Kazakh Spring

First President’s Day, which marks the anniversary of Nazarbayev’s first election in 1991, was a carefully choreographed pageant by some 30,000 performers in an arena in the capital Astana, including mass singing and banner-waving.

Across the country, schoolchildren and state employees held demonstrations of affection, concerts, and sports events in his honor. To what extent the participation was voluntary was unclear.

Nazarbayev has become subject of films, plays and even children’s fairytales. A university, a network of elite schools, and a city park adorned with his statue have been named after him. An imprint of his hand is incorporated into the design of the nation’s banknotes.

http://news.yahoo.com/hero-worship-kazakhstan-leaders-hits-height-131015740.html

High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/df926620-402a-11e1-82f6-00144feab49a.html#ixzz1jk4KtlBm

Kazakhstan’s tightly controlled parliamentary election fell short of its democratic promise by limiting the number of genuine opposition parties and restricting citizens’ rights, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s observation mission said on Monday.

The OSCE observers said several parties had been blocked from Sunday’s election and public debate was limited in the run-up to the vote.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/df926620-402a-11e1-82f6-00144feab49a.html#axzz1jk4GnWPY

 More than two dozen people arrested during the December Rising are being detained in Zhanaozen and Aktau.

Detainee Bakhytzhan Munalbayev was found to have a broken hand. He said the injury was caused on December 16, the date of the Zhanaozen riots. He said he received medical treatment, including bandages and was given pain killer injections.

The Kazakhstan government is claiming that none of the detainee’s are being tortured or abused.

Nazarbayev extended the state of emergency in Zhanaozen, past the twenty days he originally stated, until the end of this month.  Further eroding the capacity of Kazakh people to speak for themselves and ask for democracy and economic justice.

http://en.ria.ru/world/20120104/170616195.html

We ask for an official day of morning for the Western Kazakhstan protesters, who died while struggling for their economic rights.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/27/world/asia/kazakhstan-unrest/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

A decent article from CNN showing how Kazakhstan President Nazarbayev tries to use the threat of internal instability as a reason for his tyranny.

A man detained in connection with the December 16, 2011 violence in western Kazakhstan died on December 21 apparently from injuries sustained in police custody, Human Rights Watch said today. The death of Nazarbai Kenzhebaev, 50, occurred amid reports of other police beatings in police custody and a lockdown of the city of Zhanaozen.

Kenzhebaev was in Zhanaozen on December 16 to be with his younger daughter, who had just given birth. Police arrested him while going the short distance between his daughter’s house and the maternity hospital and brought him to the Zhanaozen Main Police Department. Elena Kostyuchenko of the Russian weekly Novaya Gazeta spoke with Kenzhebaev on December 19, and described to Human Rights Watch his multiple beatings in custody.

more at: http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/12/22/kazakhstan-detainee-dies-after-police-beating

Despite the bitter cold, protesters in Aktau, capital of the oil-producing Mangistau region, taunted riot police again on Tuesday with signs reading, “Don’t Shoot People” and “Blood is Cheaper than Oil.”