MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the situation in Kazakhstan

18.1.2022 - (2022/2505(RSP))

with request for inclusion in the agenda for a debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 144 of the Rules of Procedure

Miguel Urbán Crespo
on behalf of The Left Group

NB: This motion for a resolution is available in the original language only.

B9‑0064/2022

European Parliament resolution on the situation in Kazakhstan

(2022/2505(RSP))

The European Parliament,

 

-  having regard to its previous resolutions on Kazakhstan,

 

-  having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the UN Convention against Torture,

 

-  having regard to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,

 

-  having regard to the Statement of 11 January 2022 by UN Special Rapporteurs on Kazakhstan: UN experts condemn lethal force against protesters, misuse of term ‘terrorists’,

 

-  having regard to the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review of Kazakhstan of 12 March 2020,

 

-  having regard the Constitution of Kazakhstan,

 

-  having regard to Rule 144 of its Rules of Procedure,

 

1. Whereas due to the liberalisation of the sector announced by the government in 2019, subsidies for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which is widely used as a fuel for cars, were eliminated on 1 January and the price of LPG doubled in just 24 hours; whereas citizens protests and strikes by oil workers against the increase in the price of LPG began on 2 January in the oil city of Zhanaozen in western Kazakhstan; whereas by 4 January thousands of peaceful demonstrators had joined in other parts of the country, demanding pending socio-economic and political reforms;

 

2. whereas on January 5 and in response to the protests President Tokayev accepted the resignation of his government, took control of the Security Council, which had been headed by former president Nazarbayev since 2019, and reinstated a price cap on LPG; whereas at the same time, he imposed a national state of emergency, including a ban on mass gatherings and a night curfew; whereas authorities disabled the Internet and restricted mobile communications and several television stations were suspended from broadcasting, creating an information vacuum in many parts of the country; whereas while Internet access was re-established by 10 January, it is still being regularly blocked by the authorities, and mobile messengers remain inaccessible locally;

 

3. whereas police attempted in the afternoon of January 5 to disperse peaceful demonstrations in Almaty using teargas, stun grenades, and water cannons; whereas from that evening, people in civilian clothes began attacking police officers and seized several state and public buildings in Almaty, set numerous buildings and cars on fire and carried out looting in various parts of the city;

 

4. whereas on 6 January President Tokayev called for the intervention of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), a security alliance of six countries in the region, to respond to what he defined as 'terrorist gangs'; whereas Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who currently chairs the alliance, announced that it would deploy a 'peacekeeping' military force; whereas a Russian-led mission of over 2,500 military personnel from Russia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia was deployed in the country; whereas this is the first time the alliance has taken such a step since its founding in 1992; whereas Tokayev announced on 11 January that the withdrawal of CSTO troops would begin in two days' time;

 

5. whereas President Tokaev said in a televised speech on January 7, that he had “given the order to shoot to kill without warning”; whereas video footage shows security forces firing live ammunition and bodies of people in civilian clothes who had been shot in the head; whereas since protests began, over hundreds people including security officers have been injured, dozens have been killed, and close to 10,000 people are now estimated to be held in detention and it is unclear where or in which conditions detainees are being held, or if they have access to legal representation; whereas there are already reports about torture of detainees to get testimonies, or to punish and deter;

 

6. whereas for years, Kazakh authorities have used vague and overbroad “terrorism” and “extremism” laws and measures to arbitrarily restrict free expression and peaceful dissent; whereas in 2019, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, wrote after visiting Kazakhstan that she was “deeply concerned” at how such measures were being used against government critics and religious minorities and to target the work of civil society;

 

7. whereas President Tokayev also suggested in his speech of 7 January that responsibility for the latest events in the country rests not only with “destructive forces”, but also “activists” and “human rights defenders” and the independent media for their "inflammatory role"; whereas since January 2, at least 1 human rights defender was detained, 3 trade union activists, 14 journalists (at least 4 remain under arrests), 40 civil activists and 15 political activists;

 

8. whereas the increase in gas prices was the trigger for the protests, but the protests reflect the weariness of a population that has seen no real change in recent years; whereas authorities in Kazakhstan have long restricted fundamental rights, including the right to peaceful protest, freedom of association, and free speech, and have rejected calls to introduce meaningful political and human rights reforms; whereas human rights defenders, civil-society actors and journalists are particularly targeted and subject to harassment and criminal prosecution; whereas Kazakhstan has banned opposition parties such as the Kazakh Communist Party, and prosecuted opposition activists; whereas the limitation and violation of human rights has risen within the context of COVID-19; whereas this has been added to the continuing impoverishment of workers, whose situation has been aggravated by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, rising prices, delays in the payment of wages, difficulties in feeding themselves adequately for a large part of the population and the increase in the retirement age;

 

9. whereas Kazakhstan possesses 3% of global oil reserves, placing it among the world’s top 15 countries in terms of oil reserves however, inequality reminds high in Kazakhstan due to State capture, poor redistribution of wealth and resources and poor performance on labour standards; whereas corruption and the pervasive link between business and politics are strong in Kazakhstan;

 

10. whereas 162 people — or 0.001 per cent of the 19m population — own 55 per cent of Kazakhstan’s wealth; whereas significant amount of this captured wealth has been converted into equities and properties in Western Europe with the help of middlemen, lawyers, consultants, and with the cover of respectability provided by lobbyists, and public relations specialists who have profited from Kazakhstan’s elite spending on their services;

