KAZAKHSTAN: PRESIDENT NAZARBAYEV SIGNS INTERNET

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASTANA 001183

SIPDIS

STATE FIR SCA/CEN, DRL, EUR/RPM

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/14/2029
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM KPAO OSCE KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: PRESIDENT NAZARBAYEV SIGNS INTERNET
LEGISLATION INTO LAW

REF: (A) ASTANA 1136
(B) ASTANA 1030
(C) ASTANA 1028
(D) ASTANA 0816
(E) ASTANA 0345

Classified by: Ambassador Richard E. Hoagland, Reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d)


1. (SBU) The Presidential Press Service reported on July 10 that
President Nazarbayev has signed pending Internet legislation into
law. (NOTE: As a technical matter, this legislation amends several
existing Kazakhstani laws. END NOTE.) Nazarbayev's move came
despite objections and concerns raised by Kazakhstani civil society
and the international community, including U.S. concerns which USOSCE
outlined at several OSCE Permanent Council meetings and which the
Ambassador raised publicly during a June 11 press conference in
Astana (ref C) and privately in a demarche he delivered to Deputy
Foreign Minister Konstantin Zhigalov on July 8 (ref A).


2. (U) Several Kazakhstani civil society leaders incorrectly
predicted that Nazarbayev would veto the legislation or send it to
the Constitutional Council for review, as he did in the case of
religion legislation which the Council ultimately declared to be
unconstitutional. MFA Spokesperson Yerzhan Ashibayev told the press
on July 13 that there are "many points of view" about the Internet
law, and maintained that it will not directly affect Kazakhstan's
2010 OSCE chairmanship. He said that the MFA "will undertake all
measures to explain to our OSCE partners the current situation: that
is, what occasioned the acceptance of the law."


3. (C) COMMENT: The Internet legislation will make all websites
subject to Kazakhstan's mass media law and will provide the
government with a legal basis to block and shut down websites, both
foreign and domestic, that contain information "contradicting"
Kazakhstani legislation -- including obscene material, extremist
propaganda, and material that discloses state secrets. Based on our
conversations with Kazakhstani interlocutors, we believe the
legislation was specifically aimed at ex-Nazarbayev son-in-law Rakhat
Aliyev and not at introducing a broader crackdown on opposition and
foreign news websites. Aliyev and his associates continue to post
"kompromat" (i.e., negative, compromising material) about Nazarbayev
and anti-Nazarbayev articles on a variety of websites. Talgat
Kaliyev, advisor to Foreign Minister Tazhin, told us frankly on June
18 that the legislation was "all about Aliyev."


4. (C) COMMENT CONTINUED: We presume Nazarbayev was well aware that
his signing the legislation could damage Kazakhstan's international
reputation in the run up to its OSCE chairmanship -- the country's
most important international leadership role since becoming
independent. That Nazarbayev took this step in the end is simply
further indication that he considers himself locked in an existential
struggle with Aliyev which trumps all other considerations. Over the
past two years, the government, without admitting to doing so, has
occasionally blocked websites that posted Aliyev-generated and
-related materials. (NOTE: This includes blocking for about a month
in 2008 the Kazakh- and English-language websites of Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty, which have published a number of Aliyev-related
articles and interviews with Aliyev. END NOTE). In effect, the new
legislation brings out into the open and legalizes what the
government was already doing surreptitiously in its fight against
Aliyev.


5. (C) COMMENT CONTINUED: The Internet legislation is now law and
new legislation would be required to return to the status quo ante.
At this juncture, our best approach would be to urge the Kazakhstanis
to implement the legislation in a manner consistent with their OSCE
commitments on freedom of speech, expression, and the press. END
COMMENT.

HOAGLAND