KAZAKHSTAN: 2009 COUNTRY REPORT ON TERRORISM

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 002163

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR S/CT (RHONDA SHORE),SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD, AND NCTC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER EFIN KCRM KHLS AEMR ASEC KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: 2009 COUNTRY REPORT ON TERRORISM

ASTANA 00002163 001.2 OF 003



1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.


2. (SBU) SUMMARY: Kazakhstan continued to aggressively combat
domestic terrorism and extremism, and took tangible steps to
continue cooperation and information sharing with various countries
and international organizations. Kazakhstan also continued to
strengthen its engagement in international counterterrorism
activities. Kazakhstan detained and prosecuted suspected
terrorists, and promoted domestic counterterrorism activities. The
government of Kazakhstan designates 16 groups as banned terrorist
and extremist organizations. The full text of Post's 2009 Country
Report on Terrorism is attached in paragraphs 3-9. END SUMMARY.


3. (SBU) Kazakhstan continued to aggressively combat domestic
terrorism and extremism. Kazakhstan's Ministry of Interior
announced in the press on January 10 that Ministry of Interior
troops have new responsibilities related to the fight against
terrorism under a new military doctrine, and the Ministry held an
anti-terror exercise in January. Nationwide media also announced
that in August the National Security Committee (KNB),and the
Ministries of the Interior, Defense, and Emergency Situations held
anti-terror exercises at the international trade port in Aktau.
(NOTE: Aktau is Kazakhstan's largest port on the Caspian Sea and an
important shipping site in the transportation of oil from Kazakhstan
to Azerbaijan and Russia. END NOTE.) On August 28, Kazakhstan's
President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed two acts to counter terror
funding, specifically laws "On countering money laundering and
financing terrorism," and "On making amendments and addenda to some
legislative acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on issues of
countering money laundering and financing terrorism."


4. (SBU) Kazakhstan's cooperation with the United States included
its hosting of a September 29-October 1 Legislative Drafting Expert
Workshop on Counter-Terrorism. During the seminar, Kazakhstani
legal experts from both houses of Kazakhstan's Parliament, the
General Prosecutor's office, and the Customs Control Committee
reviewed Kazakhstan's counter-terrorism legislation, based on advice
from U.S. and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
experts. During FBI Director Robert Mueller's November 17 visit to
Astana, Kazakhstan's Prosecutor-General's Office and the U.S.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) signed a memorandum of
understanding, stating the parties intend to cooperate in the fight
against organized crime and money laundering. Mueller also met with
then-KNB Chairman Amangeldy Shabdarbayev, who agreed to intensify
cooperation in the fight against terrorism and extremism. Room for
improvement remains in Kazakhstan's cooperation with the United
States. Kazakhstani government agencies have typically provided
limited information on domestic terrorism cases and generally do not
provide contextual information on cases reported by the press.


5. (SBU) Kazakhstan has continued to detain and prosecute suspected
terrorists. The press reported five cases in which individuals were
detained or sentenced for acts of terrorism, including the
following:
- In February, Kazakhstani press reported it detained an extremist
group in Uralsk for distributing extremist religious literature,
robbing a local gas station, and fighting with local police.
- On April 16, the KNB press service announced that two Almaty
courts sentenced five members of the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir religious
extremist group to various prison terms. In closed trials, the
courts found the accused guilty of "inciting enmity" and "organizing
activities of banned organizations" under Kazakhstani Criminal Code
Articles 164 Part 2 and 337-1 Part 2.
- On September 22, local press reported that the Astana City police
detained a 23-year-old Uzbek citizen without identification. After
an investigation determined he was wanted by Uzbek law-enforcement
agencies on suspicion of carrying out terrorist activities, the
police arrested him, pending an extradition decision.
- On September 24, nationwide media published an article stating
that an Aktobe Province court sentenced six local people to 12-17
years in prison for terrorism. According to the press, the group
intended to punish foreign investors and announce the jihad against
infidels. The six alleged terrorists reportedly planned to blow up
oil companies' facilities in the region and possessed sufficient

ASTANA 00002163 002.2 OF 003


arms and explosives.
- On December 2, Kazakhstan's Prosecutor General's Office announced
that an Uralsk court sentenced a local resident to two years in
prison for propagating terrorism. The court asserted that during
May-December 2008, the man "incited residents to take part in
terrorist acts, and propagated terrorism by spreading materials of
extremist content," in particular, video recordings of Said
Buryatskiy, a propagandist of radical Islam.


