observers. Therefore, Human Rights Watch calls on the
OSCE to:
1. Send a clear and unambiguous message to the government of Kazakstan of
the unacceptability of the practices outlined above, by refusing any
participation in or observation of the Kazak presidential vote by
delegations of any size or composition whatsoever.
2. Review terms of the Memorandum of Understanding signed with Kazakstan
recently, postponing the establishment of the planned OSCE Almaty field
office until basic preconditions for free and fair parliamentary elections,
scheduled for October, 1999, have been met.
– Firstly, Kazakstan’s legislature should repeal amendments to article 4(4)
to the “Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakstan, with the force
of constitutional law, ‘on elections in the Republic of Kazakstan,'” from
May 8, 1998, which disqualify persons who have been subject to
administrative penalties (fines or prison terms) for violations of the law
during the year preceding the elections, and those with convictions
resulting in sentences which have not been served by the date of
registration, from standing in any national or local elections.
– Secondly, article 188(2) outlawing participation in any unregistered
social organization should be struck from the Kazak administrative code, and
the convictions of all those persons charged with this offense should be
overturned.
– Thirdly, the Kazak Ministry of Justice must expeditiously register any
independent citizens’ organizations formed to monitor the election process,
removing the differential barriers to registration for those groups presumed
to be in support of the current government, and those presumed to be in
opposition.
– Fourthly, the Main Procuracy should initiate an investigation into
reported violations of the Law on Elections, and ensure that election
officials found guilty of overt or covert support for any candidate will be
removed from electoral commissions.
The upcoming elections in Kazakstan, marred as they are by violations of
national and international law, can provide an opportunity for the
international community to show its unequivocal disdain for the
deterioration of civil and political freedoms in that country. Human Rights
Watch urges the OSCE to continue its principled stance against Kazakstan’s
mounting record of anti-democratic steps, and to consider incorporating the
above recommendations into its own proposed benchmarks for progress.
Sincerely,
Holly Cartner
Executive Director/Europe and Central Asia Division
