In this issue:
Border Treaty with Russia Completes Kazakhstan’s Quest for Full Statehood
Muslims in Kazakhstan Celebrate Kurban Ait
Prison Population Down to 44,500, Half of Seven Years Ago
Border treaty --- Shekaranyn shart
The holiest religious holiday --- En auliye din merekesi
Border Treaty with Russia Completes Kazakhstan’s Quest for Full Statehood
Presidents of Kazakhstan and Russia signed a treaty on delimitation of the border between the two countries on January 18 in Moscow in a ceremony which crowned centuries of efforts by the Kazakhs to retain a sovereign land and live in peace with all of their neighbors.
The signing, which took place in the Kremlin, completed Kazakhstan’s quest for full statehood and came after teams of high level experts from both countries had settled the outstanding border issues during several years of negotiations. The 7,500 kilometers (4,250 miles) long border between Kazakhstan and Russia is one of the longest land borders in the world.
The significance of the deal becomes starker when one realizes that never before had Kazakhstan had settled all border issues with its neighbors. In fact, during the 20th Century, the Soviet Union failed to settle its border issues with China which on occasions led to military skirmishes, some on the territory of Kazakhstan.
In its stead, Kazakhstan, during its 13 years of independence, from late 1990s to early 2000s, signed similar border agreements with China, with which it shares almost 1,500 kilometers (950 miles) of border, as well as with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
In 2002, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan peacefully settled their border issue in a move that was welcomed by American academia as promoting peace and stability in a crucial region for the U.S. “This border compromise illustrates that disagreements over land ownership do not have to erupt into war,” Research Director of the Harvard’s Caspian Studies Program Brenda Shaffer said in her op-ed in the Christian Science Monitor at the time. “It is time for Western governments to recognize the good job the new states of Central Asia have been doing in preventing wars among themselves in this difficult period of transition.”
Both Presidents Nazarbayev and Putin praised the agreement. President Nazarbayev said “this border is a border of friendship and trust which gives businesspeople of both countries an opportunity to do business in a civilized manner.”
President Putin called it “a compromise which is good for both Kazakhstan and Russia” and said the agreement should make life of people in border areas “comfortable.”
The two Presidents also stressed the expansion of ties in other areas such as trade, space exploration and defense. They noted the 50 percent expansion of bilateral trade in 2004 to US$7.5 billion as they oversaw signing of several more bilateral economic agreements. One agreement calls for the creation of “Kazsat”, Kazakhstan’s communications and broadcast satellite. Another one provides for mutual protection of intellectual property rights originating during bilateral military and technical cooperation. Another agreement reached during the talks deals with the parity division of a major gas condensate field which stretches under the Atyrau region of Kazakhstan and the Astrakhan region of Russia.
At a news conference, President Nazarbayev also said: “We reached agreement on the commercial use of the Baikonur cosmodrome.”
Muslims in Kazakhstan Celebrate Kurban Ait
Millions of Muslims across Kazakhstan celebrated Kurban Ait (Eid al Adha, or “Celebration of Sacrifice”), the holiest Muslim holiday on Janaury 20, with prayers for peace and calm in the world, followed by feasts and acts of philanthropy.
Muslims in Kazakhstan, including ethnic Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Uighurs, Tartars, Turks, and Chechens, make up the two-thirds Muslim majority of Kazakhstan’s population of 15 million.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev prayed in the central mosque of Astana and said afterwards: “Let all the wishes reach the Most High, and let trust, interethnic harmony and calm always reign in our nation. I wish everybody happiness and well being.”
Kazakhstan has seen a revival of religious freedoms since 1991, accompanied by tolerance in a very diverse society. This has since been noted by many inside and outside the country, including leaders such as Pope John Paul II and the Chief Rabbi of Israel.
Since Kazakhstan’s independence, more than 3,000 religious associations appeared in the country, with 1,500 new mosques, 170 Russian Orthodox churches and more than 30 cathedrals built in the republic. In September 2003 in Astana, Kazakhstan dedicated the largest synagogue in Central Asia. Kazakhstan seeks to share its experience of peaceful coexistence of various religions when it hosted the first Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, in Astana in September 2003 where leaders committed themselves to closer dialog and denounced terrorism.
Prison Population Down to 44,500, Half of What It Was Seven Years Ago
Onalsyn Zhumabekov, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Justice said there were 44,500 inmates in the country’s prisons as of January 1, 2005, only a half of what this number was in 1998.
Speaking at a January 20 meeting of Public Penitentiary Oversight Council, Minister Zhumabekov said the prison population is steadily going down across the board. This trend includes the numbers of people in pretrial detention facilities. “Their numbers decreased by more than 10,000 during the next three years, from 18,000 in 2001 to slightly above 8,000 as of the first of this year,” he noted.
“All of these are tangible results of the humanization of our legislation,” the Minister stressed, confirming that the reduction in numbers of inmates will continue. One of the measures to promote that would be a draft law his ministry plans to develop in 2005. The ministry is also developing a longer term program outlining the vision for the development of penitentiaries for the years 2007 through 2015.
The Minister also called for the speedy creation of public oversight commissions in all the country’s regions as per the law signed in December 2004. “This is a major step towards further openness and transparency in the work of penitentiaries and an effective mechanism of protection of rights of convicts,” the Minister added. Both domestic and foreign nongovernmental organizations had lobbied for legislation that would create legal foundation for such commissions and were pleased with the December law.
Speaking at the same event, Khasan Valiyev, chair of the Public Penitentiary Oversight Council also noted positive results of criminal legislation humanization. Members of the Council visited 47 penitentiaries in 2004 meeting inmates. He said they heard no complaints regarding conditions behind bars.
Things to Watch:
- UN Counter-Terrorism Committee to meet in Kazakhstan January 26-28. Scores of international organizations and UN member nations are expected to attend.
- Melodies and Songs of the Kazakh Steppes, the first ever concert of Kazakh traditional and world classical music in the United States of America, will take place at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on February 1, 2005. A follow up concert will be held at Carnegie Hall in New York on February 3, 2005. For more information please click here.
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News Bulletin of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the USA and Canada
(Compiled from own sources and agency reports)
Contact person: Roman Vassilenko
1401 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20036
Tel.: 202 232 5488, ext. 104, Fax: 202 232 5845
