Global Voices » Adil Nurmakov

Kazakhstan: Stability of the nation vital for the whole region

Adil Nurmakov — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:17:23 +0000

Nathan Hamm reviews testimonies at the U.S. Congressional hearing, staged by the US Helsinki Commission about Kazakhstan’s stability, questioning whether or not Kazakhstan is as stable as its government claims.

Kyrgyzstan: Tengrism on Trial

Adil Nurmakov — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:13:56 +0000

Nathan Hamm reports on a bizzare story of prosecution of Mr. Tezekbaev, an advocate of Tengrism (pagan belief of Central Asian nomads), who is on trial for inciting religious and ethnic hatred for obnoxious sayings about mullahs in Kyrgyzstan. Tezekbaev, who could be sentenced to five years in prison if found guilty, says he is being punished for his beliefs.

Uzbekistan: U.S. military support not to include weapons

Adil Nurmakov — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:55:24 +0000

Joshua Foust tells his readers about the details of the “military aid” the U.S. will provide Uzbekistan, which is part of a vital supply line to Afghanistan. The supplies wouldn’t include weapons and ammunition, and would be limited to items meant to bolster the country’s border and transportation security.

Kazakhstan: Astana, urbanist haven of state corporatism

Adil Nurmakov — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:45:03 +0000

Molapse provides his analysis of the Kazakhstan's capital city, a newly built Left Bank of Astana, with a mix of artistic culturology and anthropology.

Turkmenistan: Sham NGOs' role in fake presidential elections

Adil Nurmakov — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:38:32 +0000

Turkmenistan’s upcoming presidential poll is truly a strange creature. neweurasia’s Annasoltan reviews how it has evolved in the last few months, including the role of government-organized NGOs (GONGOs).

Afghanistan: Coverage in US papers falls in 2011

Adil Nurmakov — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:20:34 +0000

Nick Fielding writes that coverage of Afghanistan in American newspapers fell in 2011 compared to the previous year, although overall coverage of international issues jumped by more than a third.

Afghanistan: Sahar Gul’s story as an illustration of women’s rights

Adil Nurmakov — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:30:07 +0000

basir ahang writes about 15 year old girl, who had been forced into marriage and later was imprisoned, tortured and violently beaten by the husband and his family because she refused to work and earn money as a prostitute.

Kazakhstan: Reactions to Strike Crackdown as Police Brutality Video Emerges

Adil Nurmakov — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 10:27:07 +0000

Clashes in the town of Zhanaozen, Kazakhstan, on December 16-17, 2011, when a labour strike suddenly broke out in violence, looting and arson leaving at least 14 dead and hundreds of civilians and policemen injured, have been silenced, the authorities say.

The country leaders have come out with official statements and offers of condolence to the victims' relatives - a step that was tensely expected by the country's bloggers. The government has dispatched 1.2 billion tenge (US $8.5 million) for the reconstruction of the destroyed town, whilst the General Prosecutor's office has announced that preliminary data has already pointed to the organizers and instigators of the disorder.

A special governmental commission was quick to offer jobs in other regions to the striking sacked employees, even proposing to cover their travel and resettlement costs - a step that has proved belated after almost seven months of strike.

Debate online

Since the event the debates in blogs and social networks have become slightly less antagonistic, and the pro-governmental agenda has become much more visible in recent online discussions - especially in comments on news articles and blog posts. Positive reactions and praise of the government's response to the emergency have become so overwhelming, that Shali, a commenter on the country's most popular news site Tengrinews, ironically admits that [ru]:

obviously, moderators of this website, as well as law enforcement bodies, switched to the intensive regime of service

On December 21, however, shocking amateur video footage - taken presumably on December 16 - by some Kazakh women (whose lamentous comments can be heard in the background) appeared on YouTube. It was uploaded by user saule540 and shows a brutal crackdown:

A government spokesman had earlier stressed that weapons had been applied only for self-defense (for example, the deputy chief of Zhanaozen police is still in a coma after an injury received on December 16), or that police were only shooting into the air.

