Kazakhstan: lessons learnt from the January 2022 events

Written declaration No. 741 | Doc. 15487 | 25 March 2022

Signatories:

Mr Aleksander POCIEJ, Poland, EPP/CD ; Mr Marek BOROWSKI, Poland, EPP/CD ; Mr Telmo CORREIA, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Ms Eva DECROIX, Czech Republic, EC/DA ; Mr Bernard FOURNIER, France, EPP/CD ; Ms Kamila GASIUK-PIHOWICZ, Poland, EPP/CD ; Mr Carlos Alberto GONÇALVES, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Ms Els van HOOF, Belgium, EPP/CD ; Mr John HOWELL, United Kingdom, EC/DA ; Ms Olena KHOMENKO, Ukraine, EC/DA ; Mr Eerik-Niiles KROSS, Estonia, ALDE ; Mr Jérôme LAMBERT, France, SOC ; Mr Luís LEITE RAMOS, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Mr Ian LIDDELL-GRAINGER, United Kingdom, EC/DA ; Mr Reinhold LOPATKA, Austria, EPP/CD ; Ms Isabel MEIRELLES, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Ms Dumitrina MITREA, Romania, EC/DA ; Ms Octavie MODERT, Luxembourg, EPP/CD ; Mr Arkadiusz MULARCZYK, Poland, EC/DA ; Mr Sorin-Titus MUNCACIU, Romania, EC/DA ; Ms Miroslava NĚMCOVÁ, Czech Republic, EC/DA ; Mr Joseph O'REILLY, Ireland, EPP/CD ; Mr Bob van PAREREN, Netherlands, EC/DA ; Mr Thomas PRINGLE, Ireland, UEL ; Mr Francesco SCOMA, Italy, EPP/CD ; Ms Jane STEVENSON, United Kingdom, EC/DA

This written declaration does not reflect the position of the Assembly; only of those members that have signed it. It will not be considered further by the Assembly.

We, the undersigned, declare the following:

The peaceful protests which began on 2 January 2022 in Kazakhstan were hijacked by armed criminal groups who tried to destabilise the situation in the country. There are indications that it was an attempt of a coup d’état.

We welcome the decision by the Kazakh authorities to investigate the violence and unrest that led to the deaths of at least 238 people and thousands of arrests, and reports of torture and mistreatment.

The Coalition of NGOs of Kazakhstan Against Torture confirms that people have been tortured by the police. More than 3 600 criminal cases are under investigation.

We welcome the statement of President Tokayev that “all the information will be made available; we will not conceal anything” and that the results of the preliminary investigation into the January events will be disclosed.

The Kazakh Government has an opportunity to endorse the creation of such a hybrid investigation, for instance by seeking support from the Council Europe.

The government should take the present opportunity to keep in line with the values and principles of the Parliamentary Assembly.

We therefore call to continue Kazakhstan’s political reform program, which will be presented in the middle of March.