Kazakhstan's Democratic Forces Forum |
Opposition witnesses
under the U.S. Congress's protection His Excellency Dear Mr. President: I am writing to express my objection to the attempt by your Embassy to serve former Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin with a summons while he was attending a hearing on July 18th as an official guest of the International Relations Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. As I am sure you are aware, the U.S. Department of State has protested this action and I strongly support that action. Your ambassador in Washington has apologized for this incident, and as one of the co-chairs of the July 18 hearing, I accept that apology. However, I remain deeply concerned, as such action showed disrespect for this hearing and for the U.S. Congress. This incident was preceded only a few days earlier by the refusal of your government to allow Mr. Amirzhan Kosanov, a senior officer of the Republican People’s Party, and Mr. Yermurat Bapi, editor-in-chief of SolDAT newspaper, to travel to Washington. They were officially invited by the Chairman of the International Relations Committee as witnesses, and this action by your government was but one more development reflecting the repression and lack of freedom of movement in your country. Three of the four independent journalists and political leaders who were present at the July 18th hearing have returned to Kazakhstan, and I am very concerned about how they will be treated by your government. People speaking on behalf of your government have assured the International Relations Committee that there is freedom of the press and freedom of speech in Kazakhstan. However, our own State Department’s report, as well as reports from highly regarded independent organizations such as Human Rights Watch, have documented widespread examples of repression, corruption and lack of freedom of the press in your country. Leading publications such as the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Washington Times, the Wall Street Journal and the New Yorker magazine have also been critical of these abuses. I would like to urge you to ensure that there will be no attempts to punish or carry out acts of retribution against our three guests who were personally invited by Chairman Henry Hyde of the International Relations Committee. I would also urge you to take specific actions that would help demonstrate that Kazakhstan is, in fact, making progress in the areas of human rights, democratic reform and press freedoms. I raised with Secretary of State Powell on March 7th, the matter of the political imprisonment under harsh conditions of two of former Prime Minister Kazhegeldin’s security assistants, one of them, Pyotr Afanasenko, has been released. The other, Satzhan Ibrayev, is, however, still in prison and I urge you to release him as well. Similarly, government pressure on publishing houses not to print newspapers and periodicals of opposition groups, as well as other acts that constrain press freedom, should end. Also, as called for in a resolution passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last October (H.Con.Res. 397), the government of Kazakhstan, in its roundtable discussions, should increase the input from opposition parties and public organizations that favor a more comprehensive national dialogue. If discussions are to have any degree of credibility, they must be real and permit opposition leaders, and not just the government, to establish the structure and set the agenda for such meetings which should be held at times and places convenient for everyone. Kazakhstan is blessed with abundant natural resources and talented citizens. For Kazakhstan and its people to realize their full potential, however, they must be free to express themselves, to be exposed to a diversity of opinions, and to play a meaningful role in their country’s political development. I hope your government will bear this in mind, not only in its words but very importantly in its actions. With high regard for the people and future of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Respectfully, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen |
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