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TITLE:  KAZAKHSTAN HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE:  FEBRUARY 1995

                           KAZAKHSTAN


In its third year of independence, Kazakhstan continued to
grapple uncertainly with the task of shedding Soviet-era
authoritarian political institutions and a centralized command
economy.  President Nursultan Nazarbayev, in his third year of
a 5-year term in office, remained the leading political figure
in the country and sought to bolster his position in multiparty
elections in March for the Supreme Soviet (legislature) and
local councils.  The elections were seriously compromised by
fraud and judged by international observers as not free and
fair.  Nevertheless, the Supreme Soviet's independence as a
separate branch of government was strengthened by some
reformist deputies and by conservatives who showed loyalty to
regional interests.  It rejected certain economic and social
policies as well as some appointees put forward by the
President.  In October, blaming top ministers for poor progress
on economic reform, Nazarbayev replaced Cabinet members with a
largely younger and more reformist group.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs supervises the criminal
police, who are poorly paid and corruptible.  The Committee for
National Security (KNB) sought to legitimize its role by
focusing on efforts to counter terrorism, organized crime, and
official corruption.  Efforts to build a small, modern army
were impeded by the shortage of funds, the flight of ethnic
Russian officers to Russia, and continued brutal hazing of
conscripts.

Kazakhstan is rich in natural resources, such as oil and
minerals, but its state-dominated economy continued to decline
sharply in 1994, with high inflation, falling production, and a
budget deficit of one-tenth of the gross domestic product.
Agricultural production remained largely collectivized.
Bureaucratic restraints, high taxes, and rampant government
corruption hampered the small but dynamic private sector.
Privatization, a vital necessity for economic recovery and
growth, gained momentum, but abuses and lack of openness led to
strong public concerns.  While general macroeconomic
stabilization came in 1994, faster microeconomic, or
structural, reforms are needed.

Massive fraud in the March elections effectively deprived
citizens of the right to change their government (see Section
3).  The Government turned over Uzbek dissidents to security
forces of the Government of Uzbekistan (see Section 1.d.).
Criminal police continued to beat some detainees and search
homes without warrants, and prison conditions deteriorated
further due to budget restrictions.  Freedom of the media is
extensive, and the press frequently criticized the Government
despite government control of printing facilities and
supplies.  Freedoms of assembly and religion were generally
respected, but the Government refused to register associations
and political parties based on ethnic and religious criteria.
The "propiska" system of permits for residence in the capital
is still used to restrict internal freedom of movement.
Although Kazakh discrimination against non-Kazakhs continued,
such practices decreased as ethnic Slavs became more vocal.
Domestic violence against women continued.  While seeking to
become somewhat more independent and critical of the
Government, state-sponsored unions continued to subject
independent trade unions and their members to harassment and
pressure.

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1  Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
           Freedom from:

     a.  Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing

There were no reports of political or other extrajudicial
killings.

     b.  Disappearance

There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances.

     c.  Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
         Treatment or Punishment

Although the law prohibits these practices, there were credible
reports that police beat and otherwise treated detainees
abusively to obtain confessions.

Prison conditions deteriorated further in 1994 due to
diminishing budget resources and an increase in the number of
persons incarcerated.  According to human rights groups, in one
Almaty prison, for example, 3,900 prisoners occupied a facility
designed for 1,800.  The prison diet is inadequate.  Prisoners
are allowed to receive only one visit every 6 months, but
additional visits may be granted in emergency situations.
Juveniles are kept in separate facilities.

According to press reports and human rights observers,
inadequate diet and medical supplies have led to outbreaks of
tuberculosis and dystrophy in many of Kazakhstan's prisons.
Lice and scabies are common.  Some 40 prisoners in Karaganda
and 35 in Atyrau reportedly died from conditions aggravated by
malnourishment and lack of basic medical treatment.  Prison
guards, who are poorly paid, steal food and medicines from the
prisons, leaving little for the prisoners.  Violent crime among
prisoners is routine.  There was an unconfirmed report of
cannibalism in a prison in Semipalatinsk in which five
prisoners killed and ate a cell mate.

