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Amnesty International Report 1998 - Kazakstan

(This report covers the period January-December 1997)

There were further allegations of torture and ill-treatment in police custody and in prisons. Prison conditions amounting to ill-treatment continued to be reported. Fifty-six death sentences were passed. Eight death sentences were commuted and at least 35 executions were carried out.

In July President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed into law a new Criminal Code to take effect in 1998. The new Criminal Code reduced the number of crimes which carry the death penalty and decriminalized homosexual acts between consenting adult men.

 

In February Zhurmabek Busurmanov, the First Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Human Rights Commission, accused three non-governmental human rights organizations based in Kazakstan of having links with international organizations whose aim was the “destabilization” of the country. This raised serious doubts about the Commission’s willingness or ability to uphold fundamental human rights. Following international condemnation of his unjustified criticism of the three human rights organizations, Zhurmabek Busurmanov was reported to have been reassigned to other duties.

There were further allegations of torture and ill-treatment during the year. Yevgeny Tarasov, who was arrested in November 1995 in Pavlodar and charged with murder, alleged that while in the custody of the Pavlodar police he was beaten with truncheons, tied to a central heating radiator, and forced to wear a gas mask with the air supply switched off until he lost consciousness, in order to extract a confession. Despite his allegations of torture, the confession was accepted as evidence at his trial. He was convicted and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment. The Supreme Court upheld the sentence in April. No investigation was known to have taken place into his allegations.

Criminal proceedings were reportedly dropped against law enforcement officials accused of beating Valery Zippa so severely during interrogation in 1994 that he required surgery to remove his spleen (see Amnesty International Report 1997). The authorities failed to provide information about the findings of the investigation into the alleged beating.

Poor prison conditions amounting to ill-treatment continued to be reported. There was continued concern over allegations of deliberate ill-treatment and poor conditions in a juvenile penitentiary, la-155/6, in the capital, Almaty (see Amnesty International Report 1997). The government stated that there was no evidence of “cruel treatment, torture [or] ill-treatment” at the penitentiary, and asserted that “within the limits of present lack of material, financial and medical resources the prisoners in the colony la-155/6 are treated in accordance with the labour-reform laws of the republic”. However, it later reported the establishment of a program to provide the necessary technical, medical and social support to penal institutions.

The number of death sentences imposed during the year showed a marked decline over previous years, and in capital cases courts were reported to be more readily exercising the option of imposing a long custodial sentence rather than the death penalty. Fifty-six death sentences were passed and eight appeals for clemency were granted. However, at least 35 people were executed. Oleg Gorozashvili was executed in April, despite appeals for a stay of execution to allow an investigation into allegations that there had been serious investigative and judicial errors in his case, and an undertaking by the authorities that the execution would not take place until the allegations had been thoroughly investigated.

Amnesty International wrote to the President expressing concern at statements by Zhurmabek Busurmanov which criticized human rights organizations, and calling on him to condemn unjustified criticisms of human rights defenders by state officials.

The organization sought information on whether the new Criminal Code would decriminalize homosexuality and stressed that it regarded people imprisoned for homosexual acts between consenting adults in private as prisoners of conscience.

Amnesty International wrote to the authorities raising its concerns about allegations of ill-treatment and poor prison conditions.

The organization continued to call for the commutation of all death sentences and the abolition of the death penalty.