Pete Leonard tweets:

Ok, so the “shooting in the air and in the ground” story from Zhanaozen is already proving to have holes in it

Netizens have been divided again, between those who shared a link to this video with laconic descriptions like “Shoot out” and those who saw it an acceptable practice. Among the latter are Marat Shibutov, who says in comments [ru] to a Facebook post:

They were shooting in legs, so not to kill. That's within the limits of riot suppression.

Sadenka tweets [ru]:

This “how people were shot in Zhanaozen” video is missing parts about “how people were looting and setting town on fire” and about “how people in uniform were defending the town”.

Armanitto points [ru] at the continued information war and doubts that the video was totally amateur:

The video is designed to zombify people for lamentations about the massacre. A template scenario for colored revolutions.

Either way, the video fragment seemingly does not reveal signs of police action in self-defense, or for the protection of civilians or property. Ryzhkina exclaims [ru], asking Kazakh Prime Minister Massimov on Twitter:

@KarimMassimov When will we finally get the answer to the question, how legal it is to shoot at people, and who is going to be responsible for that?

Excessive use of force?

Bloggers called on the government to admit excessive use of force, investigate all deaths and gunshot injuries, and punish those guilty of inadequate use of weapons.

At 8pm on December 21, the Commandant of Zhanaozen made a statement [ru] about the video, saying that the Emergency Prosecutor's Office is holding a special internal investigation into use of lethal weapons by police. He also confirmed that the death toll is 14 and that nobody has tried to distort the actual number of victims. To conclude, the official informed the press of “weaponry, confiscated from the rioters”.

This has been seen by many commenters as a positive and timely step, to make sure that both radicals and enforcement structures are clarifying what is permitted, and what is not.

Sergey Domnin writes [ru] on Facebook:

The court must decide if the use of weapons was justified or not. It seems like it was not - the bullets were not made of rubber […] This deserves a criminal case against the policemen. The fact that they were beating up the injured is a shame.

Pacifist says [ru]:

I watched the video and pondered a lot on it. People are wandering around on the square without clear understanding of what to do. It could have been easy to quiet them down without guns. The police were just seeking even easier ways. Alas.

Meanwhile, Arioh calls [ru] on YouTube viewers to watch the video more carefully:

Who was able to identify real lethal weapons on this “amateur” video? The only gun seen on screen is with a person running in the center. This could actually be a pistol with rubber bullets, which commenters are standing up for. The riot squad officers - as far as I see - have shields in one hand and batons in the other. Could they shoot with the third arm then? The beatings are too much, yes. But, on the other hand, it proves that they hardly were using lethal weapons. Because beating up the dead bodies is too creepy even for the riot squad.

Popular blogger Kreich posts another analysis of the video [ru], suggesting that there were two shooting sides:

Many things were left behind the scenes. […] Most part of the mob and stone-throwers are of no interest to the police; the riot squad's target is a small group to the right - a target at which they conduct an aimed fire […] As for me personally, it is clear that this target was armed (otherwise, why so much attention to it?). What you think - you decide.

[It can be thought] that on this video policemen are shooting at the crowd. No, they don't - the crowd has gone far, and there are no victims there. It can be thought that this is an abuse. No, even on this video you can hear that there was an exchange of fire between two sides.

In comments sniprman posted a photo from a Tengrinews update about confiscated guns and explosives, showing police shields with traces of gunshots.

Armanitto reminds [ru] his readers of provocateurs of the riots and of their masterminds:

Zhanaozen blood is on the hands of those who sent the people against police.

Yuri Dorokhov comments [ru] on how divided the journalistic community and wider public are these days:

Journalists that took a trip to Zhanaozen report on the brutality of the police.
Journalists that attended press briefings report on the brutality of the rioters.
Journalists that did not leave their offices report on the brutality of the masterminders from abroad.
Readers do not believe anyone and hate everybody.

