Atyrau Kazakhstan

In September, police seized copies of Ekonomika, Finansy i Rynki from a private printing house in Almaty, although they had no authority to do so. Some journalists alleged that the KNB or tax police threaten publishing houses if they print opposition media; concern over criminal or civil proceedings influenced publishing houses. In February and March 2002, Respublika newspaper could not find printing presses in Almaty and Astana to publish it, after it had given extensive coverage to a convention of an opposition political movement (DVK). The Al Zhayik printing house in Atyrau that printed the newspaper of the same name, as well as other newspapers in the oblast, was firebombed in May 2002. Police arrested a suspect, who confessed that he accidentally firebombed the newspaper while intoxicated. In late March, the Atyrau City Court convicted him and sentenced him to 2 years in prison and ordered him to receive treatment for alcoholism. ... [Read More]

Kazakhstan

On April 30, Atyrau prosecutors filed a criminal case against Zhumbai Dospanov, editor of Vecherniy Atyrau newspaper and RNPK party oblast chief for Atyrau, for failure to pay a $13,300 (2 million tenge) fine levied against him in 2001. In September the criminal charge was dropped. The fine stemmed from a civil conviction for publishing derogatory information about the oblast akim.  Dospanov appealed the civil verdict to the Supreme Court, which had not informed Dospanov by the end of the year whether his case was accepted for appeal. ... [Read More]

2004 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Kazakhstan

In an October 6 report, the national Jehovah's Witnesses Religious Center stated that its members were generally able to freely practice their religion without interference; however, the Center reported isolated problems. Although local Jehovah's Witnesses groups are formally registered at the national level and in 12 oblasts, the Center has attempted unsuccessfully to register in a northern Kazakhstan Oblast since 1997 and in Atyrau Oblast since 2001. In 2003, the MOJ ordered its Northern Kazakhstan Oblast branch to register the group; however, it had not done so by year's end. ... [Read More]

Kazakhstan

The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the various religious communities worship largely without government interference. Although local officials attempt on occasion to limit the practice of religion by some nontraditional groups, such attempts are usually corrected upon the intervention of higher-level officials or courts. The overall status of religious freedom improved during the period covered by this report. President Nursultan Nazarbayev continued an initiative to promote dialogue among religions; a second international conference drawing regional dignitaries and religious figures was held in September 2003. However, the President and other senior officials also spoke out on the need to contain religious extremism, and officials at all levels continued to regard religious extremism with concern. Instances of harassment of religious organizations by local officialsdecrease ... [Read More]

Kazakhstan

In June three local officials and a close relative of a local official sued the editor of Vecherniy Atyrau newspaper and RNPK party oblast chief for Atyrau, Zhumbai Dospanov, based on four different articles published in his newspaper.  In August the City Court of Atyrau found Dospanov guilty of publishing derogatory information against the akim (local governor).  Dospanov was ordered to pay $13,300 (2 million tenge) in compensation.  He appealed his case to the Supreme Court; however, at year's end, the Supreme Court had not reached a verdict. ... [Read More]

Kazakhstan

The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the various religious communities worship largely without government interference; however, local officials attempt on occasion to limit the practice of religion by some nontraditional groups. Such attempts are often corrected upon the intervention of higher-level officials or courts.The overall status of religious freedom improved during the period covered by this report. President Nursultan Nazarbayev began an initiative to promote dialog among religions; an international conference drawing regional dignitaries and religious figures was held in February. However, the President and other senior officials also spoke out on the need to contain religious extremism, and officials at all levels continued to regard religious extremism with concern. Followi ... [Read More]

Kazakhstan

A flawed provision in the electoral law was used to disqualify from the 1999 parliamentary election another RNPK candidate, deputy party chairman Gaziz Aldamzharov, after he apparently received a majority of votes in an election in Atyrau. The CEC annulled the second round of the Atyrau election, as well as two other second-round elections, but gave no specific reason in its official decree. The electoral law precludes all candidates who participated in an invalidated election from running in a make- up election, regardless of who was responsible for the violations that led to invalidating the election. The CEC interpreted this provision to exclude from the 3 rerun elections all of the approximately 500 candidates who ran unsuccessfully for any Majilis seat in 1999. Although the CEC did not formally specify the reason for invalidating the Atyrau election, the CEC chairperson said in a television interview that district and precinct electoral officials in Atyrau refused to certify proto ... [Read More]