Kazakhstan
News Bulletin
Released weekly by the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan
January 23, 2003 Vol. 1, No.3
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In this issue:
President Bush says U.S. to develop closer ties with Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan set example of peaceful voluntary disarmament, Rice says
Three political parties get registered
Canadian coroners conclude death of reporter's daughter a suicide
Plans to convert schools to 12-year curriculum draw heated debate
Political activist evaded paying taxes, forged documents, tax police say
President Bush says U.S. to develop closer ties with Kazakhstan
Sends letter to President Nazarbayev
The United States intends
to deepen cooperation with
Kazakhstan across the spectrum
of shared interests in security,
energy and reforms, President
George W. Bush said in a recent
letter to President Nursultan
Nazarbayev.
The U.S. Ambassador to
Kazakhstan delivered the letter
to Secretary of State
Kassymzhomart Tokayev on
January 18. Presidents Nazarbayev and Bush met in Prague in November 2002.
President Bush "has spoken for strengthening efforts in order to use fully the potential for partnership", Kazakhstan's foreign ministry said in a January 18 statement. Mr. Bush said Kazakhstan's support for the U.S.-led war on terror, along with a decade of cooperation on nonproliferation issues, "underscore the strength of U.S.-Kazakhstan security cooperation".
"In his letter President Bush talks about his desire to develop relations in the economic sphere, and that American investment have a good climate here in Kazakhstan," U.S. Ambassador Larry Napper commented on Khabar TV television the same day. The letter expresses hope to see the continued development of a democratic society in Kazakhstan.
During their meeting in Almaty, the American diplomat also informed Secretary Tokayev that the U.S. Embassy would open its branch office in Astana this year.
Kazakhstan set example of peaceful voluntary disarmament, Rice says
Harvard's scholar shares view, urges U.S. legislators to support cooperation with Kazakhstan
The example of Kazakhstan and other nations that have behaved responsibly and are committed to disarmament and nonproliferation should be held up high, while "Iraq's behavior could not offer a starker contrast", national security advisor Condoleezza Rice said in an op-ed in the New York Times on January 23.
Kazakhstan and Ukraine demonstrated a "pattern of cooperation when they decided to rid themselves of the nuclear weapons, intercontinental ballistic missiles and heavy bombers inherited from the Soviet Union", she wrote. "With significant assistance from the United States warmly accepted by both countries disarmament was orderly, open and fast In one instance, Kazakhstan revealed the existence of a ton of highly enriched uranium and asked the United States to remove it, lest it fall into the wrong hands," she noted.
Her views resonate well within the think-tank community. In a recent Op-Ed in the Christian Science Monitor, Harvard's Dr. Brenda Shaffer contrasted Kazakhstan with Iraq and North Korea and said, "during the first part of the last decade, the Republic of Kazakhstan voluntarily surrendered its Soviet-era nuclear weapons for demolition". After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan inherited more than 1,100 nuclear warheads, along with more than one hundred missiles SS-18, what constituted the 4th largest nuclear arsenal in the world.
"However, it received little recognition or security compensation for the risk it took in order to improve regional security and ensure that these weapons would not fall into other hands," contended Dr. Shaffer, research director of the Caspian Studies Program at the Kennedy's School of Government.
"In the past year, the US has invested millions of dollars in a futile effort to show a friendly face to the masses in the Arab world. Yet Washington invests only minimal funds toward developing cooperation with the pro-Western Muslims of Central Asia and the Caucasus," she wrote.
A number of countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus have also been extremely cooperative with the US in its war on terrorism.
"Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have foiled attempts by neighboring Middle Eastern countries to obtain materials, knowledge, and the assistance of individuals to advance their efforts in obtaining weapons of mass destruction. Generous steps by these Muslim-populated states have gone largely unrecognized, although they run the risk of offending their Middle Eastern neighbors," said Dr. Shaffer.
As such, Kazakhstan and its neighbors deserve support for their efforts, she contended. Hence, "US legislators should support programs that build cooperation with US friends in the Muslim world, such as in Central Asia and the Caucasus".
Three political parties get registered
Eight more submit applications
Three political parties, the recently created Ak Zhol democratic party, and the two parties with the largest numbers of seats in the Parliament, Civil and Otan, were re-registered by January 20 after submitting their application based on a 50,000-membership threshold. Such requirement was introduced by the Law on Political Parties adopted in the summer of 2002.
The Ministry of Justice, conducting the registration, said applications from eight more political parties were received and were being reviewed. Those parties include Agrarian, Alash, Auyl (Village), Renaissance, Compratriot, the Party of Patriots, the Communist Party and El Dana, formerly Women's Democratic Party. The Ministry said final results of the registration processes would be announced at a later date after the review of additional applications, including those mailed by post.
The Republican People's Party of Kazakhstan, one of the smallest opposition parties, financed and led by Interpol-sought Akezhan Kazhegeldin, failed to get enough members to get registered. Instead, it opted for re-registration as a political club, its membership widely believed not to exceed few dozens of activists in Almaty and Astana.
Currently, there are four party caucuses in the national Parliament of Kazakhstan, including the Agrarian party with 11 members, Civil Party (27), Auyl Democratic Party (12) and Otan (44).