 

 

1. Strongly condemns the dramatic and continuously deteriorating situation of human rights in Kazakhstan, including freedom of expression and labour and social right; expresses its solidarity with the people of Kazakhstan who suffered drastic increase in energy prices and who are demanding political, economic and social reforms;
2. Calls on the authorities of Kazakhstan to ensure that all their actions taken in response to the protests strictly comply with their obligations under international human rights law, and in that sense demands to immediately annul any order to security forces to shoot to kill without warning, and calls on the authorities and security forces to halt their unrestrained use of force;
3. Asks to conduct an independent, transparent, prompt and effective investigation into all reported human rights violations, including the unlawful use of force and other ill treatment, ensure that those responsible are held to account and provide compensation and rehabilitation to victims;
4. Respect the right to peaceful assembly, freedom of expression and freedom of association and ensure that any restrictions imposed on these rights meet the requirements of international human rights law, including by distinguishing between peaceful and non-peaceful protest participants; reminds that when policing crowds, force should be used as a last resort, and if force is justified, it must be proportionate to the threat and deployed in a way that minimizes damage, injury, and indiscriminate impact;
5. Reiterates the need to substantially review the new Law on Public Assemblies and to put an end to all forms of persecution against peaceful protesters; condemns the worrying state of media freedom in the country and calls on the authorities to respect the values of media freedom and plurality;
6. Calls on the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those arbitrarily detained merely for exercising their right to peaceful assembly as well as all journalists and activists arbitrarily detained for their coverage of the mass protests across the country;
7. Asks the authorities to refrain from torture and inhumane treatment of detainees, to provide unimpeded access of National Preventive Mechanism and independent lawyers to all detainees, and to ensure that everyone who has been detained in recent days including people accused of committing internationally recognized crimes for violent behaviour, is afforded all due process requirements, including access to a lawyer of their choice, freedom from torture and ill-treatment and fair trials in accordance with international human rights law;
8. Deeply regrets that terrorism and extremism charges continue to be widely misused to restrict the rights to freedom of expression and association; calls on Kazakhstan’s authorities to amend the Penal Code regarding “extremism” and “terrorism”, bringing them it line with international human rights standards, so as to ensure that dissenting voices are not threatened with criminal charges;
9. Strongly condemns the use of internet shutdowns to crush dissent and violate freedom of expression and assembly, contrary to international human rights standards; asks to restore unrestricted access to the Internet, unblock all other forms of communication and stop meting out reprisals against human rights defenders, journalists and those who share news independently;
10. Condemns defamatory rhetoric, blaming mass protests on human rights defenders, and independent media outlet and reiterates “the valuable work of individuals, groups and associations in contributing to the effective elimination of all violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms,” as outlined in the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders which applies to Kazakhstan; requests the authorities to refrain from using the events of early January as an excuse to crack down on civil society actors engaged in legitimate efforts to monitor and document human rights violations an promote democracy and rule of law in the country;
11. Calls on the government of Kazakhstan to remove without further delay all politically motivated obstacles that hinder political parties, organisations, civil society organisations and independent trade unions from registering and demands that they can operate without fear of intimidation and repression;
12. Calls on the authorities of Kazakhstan to stop persecuting union leaders and activists, and to withdraw the lawsuit against the Trade Union of the Fuel and Energy Industry Workers to fully respect the rights of workers to form independent trade unions and to respect and adhere to ILO core conventions, including the ones which defend the right to strike and collective bargaining; expresses concern, that Kazakhstan has not fulfilled the recommendations of the UN and the European Parliament regarding an objective investigation into the shooting of peaceful protesters (oil workers) in Zhanaozen in 2011; emphasises the importance of conducting an objective investigation and bringing to justice those responsible for the offences;
13. Reaffirms that the activities of European companies operating in third countries must fully respect international human rights standards; calls on the Member States to ensure that companies under their national law remain bound to respect human rights and the social, health and environmental standards imposed on them if they establish or operate in a third country;
14. Deplores that high levels of violence against women and girls persist in Kazakhstan; calls on the Kazakhstani authorities to combat violence against women, and to efficiently train judiciary and police officers as well as service providers involved to identify, prevent and respond to it; calls for safe, effective, accessible and confidential channels to report violence against women and sexual harassment; urges Kazakhstan to sign and ratify the Istanbul Convention;
15. Condemns that LGBTI people are subjected to harassment, discrimination and often violence; calls on the authorities to grant same-sex couples the same legal protection as heterosexual couples; calls on the legal and practical protection of LGBTI people from discrimination, harassment and violence;
16. Urges the European Union through the EU Delegation to conduct regular meetings with civil society and raise their concerns with the government of Kazakhstan; urges the mentioned Delegation to monitor and publicly condemn ongoing human rights violations and to take measures to visit places of detention, especially of detained civil activists, journalists and human rights defenders and conduct trial observance;
17. Deplores the increasing tendency of EU development policy to follow geopolitical, security, migratory and private profit interest; recalls to protect the development focus and nature of ODAs including a transparent and accountable reporting system; recalls on ODA’s unique role on achieving effective development results; calls on EU aid to be aligned with internationally agreed development effectiveness principles, be human rights-centred, promote gender equality, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, LGBTI rights and women empowerment and focus on tackling the root problems of inequality and poverty in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals;
18. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the European External Action Service, the EU Special Representative for Human Rights, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the UN Human Rights Council, and the Government and Parliament of Kazakhstan.