Kazakhstan: human rights activists demand to apply the “Magnitsky Act” to Nursultan Nazarbaev
Three international human rights organizations are calling on the governments of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to impose sanctions against the first President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbaev, as well as some other high-ranking officials of Kazakhstan, as part of their sanctions’ legislation under the Global Magnitsky Act.
Such a call is contained in the report “Servants of the regime: sanctions’ list of persons responsible for violations of human rights in Kazakhstan”, which was published on the website of Open Dialogue Foundation.
The 130-page report was prepared jointly by three human rights organizations: Open Dialogue Foundation, Qaharman Human Rights Foundation and “405” Human Rights Movement.
“In authoritarian Kazakhstan, the civil society representatives are arbitrarily detained, prosecuted, imprisoned and tortured for public and human rights activities, participation in peaceful protests and criticism of the authorities on social media,” the report’s foreword says. “Under the guise of a coronavirus pandemic, the authorities of Kazakhstan have intensified political repression. The total number of politically persecuted persons in Kazakhstan is growing, primarily due to the participants in peaceful rallies. Over the past 2.5 years in different regions of Kazakhstan, more than 7000 peaceful protesters have been subjected to arbitrary detention.”
The authors of the report openly state that “Kazakhstan does not comply with the decisions of the UN bodies on the release of political prisoners and/or their rehabilitation”, and also describe in detail the cases of opposition activists: Dulat Agadil, Amanbike Khayrolly and Serik Orazov, who died in February-May 2020 due to illegal actions and political harassment by law enforcement agencies.
“The facts allow us to regard these cases as political killings. In this report, we consider the facts of crimes of Kazakh officials, committed in the period from September 2019 to the end of October 2020, which are the basis for the introduction of personal sanctions. We urge that the information presented in this report be subject to consideration not only by the US and UK governments, but also by the competent authorities of Canada, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania under their sanctions’ legislation under the Global Magnitsky Act. In the future, this information may be useful for the governments of Switzerland, Australia, the European Union, which are developing their analogues of the Magnitsky Act,” the authors of the report note.
Then, they list the individuals who should be sanctioned primarily:
“The chairman of the Security Council and the first President (Elbasy) Nursultan Nazarbaev, the chairman of the National Security Committee Karim Masimov, the first deputy chairman of the National Security Committee Samat Abish, the Minister of Internal Affairs Erlan Turgumbaev and the Prosecutor General Gizat Nurdauletov. They are the ones who give orders and direct political persecution. They are not only aware of these crimes, but also ensure the impunity of those responsible.”
The proposed sanctions’ list consists of 364 names: in addition to the above persons, it also includes heads of departments of law enforcement agencies, as well as ordinary employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Security Committee, the Prosecutor’s office, local executive authorities, as well as judges.
“The report covers only selected cases for which information and evidence has been collected. However, these cases illustrate the general pattern of repression and the systemic institutional features of the work of the National Security Committee, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor’s office. These bodies actually perform the function of protecting the political regime and are used as an instrument to combat dissent. Due to the lack of the rule of law and fair justice, gross violations of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of opinion, freedom of dissemination of information, protection from arbitrary detention, protection from torture, the right to a lawyer and a fair trial remain unpunished in Kazakhstan. Thus, the authorities do not fulfill the ratified international agreements – the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Convention against Torture,” the authors of the report express their position, explaining that the basis for such conclusions was information and testimonies from 1,119 victims of political persecution from 37 cities of Kazakhstan.
At the same time, the authors of the report note that torture in Kazakhstan has a systemic nature.
“The NGO Coalition against Torture registers about 200 cases of torture in places of detention in Kazakhstan every year. In October 2019, human rights activists cited data according to which one person dies every one and a half days in Kazakh prisons as a result of suicide, torture or tuberculosis. Most torture cases are closed “for lack of evidence”. According to statistics, on average, only 2% of cases reach the stage of judicial review. The number of cases of actual prosecution of persons involved in torture is even smaller. The Kazakh authorities refuse to comply with the UN recommendations on the review of cases and compensation for torture victims Iskander Erimbetov and Mukhtar Dzhakishev, as well as on the release of political prisoner Maks Bokayev. At the end of October, it became known about a case of torture against activist Asylzhan Asabaev from the village of Zhanabazar (Turkestan region), who had previously been persecuted for participating in the commemoration of the killed oppositionist Dulat Agadil. Asabaev was detained. For 24 hours, he was held at the Police Department of Kazygurt district. There, the police took him to the basement of the sports hall, where they beat him on the kidneys and ribs, demanding that he no longer go to rallies. The activist was threatened that they would put a bag over his head and strangle him,” the report says.
