Kazakhstan's Democratic Forces Forum |
Address to Almaty, February 5, 2000 Dear Mr. Tokayev,
The Forum of Democratic Forces of Kazakhstan that unites all opposition parties and movements of our country urges you to provide opposition parties with the possibility to access national mass media sources. Established on the money of Kazakh taxpayers, national TV and radio companies are controlled by the president and the government. These sources reflect the official point of view only, and either ignore or distort the positions of alternative public organizations. The attention to this terrible plight was again drawn by OSCE in its Final Report based on findings of the Election Observation Mission in the course of parliamentary elections in 1999. This very situation was discussed at the meetings of Joint US- Kazakhstan Commission. Only the freedom of speech, true independence of mass media and equal access to them for all political forces can help meet the political crisis we are facing now in Kazakhstan. In this connection we demand that the parliament and government of Kazakhstan give the united opposition airtime of 1 hour on national television, and 1 hour on radio every day. This project is called "Democracy Hour". Under this project we are going to present information and commentaries reflecting the views of independent journalists, opposition parties and movements, as well as common people themselves. The Forum of Democratic Forces of Kazakhstan shall cover all the costs incurred in preparing programs under the "Hour of democracy" project. We also demand that the harassment of opposition press be stopped in Kazakhstan. 14 independent democratic newspapers are known to be closed lately. For over 1,5 years the authorities have been holding up authorization to publish Respublica (Republic) newspaper. Meanwhile the harassment of those few existing opposition newspapers continues. Under pressure from the authorities printing houses refuse to print opposition publications, they exert themselves to the utmost extent to pay unreasonably high costs for polygraphic services. We demand that independent press and official publications be granted equal terms in printing houses. Both state TV and radio channels and state printing houses are funded from the money of taxpayers, a large part of whom make voters and supporters of opposition parties. Together with all people of Kazakhstan they have the right to have their point of view reflected in mass media. As executive and representative bodies the government and parliament of Kazakhstan are obliged to ensure implementation of this right.
Yours faithfully, Co-chairs of the Forum of Democratic Forces of Kazakhstan Almaty, February 5, 2000 |
|