Radik-Temirgaliev draws [ru] a bottom line:

The cracks in our society are turning into gaps. People, who yesterday were chatting as friends in social networks, today are battling in fierce disputes […] Seemingly, both sides are telling the truth. The regime supporters are right that Zhanaozen events were completely illegal, and they were to be suppressed in the most resolute manner. Strikers have stained themselves with pure crime, and organizers must be punished.

But those who speak about the government's fault are right, too. In a country with no free and fair elections or responsible state bodies, people really don't have any other chance to get their dissatisfaction to the authorities, but to stage protests. And here it goes - the mob's rebellion is ruthless.

Kazakhstan: Longtime Strike Bursts into Violence; State of Emergency Declared

Adil Nurmakov — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 12:11:48 +0000

As Kazakhstan was preparing for the pompous celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the country's independence, the seven month-long strike of employees sacked from the national oil company's subsidiary in West Kazakhstan was evolving into brutal clashes with police forces, apparently, with the help of unidentified provocateurs.

The strike began in spring 2011, following demands for higher salaries and better working conditions in several oilfields in the Mangistau province. The government chose to stay away from the labor conflict, regarding it as an argument between the company and its employees. Eventually some of the demands were met and most workers returned to work. Ozenmunaigaz (OMG), located in Zhana Ozen, a town of nearly 100,000 inhabitants, remained the only restless company: its non-oil workers were not satisfied with сoncessions and demanded a pay raise.

The local court ruling arrived, declaring the demands baseless and the strike illegal. Observers commented that the strike leaders were misled by the ambiguous instructions for the salary incease and demanded more than was meant by the legislation. Workers from the town, where OMG is almost the only employer of substance, were fired and the leader of the unregistered labor union jailed. A strike of workers in a tent camp in the township's main square began.

The strike of nearly a thousand fired workers has been gradually aggravating the crime situation in the town, making its implications hardly trackable. On December 14, two days before Independence observances, the “Respublika” newspaper published a call for a rally in Zhanaozen, signed by an anonymous “group of Mangistau province residents”. The letter from the Zhanaozen residents was unprecedented, in that it madepolitical demands; the article was titled “Down with Nazarbayev” [president of Kazakhstan]. Leaflets disseminated around town summoned strikers to a rally on the main square on December 16, Independence Day.

On the eve of the date, according to the strike's official Twiter account, @zhanaozen [ru] the authorities were urging the strikers to clear the square for celebrations. The strikers refused to remove tents and, fearing a forced clean-up under the cover of night, mobilized their comrades. The morning of December 16 nothing happened - the tent camp of strikers was untouched, and the celebrations - a parade and a concert - began.

It is still unclear what happened next, but many eyewitnesses and journalists of “Respublika” newspaper and “K+” satellite TV channel, which became virtually the only news sources from Zhanaozen for the next two days, claimed that further disorder was incited by a group of provocateurs. Both media outlets are funded by M. Ablyazov, a former banker with a vast network of business and political interests in Kazkahstan. In any case, the peaceful rally and festivities ended with violent clashes (video). Men with sticks and “Molotov cocktails” attacked the civilians, and induced strikers to destroy the concert stage, burn the cars and storm the administrative buildings.

In the absence of updates from state-owned news sources, which were overwhelmed by the state anniversary, social media, especially Twitter, Facebook and Youtube with videos from “K+”, quickly emerged as the main tool to deliver information, as well as deliberate misinformation, about the clashes. The #zhanaozen hashtag on Twitter on December 16-17 was filled with sensational, and frequently anonymous, tweets about “civil war in Zhanaozen”, “mass killings” and galloping numbers of alleged victims. Uncertainty only increased with the blocking of Twitter and a number of Russian and Kyrgyz news sites the evening of December 16. The national telecom operator denied the fact filtering. The websites are still accessible with circumvention tools.

