MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

14.3.2006

with request for inclusion in the agenda for the debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 115 of the Rules of Procedure
by Cristiana Muscardini,
on behalf of the UEN Group
on the situation in Kazakhstan

B6‑0175/2006

European Parliament resolution on the situation in Kazakhstan

The European Parliament,

- having regard to all previous resolutions on Kazakhstan,

- having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A   whereas the co-chairman of the opposition party in Kazakhstan (True Bright Party) Mr Altynbek Sarsenbaev and his two body guards were found killed on a desolate stretch of road outside Almaty on 13 February 2006, their bodies riddled with bullets and their hands bound behind their backs,

B  whereas on 27 February 2006 Interior Minister Baurzhan Mukhamedjanov announced that the investigation had established a clear picture of the crime, informing the press that the top civil servant in Kazakhstan's Senate, five members of an elite security unit and two former security officers had confessed to the killing,

C  whereas the grounds put forward by the organizer of the crime related exclusively to personal enmity and whereas some of the circumstances of the killing have produced a strong reaction from the media, opposition parties and international public opinion who do not believe such confessions and criticise the conduct of this quick investigation,

D  whereas, given the stature of the political leader in his country, this crime could not fail to create waves of shock throughout the Kazakhstan political establishment, triggering waves of speculation in the media with the risk of destabilising the political structures of the country,

E  whereas this murder provided a rallying point, as a result of the people's revulsion, and created support for the battered opposition in Kazakhstan, which permitted the opposition to gather a crowd estimated at up to 4,000 people in Almaty, this rally being was banned by the authorities leading to a number of arrests,

F  whereas further to the killing and the arrest of five officers of the National Security Committee who confessed responsibility for the crime, the president of the National Security Committee, Nartal Dutbaev, resigned and was followed by the head of the special body of these forces Arystan, Mr Koibakov,

• 1Strongly condemns the crime of the murder of Mr Sarsenbaev in Kazakhstan and his body guards;
• 2Welcomes the arrest of the persons suspected of having perpetrated the murders as well as President Nazarbayev's statement of 21 February 2006 condemning assassinations and promising severe punishment for the persons involved;
• 3Is aware that the killing of the head of the opposition party paved the way to waves of speculation which involve all the spheres of power but is also aware, however, that personal enmity cannot be excluded as a main motive of the killing;
• 4Calls for the ongoing investigation to clarify completely all the circumstances which led to the killing of these three men, leaving no doubt as to its causes;
• 5Hopes that the opposition parties, deeply and legitimately affected by the sudden killing of one of its leaders will show a sense of responsibility and avoid any behaviour which could lead the country into a blood bath;
• 6Stresses the importance of Kazakhstan as an important economic actor and as a stability factor in the Central Asia region;
• 7Calls on the government not to use this killing as a pretext to stop the process of reforms which are progressively introducing some aspects of democracy in Kazakhstan;
• 8Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the government of Kazakhstan and the governments and parliaments of Member States and acceding countries.