MEPs blamed President Tokayev’s order “to shoot people without warning”

Deputies of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) demanded to apply sanctions against high-ranking officials of Kazakhstan and to conduct an international investigation into the January events. The corresponding statement, signed by 21 deputies, was published on the organization’s website.

“We blame the Kazakh government-sponsored disinformation campaign about 20,000 unidentified terrorists who are allegedly responsible for the unrest, which served as an excuse for the shutdown of the Internet and communications, mass harassment and torture of activists Berik Abishov, Erbol Borlibai and human rights activists Raigul Sadyrbayeva and Aliya Isenova,” deputies from Germany, Austria, Italy, Great Britain, Belgium, Switzerland, Cyprus, Spain, Holland, Poland, San Marino, Slovakia and representing all political groups of PACE wrote in their appeal.

The authors of the appeal also note that the order of the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, “to shoot people without warning”, given to them during the riots, violates the international obligations of Kazakhstan and should be immediately canceled.

MEPs also criticized the entry into Kazakhstan of peacekeepers from the troops of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). In their opinion, the introduction of troops was carried out at the official request of the authorities of Kazakhstan, based on false information. Moreover, the CSTO troops were brought in not to fight the so-called “international terrorists”, but to assist the government of Kazakhstan in the fight against the protesters.

“This is unacceptable and should be investigated internationally. 10,000 arbitrarily detained protesters and political prisoners, such as Bekizhan Mendygaziev, Erulan Amirov, Kairat Klyshev, Saltanat Kusmankyzy, must be released unconditionally. We support the recommendations of the European Parliament in its resolution on the situation in Kazakhstan, adopted on January 20, 2022, and call for an international investigation and review of sanctions against high-ranking officials of Kazakhstan,” the authors of the appeal summarize.