New Chair of the OSCE - What hypocrisy!

[Gotno Gizmo]

There's growing speculation about whether or not there should be a forthcoming Presidential election in Kazakhstan during 2012. With no meaningful opposition candidates allowed to conduct any public canvassing for the Presidentcy it really would be a pointless propoganda sham.

See: BBC News - Kazakhstan: Nazarbayev rejects plan to scrap elections

[Gotno Gizmo]

Back in May 2010, I criticised the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for holding their conference in Kazakhstan, stating that it was farcical given that this dictatorship operated contrary to the values that the OSCE was developed to uphold.

In recent months there has been increasing action from Kazakhstan's oil field workers resulting in at least one known suspicious death.

Workers’ leaders from Kazakhstan are taking their case to Europe and the OSCE amid an increasingly brutal crack down by Nursultan Nazarbayev’s government against protesting oil workers in the Central Asian country.

http://www.themoscownews.com/busines...189081263.html

[Gotno Gizmo]

Tony Blair, the former British Prime Minister has become a controversial character over the years, where more increasingly the things he purports he claims to stand for are seen to be dubious. The following is an extract from an article from the British Independent newspaper:-


The Kazakh government has admitted that Mr Blair – through his business Tony Blair Associates – has set up an office in Astana. His former spin doctor, Alastair Campbell, and former chief of staff, Jonathan Powell, have also been hired for consultancy work inside the Central Asian republic which has been run by Mr Nazarbayev since the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
A coalition of human rights groups has now called on Mr Blair to use his friendship with Mr Nazarbayev to encourage the Kazakh leader to make democratic reforms rather than simply polishing the image of an increasingly autocratic state. In statements sent to The Independent, both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have launched critical attacks on Mr Blair's involvement in Kazakhstan and – in particular – his silence on Astana's repression of religious communities.
"There are numerous human rights issues in Kazakhstan that Tony Blair needs to be frank about with his hosts, and one of them is the lack of religious freedom in the country," said Kate Allen, Amnesty's UK head.
Mr Nazarbayev has insisted that the new religion law is necessary to combat the emergence of a small number of radical Islamists on the western edge of the nation, which is 70 per cent Muslim. But critics say the government has always been hostile to any organised religion other than the Orthodox Christian Church and a handful of approved Muslim organisations.
Born in the chaos of the Soviet Union's collapse, Kazakhstan sits on the northern edge of one of the most autocratic regions in the world. In contrast to its neighbours – in particular Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan – it is a business friendly country that has welcomed international investment it its huge oil and gas resources. The country's rich elite has swollen in cities like Astana and the former capital Almaty, where Range Rovers fill the streets. This new Kazakh elite also has an increasing presence in London, not least through Prince Andrew, who counts the glamorous energy tycoon Goga Ashkenazi among his friends.
But many Kazakhs complain that they see little of this elite's newfound wealth in a country that has been condemned for its endemic corruption and lack of democratic progress. An ongoing strike in western Kazakhstan has seen thousands of workers at oil and gas facilities demand better conditions.
The state has responded with arrests and beatings. Natalia Sokolova, a lawyer who represented the striking workers, was recently sent to prison for six years for "inciting social disorder". A number of key activists have been shot with rubber bullets by unknown assailants.

The details of Mr Blair's consultancy work in Kazakhstan are shrouded in mystery. In statements released to the media Mr Blair has said he has "put together a team of international advisers" in Kazakhstan but insists neither he nor Tony Blair Associates are making a profit. Mr Nazarbayev's top presidential adviser, Yermukhamet Yertysbayev, said Mr Blair would work on "the question of social-economic modernisation of Kazakhstan". Relations between Britain and Kazakhstan are booming and the country's new wealthy elite, which includes the oil tycoon Goga Ashkenazi,below, are making London their second home.

[Gotno Gizmo]

Much of the world is is discussing the killing of the Syrian dictatorship and what, if anything can, or should be done. Meanwhile many other dictatorships carry on as always without causing too much concern to the world's media. Especially those former Soviet dictatorships where western media choses not to be crticical. This is particularly true of Kazakhstan, where oil and gas production grants special favours, particularly when it chooses to spend some of its revenue back in the west.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan is currently in Germany where fifty contracts are being negotiated amounting to more than four billion euros, concerning thirty brand new industrial facilities to be built in Kazakhstan. German businesses: Siemens, Thyssen Krupp, Metro, Knauf, Class, Lanxess and many others will share the bounty of this hydrocarbon produced cash bonanza.

However two of the spouses of Kazakhstan's political prisoners Aliya Turusbekova and Lana VInyavskaya have attended a press conference in Germany to read out several of the Kazakhstan's political prisoner's petitions. The Petitions were translated into German and have been again translated into English. I have selected just one of these by a prisoner Vladimir Kozlov:-
"I knew Nazarbaev was going to put me in jail, along with my comrades. I made it very clear when I spoke in European parliament in both Brussels and Strasbourg. I did my best in order to communicate to members of the European parliament the message that the so called "controlled democracy" created by Nazarbaev is being rapidly transformed into an obvious dictatorship and that Nazarbaev has been able to keep his power through violence.
We’ve seen the bitter proof on the 16th of December in Zhanaozen. On that day, the Ak Orda sanctioned fatal shooting of civilian population and peaceful picketers. Another proof for the growing dictatorship of Nazarbaev has come with arrests of myself and other members of the opposition. Nazarbaev is keen to continue to reign but instead of usual lies and empty promises he indulges in intimidations and violence. I am not afraid of jail, or the court. I am not afraid to be killed. I am sure that one day everyone will see the truth. They accuse me of organization of riots in Zhanaozen but we all know exactly who had been ignoring lawful demands made by protesters, who had put Natalia Sokolova in jail, and who had given the order to beat up the activists, start shooting at people and organize provocations on the 16th of December, 2011. I am looking forward to the upcoming trial wherein I am going to act as the accuser rather that a defendant, and hold Nazarbaev accountable for the killings, beatings, violence, robbery and lies."
By Vladimir Kozlov
　

[fred2265]

It is a bit shameful that OSCE should embrace Nazarbayev, however talk of invading or intervention is disturbing.

[Gotno Gizmo]

Originally Posted by fred2265

It is a bit shameful that OSCE should embrace Nazarbayev, however talk of invading or intervention is disturbing.

I don't know where you got this idea of any western government or anyone else invading or of intervention In Kazakhstan.

Everyone accept the Human Rights organisations seem to be embracing Nazarbayev.