Canadian coroners conclude death of reporter's daughter a suicide
Confirm original coroner's conclusion, find no evidence of abuse in custody
Last summer's death of Leila Baiseitova, daughter of one of Kazakhstan's reporters, was indeed caused by suicide, the Canadian coroners concluded after the investigation they conducted in Kazakhstan in December 2002. The investigation was prompted when Lira Baiseitova, the grieving mother, came out with the allegations of police abuse committed against her daughter while in custody for heroin possession, in reprisal for the mother's critique of the President of Kazakhstan.
The coroners "found no evidence that was inconsistent with the original coroner's conclusion of suicide as the cause of death, nor did they find evidence of abuse in custody," the Canada's foreign ministry said in a statement.
The findings were part of the report the coroners, Dr. James Young, Ontario's Chief Coroner, and his colleague presented to Canada's foreign minister Bill Graham earlier this month.
"Canada sent officials from the Coroner's Office to Kazakhstan in response to a request for assistance from Lira Baisetova, a Kazakhstani journalist and the mother of Leila. At the request of Minister Graham, Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister granted permission for the investigation into the June 2002 death of Ms. Baisetova," the Canada's Department for Foreign Affairs and International Trade said in a January 20statement.
"We were pleased to have been able to render Canadian assistance in the investigation surrounding the cause of Ms. Baisetova's death and provide an independent international autopsy report," the statement quoted Mr. Graham as saying.
"Dr. Young and Dr. Pollanen conducted a thorough independent investigation into the death of the woman who died in police custody in June 2002. During their investigation, they received excellent cooperation from all Kazakhstani government, hospital and police officials," the statement said.
"They found no evidence that was inconsistent with the original coroner's conclusion of suicide as the cause of death, nor did they find evidence of abuse in custody," stated the Canadian foreign ministry.
The Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan believes that "the joint actions of the competent authorities of Kazakhstan and Canada is a testament to the sincere desire to cooperate in the human rights area".
"The Kazakhstan side considers that due to constructive cooperation between the foreign policy agencies of Kazakhstan and Canada the incident with the untimely death of Lira Baiseitova' daughter is fully settled and has no legal nor political consequences," the foreign ministry said in Astana. It also expressed its condolences to Ms. Baiseitova.
Plans to convert schools to 12-year curriculum draw heated debate
Need to approach Western standards, budget constraints cited as arguments pro and con
At the Government's session on January 21, the ministers debated the need to convert Kazakhstan's school system from the current 11-year curriculum to the 12-year curriculum. While the nationwide pedagogical council approved the concept of such a transformation last year, the yesterday's meeting revealed the lack of sufficient support, as yet, for such a move planned as an experiment for this year.
As Kazakhstan moves into the ranks of the world's fastest-growing economies, there's an obvious need to bring its schools closer to Western standards, Shamsha Berkimbayeva, the minister of education told the meeting. However, such a transformation would require a complicated change in methodology and would cost a lofty sum, 5 billion tenge a year for the next 10 years ($1=155.4 tenge as of January 20) plus 16 billion tenge to make room for more colleges and technical schools.
The expensive cost of transformation was the major argument against the move that Zeinulla Kakimzhanov, the finance minister, used. He also questions the merits of such a move and said the expected surge in the population caused by the improving life quality would likely complicate the transformation further.
As announced by the Prime Minister, who presided at the meeting, the Government resolved to review the case at a later date and asked for two different conceptions, one of the 11-year curriculum, and another of the 12-year one.
Since regaining its independence in 1991, Kazakhstan, with literacy at the internationally certified 98%, has seen a significant expansion of higher education institutions, while the secondary education suffered from the lack of attention for a number of years. However, with the continued economic growth the Government began looking for ways to make education more efficient and competitive. To attain that goal, the Government has adopted the state program of English-language studies a number of years ago.
Political activist evaded paying taxes, forged documents, tax police say
More than $100,000 in unpaid taxes
Amirzhan Kosanov, one of the leaders of the "Reform" Center for Social and Economic and Public Initiatives, has instituted and overseen a system of tax evasion and forgery of financial documents, the local financial police of Almaty said in a January 21 press release, announcing that it was launching the criminal investigation into his dealings.
Mr. Kosanov, who used to serve as a high-ranking government official, until recently was also one of the leaders of the now defunct Republican People's Party of Kazakhstan, led by former Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin. The latter is sought by the Interpol for the abuse of office and finance-related crimes.
In its press release, the financial police said the preliminary investigation revealed that the Center, having registered as a limited liability company, had had to pay taxes as a for-profit organization. Yet, it has been basically evading paying taxes on its revenues and expenditures since 1998, the department said. It also engaged in forging financial documents of payments to faux-companies, imaginary suppliers of services that were never rendered but were paid for, the police stated.
The Reform is financed almost exclusively through grants from two Washington, DC-based organizations, Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation and the International Eurasian Instutite for Economic and Political Research, all represented by one person, a Rinat Akhmedshin, the department said. However, being registered as a for-profit organization, the Center still has to pay all the taxes according to the law. Over the years it did not pay more than 100,000 dollars in taxes, the police stated.
At a press conference on January 8, Mr. Kosanov claimed there was no basis for the criminal case and sought to portray it as a politically motivated case.
In the press release the authorities confirmed that the criminal investigation was opened against Mr. Kosanov on January 13, and he gave a written undertaking not to leave Almaty. However, when he applied for an authorization to leave Kazakhstan for two weeks on January 22, he was allowed to do so.
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News Bulletin of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan
(Compiled from own sources and various agencies' reports)
Contact persons: Roman Vassilenko, Aibek Nurbalin
Tel.: (202) 232- 5488 ext. 104, 115, Fax: (202) 232- 5845
