International League for Human Rights voices its concern
Arrest of Mr Kazhegeldin constitutes serious violations of international norms

+39-6-68897502

The Minister of Justice

Rome, Italy

Attention: Dr Saffino

Dear Mr Minister:

The International League for Human Rights, a human rights advocacy organization in consultative status with the United Nations, International Labor Organization and Council of Europe, herewith expresses its concern over the arrest in Rome yesterday of Mr Akezhan Kazhegeldin, the former prime minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Information supplied to us suggests that this arrest occurred on the basis of an notice issued by the Central Secretariat of INTERPOL in Lyons, acting on a request of the National Central Bureau of Kazakhstan. This arrest and the issuance of a notice requesting it by INTERPOL constitute serious violations of agreed international norms. Accordingly, we request Mr Kazhegeldin's immediate and unconditional release.

Our organization has been engaged with other international human rights organizations in monitoring political and social rights in Kazakhstan, and in particular, Kazakhstan's compliance with its obligations as a Helsinki Process signatory, since 1992. We are closely familiar with the efforts of the Government of Kazakhstan to persecute leaders of political opposition groups, most prominently including the head of Kazakhstan's National Republican Party, Mr Kazhegeldin. In this connection, the Kazakh Government has brought several accusations involving criminal and administrative law infractions against Mr Kazhegeldin. It appears to us that most of these charges rest on fabricated or otherwise bogus claims. While we consider all of these accusations highly dubious, we have no doubt whatsoever about what inspires them: the persecution of leading opposition figures. Having also monitored several such criminal proceedings in Kazakhstan, we can also attest to the fact that these political targets are not afforded due process and risk certain imprisonment and likely physical abuse if returned to Kazakhstan. Against this same backdrop we note that, according to recent reports of The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and The New York Times, the instigator of these charges, Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev, figures as the subject of a particularly serious pending criminal investigation by the United States Department of Justice and the Procurator General of Canton Geneva, Switzerland. Your Excellency will be able to ascertain all of this to Your Excellency's satisfaction by reviewing the numerous reports addressing this situation issued by OSCE's ODIR office, by Human Rights Watch and other monitoring and reporting organizations.

More significantly, we consider the use of INTERPOL in this regards to be a particularly serious violation of article 2 of the INTERPOL Constitution. The founding members of INTERPOL were careful to provide that the INTERPOL network could not be used by authoritarian governments to harrass their domestic political opponents. This arrest marks the second occasion in one year in which the INTERPOL Secretariat has falsely issued a notice against a senior opposition figure of a CIS country based on a request issued in flagrant violation of article 2. We have previously communicated with the National Central INTERPOL Bureau of the United States, housed in the Department of Justice, which we understand has already reached this conclusion and has expressed its concerns to the Secretariat in Lyons. The issuance of a notice by the Secretariat under such circumstances constitutes a serious breach by the Secretariat of its oversight responsibilities.

In any event, we submit that the Ministry of Justice should view this notice as a nullity and express its protest to the Lyons Secretariat over the improper issuance of the notice. We stand prepared to offer any further comments or insights which may assist Your Excellency in the expeditious handling of this matter.

Respectfully submitted,

Scott Horton President