Kazakh human rights activist Elena Semenova is also mentioned in this document, about whom ACCA has repeatedly written.
In relation to human rights activist Elena Semenova, the head of the public organization “We are against torture”, 7 lawsuits were filed by the administration of the prisons. Obviously, with the help of series of lawsuits, the authorities are trying to silence Semenova and block her human rights activities,” the authors of the report said.
As for the list of violators, the report contains their full personal data. It is worth noting that the publication of personal data is legally prohibited in Kazakhstan. However, the authors of the report explain that such a step is necessary. “The publication of these personal data is dictated by the wide public interest, the need to protect victims of torture, political murder, arbitrary detention and political repression. This mechanism contributes to the accurate identification of violators, creates conditions for launching sanctions procedures, incl. visa restrictions, and is also one of the instruments to stop impunity.”
As it was noted above, the list consists of 364 persons. The first place is given to the first President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbaev:
“Keeping the state apparatus of Kazakhstan under his control for 30 years, Nursultan Nazarbaev has become one of the richest people in the world. According to various estimates, the state of the first President of Kazakhstan amounts from $ 1.1 billion up to more than $ 100 billion. British investigators found that Nursultan Nazarbaev’s family was involved in laundering illegal funds. In May 2019, the High Court of London froze the real estate of Nazarbaev’s eldest daughter Dariga Nazarbaeva and his grandson Nurali Aliyev. In April 2020, the Nazarbaevs managed to achieve the cancellation of the seizure of their property. Forbes magazine estimates the fortune of Dariga Nazarbaeva at $ 595 million, which makes her one of the richest people in Kazakhstan. Nazarbaev’s grandson Nurali Aliyev is also included in the ranking of the richest people in Kazakhstan. Forbes estimates his fortune at $ 219 million. The general fortune of the middle daughter of Nazarbaev Dinara and her husband Timur Kulibaev, according to Forbes magazine, is $ 6.2 billion. According to media reports, the younger brother of Nazarbaev Bolat owns a fortune of $ 15 billion, which he received from the first President for management,” this is only a small part of the information provided in the report.
The second on the list is the name of the chairman of the National Security Committee, Karim Masimov. Not much is known about his assets, but according to indirect information given in the report, it can be assumed that the head of Kazakhstan’s National Security is far from being a poor man. For example, in 2012, he took out of France three letters of Napoleon Bonaparte, which cost him 97,500 euros, paid in cash.
The third person against whom human rights defenders demand to apply sanctions is Samat Abish, the first deputy of Karim Masimov. In addition, he is the nephew of Nursultan Nazarbaev. The report also claims that due to Karim Masimov’s illness, the National Security Committee is now effectively under the control of Samat Abish.
The fourth name on the sanctions list is the Minister of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan Erlan Turgumbaev.
“The Minister of Internal Affairs, as a high-ranking official-violator, is aware of cases of systematic gross violations by the representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and, moreover, leads these processes. Therefore, the Minister of Internal Affairs is responsible for fabricating politically motivated cases, massive arbitrary detentions and arrests, political killings, as well as torture and cruel treatment in jails and prisons,” the authors of the report consider.
The fifth position is occupied by the General Prosecutor of Kazakhstan, Gizat Nurdauletov.
“Samat Abish, Erlan Turgumbaev and Gizat Nurdauletov are non-public figures. There is no information about their assets in open sources. The information, that is made available to the public, is limited only to scanty biographies about when and what government position they held. However, these individuals are extremely influential and close to the President Tokayev and Elbasy Nazarbaev (moreover, Samat Abish is a member of Nazarbaev’s richest family). Taking this into account, there is every reason to assert about the high financial security of Abish, Turgumbaev and Nurdauletov. This means that they, or their families, can have assets, or connections in the EU and the US,” the human rights activists believe.
The list of persons involved in the persecution of human rights defenders and civic activists also includes: Deputy Chief of Police of Nur-Sultan Bakhytzhan Malybaev, Chief of the National Security Committee of Nur-Sultan Askhat Tuleuov, Deputy Chief of the Local Police Service of Nur-Sultan Tahir Abdurakhmanov, the Prosecutor of Nur-Sultan Bauyrzhan Myrzakerov and his deputies Eldos Kilimzhanov and Berik Abilov, the judges of Nur-Sultan Asiya Doshanova, Aigul Kaidarova, Akmaral Isaeva, Adilbek Dusembaev, the mayor of Aktobe region Ondasyn Urazalin, the head of the Local Police Service of Aktobe region Ardan Saymagambetov, the head of the Police Department of Almaty region Serik Kudebaev, the head of the Police Department of Almaty city Kanat Timerdenov, as well as some other police officers, judges, prosecutors, mayors and other government officials.
