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