August 26, 2005

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Kazakhstan.

Brief description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources, among them the Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights (KCHR), of the robbery and other acts of harassment against the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law (KIBHR).

According to the information received, between August 13 and August 14, 2005, during the week-end, the office of the KIBHR in Almaty was robbed. Members of the organisation noticed that six LCD monitors and thirteen processors were stolen from the office. The latter contained all the information about the association's activities. However, no other valuables such as a fax machine, telephones or printers have been stolen, which raises fears that the robbers were only looking for information related to the activities of the organisation.

Presently, the Almaty criminal police and representatives of the department of internal affairs of Bostandyk region are investigating into the robbery.

In addition, the organisation has recently been subjected to a verification by the Almaty City Prosecutor's Office, at the request of a member of the Parliament concerning about 30 NGOs, including the KIBHR. The investigation into the KIBHR started on March 9, 2005. The organisation is suspected to finance activities of the political opposition in Kazakhstan. The conclusion of the verification has not been yet communicated.

In March 2005, another investigation into the KIBHR's accounts was initiated by the Almaty Tax Committee. It allegedly found tax irregularities in grants received from the Open Society Institute and the Soros-Kazakhstan Foundation. Although a tax inspection carried out in 2003 and audits in 2003 and 2004 had found no irregularities, the current investigation immediately found the KIBHR had failed to pay due taxes that had never been requested before. The organisation currently awaits the final results on the taxes and fines to pay.

The Observatory recalls that the KIBHR already faced incidents in previous years. The bureau's former premises in Almaty were set on fire in 1999. A criminal investigation was initiated after the fire-police found it was an arson but the case remains unsolved.

Moreover, Mr. Sergei Duvanov, a member of the KIBHR, had been sentenced in March 2003 to 3 and a half years in prison on charges of raping a minor. After a court order to reduce his sentence, he was provisionally released in January 2004 and in August 2004 he was finally acquitted (See Observatory Annual Report 2004).

The Observatory notes that these facts clearly contravene the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, in particular article 1 which states that "everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels".

Actions requested:

Please write to the Kazakh authorities and ask them to:

1. guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of the members of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law and all other Kazakh human rights defenders;
2. conduct a fair, impartial and independent inquiry into the robbery of the KIBHR office and the 1999 arson, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to justice and pronounce sentences proportional to the gravity of their crimes;
3. put an end to all acts of harassment against the KIBHR and all other human rights organisations in Kazakhstan;
4. comply with the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, in particular the above-mentioned article 1 and article 12.2 that states that "The State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration";
5. guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other international instruments ratified by Kazakhstan.
   
   

Addresses:

• President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nursultan NAZARBAEV, Address: 473000 Astana, Beibitshilik 11, Fax: + 7 3172 32 61 82, 007 / 3172 / 32 40 89
• Prime Minister, Danial AKHMETOV, Address: 473000 Astana, Beibitshilik 11, Fax: 7 3172 32 20 26, 7 3172 32 40 89, e-mail Protocol: kudekova@global.kz
• Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Minister: Zautbek TURISPBEKOV, Address: 473000 Astana, Manasa 4, Fax: 007 / 3172 / 37 17 38, Tel./fax: 007 / 3172 / 37 36 01
• Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Minister: Mukhtar ALTYNBAYEV, Address: 473000 Astana, Beibitshilik 51A, Fax: 007 / 3172 / 31 78 92
• Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Minister: Zagipa BALIEVA, Address: 473000 Astana, Ave Pobedy 45, Fax: 007 / 3172 / 32 15 54/ - 007 / 3172 / 32 54 44 , e-mail: minjust@mail.online.kz
• Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Minister: Gulzhan KARAGUSSOVA, Address: 473000 Astana, Ave Manasa 2, Fax: 007 / 3172 / 15 36 54 (?), e-mail: monitor@enbek.kz
• Human Rights Commissioner of Kazakhstan, Bolat BAYKADAMOV, Respublika Kazakstan, ul. Beybitshilik 2, Upolnomochennomu po pravam cheloveka RK, BAYKADAMOVU B.; KAZAKSTAN, Fax:+ 7 3172 15 20 60, 7 3172 15 29 70, e-mail: ombudsman@mail.kz
  
  

Paris - Geneva, August 26, 2005