Kazakh lawyer pays heavy price for strike talk
By Andrei Grishin
The Kazakh authorities, by meting out harsh punishments to union activists
involved in recent oil-industry strikes, are merely resorting to
tried-and-tested methods of stifling dissent. It is doubtful whether these
measures will serve as a deterrent to further labor unrest, and they simply
reinforce the widespread perception that the government is taking sides in this
industrial dispute.
On August 8, Natalya Sokolova, a trade union lawyer in western Kazakhstan, was
sentenced to six years in jail and barred from practicing law for three years
after being convicted of "inciting social strife". Her prosecution under
criminal law was sought by the management of the Karazhanbasmunai oil company,
after she
spoke about pay discrepancies during a meeting of workers.
During the trial, Sokolova argued that she was speaking in her capacity as
legal adviser to the workers' union.
On August 16, independent trade union leader Akjanat Aminov was given a
one-year suspended sentence with a further two year's probation for breaking
the rules governing public assembly.
Aminov's union represents staff at Ozenmunaigaz in the town of Janaozen.
Ozenmunaigaz is a subsidiary of KazMunaiGaz, the national oil and gas producer,
which also owns part of Karazhanbasmunai, a Kazakh-Chinese joint venture based
in Aktau.
International rights organisations condemned these sentences as politically
motivated and called for Sokolova's release. The Norwegian Helsinki Committee
said it was unacceptable to use the criminal justice system to silence the
lawyer.
A statement by the New York-based Human Rights Watch said that "making such
actions as addressing workers on issues of wage disparity subject to such heavy
criminal penalties is arbitrary and illegitimate interference with the right to
freedom of expression".
The law under which Sokolova was convicted means the authorities have ruled
that the advice she gave to oil workers was liable to provoke "social,
national, tribal, racial or religious strife" - in other words on a par with
racist thugs, violent Islamic extremists or others who present a threat to
national security.
The oil industry protests - the longest Kazakhstan has experienced to date -
began in May when workers demanded pay increases and asked to be represented by
independent unions, as they did not trust the officially appointed trade
unions. When the management ignored their demands, some mounted hunger-strikes,
prompting waves of protests.
At the height of the protests, thousands of oilmen and other staff at several
oil and gas companies were out on strike. The Socialist Resistance, a youth
movement supporting the protesters, said over 12,000 were involved, although
the Ozenmunaigas, Karazhanbasmunai, and Ersai Contractor firms put the number
at no more than 1,700. Since then, at least 400 workers have been sacked.
Meanwhile, a core of several hundred in Janaozen continue to protest. Their
list of demands has grown to include Sokolova's release and the reinstatement
of dismissed colleagues.
The kind of repressive tactics we have seen here used to be reserved for
opposition members and outspoken journalists. The convictions of Sokolova and
Aminov means union activists are now on the government's blacklist as well.
The scale and duration of the protests clearly took the authorities by
surprise, and they responded with a crackdown. Strikers were prevented from
organizing peaceful demonstrations in the centre of Aktau city, and some
rallies near oilfields were dispersed. On two occasions, baton-wielding police
raided the protesters' camp on the outskirts of Janaozen, but stopped short of
dismantling it when some workers threatened to set themselves on fire.
Fearing further raids, the workers relocated to Janaozen's central Yntymak
square, hoping police would show greater restraint in full public view.
The authorities dispatched additional forces. One local human rights activist
saw interior ministry units and two armored vehicles stationed at a local
school. These forces have not been deployed yet, but remain in place.
Strikers and family members also report numerous cases of intimidation. A group
of oilmen's wives who stayed their own protest was attacked, there was an arson
attack on the house of a union leader, and strikers received threatening phone
calls. Inside the country, protesters were supported by some opposition groups
and labor activists from other industries.
International coverage of the strikes led British pop singer Sting to cancel a
July concert in the Kazakhh capital Astana. European Parliament member Paul
Murphy visited Kazakhstan the same month and met the protesters, expressing
support for them and calling on the government to address their demands.
In a press release at the end of July, KazMunaiGaz said the strike had cost it
6% of its anticipated annual output. No doubt the company will be able to catch
up with production, but it will be harder to repair relations between
government and the oil-sector workers who contribute so much of the country's
wealth.
The authorities' response has been one of indifference to the strikers'
concerns, a refusal to step in as neutral mediator between commercial firms and
their staff, and punitive action using the police and the courts. The effect
has been to alienate a section of the population not associated with hostility
to the government, and to allow a pay dispute to escalate into something that
looks more like a political standoff.
The government's uncompromising stand has only fueled resentment. According to
some reports, around 3,000 oil workers have cancelled their memberships of the
presidential party Nur Otan. A party representative in Janaozen downplayed the
scale of the exodus, saying only about 1,100 people had applied to leave, and
in many cases their cancellation forms were invalid as they had not been filled
out properly.
Whatever the true figure, these defections from the party are of great symbolic
importance, serving as a challenge and warning to President Nursultan Nazarbaev
himself.
Andrei Grishin works for the Kazakhstan Bureau for Human Rights and Rule
of Law.
(The views expressed in this article are not necessarily the views of IWPR.)
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