Brussels, 22/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - Forty-eight MEPs have called on the president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, to end the measures being taken against the town of Zhanaozen, following a demonstration in support of striking oil workers that was crushed by police on 16 December, to withdraw troops.
In a letter sent to the Kazakh president on 21 December on the initiative of Paul Murphy (GUE, Ireland), the MEPs from 17 countries and six political groups (mainly GUE and Greens, but also from ALDE, S&D, EPP and ECR) say that the town in the west of the country has been encircled and occupied by police, who have carried out many arrests. The MEPs also complain about the imposition of a curfew, restrictions on movement and the ban on demonstrations, strikes and public gatherings. The media and social networks have all been blocked.
The 48 express their “great concern” at the “brutal violence” used by state forces against the 3,000 demonstrators on 16 December. They say they were “horrified” by the attitude of the riot police who “attacked” the protestors and opened fire on them using live ammunition, killing between 50 and 70 people and wounding hundreds more. Condemning the violence, the MEPs call on the president to release those arrested, to end the repression of trade unionists and for an “immediate genuinely independent inquiry”. They also call on the Kazakhstan government to initiate meaningful negotiations with the employers and representatives of the striking oil workers. (CG/transl.rt)