Many bloggers suspiciously pointed to [ru] a well-used anti-government information campaign on the Internet, aimed at manipulation of public opinion, especially on Independence Day, as well as the state media focus on this four-day weekend of glorifying the president, who retains power since the country became independent in 1991. The rhetoric of campaign, they thought [ru], probably was meant to draw parallels with the 2005 Andijan massacre in Uzbekistan. The campaign engaged several little-known NGOs and bloggers in Russia, Ukraine and Europe, as well as Irish Socialist MEP Paul Murphy, who was quick to describe the event in the Eur0pean Parliament as a “massacre”. Murphy visited Zhanaozen once earlier this year; the visit was extensively covered by “K+” and “Respublika”.

Official reaction came the evening of December 16 with a press briefing from General Prosecutor Askhat Daulbayev, who admitted the death of 10, and more wounded in clashes with police, who used weapons against the “hooligans” who burnt police cars, several buildings of the local government administration, a private hotel and the Ozenmunaygaz office, and looted shops and ATM machines. The lack of information provoked unease in the neighboring town of Shetpe and Aktau, the provincial capital. Pete Leonard, an Associated Press reporter in Kazkahstan, tweeting from nearby Aktau, the regional capital, quoted Vladimir Kozlov, leader of the unregistered opposition “Alga” party, talking about a “real risk of a provocation” from “drunken young men milling in the crowd holding rocks - not evidently associated with demonstrating oil workers“.

On Sunday December 18, the blockage of Twitter was lifted after president Nazarbayev ordered an investigation into the Zhanaozen violence, and enacted a state of emergency through January 5, or until final settlement of the situation. He expressed condolences to the families of people killed and sought to clearly divide the issue of labor conflict and “bandits, who took advantage of the situation”. Interestingly, the day before that, minister of interior Kalmukhanbet Kassymov named the strikers as organizers of protests when he reported on the stabilization of the situation in Zhanaozen, after detaining 70. The authorities thereby met - albeit somewhat late - some of the public's demands for information, but failed to declare national mourning and to include representatives of civil society in the government's Special Commission for Investigation. The government is inviting journalists and OSCE officers [ru] to visit Zhanaozen in an apparent attempt to show its transparency, but it remains unclear who was actually killed [ru] or the precise circumstances of their death.

The heated propaganda and counter-propaganda debates continue on the Facebook group Zhanaozen [ru], and more updates directly from the site can be found at Twitter hashtag #zhanaozen. Within the debates, observers and commenters are presenting various versions, from a provocation by exiled Kazakh oligarchs to a conspiracy [ru] of foreign states, or both [ru]. Global Voices will keep an eye on the developments.

Uzbekistan: President decides to cut his term

Adil Nurmakov — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:50:02 +0000

Mansurhon says that the Uzbek Parliament’s decision to pass a constitutional amendment reducing the length of presidential term from current seven to five years, sparked a lot of controversy in the country.

Uzbekistan: Prime-minister's page on Facebook is also fake

Adil Nurmakov — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:46:03 +0000

Tomyris writes about a fuss around Facebook account of the Prime Minister of Uzbekistan that gave rise to political speculations among the observers. The page has proved to be not authentic though.

Uzbekistan: Forged Facebook story about post-interrogation suicide

Adil Nurmakov — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:28:58 +0000

Sarah Kendzior reports about the story of Gulsumoy Abdujalilova, an invented person with fake Facebook profile, who allegedly committed suicide after being interrogated by the Uzbek police.

Afghanistan: Being Disable Is Not An Unability

Adil Nurmakov — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:16:54 +0000

yahweh writes how situation with the rights of women and disabled persons has developed in Afghanistan since 2001, when the Afghan government and its international allies pledged to advance gender issues following the military intervention to oust the Taliban.

Tajikistan: Bloggers compare the two U.S. State Secretaries' visits

Adil Nurmakov — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:15:43 +0000

Tajik civil society and journalists debate the two Secretaries of State’s visits to Tajikistan in 2005 and 2011, neweurasia’s Alpharabius reports.

Uzbekistan: Independent newspaper is shutting down

Adil Nurmakov — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:13:36 +0000

Tomyris reports that the decade-plus-old independent newspaper “Zerkalo XXI” has been barred from publication in Uzbekistan.