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Hundreds of people have gathered in the capital of Kazakhstan’s western province of Manghystau to support sacked and striking oil workers in the town of Zhanaozen, where at least 13 people have been killed and another 86 wounded in clashes between workers and police, RFE/RL reports.
RFE/RL’s correspondent reported from the city, Aqtau, that police with rubber truncheons, shields, and guns were monitoring the people gathered on the central square (see video here).
Meanwhile, the Kazakh Prosecutor-General’s Office announced on Dec. 18 that “hooligans” clashed the previous day with police at the Shetpe railway station in the Manghystau region.
According to the Prosecutor-General’s Office, one 25-year-old man was killed and about a dozen people were wounded in that clash.
A local man, who gave his name only as Bauyrzhan, told RFE/RL by phone on Dec. 17 that dozens of local people blocked the Mangyshlaq-Aqtobe railway at the Shetpe station, protesting the shooting of demonstrators in Zhanaozen. At around 6 pm local time on Dec. 17, security forces arrived at the Shetpe station to disperse the protesters, and at around 8 pm the clashes took place.
“The protesters blocking the railway refused to leave the area and the clashes started. I am now in the hospital. One 25-year-old young man was shot in the head and died. Eight men were wounded and the number of the wounded is increasing,” Bauyrzhan said.
The deputy chief of the Manghystau regional clinic in Aqtau, Nurlan Muqanov, told RFE/RL on Dec. 18 that in total, 38 patients with gunshot wounds had been brought to his hospital since the clashes with police erupted on Dec. 16.
One of those hospitalized died from his wounds, but Muqanov declined to give more details of that case. According to Muqanov, three of those hospitalized are from Shetpe station, others are from Zhanaozen.
A spokesperson for the Kazakh Prosecutor-General’s Office, Nurdaulet Suindikov, said on Dec. 19 that the casualty toll from the clashes between police and striking workers was 13 dead and 86 injured.
Zhanaozen Cut Off
Journalists who arrived in the regional capital, Aqtau, on Dec. 18 were not allowed to travel to Zhanaozen, where additional security troops and armored vehicles were sent on Dec. 16-17.
Telephone connections with Zhanaozen, including by mobile phone, have been cut off since Dec. 16.
RFE/RL’s correspondent reported from Shetpe that a group of domestic and international journalists was stopped by security forces and riot-police units upon their arrival at the railway station. He said that a Kazakh blogger, Murat Tungyshbaev, was beaten up by security forces without any explanation.
Kazis Toguzbaev said Tungyshbaev was knocked down, and the riot police “put a pistol to his temple, to his head. But other journalists interfered and it’s possible to say that they have freed him.”
Telephone connection with Shetpe has been disrupted since Toguzbaev’s report and it wasn’t possible to get more information regarding the current situation there.
Kazakhstan’s Prosecutor-General’s Office has announced that the situation is under control in Shetpe.
State Of Emergency
On Dec. 17, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev issued a decree imposing a state of emergency and a curfew in Zhanaozen. In a statement, Nazarbaev accused “hooligans” of organizing mass disorder and said police had to open fire “to protect themselves and local citizens and preserve order.”
The clashes in Zhanaozen on Dec. 16 started after the town authorities began celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of Kazakhstan’s independence on the central square, where oil workers have been protesting since May to demand a salary raise, equal rights with foreign workers, and the right of independent labor unions to organize in the region.
The angry protesters set fire to a concert stage and the New Year’s tree on Zhanaozen’s central square. Also, buildings of the town administration, a hotel, and the offices of the OzenMunaiGaz oil company were burned down.
Nazarbaev’s decree imposes the security measures from Dec. 17 to Jan. 5. The presidential decree was accompanied by an official announcement that the situation in Zhanaozen was fully under control.
Labor Relations
Kazakh opposition leaders and activists have demanded an independent investigation into the situation. Opposition leader and former Senator Zauresh Battalova told journalists on Dec. 17 that the Kazakh authorities were responsible for the incidents.
“Instead of taking care of human rights, [instead of] addressing the people’s problems in a legal way, [the authorities] used force, sent in troops, which shows that our authorities are not capable of working in a legal way,” Battalova said.
“It shows that our authorities fully ignore the principle of the rule of law and operate using force only. This kind of authority cannot run a country that proclaims itself a secular country based on law.”