According to the Kazakhstan-American Human Rights Bureau, there
were 85,000 prisoners in Kazakhstan in 1994, of whom 6,000
suffered major illnesses because of inadequate diet and
sanitation.  About 1,150 prisoners died of those illnesses
during the year.

     d.  Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile

Because of the slow pace of legal reform, Kazakhstan continued
to use the Soviet legal system, with some modifications, in
1994.  The law sanctions pretrial detention.  Prosecutors issue
arrest warrants.  According to the Criminal Procedure Code,
police may hold a detainee for 3 days before bringing charges.
After 3 days, police may continue to hold the detainee with the
approval of a prosecutor, but no longer than 10 days without
bringing charges.  In practice, however, police routinely hold
detainees for more than the legal 10-day limit.

The maximum length of pretrial detention is 1 year.  Pretrial
detainees comprised about 30 percent of the total prison
population in 1994.  Detainees are not held incommunicado.
Defendants in criminal cases have the right to choose an
attorney and to appeal the legality of their arrest to the
prosecutor before trial.  If the defendant cannot afford an
attorney, the State will provide one free of charge.  There is
no provision for bail; defendants remain incarcerated until
trial.  Some lawyers fear reprisals if they represent a client
unpopular with the Government, but there were no reports of
such reprisals in 1994.  Many lawyers, nevertheless, remain
reluctant to defend clients of whom the Government is
suspicious.

There were instances of arrest without the filing of specific
charges. In May the Government arrested 3,000 to 4,000 people
in what it announced was an emergency measure against crime.
Ninety percent were eventually released without being charged.

In 1994 members of Uzbekistan's security services in two
instances attempted to arrest Uzbek dissidents in Kazakhstan.
The first occurred in May during a human rights conference in
Almaty when Uzbek security agents openly sought Uzbek
dissidents at their hotels.  The Government reacted swiftly,
publicly announcing that the Uzbek agents had been located and
that they had departed, and that it would guarantee the safety
of all those attending the conference.

The second incident occurred in June when the Uzbekistan
Government, acting under the Minsk Convention of the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) on cooperation among
the security services of CIS member states, requested the
arrest of two Uzbek dissidents, Murat Dzhurayev and Dzhakhangir
Mametov, on charges of murder.  Kazakhstani authorities
permitted Uzbek agents to arrest Dzhurayev and another Uzbek
dissident, Erkin Ashurov (but not Mametov), and take them to
Uzbekistan.  Once in Uzbekistan, Uzbek authorities dropped the
murder charges and instead charged the two with distributing
illegal literature and conspiring to overthrow the Government
of Uzbekistan.  In August the Uzbekistan National Security
Service asked the Kazakhstani KNB to interrogate four
Kazakhstani citizens whose names were found among belongings of
the arrested dissidents.  The KNB interrogated the four but did
not arrest or otherwise harass them.  Kazakhstani human rights
groups and several Supreme Soviet deputies protested the
interrogations.

     e.  Denial of Fair Public Trial

Government interference and pressure compromise the court
system's independence.  During the campaign for the March
Supreme Soviet elections, local officials in a number of areas
around the country pressured local courts to rule against
opposition candidates who contested the refusal of local
election commissions to register them as candidates.  Several
independent trade unions have claimed that local courts often
rule against them and that they can expect a fairer hearing if
they appeal to a higher court.

There are three levels in the court system:  the local level,
the oblast (province) level, and the Supreme Court.  The
President recommends nominees for the Supreme Court for Supreme
Soviet approval.  Heads of oblasts recommend nominees for
oblast soviet (council) approval.  Regional or city councils
elect, at least nominally, lower level judges.  Judges are
appointed for 10-year terms.  The Constitutional Court,
established in 1992, interprets the Constitution, resolves
legal conflicts between oblasts, and rules on interethnic
problems.  The law provides for due process, including the
right to a public trial, the right to counsel, the right to
call witnesses for the defense, and the right to appeal a
decision to a higher court.

