Amnesty International Report 1999 - Kazakstan

KAZAKSTAN

One prisoner of conscience was serving a one-year prison sentence for criminal libel. One possible prisoner of conscience was held incommunicado. There were further allegations of torture and ill-treatment in police custody and pre-trial detention. At least one death sentence was passed. No executions were reported.

In June President Nursultan Nazarbayev officially inaugurated the new capital, Astana, in the north of the country. In October the Kazak parliament adopted constitutional amendments prolonging the presidential term of office and removing restrictions on the president's age and eligibility to run for office more than twice. It also brought forward presidential elections from December 2000 to January 1999.

In August Kazakstan acceded to theun Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Earlier in the year the Kazak parliament had also announced its intention to accede to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

In April Madel Ismailov, leader of the Workers' Movement opposition group, was sentenced to one year's imprisonment. He was a prisoner of conscience. He was convicted of "insulting the honour and dignity of the President" in connection with statements he allegedly made during a peaceful opposition demonstration in Almaty in November 1997. However, Madel Ismailov was not detained until February 1998, following a conference during which he had been elected deputy chairman of a new opposition coalition. His whereabouts were unknown until 5 March, when he was located in a central Almaty prison. There were allegations that Madel Ismailov had been beaten following his arrest. His appeal was rejected by the Almaty City Court in June. In 1997 Madel Ismailov had been detained for three and a half months on similar charges and allegedly ill-treated.

There were fears for the safety of Mikhail Vasilyenko, who was held incommunicado for three days in September before being released. He had been detained by police in Astana where he had gone to distribute draft amendments to the Constitution and to the law on elections, commissioned by Akezhan Kazhegeldin, the former Prime Minister, who subsequently announced his candidature for the presidency. Following a telephone call to his family to let them know what had happened to him, no one was able to establish Mikhail Vasilyenko's whereabouts. All police stations and directorates of internal affairs contacted denied that he had been detained. It was subsequently reported that he had been charged with hooliganism and summarily sentenced by a court in Astana to three days' administrative detention.

Petr Svoik, co-chairman of the opposition Azamat movement, and Mels Yeleusizov, leader of an environmental movement, were administratively detained for three days in October for holding an unauthorized meeting under the auspices of an organization called For Fair Elections in Kazakstan. Presidential candidate and former Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin was fined for par-ticipating in the meeting. This rendered him ineligible to run for the presidency.

There were further reports of torture and ill-treatment in police custody and pre-trial detention. Most of the complainants alleged that they were choked, or handcuffed to radiators, or had plastic bags or gas-masks placed over their heads to force them to divulge information. During the year criminal proceedings reportedly continued against officers involved in the ill-treatment of Natalya Zabolotnaya. She had been detained in February 1997 on suspicion of having murdered her mother and was reportedly kept in solitary confinement at the building of the Department of the State Investigation Committee of Ilyichovsk. It was alleged that drunken law enforcement officers forced her to confess her guilt by beating her with sticks on the back, heels, abdomen and head; twisting her fingers; and putting a cellophane bag over her head, restricting her air supply. They also allegedly demanded a bribe of US$10,000. Apparently, a forensic medical report supported the allegations that Natalya Zabolotnaya was ill-treated.

According to official records, in the first eight months of 1998 the cases of 24 people sentenced to death came before the presidential Clemency Commission; three received clemency. At least one death sentence was passed during the year. Vladimir Kardash, a policeman, was reportedly sentenced to death for the murder of three men, including a police officer, at the police station in the village of Auliekol in Kostanay region in April 1997. He denied the charges and alleged that his confession had been extracted by beatings and death threats from other police officers. He also alleged that a formal complaint against his ill-treatment, made to the procurator, received no response. In March the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence. A petition for clemency to the President was still pending at the end of the year. No executions were reported.

Amnesty International called for the immediate and unconditional release of Madel Ismailov. The organization urged the authorities to repeal Articles 318, 319 and 320 of the criminal code which allow for people to be prosecuted for the peaceful exercise of the fundamental right to freedom of expression.

In September Amnesty International expressed concern about the detention of Mikhail Vasilyenko. It urged that his whereabouts be immediately established and that he be protected from any form of ill-treatment.

Amnesty International expressed concern that the sentences handed out to opposition figures in October might be an attempt to punish them for their political opposition to the government and to dissuade them from campaigning in the forthcoming presidential elections.

In April the organization raised with the authorities 11 cases of alleged torture or ill-treatment in police custody and pre-trial detention. Amnesty International called for full and comprehensive inquiries into allegations of torture by law enforcement officers, for the findings to be made public and for anyone responsible to be brought to justice in accordance with the norms of international law.

Amnesty International asked for assurances that three ethnic Uighurs from the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China would not be returned to face possible torture and arbitrary detention.

Amnesty International continued to call for a moratorium on the death penalty and appealed for the commutation of all death sentences.