KZBlog

Eurasianet reports that an OSCE representative (Matteo Mecacci, senior member of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Human Rights) went to see Yevgeniy Zhovtis, a human rights leader and head of the Bota NGO who was imprisoned earlier this year for vehicular manslaughter. Many have protested the government’s handling of the case, claiming that Zhovtis was targeted because of his work on human rights.

While the Astana office of the OSCE and the Kazakhstani authorities made the visit possible, the chair of the OSCE ordered the press office not to publish the report on the visit on the OSCE website. However, the Parlimentary Assembly ignored that order. Eurasianet has the full text or you can see it on the OSCE PA’s website itself. Whether this is the full report or not, I have no way of knowing.

If this is the full report, it doesn’t strike me as particularly damning. Mecacci writes that Zhovtis is fine but had hoped the Supreme Court would hear his appeal. The report speculates that especially with the “Leader of the Nation” law being under consideration in Kazakhstan, that the chairman and all OSCE states should reaffirm their belief in the rule of law. However that statement, while unflattering, is not based on any evidence of wrong doing or something Zhovtis said. It’s a statement of opinion. So I’m not clear on why Kazakshtan wanted to block this short and rather speculative report.

Another blog OSCE Unbound has also picked up on the story and gives more details about Kazakhstan’s order to keep Mecacci’s report off the website. The author, Catherine Fitzpatrick, notes that relations between the Chairmanship and the Parliamentary Assembly are not always perfect. She also asks the big question that needs to be asked: What else is being blocked?