6. (SBU) In addition to the arrest and prosecution of terrorists,
the government of Kazakhstan fined several individuals for carrying
out illegal religious activity and banned over 200 forms of
"extremist propaganda."
- On January 20, the Zhambyl Police Department's press service
publicized that a regional court fined three men for promoting the
religious practices of the banned Tablighi Jamaat organization.
- On February 26, the Atyrau Prosecutor's Office announced that a
Western Kazakhstan region court fined another six members of the
Tablighi Jamaat religious organization for carrying out illegal
missionary activities.
- On September 18, the Saryagash Region court in Southern Kazakhstan
fined an additional seven missionaries for "propagating tendentious
teachings of Islam," as an administrative violation of Kazakhstan's
"Law on Freedom of Faith and Religious Organizations."
- An Astana court also banned the import and distribution of more
than 200 books, audio records, and leaflets. In August,
"Kazakhstanskaya Pravda," an official newspaper, published a list of
all items the Astana court designated as extremist.


7. (SBU) To prevent radicalization and support other domestic
counterterrorism initiatives, Kazakhstan actively promoted
intercultural and religious dialogues. Most notably, Kazakhstan
hosted the third triennial Congress of World and Traditional
Religions in Astana July 1-2. Many of the 400 participants --
representing Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and other
religious confessions -- praised Kazakhstan for its accomplishment
in maintaining and promoting inter-confessional harmony.
Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev has personally promoted
inter-religious harmony by issuing congratulatory messages on
religious holidays, which many Kazakhstani residents celebrate, such
as Orthodox Christmas and Easter, and Eid al-Fitr. During the
October 26 opening session of the Kazakhstan People's Assembly
(KPA),Nazarbayev also suggested the creation of a doctrine on
national unity. Nazarbayev advocated the doctrine focus on the
shared priorities of Kazakhstan and the KPA, particularly
multi-confessional concord. During a November 12 visit to Astana,
Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) Marc Perrin de Brichambaut said he believes
Kazakhstan can serve as an example of the construction of
interethnic and interfaith relations. Subsequently, the Chairman of
Kazakhstan's Senate, Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev, announced on December 3
Kazakhstan's development of a program on the maintenance of
interethnic and interfaith harmony within Kazakhstan's OSCE 2010
chairmanship.


8. (SBU) Kazakhstan also continued to strengthen its engagement in
international counterterrorism activities. On February 11,
Nazarbayev ratified a 2007 Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
agreement to actively advance cooperation in the fight against
terrorism and extremism. On November 19, SCO members also signed a
protocol in Almaty to confirm the scheduling in September 2010 of an
antiterrorism exercise, "Peaceful Mission-2010," in Kazakhstan. The
Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) held an anti-terror
drill in Aktau in October, with participation from various
Kazakhstani security forces. In addition to its activities within
the framework of the SCO and CSTO, Kazakhstan also continued to
participate in international nonproliferation groups, such as the
Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) and the Global Initiative to
Combat Nuclear Terrorism.


9. (SBU) In Kazakhstan, organizations -- typically referred to as
"terrorist" groups -- are divided into extremist organizations and
terrorist organizations. The government of Kazakhstan currently
designates 16 banned groups. The Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) group remains

ASTANA 00002163 003.2 OF 003


the only organization designated and outlawed as "extremist" under
the "Law on Extremism." The list of 15 terrorist organizations
remains unchanged since 2008.

HOAGLAND