During the Spring session of the PACE, 22 members signed a written declaration under the title “Magnitsky laws sanctions must be imposed in response to political prosecution in Kazakhstan” tabled by André Gattolin, the French senator and member of the French delegation to the Council of Europe
16 December is Kazakhstan’s Independence Day. However, this date is also known as the anniversary of the Zhanaozen shooting: six years ago, at least 17 striking oilmen died from police bullets. Since then, this day has been associated with the oppression of the civil society in Kazakhstan.
Representatives of the Foundation follow and attend the most important sessions and meetings of the international organizations and institutions in Brussels, Strasbourg, Vienna and Geneva.
On 4 August, 2016, the Kapshagai City Court of Almaty Province ordered the conditional release of opposition politician Vladimir Kozlov. The court decision will come into force in 15 days.
Geneva 23 June 2016 – On 22 and 23 June 2016 the UNHRC – the body that monitors the implementation of the rights enshrined in the ICCPR – reviewed for the second time since Kazakhstan is a party to the ICCPR the status of civil and political rights in the country.
Open Dialog Foundation calls on to urgently react to the wave of arrests of Kazakhstan activists, and make every effort to prevent violence against citizens during peaceful rally planned for the 21 May, 2016 in several Kazakhstan cities.
Four years ago, on 16 December, 2011, in the Kazakh city of Zhanaozen, riot police opened fire with live ammunition on the backs of unarmed oil workers, who had been protesting for higher wages and better working conditions for seven months.
PEN International and the Open Dialog Foundation deplore the current situation of Vladimir Kozlov, a Kazakh journalist, human rights defender and a leader of Alga!, a political opposition party, who is currently serving a seven-and-half-year prison sentence for ‘inciting social discord’.
In the end of June 2015, the Open Dialog Foundation published a report ’Harassment of civil society in Kazakhstan’. The Foundation’s analyst, Katerina Savchenko, provided answers to some clarifying questions in an interview with a journalist of the Radio Azattyq, Kazis Toguzbayev.
Owing to his serious health condition, a man convicted in the Zhanaozen case, Maksat Dosmagambetov, has been transferred from prison to house arrest. He stated that he wasn’taware of his exact diagnosis, as his medical records are stored in the police department.
