Tag Archives: rights and freedoms

Kazakh MPs call for anti-gay law

OCT. 9 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Where Russia goes, Kazakhstan often follows. This mantra is certainly true of economic and international affairs and now it appears to extend to social law-making.

Kazakh parliamentarians have been making speeches and canvassing support to bring in a law similar to the one passed by Russia earlier this year that banned so-called homosexual propaganda from being taught at schools.

The Russian law triggered an international outcry and calls to boycott Russia’s Winter Olympics in Sochi next year.

But a group of reactionary parliamentarians in Kazakhstan have seized on the Russian experience as their chance to push through a similar law.

Bakhytbek Smagul, a member of the lower house of the Kazakh parliament for President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s ruling Nur Otan party, has been leading the drive to ban so-called homosexual propaganda in Kazakhstan.

And he has built support, despite homosexuality being legalised in Kazakhstan since 1998.

ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 155, published on Oct. 9 2013)

Kazakhstan reviews “gay propaganda” bill

SEPT. 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s parliament will debate a proposal to ban homosexual nightclubs and gay rights marches, local media quoted MPs as saying. The proposal follows a law brought in by Russia earlier this year that bans homosexual “propaganda”. Russia’s ban triggered an international outcry and accusations of homophobia.

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(News report from Issue No. 152, published on Sept. 18 2013)

Problems arise for ArcelorMittal in Kazakhstan

SEPT. 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — A steel plant owned by ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steelmaker, in Kazakhstan has introduced a shorter working week because of a drop in demand for its products, local media quoted Reuters as reporting. ArcelorMittal’s plant at Temirtau, near Karaganda, has seen demand drop because of Western sanctions against Iran, a major client.

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(News report from Issue No. 152, published on Sept. 18 2013)

Oil workers go on strike in western Kazakhstan

JULY 8 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — More than 200 workers at a subcontractor for oil fields service company Cape International Plc and Manpower Ltd in Atyrau, west Kazakhstan, went on strike for two days over job losses, media quoted the local prosecutor-general’s office as saying. The workers are employed on the Kashagan oil project in the Caspian Sea.

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(News report from Issue No. 143, published on July 15 2013)

Priests arrested for homophobic violence in Georgia

MAY 23 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgian police arrested and charged two Orthodox priests with leading attacks on a gay rights parade on May 17, media reported. The attacks brought condemnation from Georgia’s Western allies and tarnished the country’s reputation for liberal thinking.

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(News report from Issue No. 136, published on May 27 2013)

Gay march attacked in Georgia

MAY 17 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Orthodox demonstrators attacked a small gay rights march in Tbilisi, injuring several activists. The attack showed Georgian society’s conservative leanings which can collide with the country’s drive towards the more liberal West. Human rights groups accused police of failing to protect gay rights activists.

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(News report from Issue No. 135, published on May 20 2013)

Christian activists attack gay parade in Georgia

MAY 17 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – A group of around 20 people attempted a rare gay pride march through the centre of Tbilisi until Christian activists and priests blocked their path and smashed their placards, media reported. The incident highlights Georgia’s deeply conservative society. Homosexuality is still a taboo subject.

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(News report from Issue No. 089, published on May 25 2012)

Riots spark in western Kazakhstan

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DEC. 18 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Riots that have killed at least 16 people in western Kazakhstan are a major challenge to the Kazakh elite.

It was, to put it simply, the biggest display of public discontent with the country’s leaders since independence in 1991.

The authorities have since imposed a state of emergency in the town of Zhanaozen, the centre of the fighting, and flooded the region with military. Protests have now taken root in Aktau, a major nearby oil centre, although there are so far no reports of violence.

Their strategy is simple. They aim to stop protests spreading to cities outside the western region of Mangistau. If they can’t, then the outlook for 2012 is decidedly bumpy.

The authorities’ reaction to the riots was insightful. It felt Soviet. They simply crushed the former oil workers who had occupied the main square in Zhanaozen since mid-May.

The statements that followed were dripping in Soviet language. According to President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the riots were started by selfish bandits and hooligans and the police had fired on them only when they feared for their lives. Reading it felt like 1986.

The bottom line is that in two consecutive civil disorder scenarios, police fired live rounds at protesters and killed several people.

Kazakhstan has prided itself on being an island of stability in volatile post-Soviet Central Asia. That image is looking distinctly battered.

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(News report from Issue No. 70, published on Dec. 22 2011)

Riots flare in western Kazakhstan

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DEC. 16 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Unprecedented riots broke out in Zhanaozan, west Kazakhstan, on Independence Day. At least 15 people died in fighting between ex-oil workers and police, who opened fire on protesters. The next day rioting spread to another town where police also shot at protesters killing one and injuring 11.

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(News report from Issue No. 70, published on Dec. 22 2011)

TV crew attacked in Kazakhstan

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OCT. 26 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kazakh independent internet TV channel Stan TV said four men armed with baseball bats and a gun attacked two of its journalists in western Kazakhstan. The journalists had been reporting on the stand-off between oil workers and a subsidiary of the state oil and gas company Kazmunaigas.

ENDS

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(News report from Issue No. 63, published on Nov. 1 2011)