Local courts try less serious crimes, such as petty theft and
vandalism (hooliganism, in the old terminology).  Oblast-level
courts handle more serious crimes, such as murder, grand theft,
and organized criminal activities.  The oblast courts may
handle cases in rural areas where no local courts are
organized.  Judgments of the local courts may be appealed to
the oblast-level courts, while those of the oblast courts may
be appealed to the Supreme Court.  A special arbitration court
handles disputes between state enterprises.

There were no known political prisoners in 1994.

     f.  Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
         Correspondence

The KNB and Ministry of Internal Affairs, with the concurrence
of the Procuracy, may arbitrarily interfere with privacy,
family, home, and correspondence, a legacy of Soviet rule.  The
law requires criminal police, who remain part of the internal
security structure, to obtain a search warrant from a
prosecutor before conducting a search, but they sometimes
search without a warrant.  There were credible reports in 1994
that police occasionally planted evidence.

The KNB has the right to monitor telephone calls and mail, but
under the law it must inform the Procuracy within 3 days of
such activity.

Section 2  Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

     a.  Freedom of Speech and Press

The Constitution and the 1991 press law provide for freedom of
the press.  The Government continued to own and control
printing and distribution facilities and to subsidize
periodicals, including many supposedly "independent" ones.
However, the opposition press, while dependent on government
control of printing supplies, was not subject to intimidation
or harassment.  Although self-censorship continued, some print
media increasingly criticized Supreme Soviet and presidential
decisions, the Government's performance, and official
corruption.  The independent newspaper, Karavan, was
particularly successful in expanding its circulation (to about
300,000) and sharply criticized many government policies and
actions.  Most political opposition groups issue their own
publications.

There are many radio and television companies, both
governmental and private, but the Government controls
broadcasting facilities.  In April President Nazarbayev
restructured state television and radio into a corporation,
which encouraged independent stations to join it in exchange
for national broadcast time.  Fearing government control,
leaders of independent television and radio immediately
objected to joining the corporation.  Their opposition, in
which some members of Parliament and even the Ministry of Press
and Mass Media joined, was strong enough to prevent the
corporation from gaining control over the independents.

During the parliamentary election campaign in the winter and
early spring of 1994, the television station Telemax went off
the air for several days when local authorities, upset by
broadcasts critical of Almaty's mayor and other city officials,
shut off electricity to the station.  The station owners moved
to an undisclosed location and continued to broadcast criticism
of the local authorities.  Later in the spring, when the
independent television station from which Telemax had purchased
broadcast time expanded its programming and took back the
broadcast time, Telemax went off the air, but its affiliate
radio stations continue to broadcast news critical of local and
national government.

Laws insulting the President and Supreme Soviet deputies remain
on the books, but according to government officials the
provisions for punishment for "insulting" have been dropped.
No one was prosecuted for "insulting" in 1994.

     b.  Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

The Constitution provides for freedom of assembly and
association, but there are some significant restrictions.
Local authorities must approve a demonstration 10 days in
advance, or else they consider it illegal.  The court sentenced
five organizers of a demonstration outside the Supreme Soviet
in May to 3- to 15-day jail terms for organizing an illegal
demonstration.

To participate in elections, a political party must register
with the Government.  To register, a party must submit a list
of at least 3,000 members from a minimum of 11 (out of 19)
different oblasts.  The list must provide personal information
about the members, including date and place of birth, address,
and place of employment.  Submitting such personal data to the
Government recalls for many Kazakhstanis old-style KGB tactics
and inhibits them from joining parties.  The nationalist and
pan-Turkic Alash Party and the Social Democratic Party have
refused to register on the principle that they should not have
to submit personal information about their members to the
Government.  Members of unregistered parties may run for
elected office as individuals but not as party members.

Organizations or movements that conduct public activity, hold
public meetings, participate in conferences, or have bank
accounts must also register with the Government.  Registration
on the local level requires a minimum of 10 members and on the
national level a minimum of 10 members in at least 11 oblasts.
The Government's refusal to register religious and ethnic-based
parties and movements is not a stated policy, although some
officials refer to Article 55 of the Constitution, which
prohibits public associations proclaiming or demonstrating in
practice racist, nationalist, social, or religious intolerance
or elitist exclusivity.  In November the Ministry of Justice
suspended the activities of the Semirechye Cossack Society for
paramilitary activities and promotion of ethnic intolerance.
The Society organized a peaceful but unauthorized demonstration
in Almaty on November 19.  Two organizers were arrested.

According to the new Civil Code adopted in December, political
parties, trade unions, and social organizations "engaged in
political activity" are prohibited from receiving financial
assistance from foreign sources.

Government officials have justified decisions not to register
ethnic-based parties and movements on the grounds that their
activities could spark ethnic violence.  Unregistered parties
and movements are, nonetheless, able to hold meetings and
publish newspapers, although these groups frequently appear to
have more difficulty obtaining printing supplies than other
publishers.

     c.  Freedom of Religion

The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the
various denominations  worship without government
interference.  However, a new Civil Code passed by the Supreme
Soviet in December requires state authorities to approve the
appointment of the Kazakhstan director of any religious
organization operating in Kazakhstan.

The Islamic Mufti and the Russian Orthodox Archbishop have
appeared together publicly to promote religious and ethnic
harmony.  Foreign missionaries, unwelcome to some Orthodox and
Muslim Kazakhstanis, have complained of occasional harassment
by some low-level government bureaucrats.

     d.  Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
         Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation

The Constitution provides for the right to emigrate, which is
respected in practice.

The propiska system of residence permits, a holdover from the
Soviet era, remained in effect in 1994.  Since 1992, citing
ecological and health reasons, the Almaty city administration
has limited the transfer of residences in Almaty to people
already living there.  According to human rights activists, the
rising demand to live in Almaty (because of its greater
relative affluence) has resulted in a bribery market for
propiskas ranging from $1,000 to $3,000.  Obtaining a propiska
for other parts of the country was generally routine.  There is
considerable favoritism toward ethnic Kazakhs in the
allocational transfer of residences.  For example, the Almaty
city administration is more likely to give permission to sell
or trade a residence if a Kazakh is to receive the property.

An exit visa is required for travel abroad, although refusals
are exceptional.  There have been reports of some officials
demanding bribes for exit visas.

The Government accords special treatment to Kazakhs and their
families who fled Kazakhstan during Stalin's time and wish to
return.  Kazakhs in this category are encouraged to return to
Kazakhstan, are entitled to Kazakhstani citizenship, and may
retain any other citizenship they may already have.  Anyone
else, including ethnic Kazakhs who are not considered refugees
from the Stalin era, such as the descendants of Kazakhs who
moved to Mongolia during the previous century, must apply for
permission to return and must renounce any other citizenship.
Ethnic Kazakh citizens already living in Kazakhstan, as well as
nonethnic Kazakh citizens, are not permitted to obtain another
citizenship without losing their Kazakhstani citizenship.

Section 3  Respect for Political Rights:  The Right of Citizens
           to Change Their Government

While the Constitution provides for this right, the Government
infringed it in fraudulent March 7 elections for the Supreme
Soviet and local councils (maslikhats).  In December 1993, the
Supreme Soviet voted to advance the date of parliamentary and
local elections (scheduled to be held at 5-year intervals) from
autumn 1994 to March 7.  This left little time for the
Government to prepare a new election law and for parties and
candidates to prepare election campaigns.

The Government invited the Conference on Security and
Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) and other international observers
to monitor the elections.  The CSCE observers concluded that
the elections did not meet international standards for free and
fair elections for the following reasons:

     (1) the requirement that voters choose about 20 percent of
the deputies from a list of names chosen by the President (the
"state list");

     (2) manipulation of errors and ambiguities in the hastily
written election law in favor of progovernment candidates;

     (3) the stuffing of ballot boxes in many locations;

     (4) denial of the right to register many opposition
candidates;

     (5) court support for the refusal of election commissions
to register opposition candidates; appeals to the
Constitutional and Supreme Courts were ineffective;

     (6) the abetting of election rigging by the Central
Electoral Commission, thus compromising its integrity;

     (7) a number of polling places were "closed" to observers;

     (8) and harassment and intimidation by the authorities of
independent media which were critical of the activities of
local election commissions, particularly in Almaty and
Karaganda.

There is some irony in the fact that this fraud, presumably
intended to ensure a more progovernment and compliant
Parliament, was somewhat counterproductive because so many of
those elected showed more loyalty on some issues to their
regions (which were suffering from the economic crisis) than to
the central Government.  For example, in June Parliament
registered a vote of no confidence in the Cabinet's economic
and social policies.

In October Parliament rejected President Nazarbayev's proposed
candidate for deputy prime minister for political and social
affairs on the grounds that he was corrupt, and then voted down
a second candidate because he was perceived to be too young to
occupy such a senior position.  Late in 1994, parliamentary
opposition forced President Nazarbayev to abandon his bid to
create a bicameral legislature, with a more malleable upper
house.  Parliamentary opposition to the Government's policies
comes from both genuine democratic reformers and from
conservatives who are protecting parochial or local interests.
On some issues they join forces.  The combined effect of this
opposition has been to make the Parliament more independent.

The next presidential elections (also held every 5 years) are
scheduled for 1996.  All men and women above the age of 18 have
the right to vote.  President Nazarbayev was elected by 98
percent of the vote in an uncontested election in 1991.

The number of seats in the Supreme Soviet is 177:  135 elected
directly, and 42 (2 from each oblast or special administrative
area) elected from the "state list" of candidates chosen by the
President.

There are four legally registered political parties:  the
Socialist Party; the People's Congress Party (formed by poet
and environmentalist Olzhas Suleymenov); the National
Democratic Party (the political arm of the Kazakh nationalist
movement Azat); and the Communist Party, reregistered in July
1994.  The Union of People's Unity (SNEK), a registered social
movement created by President Nazarbayev to support his
presidency, has the largest number of deputies of any group in
Parliament.  Only about 80 members of the Supreme Soviet are
affiliated with a political party, movement, or social
organization.  President Nazarbayev, although officially not a
member of any party, has accepted the formal endorsement of the
SNEK.

Unregistered opposition parties and movements include the
Social Democrats, the Alash Party, and the conservative Kazakh
nationalist Republican Party.  The Government has refused to
register any party or movement whose platforms it claims will
foment ethnic tensions.

There are no legal restrictions on women participating in
politics and government.  Owing to prejudice and traditional
attitudes, however, few women are professionally active in
these fields.  Of 177 Supreme Soviet deputies, 22 are women.
The Constitution guarantees equal political rights for all
citizens regardless of ethnicity or sex.

Section 4  Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
           Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
           of Human Rights

The most active of several local human rights organizations are
the Helsinki Watch Group and the Kazakhstan-American Human
Rights Association, which operated without government
interference.  The Helsinki Watch Group has limited
organizational and financial means to observe, contest, and
report human rights violations.  The Kazakhstan-American Human
Rights Association receives assistance from the Union of
Councils of Soviet Jews.  The two groups cooperate closely on
human rights issues, such as the arrest of Uzbek dissidents
(see Section l.d.).  The Kazakhstan-American Human Rights
Association sponsored human rights conferences in Almaty in May
and in November in which government officials and
parliamentarians participated.

The Government permitted representatives of foreign
nongovernmental organizations (NGO's) dealing with human rights
and the environment to visit and meet with opposition and
environmentalist groups as well as some government officials.
However, Kazakhstan law currently has no provision for
registering foreign NGO's.  In November the Government signed
an agreement formalizing registration of U.S. NGO's.  For
periods of time in 1994, the Government interfered with
telephone and facsimile (fax) communications of the
International Republican Institute, the National Democratic
Institute, and Isar, an environmental NGO.  The new Civil Code
prohibits organizations, including political parties and trade
unions, from receiving financial assistance from foreign
sources.  Some government officials assert that the work of
foreign NGO's with Kazakhstani political and labor groups
promotes instability.  Some human rights observers complained
that the Government monitored their movements and telephone
calls.